Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.
Chapter 7: Zwei Ascended
"It shouldn't take long for Zwei and I to defeat you." Amber told Dawn. "None of your Pokemon are a match for us."
"I really don't want to fight you, Amber. But I will if I have to!" Dawn declared as she pulled the pokeball with the sparkling pink top from her belt. "Palkia! Spotlight!"
Bursting out of the ball was a large almost light-purple dragon standing on two legs. Its arms were well developed, with its forearms covered in armored scales that gave one the impression of gauntlets. Embedded in the armor on each shoulder was a large pink pearl, and on parts of its body were purple stripes. On the back of its long neck was a fin-like crest that extended down to wings on its back. Amber's eyes widened in surprise upon seeing the dragon.
"Amber, what sort of Pokemon is this?" Zwei asked, showing a hint of surprise as well.
"It's… a Palkia!" Amber identified. "A legendary dragon from Sinnoh mythology. It's said to rule space and to have helped shape the very universe itself."
"So… it's some sort of god?" Zwei asked with a quirked brow.
"According to the legends." Amber confirmed. "But I have no idea how Dawn could have even captured such a Pokemon.
"Palkia! Use Special Rend to attack Zwei!" Dawn commanded.
The pink pearl in Palkia's right shoulder began to glow with a swirling light and its forearm became shrouded in the same pink light. With a swing of its arm, Palkia sent a crescent-shaped blade of pink energy down at Amber and Zwei. Zwei flew out of the way and Amber suddenly vanished with a flash of blue light. As Amber reappeared in a spot on Dawn's left, Palkia's attack kept going and struck Dr. Fuji's house, tearing a chunk of it to pieces. Zwei hovered in the air on Palkia's right and stared calmly at it. The dragon turned its head and roared at the psychic feline.
"We can still stop this right now, Amber!" Dawn told the green-haired clone. "There's no real reason for us to fight!"
"There's every reason for us to fight!" Amber told her. "You played along with my so-called father's lie! Not only that, you think that both Zwei and I are monsters who shouldn't exist!"
"That's just not true!" Dawn insisted.
"Enough! Talking is useless to us now!" Zwei declared. "The fact is that Amber and I were not born into this world but were created! And our creator has used and betrayed us! Therefore, we stand alone!"
Suddenly the keystone fitted into the front of Amber's metal chocker began to glow with a brilliant light. At the same time, the Mega Stone embedded in the front of Zwei's belt was glowing as well. In seconds Zwei's entire body began to glow with a pink light and change shape. At the very start of the feline Pokemon's transformation, the light coming from her body gave off a flash resembling a Y. The light soon faded and a multicolored light resembling a DNA strand appeared momentarily above Zwei's head before vanishing, signaling her completed transformation.
Zwei's body had grown shorter and the tube on the back of her neck had disappeared. Her limbs had taken on a more mechanical appearance, with her fingers and toes becoming purple. Her otherwise smooth chest had a bump in the center resembling some kind of bone, and the psychic feline's tail had disappeared. Her ear-like horns had become more pointed and were connected at the base by a half ring-shaped growth that went over her head. Zwei's eyes had changed from purple to red, and growing from the back of her head was a long tail-like appendage that extended down past her legs and had a curled tip.
"Not good!" Dawn spoke. "It looks like Zwei… just Mega Evolved!"
Amber's eyes glowed and her entire body began to give off a blue aura. The green-haired clone then levitated high into the air several feet above Dawn."
"Now you will witness out true power!" Amber declared.
Dawn gritted her teeth. "Plakia, use Spacial Rend once more!"
Palkia swung its arm again and sent another blade of pink energy through the air at Zwei. With incredible speed, Zwei managed to fly out of the attack's path, leaving a short trail of afterimages in her wake. The transformed feline then flew in close to Palkia as a crackling ball of black energy formed between her hands. When the ball became large enough, Zwei hurled it at Palkia and struck the white dragon in the face. Zwei then flew off, causing Palkia to take off into the air and give chase.
"Palkia! Use Aura Sphere!" Dawn ordered.
Palkia cried out and threw a sphere of blue light at Zwei using its right claw. The ball of light hit Zwei in the side, causing her to stop midflight and turn around. Zwei hovered calmly where she was as Palkia moved in closer.
"You're going to have to do better than that!" Amber and Zwei said together, startling Dawn. "Psychic!"
Zwei's eyes glowed red and suddenly Palkia froze and its body gave off a feint red aura. With a wave of both her hands, Zwei hurled Palkia down into Dr. Fuji's house, completely destroying what was left of the yellow structure. After a moment, Palkia got back up and took back off into the sky.
"Okay Palkia! Let's try something new!" Dawn decided. "Ice Beam!"
Palkia opened its jaws and fired a blast of white electricity at Zwei. Zwei responded by firing her own Ice Beam from between her hands. Both beams connected head on and created a large chunk of ice in the air that quickly exploded. Zwei then flew threw the icy mist of the shattered chunk of ice and threw another Shadow Ball attack that hit Palkia in the face before the giant ice shards hit the ground.
"Hydro Pump!" Dawn commanded.
Palkia quickly recovered from Zwei's attack and breathed out a powerful blast of water. Zwei was hit from the front and hurled into the dense forest below. After a few moments though, Zwei emerged from the trees and flew back up to face the white dragon of space. The psychic feline's body glowed briefly with a pink light and in seconds all of the damage that Palkia had inflicted was gone.
"You're proving to be more of a challenge than we thought." Zwei and Amber spoke together. "Which means it will be all the more satisfying when we beat you."
"Spacial Rend!" Dawn ordered.
Plakia hurled another blade of pink energy through the air at Zwei, but the feline Pokemon once again avoided the attack with ease. She then flew in close and fired another Ice Beam that hit Palkia in the chest. In seconds, Palkia's body was encased completely in ice. The ice chunk containing Palkia dropped to the ground with a thud. Zwei calmly watched the forest below before the chunk of ice suddenly broke apart and Palkia flew back into the sky with a roar.
"I've had enough of this!" Dawn declared. "Palkia! Get in as close as you can and use Ice Beam!"
Zwei flew off at top speed and Palkia immediately gave chase. The white dragon shot several Ice Beams from its mouth, but Zwei quickly zig-zagged right and left each time and avoided the attack. After this went on for several seconds though, Zwei moved the wrong was and was hit in the back by one of Palkia's Ice Beams. In seconds the psychic feline was completely encased in ice.
"We've got her now!" Dawn declared. "Use Spacial Rend!"
The white dragon of space hurled another blade of pink energy at the chunk of ice containing Zwei. This time the blade hit its target and shattered the ice completely. An unconscious Zwei started to fall towards the forest, but before she hit the trees her eyes snapped open and her body glowed with a pink light. Seconds later Zwei shot back up into the air and hovered to glare at Palkia. Most of the damage that Zwei had just taken had been healed.
Zwei's eyes glowed red, and suddenly Palkia's body was frozen by a red aura. The psychic feline pushed the air with her hands, and Palkia's body was hurled back to the ground into the wreckage that was Dr. Fuji's house. After a few moments, Palkia managed to get back up but was having some trouble standing. Just as Palkia was about to take back off into the air, Zwei spread her arms and a swirling ball of purple energy started to form in front of her. In a matter of seconds, the ball grew to four times the size of Zwei's body.
"Psystrike!" Zwei and Amber called out together as the feline brought her arms together.
The ball of light flew down and struck Palkia like a cannonball. Upon impact, the white and pink dragon was enveloped in a blinding explosion of white light that expanded outward from the wreckage of the house. The force of the explosion blew Dawn, Dedenne and a still unconscious Piplup back into a tree. The unconscious bodies of Dr. Fuji and Muldoon were blown away as well. Several of the wild Pokemon in the area ran or flew away as fast as possible as the light continued to radiate outward.
It was several moments before the light from the explosion finally cleared. As the dust settled, Dawn managed to get back to her feet. She limped a bit as she walked towards the site of the explosion. A frightened Dedenne remained behind with Piplup, who was still out cold. Dawn finally got to Palkia and saw the dragon was lying on its side unconscious. Meanwhile back up in the air, Zwei reverted to her original form.
"One of the gods of this world has fallen before us." Zwei observed. "No one can stand against our power."
"It would appear not." Amber agreed as she flew over to Zwei's side. "It appears that we're the perfect life forms that Dr. Fuji intended to create. But I do wonder… do you think he ever imagined that we would be this powerful?"
"We can only guess." Zwei replied with a shrug. "In the end, however… it doesn't matter what Dr. Fuji intended for us."
Back down on the ground, Dawn called Palkia back to its ball and looked up at Amber and Zwei. "Okay! So you've won! Now what do you plan to do?"
Amber looked down at Dawn with cold indifference. "We don't know. For now, I suppose Zwei and I will travel this world to search for our purpose. But we are done with this island… with this false life that Dr. Fuji planned for us. Therefore, we shall do away with it. Goodbye Dawn. If you survive and we meet again, perhaps we shall have another battle. Zwei and I really enjoyed fighting you and Palkia."
Suddenly Amber's Keystone glowed again and Zwei changed into her Mega form with a flash of pink light. Amber and Zwei's eyes glowed and suddenly the ground beneath what little remained of Dr. Fuji's house exploded outward. Dawn and her two Pokemon were blown away once again, and as they were hurled through the air the blunette felt a tree branch hit the back of her head. After that, everything went dark.
Dawn slowly opened her eyes to find that she was staring up at the metal ceiling of a dimly lit room. She didn't know where she was, but the pain in the back of her skull told her that she was still alive. The blunette managed to turn her head to the right, and she saw that next to the bed she was in was a white nightstand that had all six of her pokeballs along with her pokedex sitting on it. After a few moments, Dawn finally sat up and saw Piplup and Dedenne sound asleep at the bed. Dedenne woke up and saw that Dawn awake as well. Piplup awoke next and soon both Pokemon got to their feet and went up to their trainer. Dawn pulled both of the close and tears came to her eyes, as she was very happy that the two were still alive after what happened.
Suddenly the three heard a growing noise coming from nearby. Dawn looked, and standing in the open doorway of the room was a lion-like Pokemon with a large red mane with five thick yellow stripes that ran out from the edges of its face like the rays of the sun. The feline had a face of light-brown fur with a dark-brown nose and two bright blue eyes. Much of its body was covered in dark-brown fur, with light-brown fur covering its legs and the tip of its tail. Dedenne shivered in fear upon seeing the lion, afraid that perhaps the feline saw him as his next meal. Dawn picked up her pokedex to identify what the foreign Pokemon was.
"Scanning national database…" the pokedex spoke in its mechanical female voice. "Entry found. Pyroar: The Royal Pokemon. Pyroar are able to breath flames as hot as 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The males with the largest mane are considered to be the leader of the pride."
Pyroar nudged his head for Dawn to follow him and exited the room. After a moment, Dawn and her two Pokemon slowly walked after him. The trio followed the lion through a dimly lit corridor to a much larger room that was just as dark. At the far wall of the room was a large video screen with a black chair in front of it. Dawn could see that someone was sitting in the chair, but she couldn't tell whom. The screen meanwhile was showing an image of Dr. Fuji talking about the progress of his experiment.
"Fuji, you damn fool!" the man in the chair cursed, banging his hand into the arm. "How could you have done something so… so reckless?"
Pyroar walked up next to the man's chair and growled, getting his attention.
"I see. So she's awake." The man spoke as he patted the lion on the head. "Thank you for telling me."
With that, the man's chair turned around and Dawn was able to see what he looked like. He had long red hair styled like a lion's mane and a beard. He had on a red ascot with a black suit, consisting of a jacket with a grey-furred collar and red outlines and pockets, and black slacks with red lines running down the sides of the legs. The man also had on black shoes and black fingerless gloves.
"I'm glad to see that you're finally up." The redhead greeted. "I am Lysandre. Mind telling me who you are, and how you ended up on Dr. Fuji's island?"
"I'm… Dawn Berlitz. And I ended up on that island because of an accident." The blunette answered. "…Where am I exactly?"
"You are aboard my ship heading for Amberette Town in the Kalos Region." Lysandre explained. "It's fortunate for you that we were heading to the island with supplies when the… incident happened. I was coming along personally to view the progress of Dr. Fuji's experiment."
"So… you were the one funding Dr. Fuji's experiment." Dawn deduced.
Lysandre sighed and gave Dawn a very solemn expression. "I'm afraid so. But I would like to assure you that I never intended for anything like this to happen."
"What was the point of all this?" Dawn asked. "Just who are you, anyway?"
"Among other things, I'm a scientist who's been researching Mega Evolution." Lysandre began as we went back to his chair. "My goal is to somehow use the energy created by Mega Evolution to bring a new and peaceful age to this planet. As a sort of side project, I experimented with a way to create an artificial Mega Stone. The rest you probably know. I gave the stone to Dr. Fuji to see if it was compatible with Mewtwo. I had found out he was the one responsible for that Pokemon's creation through certain… connections. But I never imagined that Dr. Fuji's work would lead to the creation of a genetically engineered human being, let alone one with such incredible abilities. Now both she and the second Mewtwo are loose on the world."
"Well your Mega Stone worked." Dawn told him rather bitterly. "Amber was able to get her Mewtwo, Zwei to Mega Evolve."
"I know. My people and I were able to watch your battle using a satellite I had orbiting above the island after we detected the energy from the Mega Evolution you spoke of." Lysandre revealed. "I'm not going to ask you where you got that Palkia, and I'm sure you have no desire to tell me. I only wish that you and your Pokemon had been successful in that battle."
"Maybe a lot of this wouldn't have happened if Amber didn't have those powers of hers." Dawn remarked.
"Dr. Fuji's early notes, which we were able to recover from an offsite server he had been backing up all of his notes to, speculated that begins with psychic powers like Mewtwo have a much greater life force, great enough to survive his cloning process." Lysandre revealed. "I suppose what happened has confirmed this."
"So… what happened to the island?" Dawn asked. "And to Dr. Fuji and Mr. Muldoon?"
"The island has been split into five different pieces." Lysandre answered. "As far as we can tell, all of the Pokemon living on the island survived. My people found you on one of those pieces at the edge of what is now a beach. As for Dr. Fuji and his assistant, they are injured but alive. Though… I'm unsure as to whether or not Dr. Fuji will survive, as his injuries were far more severe."
"What about Amber and Zwei?" Dawn asked. "Do you know what happened to them?"
"We have no idea where they've vanished to." Lysandre answered. "But my people and I will do our best to look for them." The redhead then turned his chair back to face the screen and clicked a few buttons on a remote he had. The paused recording of Dr. Fuji was replaced with images of Dawn winning different Pokemon Contests. "I asked your name because I wanted to be sure that you were Dawn Berlitz, the coordinator. I confess that a part of me hoped that you were your sister, Diane. I've read some of her papers and can tell she's a skilled researcher, one who I wouldn't mind having in my employment."
"I'll pass that along next time I see her." Dawn replied. "So… what happens to me now?"
"We'll drop you off in Amberette Town when we get there." Lysandre answered. "I assume that you'll want to try and participate in some of the Kalos Region's contests."
"Uh… yeah. That is why I came out this way in the first place." Dawn admitted.
"For now, why don't you go back to your room and rest?" Lysandre suggested. "We'll let you know when we reach port."
"I'll do that. Thanks." Dawn replied before turning for the door with her two Pokemon.
"And Ms. Berlitz… I'm sorry we had to meet under such circumstances." Lysandre told her.
Dawn nodded and headed out of the room with Piplup and Dedenne. After a few moments, they were back in Dawn's room aboard the ship. Dawn got back into bed closed her eyes, trying to forget the nightmare of Dr. Fuji's island. Though she was unable to forget, Dawn did eventually manage to fall into a dreamless sleep.
Author's Note: I apologize if the battle in this chapter wasn't all that it could've been. I tried making it a little longer, but there's kind of an ebb and flow to these things in my experience. Anyway, in this chapter we find out that Dr. Fuji's experiments were funded by none other than Lysandre, the leader of Team Flare. I've never played X and Y, but I've seen Lysandre in the Mega Evolution specials of the anime and happen to think he's one of the better villains in the franchise. He even has his own spy villain cat Pokemon like Giovanni.
Please review and let me know what you think.