Agent of Change
by Cyberchao X

Chapter 5

Spear Pillar

Evan had beaten Pepe, and even Team Galactic, to the top of Mt. Coronet, but without the physical presence of his master, the Great Old One known as "OLDEN", there was little he could do. So he waited.

The Fletchizard approached at roughly the same time Pepe did, and because of the chill, its rain turned to snow.

Evan had been tempted to intervene with Team Galactic, but his master assured him to just wait it out. So he did, and watched as Cyrus, Pepe, and Cynthia were taken into the Distortion World. The Lake Trio had also gone in there. Evan was surprised that he wasn't supposed to go after them, but OLDEN used its reality-warping abilities to summon a new set of Red Chains. "Grab them. Giratina is too distracted to do anything about it." Ah, so that was the plan. Using Team Galactic's ambition to distract the other legendaries, they would snatch away Dialga and Palkia. If the host managed to capture Giratina, it would destabilize the region, and Arceus would appear. Brilliant. And yet, even now there was some instability… They left.

CCX: Normally I wouldn't do something so bold while the run is still running, but in this case it actually makes perfect sense. PP has the "Seen" entry for Dialga and Palkia in his Pokédex, and if I recall correctly, in Platinum it's the scene at Spear Pillar that adds those entries—since you need to have seen the entire Sinnoh Pokédex in order to get the National Dex and Dialga and Palkia aren't exactly available for capture until the postgame. So during the Mt. Coronet event, it would seem that the real Dialga and Palkia were present. And yet, if PP ever actually gets a chance to try to fight them, they'll be randomized. So where are the real ones?

Eterna City

Nina darted into hiding, hoping she hadn't been spotted. She'd been staying here in hopes that Evan would eventually come this way, but instead, the current Host had come back yet again, still after that Giratina. It would be very bad if the Voices saw her. Fortunately, she'd sent the Jellicents back so that she could retrieve her Eeveelutions' Poké Balls.

There was no news of the odd storm since it had approached Mt. Coronet. This was before she'd contacted Cynthia, so if he'd been there, he'd left on the Aerodactyl. But, wait, wouldn't she have seen him if he'd gone that way from Newmoon? Eterna was right between the island and the mountain's peak.

The storm had returned to Stark Mountain before heading to Mt. Coronet. That was probably where they were setting up their base of operations. As soon as the coast was clear, she'd set off for there.

Stark Mountain

Okay, that…wasn't the Lake Guardian I expected to see at Lake Acuity. But then again, this definitely isn't my Sinnoh. The young man with the Crobat then turned around, hearing a large Pokémon behind him. "What the…is that a Rayquaza?! But it's…"

Meanwhile, Nina was panicked at having apparently run smack dab into the Host again, but stopped. "Wait, that was a coherent sentence…and you don't even know what a Mega Rayquaza is, much less who I am. You look so much like the Host, but you're not…"

"I know what Mega Evolution is; my cousin has a Charizard and a Lucario capable of it. But…Host? You don't mean…the Voices?"

"You know about them?"

"I once had to deal with them. Longest three weeks of my life."

"Three? Ouch. I only had to deal with them for two."

"Well, it was really more like two and a half, but I round up because it felt like so much longer. Wait, you've had them too?"

"Yeah. They're here right now, possessing a boy who looks a lot like you, except maybe a little younger. There's another former Host here, too."

"Is that the guy with the mutant Charizard?"

"…Yeah, that's the one. But I don't think it's been out of its Poké Ball recently; we'd know if it had by the torrential downpours."

"It wasn't. He flew here on an Aerodactyl, after first heading to Lake Acuity and capturing a…Mesprit." (CCX: I find it highly unlikely that we'll manage to capture both the static and the roaming Mesprit, so I feel comfortable having Evan swipe one of them despite the run still being in progress.) "But it was out when I was…brought here."

"…Brought here?"

"Yeah…this world looks just like my native Sinnoh, but it's totally bizarre."

Nina suddenly had a hunch who she was talking to. "Nice Crobat. You wouldn't by any chance happen to also have a female Roserade, would you?"

"How did…"

"You must be Napoleon. The Voices mentioned you a couple of times while I was under their control, particularly where my Roserade were concerned. Something about her mate and child getting eaten by a time distortion?"

Napoleon shuddered. "My Sinnoh's been pretty unstable for a while. At first I thought it was Cyrus's doing, but it hasn't stopped."

"Yeah, that…may be the work of the unknown Great Old One. It definitely seems to have some ability to tear through the fabric of dimensions…and due to the power of Sinnoh's legendary Pokémon, it's probably more prone to happening there. I think you might have been caught up in this even then, and that's how some of your Pokémon wound up in Hoenn."

"Wait, does that mean…you have those Pokémon?"

"…Some of them. But now's not the time for a reunion. Evan and his master are very dangerous."

CCX: Yes, Moonbat evolved off-screen. Hey, Dream BABA had a fully-evolved team when in reality she needed five more evolutions, so I can at least grant one, right?

…Yes, one. Not three. I wouldn't dream of messing with that.