AN: Hi there! So the story's finally finished! Well, by that I mean the epilogue chapter's going to be up in a few days (once I'm happy with it). In the end, this was half the size of my first story, but that's fine by me- it's not about the length.

This one is ending, but the epilogue is going to lead straight into the next story. My writing schedule's a bit strange right now, because all I want to do right now is play my Alpha Sapphire! But I have finals coming up... That kinda sucks. I'm also trying to clean up the earlier chapters of this story and of IWTIAATH, which I'll probably repost once I've finished combing over them. Add that to the fact that whenever I hit something interesting in Alpha Sapphire, my brain explodes with more writing ideas *glares at Steven and the badass mural* And... uh... I kinda can't tell you any more without spoiling crap ;)

ANYWAY! I don't know what I'm going to call the next story quite yet, but it's going to be short(-ish). Mainly, each chapter is going to be a long one-shot, based on events in ORAS, altered to fix into my timeline here :D Anyway, here you go! Enjoy!

Michael shivered in the echoing darkness. All the lights had failed; leaving he and Yveltal in pitch blackness. And after the screaming roar of the machine activating, the silence was deafening. Michael could still feel Yveltal's soft feathers under his fingers, and he gently ran his hand down until his found the Pokemon's neck, resting his fingers on the side of the Pokemon's neck, feeling the frantic beat of the Pokemon's heart and the struggling breaths. So Yveltal was still alive. One part of Michael's mind was happy, glad that he'd moved in time to save the bird. The other part was wondering if whatever the machine had done would be a worse death. In the original timeline, the machine hadn't managed to fire before Yveltal and Xerneas rampaged, so Michael had no idea what had happened when the machine went off.

Beneath Michael, Yveltal crooned softly, and Michael began stroking its feathers again. With his other hand, he reached down to his belt and released his three Pokemon. Thanau's tail flared in the darkness, casting dancing shadows against the walls. Blinking at the sudden light, Michael waited for his eyes to adjust again before he looked to each of the Pokemon in the room with him.

"I'm sorry everyone." He apologized. "We've managed to save Yveltal from the machine, but the weapon has already fired. I'm guessing however it works, this is only a lull. And even if the weapon's fire doesn't hit this town, we're trapped here, deep underground. There's no way anyone's going to be able to get down here in time to save us." He sighed as Thanau and Broga looked at each other nervously. "Either we're going to run out of air and suffocate, or we're going to starve, or something's going to shift and the ceiling's going to collapse on us." He paused again, letting his eyes fall closed. "I'm sorry."

He knelt on the pedestal with his eyes closed, and his heart was so full of guilt that he was oblivious to the shadowed room around him. He didn't see the Absol padding over to the pedestal and using the tangle of wires to climb up the side. He didn't see the Greninja leaping up and using the higher wires to swing in the same direction. And he didn't see the Charizard flapping his wings and lifting off the ground to join his fellows.

Michael saw none of this, but he felt when Cycgod laid down next to him, pressing her white-furred flank against his thigh. He felt when Broga sat on his other side and leaned on his shoulder. And he felt when Thanau landed behind him and wrapped warm wings around the three of them. And then Yveltal lifted its head, and Michael opened his eyes. Bright green met bright blue in the gloom, and then Yveltal closed its eyes and dropped its head on Michael's lap.

And in the darkness, they waited.

Darius glared at the milling people around him. The calm part of his mind told him not to glare; they were watching a fireball which would likely kill them all rising up into the sky. Of course they were panicking. The not so calm part of his mind however wanted to leave. He wanted to go back to Geosenge Town and tear back into the collapsed base. He was almost certain Michael was still alive, and being the older agent, Darius felt it was his job to keep the teen safe. Also, Darius was used to being the most likely one to get hurt or even die in dangerous situations. He most definitely did not like being on the other side; wondering if Michael was going to survive to see another sunrise.

As it was however, the crowd around him was only several words away from breaking into a panicked mob, and panicked mobs had a bad tendency of getting even more people killed. The only thing keeping them settled right now was Darius's barked orders and a quick flash of his badge. If he left, they'd panic, and by his badge it was his job to make sure there were as few casualties as possible.

Celebi frowned as she flitted across the sky, searching for anyone who could help. The boy, Michael, had surprised her. Not about trying to save Yveltal; that she had expected. It was one of the reasons she'd chosen him in the first place. But she'd stayed, hidden when he'd sent the other human away. He stayed to make sure one of the Pokemon of his nightmares wasn't in pain and alone, as the end of the world fell around their heads.

She didn't have the power to pull both of them out; not before the fireball landed on their heads. She wasn't sure if anyone had that power. At least, not anyone in the area. But maybe there was one who could do something. But she had to hurry. Manipulating time took a lot of energy; energy she no longer had to spare.

"Johnny, we're leaving!"

Johnny glanced away from the deputy he'd been talking to, frowning as he watched his boss stalking away with his coat billowing out behind him. Gathered people parted before him like the seas, and Johnny shot a glance up at where the fireball had disappeared into the sky before running after his boss, calling out after the man. "Looker, where are we going exactly?"

"To find Stellon! If that kid thinks he's going to get himself killed doing something over the top to save everyone and leave me to fill out all the paperwork, he's got another think coming!"

Johnny nearly tripped over his own feet before he sighed and grinned. Looker was worried about Darius. He was just showing it in his own way. And they would find Darius. Alive, if not completely well. They always did, afterall.

Yveltal shivered, considering the situation. He was dying. Not even his own power could save him now. The small human kneeling by his head had tried, and that was a thought that baffled the Pokemon of Death. Since ancient times, he'd been respected and feared in equal measures. But this human had stayed with him, despite the fact that the action was a death sentence. Despite the child's efforts though, the machine had taken too much of his energy. It was going to end. Everything. Yveltal wasn't quite sure what to think of that. He was the embodiment of Death itself. He knew Death came to all. But still he felt strange. Perhaps it was because he knew that it hadn't been this child's time to die. He knew the child's fate had been to survive this encounter. And yet, somehow, fate was confused. Because now, unless something was done, the child was going to die.

Michael shivered in the darkness. He'd recalled his three Pokemon into their balls just a few minutes earlier. At least in the Pokeballs, they'd be safe from some of the threats in this cavern. In there, they wouldn't suffocate or starve. At least he could save his team. That is, if whatever the weapon had done didn't utterly destroy them all.

Michael couldn't quite suppress his flinch when Yveltal shifted, and he felt the horned head lift from his lap. In the darkness however, the boy was completely blind, and he couldn't even see Yevltal's outline. Slowly, he reached his hand out to where he thought the Pokemon's head was as he tried to listen for movement.

Just as his fingers made contact with feathers, there was a tap of something hitting the concrete floor, several feet away. Turning his head in the direction of the sound and feeling Yveltal do the same, Michael blinked, wondering if it was a part of the ceiling finally collapsing. He blinked again however when he realised he could see something. It was very faint, almost a shadow of imagination. But as he watched, colours began to appear in his sight. A great fan of branches began to shimmer with a multi-hued rainbow. The light they cast glowed brighter and brighter, and it slowly revealed a graceful blue and black furred body, with long delicate legs.

"Xerneas." Michael breathed out, his voice not even a whisper. The great head dipped gently, and the Pokemon of Life slowly began to stride towards the pedestal. With the light of Xerneas's antlers glowing, it took several seconds before Michael could see that Yveltal too had begun to glow with a deep red colour. Michael shivered when he felt the Pokemon's feathers begin to heat up. Drastically. In 30 seconds, the light coming from Yevltal's body was too intense, too bright, and Michael was forced to close his eyes. But even though he could see the red light through his eyelids, and even though he could feel his hand burning with the heat coming from the feathered neck, Michael refused to leave the Pokemon's side. No matter what had happened in the past, in the other past, here and now the Pokemon was dying, and no doubt in pain. And so Michael would stay, even as the rainbow light from Xerneas's antlers spread to encompass the pair huddled on the pedestal of the Ultimate Machine.

Darius grimaced as he watched the falling fireball from Cyllage City. Everyone in Geosenge had been evacuated to either Cyllage or Shalour. Everyone except Michael. Serena had tracked Darius down shortly after he'd gotten the crowd moving in south towards the city, once it had been confirmed that the fireball had begun descending and was heading straight for its point of origin. The blonde-haired trainer had told Darius of how Michael had called on the Pokemon Celebi to get through the door, and how he'd stayed with Yveltal when the ceiling had begun to collapse. She was obviously feeling guilty about having left him behind, but there wasn't much Darius could think of to reassure her. So together they helplessly watched with the soon to be homeless people of Geosenge, waiting for the impact.

No.

Darius flinched at the pulse of emotion flowed out from Geosenge.

Ally-opposite-balance-will-not-loose-MINE!

And people around him began to scream as multi-coloured light shot up and exploded against the oncoming comet.

Michael grimaced as he became aware of a tingling stabbing sensation in what he thought was his body. But that didn't make sense. He vaguely remembered that Xerneas had appeared, and there had been a terrible roar from above, and everything had disappeared in fire and pain. He should have been dead. He'd accepted that. And yet it was becoming obvious the longer he was awake that, despite everything, he was still very much alive.

Michael's eyes shot open when he realised that his fingers were no longer tangled in sleek black feathers. The first thing he realised once his eyes were open was that he could see the sky. The edges were the slate blue grey of a heavily overcast day. However, directly above his head was a perfect circle of clear blue sky. Once he'd registered the sky, his eyes wandered down to the horizon around him. There was a 100-ft radius around him; a smoking earthen circle that arced up around him in every direction. It took him several more minutes to realise that he was sitting in the heart of a crater. Wincing at the pins and needles that prickled and pulled at his muscles, Michael sat up and looked around. The pedestal he'd been sitting on was, oddly enough, completely intact, but everything, including the wires that had been connected to it, was gone. When he twisted around enough to see behind himself, he was somewhat startled to see Xerneas standing amidst the destruction. Beside the deer, Celebi flitted from side to side, glancing between Michael, Xerneas, and a strange red rock on the ground between Xerneas's hooves.

Celebi flitted forward, settling herself upon a startled Michael's head.

"I'm sorry."

Michael blinked, twisting around so quickly that he almost threw Celebi from his head, trying to see who had spoken. He was more than a little confused when he saw no one behind him.

"Who's there?" He called, glancing around again with a slower movement. Still on top of his head, Celebi tapped his temple with one of her little fingers.

"You would call me Amersu, back when you didn't know what kind of Pokemon I was."

Michael slowly rolled his eyes up, trying to look at the Pokemon on top of him. All he could see though were the two little antennae on top of her head.

"You're talking?" He asked, wondering if he had just imagined it. The antennae bobbed and a small part of her head appeared in his vision for a second as the little green Pokemon nodded.

"It requires more effort than I usually use to communicate, but I need to explain things as clearly as possible to you the first time." Celebi shifted, sliding from the top of Michael's head down to the side to rest on his shoulder. One little hand gently held his ear as she balanced herself.

"It seems Yveltal told Xerneas what was happening before the fireball landed." Celebi began, indicating the deer with her free hand. "According to Yveltal, you were not supposed to die. Not for many years to come at least. It agitated him that your time was going to end early."

"Yveltal was worried about me?" Michael asked, blinking in confusion. The only information he'd had on the legendary Pokemon was eyewitness accounts of an agony driven rampage. But still, to coincide that with worrying for a simple human the Pokemon had never even met before, while Yveltal was dying…

"Yveltal is the Pokemon of Death as well as the Pokemon of Destruction." Celebi said plainly. "He knows when things should die, and when they should not." Michael felt her shake her head. "You are from the other timeline, which means you do not fit into this timeline linearly. Because of that, you should not have been there."

"So Yveltal saved me… because I was a mistake?" Almost before Michael finished his sentence, Celebi was pinching his ear, her tiny pointed fingers biting into the soft flesh, causing the young man to yelp in pain. Off to the side, Xerneas snorted and bobbed his head, pawing at the ground in obvious annoyance.

"No!" Celebi's psychic voice reprimanded sharply. "Yveltal sought to spare you because it was not your time to die! Because everything has a time to die, and things to do before that happens! But your time was being stolen from you, by your own caring nature. Your time was being cut off because you sought to bring comfort to one who was already dead."

"He wasn't dead yet!" Michael interrupted, twisting his head around to glare at Celebi so quickly that she nearly tumbled off his shoulder. The psychic type took a moment to rebalance herself before she sighed, and off to the side Xerneas dipped his head, closing his eyes briefly.

"The machine stole too much of Yveltal's energy." The time traveller said sadly. "By the time you'd arrived, it was already too late. Even if you'd managed to get him away from the town before the blast landed, he didn't have enough energy left to function, and his body would have failed him."

"So… you're saying I failed…" Michael murmured, looking down and feeling a shiver run down his spine. On his shoulder, he felt Celebi shift, as though she was about to say something, but instead she remained silent, and after a moment she lifted off his shoulder and flitted away. Michael bit his lip as he felt more shivers run down his spine. He'd failed to stop Team Flare. He'd failed to stop Lysandre. He'd failed to stop the weapon. And in the end, he'd even failed to save Yveltal.

Before his thoughts could go further, something large, round, warm and heavy landed in his lap. As it began to roll down his thighs, he instinctively reached out and caught it, looking up to study the thing. Celebi fluttered for a moment in the spot she'd dropped the object from before landing herself once more on Michael's shoulder.

"Legendary Pokemon are renowned for two things." She said quietly while Michael studied the object. "The first is our power. The second is our rareness. Consider myself for example. There are, perhaps, two or three Celebi in the entire world at one time, but never more. So what do you think happens when a legendary Pokemon dies?"

Michael blinked, thrown off by Celebi's words. He, like many others he supposed, had always believed there was only one of each legendary Pokemon. But she made a point. Legendary or not, the Pokemon weren't immortal. So how did they continue to exist over the millennia?

Slowly, Michael's eyes focused on the object Celebi had left in his lap. It was round and rather ovate, with the base being wider and tapering towards the top. It was an intense red, except for three black lines stretching around it. One running straight through the base and rising up to the middle to meet with the other two lines, which reached at roughly 45 degree angles to the centre, up and around the egg. The result was a design on the front that looked like a black 'Y'.

"Why are you showing this to me?" Michael asked, gently running his fingers over the warm egg, and shivering as he did so. Whether it was from cold, or from something else, he did not know. Celebi patted his head, just behind his ear.

"You knowingly sacrificed your chance of survival to make sure Yveltal wouldn't be alone in those last few minutes." She said quietly, as Michael continued to stroke the egg. "Legendary Pokemon or not, an egg is completely defenceless, and a new hatchling isn't much stronger. If a legendary Pokemon knows they're dying, they usually find another of their kind to watch over and train the hatchling. However, it was Yveltal's wish that it would be you who would raise and protect his successor."

"I can't train a baby legendary!" Michael yelped, shooting Celebi a panicked look out of the corner of his eye. If he wasn't so freaked out by what she was saying, he'd have sworn the little psychic type giggled.

"When the time comes, Xerneas and I will help train the hatchling, along with any others who are willing. But Michael, Yveltal was trusting you." Here Celebi paused for emphasis before she continued. "He was trusting you with the safety and care of his child Michael. Now that you know, can you really let go of that egg and send it to a faraway land and to a faraway Pokemon that does not know of what happened here?"

Michael stared at Celebi for a moment before he looked back to the egg. Yveltal's child, resting in the same lap Yveltal had draped his own head, minutes before his death. The teen tried to imagine the scenario Celebi had given. Tried to imagine putting the egg down, and walking away. Knowing the baby would probably never truly know what happened to its parent. Himself never knowing how the hatchling was doing, how the baby was growing and learning. Not knowing whether or not Yveltal's child was happy, despite the circumstances of its birth. It took several minutes of quiet thought before Michael realised he was crying.

"I can't." He admitted, somewhat surprised himself. "I can't let it go. I don't know why, I'm probably the worst surrogate the baby could have, but I can't let it go." He stared down at the egg, and at his hands; wrapped protectively around the shell. Slowly, he folded over the egg, wrapping it in his body as he felt his throat close up and his head begin to pound. Celebi remained on his shoulder for a few moments longer before she gently lifted off, fluttering over to Xerneas and lightly touching down on one of his antler prongs. The two Pokemon shared a look in silence before Celebi flitted up, away, and out of sight. Xerneas stood in silence for several more minutes before slowly turning away and striding up the rim of the crater, disappearing over the edge.

Alone in the crater, Michael tightened his grip on the precious object he'd been given, and let his tears fall.

Darius gritted his teeth and tried to ignore the tears that the sharp, biting wind was bringing to his eyes. Below him he could feel Ryuushi's muscles straining as the Altaria flew as fast as she could, back towards Geosenge. Darius let her fly, instead focusing his mind on reaching out as far as he could to feel the town without leaving his body again. He'd left Cyllage as soon as he'd sensed Looker approaching; leaving the blonde trainer named Serena in charge of keeping them calm until Looker arrived. Then the crowd would hold Looker back, allowing Darius more time to search.

He wasn't even sure why he was so positive Michael was alive. The fireball had destroyed the entire town, and even some of the land around it. But still, he reached his senses out, searching for that now familiar energy. He supposed his desperation was two-fold. He was the older agent, which meant by the conventions of the International Police, he was in charge of keeping Michael safe and out of harm's way. But he also wanted to consider himself the boy's friend. At the very least, his familiarity with Michael's energy pattern was proof enough to Darius that he himself considered Michael a friend, even if the teen was perhaps not so friendly.

"You'll find the boy." Rayquaza rumbled in the back of Darius's mind.

"What makes you so sure?" Darius sniped in return, regretting his biting tone the moment he projected the words. Luckily, Rayquaza did not seem to be offended.

"From what you have told me, the boy is remarkably like yourself. That is my reason for believing an incident like this will not kill him."

Darius paused at that thought.

"Not sure being like me is a good thing." Darius admitted wryly. Rayquaza chuckled.

"It is both good and bad. But I like to think he's like you in that he will also strive to do the right thing, despite guaranteed threats." Darius thought of Giratina and snorted. Guaranteed threats indeed. Focusing his senses again, Darius swept his mind over the town once more, searching for that familiar energy.

Pain-in-heart hit him first, and Darius had to blink, focusing his concentration on the area the shimmer of emotion had come from. He was almost unsurprised to find his senses leading him towards the very heart of the destruction. Focusing past the first emotion, Darius sensed what was unmistakably Michael's energy; warped with guilt-hope-sadness-pain-fragile-joy-little-one-safe-now-no-threat-just-hurting. Darius blinked, shaking his head at the clarity of the emotions rising up from the huddled figure on the ground. He'd ask Rayquaza about it later. But for now, he settled for directing Ryuushi down, landing several feet away before walking over alone to join the boy crouched on the ground.

Lost-child-orphan-don't-be-afraid-I'll-keep-you-safe radiated from Michael's hunched form, all directed at the large red object that he was protectively curled around. It didn't take much of a leap for Darius to figure out that it was an egg, despite how well Michael was wrapping himself around it like a living blanket. As he got closer, Darius saw Michael stiffen, and he sensed the boy's emotions shift with no-words-please-too-hurt-don't-understand-don't-make-me-explain-please. Smiling softly, Darius walked up behind him and sat down, leaning his back against Michael's without saying anything, and without asking anything. Michael was rigid for several seconds before he let out a breath and slumped around the egg once more, his energy skirling with pure relief-support-friend-calm-safe-here. It made Darius smile, and so he sat and leaned and waited. With a couple of gestures Darius sent Ryuushi flying out of sight, to keep watch and make sure no one would stumble in and break the fragile sense of security that Darius strove to weave around Michael and the infant inside the egg. He didn't know where it came from, or how Michael had survived the impact, or even what had happened with Yveltal, but he didn't care. Not right now.

AN: Muwahaha! Um, when I started this, I was planning something else. Not very different, but... yeah. I'm actually happier with this ending :D Muwahahaha! So, Xerneas stepped in and used his power to save Michael, because I am evil :-D The epilogue isn't like the last one- it was originally more of a one-shot, but it fit better as the epilogue, since it's more tied into this plotline than a regular one-shot would be IMHO. Anyway, like I said, I'll get that posted when I'm happy with it.