Chapter 23 – Indigo Temporality
"I think we had all lost something during this war. All our views had been turned over and we had been forced to re-examine them, whether it was our view on life and death, our link to those we love, our thoughts about good and evil or our innocence in believing everything was going to be alright, and we'd all have our happily ever after. But this isn't a fairy tale, and sometimes the good guys don't win." Erika
[10:39AM] – 27th May 2011 – Kanto - Indigo Plateau
They approached the Plateau after sleeping for around eight hours, undisturbed, Latias and Mewtwo watching over them. The only time one of them stirred from their death-like slumber was when Erika woke up to stop Lance's snoring, and promptly fell back asleep again after stealing his cloak once more to use as a blanket, cuddling up with her Chikorita.
Now they stood before the final hill, leading up to their destination, at the end of their journey.
In front of them, the Pokémon League rose up before them, in all its glory.
Former glory... It looked no different from when Lance had been up there nearly a month previously, the roof crumples in, gaps in the walls where the wind whistled through. The stadiums were to the right, past the main League itself, and beyond were the elite battle fields.
They approached, almost able to imagine what it might have once looked like, the pillar to each side lit with the flame of Moltres as people crowded around, eager to see the officials and the elites celebrating the night. The door itself hung off its hinges, creaking slightly as they brushed passed, moving through the small reception with non-working lifts and ruined stairs to the side. Beyond, almost immediately, they would enter the great hall, tattered red curtains, and wall murals. The grey and black Ho Oh looked lifeless, and dull, wings outspread, mirroring the Lugia on the opposite wall, odd tiles missing and the picture incomplete.
Ash spun around, looking at the arch way, and his gaze drifting to the only preserved image, a red eon dragon, a blue eon behind her and in the background of the blue, clear sky, was a faint mew-like shape.
It wasn't Mew though, and glancing at the purple clone, he knew just what legendary it was.
Latias floated into the room, hovering beside the picture of the eon dragons, coincidentally in front of the red Latias, until it looked like she had her brother, cooing over her shoulder. Heart filling with sadness, Ash turned away, grabbing his pack, containing the precious gears, and moving over the left side of the room, dropping to the floor.
Last time Lance was here, he had paid no attention to the floor, but now he looked down. It was the various elements, spun around in endless; twisting circles which looked so, so similar to the mark on his arm. The tattoo he had gotten as a child, back in Blackthorn. Impulsively, he pulled up his sleeve, looking at the twisting mark, narrowing his eyes until he could spot the curling Dragonite, a Dragonair and a Dratini.
He angled his arm, frowning as the curling circles seemed to twist, with the light. A shape was appearing, as if unveiled before his eyes, a curling arc and the shape, dark haunted and hollow eyes of a skull…
Lance blinked, the image fading, and he struggled to find it again but came up short, finding only a curling circle, bound in an endless, interlocking loop.
What can you ever see?
It wasn't clear, and it wasn't reassuring. Time was running out, and if he was going to do something he had to do it fast. If… when he did something, it would have to make a difference.
Lance knew what he had to do. He knew what had to happen.
He didn't want to face it, and instead began examining the interlocking circles on the floor, the seventeen elements, bound together. The one in the middle was the normal, surrounded by five – fire, grass, water, ice and electric. Two or three more sat outside each one of these, fire surrounded by poison and ground, ice - rock and dragon, water - ghost and psychic, electric - dark and steel, and grass with flying, fighting and bug. They wove together to create on intricate floor pattern of the seventeen elements.
"And what about the last gear?" Misty demanded, and Lance looked up. "Where is it then?"
Wordlessly, Ash gestured up to the far end of the hall. There was one word, carved at the far end, at the top of the far wall, sitting above the pictures of the champions and elites. In swirling letters it spelt out a single word.
INDIGO
And the in the 'o' of the sign, a familiar pattern formed, a twisting, turning, gear.
[10:56AM] – 27th May 2011 – Kanto - Indigo Plateau
It was amusing watching Zo, trying to get to the final, dark type gear. She had shifted into a Pidgeot to fly up there, and then into a Cubone, balance precariously on a ledge with a bone club, trying to work out how to get the gear. Eventually Mewtwo and Latias took pity on the dark type, who seemed almost hysterical when she could not retrieve the gear of her own type, and the pair floated up to help her.
Lance had begun to set his into the floor pattern, and he wondered idly if the people who had built the Plateau knew what they were rebuilding. The dragon and rock gear slid into two of the outer circles, and as they did so the patterns in the floor glowed, a deep colour, matching that of the gear. There was a slight squeak from Misty, who had set the fire gear into the inner circle. Around her, the floor appeared to be molten flames, swirling and curling around each other, hungry tongues of fire.
Ash stood in the centre, placing the paint palette normal gear within. There was no big reaction for his, which simply glowed softly, and was accepted. He tossed the electric gear to Rai, Lance and Erika wincing at the careless action, but the orange mouse caught it, tail catching in the loop as he lowered it to its position on the floor, electricity dancing around it, black and yellow.
Misty crossed over to put her water and ice gears in place, similar effects appearing as the water swirled and ice crystals began to creep over the floor. Then Erika placed her grass one down, completing the circle.
Latias had stolen the psychic gear from Misty, and was hovering near Zo, who was trying to fit the dark gear in place, without switching to another form. Eventually it clicked, and the fox grinned triumphantly. Lance grabbed the ghost gear that Erika seemed to hate so, and slid it into place, a small piece of the bigger picture. In his peripheral vision he could see Ash, slowly beginning to set in the steel, Erika next to him with the ground, and Misty standing around, looking lost.
Lucario held the gear of fighting in his hand, seemingly unwilling to part with it, and Lance didn't miss the glance the red eyed jackal shot towards his trainer.
Ash and Erika stood against the right wall, admiring the pattern in the floor, and Lucario stood half way between them. Misty stood off towards the back, still lost and eyes bright, wanting to get this over with. Lance stood opposite Erika against the left wall, Latias and Zo beside him.
They were scattered across the hall, most of the gears fitted into place, only the fighting, bug, poison and flying remaining. Lucario held one, Erika held two of them, and Lance held the last one, the clear translucent flying gear.
"Well?" Misty asked her voice cracking the silence open, like a knife. "Aren't you going to finish putting them in place?"
Ash opened his mouth to answer, when the door at the far end exploded. Lance instantly ducked to the floor, head turning to the already lopsided wooden door, now smithereens as a dark suited figure strolled through the doors, calm and uncaring, a Persian trotting at his heels.
Mewtwo moved forwards, hand outstretched, but the figure made a disapproving noise. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Otherwise I signal to my grunts to blow this place sky high. And where would you be then, hmmm?"
Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket, stood before them, dark suit immaculate, even as he brushed an imaginary speck of dust from it, dark eyes glinting.
Ash let out a barely contained snarl and started forwards, but Erika grabbed onto him and refused to let go. The black Lucario took a fighting stance, and Mewtwo dithered, as Latias moved forwards to his side.
"I'd like to see you try." Lance staggered to his feet. "What do you want?"
Giovanni regarded him with cold, black eyes. "You dead, but that's obviously not feasible at the moment, so I'll have to settle for you bowing before me, champion."
"Ash..!" Lance heard Erika's strangled whisper, as she struggled to hold the angry aura guardian back. "Stop it! Stop and think – really take it in before you throw yourself over there!"
"Well that's not going to happen!" Lance spat, stepping forwards, "If you're here for the gears we won't let you have them!"
"Oh I don't want the gears," Giovanni laughed, "Your pathetic little attempts to start time are amusing, but not untoward. Maybe it will be easier, to restart time, before rewriting it completely."
"You're mad!" Misty snapped, stepping forwards.
Giovanni's lips curled in a smirk. "Oh look, just like last time – you're all here – except the spy..."
Ash sighed over by Erika. "Just once, they'll be somebody who wants to rule the world with good intentions to treat all Pokémon equally or something. Then again, knowing our luck, they'll probably end up being manipulated and tossed aside at the last minute so the second lieutenant can rule instead."
Erika glanced at him. "Have you been playing Black and White again?"
"What?"
"You think I'm mad?" Giovanni continued, chuckling, "Is it mad, to want to undo the mistakes of human kind? Mad, to try and rebuild our world?"
"We can rebuild our world without destroying everything we've already created!" Lance cried. "What you're doing, it's called… actually I don't know what it's called, but it doesn't matter. Most of the world deems you are wrong and so we'll stop you!"
"You don't recognise me, do you?" Ash finally fought his way free of Erika, shrugging her off as he stalked forward, a lethal predator, eyes narrowed at Giovanni. The dark suited man turned, blinking at the aura guardian.
"Why? Have I already given this speech to you?" the man scoffed.
Ash laughed; a bitter, jaded laugh with a touch of madness on the edge of it. "I suppose all the people you chuck in labs you just forget about then? All the spies you double cross, but let back in and then double cross again and kill? There must be so many you forget about them all. Forget about and let rot."
Giovanni's eyes widened, as he stared at Ash. "You." he breathed, for the first time, losing his composure.
"Yes. Me. Did you miss me?" Ash seemed to enjoy taunting him, stepping forward towards the two legendries.
"But you're dead!"
"I get that a lot." Ash drawled, taking a step forwards. "And maybe I am. But if I'm not dead then you certainly soon will be." His voice dropped into a cruel, cold promise.
Giovanni stepped back. "My grunts killed you; on the cliff side."
Ash stalked forwards another step, gaze hard, a blank, grey colour, "Then I guess they didn't do as good a job as you thought they did."
The rocket leader shivered. "I had you killed - and now you're haunting me." He stepped backwards again.
"But I'm not a ghost," the elite taunted.
Giovanni hissed. "You'll die like one." And he motioned to something behind him – in the mist and smoke rising up from the door, the rocket grunts that had spilled in behind him, shifted, uneasily. Then, in the darkness, a flash of red and yellow and blue, the beat of wings, the clack of claws…
The beast was the first visible, pacing obediently to its masters side, gaze dull and unseeing. Erika took a step back, gasping quietly, and even Ash edged away, eyes wide, as the four humans and their Pokémon tried to put as much distance as possible between themselves and that… that thing.
"What did they do to you?" Lance breathed eyes sad, as he stared at the dull puppet. Misty was staring in shock, while Ash had curled his lip in disgust.
"Do you like it?" Giovanni reached out, stroking the grey mane, "I call it the Entity. And so obedient, much more so than the hell hounds we set on you in the caverns, or those failures you discovered at Lavender."
"Shut up!" Erika screamed, "You're a monster – they were Pokémon once!"
"As was this," Giovanni motion to the creature. "This was once three legendary dogs of Johto, but now they answer to me."
The sabre toothed beast yawned, lazily, revealing curling fangs. The lion snarled, while the remaining dog tilted its head to one side, examining the room with a dull gaze. The three dogs of Johto indeed stood before them, but not as three separate entities, but merged together as one.
The animal stood, a metre high, with wide shoulders, supporting the three heads. The yellow furred, electric typed Raikou with the sabre fangs was flanked by the Suicune on the left, and the Entei on the right, fur rippling and merging together, blue, yellow and brown, the back covered in a grey, purple mane, like smoke rippling over its back. Instead of standing on four legs, the beast stood on six, two at the front supporting the shoulders, one striped yellow and black, the other a sky blue. Two supported the middle body, brown and blue, while the final pair rested yellow and brown under the three tails, which whipped from side to side lazily. The Entity resembled a Cerberus, a cruel mix of the three Johto beasts, it's will bent into servitude.
"Do you like him?" Giovanni crooned, "All the power of the dogs in one obedient pup. Few of our experiments worked, the hell hounds and Entity being two of them. Allow me to introduce you to a third."
The roof of the great hall was elaborate decoration, while rose to meet a centrepiece of a glass skylight, stained glass that lay directly over the central circle of gears. Erika lunged forwards, pulling Ash away as the glass above them shattered, and she dragged him back, as the sky seemed to shatter in on them. Ash didn't flinch, one hand extended, a light shield bubbling up and protecting them.
"Tia!" Latias cried, barrelling into Lance, eyes glowing blue as the shards stopped falling mid-air.
From the hole in the ceiling, a dark shadow descended, one wing crackling with electricity and the other, cold, frozen crystals. Once again, the creature was three headed with the middle being the flaming Moltres, the left the freezer bird and the final the lightning god.
From where she was cowering next to Ash, Zo gasped. "No way, we saw Zapdos just a few days ago. How could they manage something so quickly?"
"There is more than one electric chicken, brat!" Giovanni snapped at Erika, not spotting the small purple fox, and thinking Erika had spoken, directing the words towards her and Ash.
The bird screeched, and the Moltres head shot of a torrent of flames towards the eon dragoness, whose head snapped around, psychic attack redirected to the fire, and her hold the glass dropped, the molten sand dropping to the floor like falling chimes. Mewtwo remained where he stood in the centre of the room, staring with hatred at Giovanni.
"You dare to create more, immoral beings, and use them as mindless weapons?"
Giovanni frowned at the purple Pokémon. "And who are you?" the trio fusion of bird hovering just above his head.
"I am Mewtwo, cloned from the DNA of Mew, and I am your death."
Ash scoffed, "Not if I get there first."
Giovanni looked unperturbed, standing beside his personal guard dog, rockets at his back, a ragtag team of rebels in front of him. "Kill the-"
"You killed Blaine!" Misty interrupted his order, eyes desperate. "That Moltres – it used to roost at Cinnabar and Mount Silver. The Cinnabar Gym was destroyed and Blaine dead and a Golem and Arcanine locked in battle, also dead. The field was wrecked by earthquakes… you….you're a ground type user! You killed Blaine, because he was in your way!"
"He sought to protect the bird," Giovanni sneered, "A minor loss."
"What about the Zapdos?" Erika asked her bow strung and ready in her hand, although she did not raise it.
"They stole the mate," Ash breathed in realisation, "The Zapdos at the Power Station was mad, but not because of the Power Station being vandalised, but because the rockets stole away its mate."
"This is getting tiring." Giovanni drawled. "Kill-"
"How can you control it?" Lance stared, "The hell hounds were uncontrollable - savage and wild, but this - its listens to you…"
"Team Rocket runs Silph Company. One of our creations was a gym badge energy amplifier. See?" and he revealed what looked like a small shield, with eight small slots within it. "It uses the Kanto gym badges, made out of the same sort of material as your precious gears."
"Pure element," Lance breathed. "And if you amplify that power by coordinating the radius and position, it acts as a remote radio signal transmitting to a receptor device."
Ash turned to shoot him a bemused look.
"May talks a lot while she works." Lance shrugged.
"But badges are common," Misty blustered, "They get given out all the time."
"Metallic replicas," Giovanni spat, "The real ones reside in the gym. Ever wondered why gyms specialise in an element? The badge is made out of pure element, in solid form, which resonates with that type of Pokémon. It boosts stats and makes the gym challenges more interesting. It was surprisingly easy to collect all the badges," Giovanni taunted, "The Pewter gym was abandoned, Celadon, Fuchsia, Viridian and Cinnabar within our grasps… the only ones which posed problems were the Vermillion, Saffron and Cerulean. It was only recently we found the Saffron gym, Sabrina, the double crossing traitor, had been hiding in it, using psychic energy to mask its location. Vermillion was difficult, but not impossible. Cerulean was easy, we raided years ago, killing two Cerulean gym leaders for the badge. They had received it from their mother, passed on through the family…"
"No!" Misty gasped, "They were my sisters!"
"Was it? How horrible…"
"You killed them!"
"Why yes, I did. And now I'm going to kill you. Kill the-"
"You will not." Mewtwo raised a hand. "You will not touch them!"
Giovanni sneered, "I'd like to see you try. Get them."
And the Cerberus and fusion bird struck.
Ash pushed Erika to the side, Zo and Rai ducking out of the way as the demon bird dived towards them. Across the other side of the hall, Lance was pulling Misty behind him as the Entity bounded forwards, all three heads snarling, Latias and Va moving to meet it.
And the two sides clashed.
April 2013 - This is horribly short, but I was in a rush to get it out, and so haven't gone through with a final edit. I've discovered Supernatural, and have been spending my evenings watching through the episodes, while watching my life fly by out the window. Yeah... should probably do someting about that...
So here we are, the final battle and all that. I'll try to find some time to work through this again and maybe expand it a bit, although personally I can't see me changing much. I'd be interested to here any ideas though.
Thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows! It means a lot, and I'll try to stick to this Thursday evening (for me) posting session that I've got going here.
Over and out ~ Eclipse