The other Colress took them out of what appeared to be the dungeons, up into the higher levels of an extravagant palace. Team Plasma grunts patrolled the hallways, and stared curiously at the strange party as they passed.
"What is this place?" Zossie asked.
"The castle of King N," the other Colress said. "And Team Plasma headquarters. Plenty of room for an extensive laboratory among all this tacky finery."
"It's still so weird to wrap my head around the idea of a world where Ghetsis succeeded," Magnolia said. "Did you bring Professor Mohn here, too?"
"Who?" the other Colress asked. "No—you four are my first success in this part of the project."
"Well, at least we know where Mohn isn't," Zossie said.
Dulse sighed. "Hopefully those coordinates we were able to reconstruct from our research are still accurate," he said. "Assuming we can get out of here."
"Who is this Mohn fellow?" the other Colress asked. "Does he know about Ultra Wormholes, too?"
"Mohn is a friend," Colress said, "who we're trying to get back to his family. Because they love him and miss him."
His doppelganger shrugged. "How disappointing," he said. "Such a waste of energy to care about other people."
Finally they reached the laboratories, a sprawling, high-tech facility that seemed rather out-of-place in N's ornate castle. Here, all sorts of machines were running, and scientists bent over their work, taking notes on tablets. Magnolia couldn't see Solgaleo or Lunala anywhere, and she hoped everyone's Pokemon were all right.
"My dimensional shunter!" Colress said, looking at an array of parts on a table. "Do you know how long I worked on that?!"
"Four years," the other Colress said. "Because that's the same amount of time I spent developing mine, of course."
He took them to a set of shelves holding Poke Balls, with a touchscreen on each shelf. He tapped his fingers over it, and magnetic clamps unlatched from the balls with Magnolia's mark on them. "I expect a good battle," he said as he handed them to her.
Magnolia inspected the Poke Balls. "I hope you guys are okay," she said to her Pokemon. "Sorry—I didn't know this was going to happen."
"None of us did," Dulse said.
"Well, I'm not giving up," Magnolia said. "We can still figure out a way out of this. We can still find Mohn. I believe in us."
"Me too!" Zossie said.
"Same," Colress said. "And I believe we're right, regardless of the outcome of this battle."
"Of course," Magnolia said. "Although I'm still gonna crush him."
With Beheeyem still levitating them, the other Colress brought them to a large, round room that looked like an arena, with an opulent spectator's seat at one end. "If you're wondering," he said, "this is where Ghetsis holds Pokemon battles for his own entertainment. Although it also works well as a testing facility when I need to observe Pokemon battles." He looked up and around at the instrumentation mounted around the arena. "Beheeyem, release my opponent."
The Pokemon warbled and the lights on its hands flashed, and it let Magnolia go from its telekinesis. She dropped to the floor and dusted herself off. "How many Pokemon are we using?" she asked.
"Three each," Colress said. "I don't want this to take too much time." He removed a Poke Ball from his pocket. "Let's begin! Go, Magnezone!" He tossed the Poke Ball into the air.
"A Magnezone?" the Colress from Magnolia's world asked. "Impressive."
The other Colress smirked. "Turns out all of the devices I've installed in this room produce a pretty strong electromagnetic field," he said. "That can be quite useful."
Magnolia threw one of her own Poke Balls. "Slawomir! Let's do this!" she said.
In a flash of light the Pokemon appeared. Slawomir stared down his opponent, and Magnolia knew they were both thinking the same thing—this could be the battle where he evolved. She was hoping for that just as much as he was.
"Magnezone, Thunder Wave!" Colress said. The mechanical creature spun its magnets and heavy electromagnetic waves flowed from its body, toward Slawomir. The Shelgon did not even have time to dodge before the waves slammed into him. He let out a garbled cry and stepped forward jerkily.
Magnolia bit her lip. "Show 'em what you're made of, Slawomir!" she said. "A little paralysis won't stop you! Brick Break!"
"G-Gon!" Slawomir said, steadying himself.
"Flash Cannon!" Colress said, and Magnezone began to glow.
Slawomir's eyes hardened. Shaking himself off, he charged toward the other Pokemon. "Gogon!" he snarled, launching himself into the air. His hard shell connected with Magnezone, sending the metallic Pokemon tumbling. It buzzed irately as its body sparked, and it spun its magnets weakly while it sank to the floor.
"Magnezone, get up!" Colress shouted. It let out another mechanical cry as it wobbled on its round chassis, then lay still. "Ugh…" The scientist recalled it into its Poke Ball and pulled out another. "Klinklang! Go!"
"Throwing another Steel-type at me?" Magnolia said under her breath as the gear-shaped Pokemon appeared. "Welp, your choice. Slawomir, Brick Break!"
Colress gritted his teeth. "Shift Gear!" he shouted.
Klinklang's gears began to spin, and it deftly moved out of the way of Slawomir. Undeterred, the Dragon-type pivoted and charged it again, and Klinklang dodged again.
"Change of plans," Magnolia said. "Crunch!"
"Gon!" Slawomir leaped for Klinklang. Once more it moved out of the way, but he wasn't trying to tackle it this time—he just managed to catch its outer ring in the hole in his shell. Klinklang let out a discordant noise as Slawomir dragged it to the floor.
"Brick Break!" Magnolia commanded.
Slawomir let go of Klinklang—and then slammed into it at full force. Gears spinning, it bounced away and just barely managed to right itself before it hit the floor again. It let out metallic creaks and clacks, almost like it was panting.
"Now for the finishing blow," Magnolia said. "Brick Break!"
Colress frowned deeply and pushed up his glasses. "Giga Impact!" he shouted.
Klinklang took a moment to gather its strength, then it glowed with a fierce aura, and its gears whirred as it flew toward Slawomir, meeting his charge head-on. "Slawomir!" Magnolia yelled. "Look out—"
The two Pokemon collided, and the energy rocked the room, making Magnolia and Colress stagger. When the smoke cleared, Slawomir lay dazed and Klinklang floated above him.
"Well-played," Magnolia said. Biting the inside of her cheek, she recalled Slawomir, knowing the dragon Pokemon was probably disappointed. So this wouldn't be the battle where he evolved, after all. But there would be a next time—at least, if they could get out of this pickle.
She reached for another Poke Ball and tossed it into the battlefield. "Your turn, Fermi!" she said.
"Charja!" the Charjabug said as he inched toward Klinklang.
This universe's Colress scoffed. "You're sending out a grub against my Steel-type?" he asked.
Magnolia frowned. Fermi was much stronger than he looked—by all rights, he should have evolved into a Vikavolt by now, but for some reason, no matter how much he battled, evolution just wasn't coming.
It didn't help that Magnolia wasn't entirely sure how Charjabug evolved—there could have been some other factor besides sheer strength. She'd heard there was an Electric-type specialist on Ula'ula Island, so she had been hoping to ask him about the matter. Right now, though, she had much bigger things on her plate.
And there was no point in trying to argue with a mad scientist when actions spoke louder than words. "Okay, Fermi—Dig!" she said. The Bug-type used his mandibles to begin to burrow into the packed earth of the arena floor.
"Wild Charge!" Colress said, and Klinklang crackled with electricity as it zoomed toward Fermi.
The Charjabug looked up at his opponent and steeled himself. In a burst of sparks, Klinklang connected. Magnolia clenched her fists. She was confident in her Pokemon's strength, but it was still hard to watch him take an attack like this.
Colress wore a smug smirk, but as the light faded, it turned into a look of surprise. Fermi had barely been budged from his excavation project, and the grub shot a glare at Klinklang before continuing to dig.
Magnolia grinned. This world's Colress didn't know that Charjabug was part Electric-type. Not that she'd tell him, of course.
Klinklang swerved around for another attempt, but Charjabug disappeared into his burrow and the mechanical Pokemon hovered over the hole uselessly.
"Don't just stay there!" Colress said. "You're a sitting target! Shift Gear, now!" His Pokemon's gears spun, and with increased speed it whirred around the battlefield. "I'd like to see your little bug try to land a hit!" Colress said.
The professor narrowed her eyes. They needed more speed, and Charjabug were not known for being fast. Fermi's strength was useless if Klinklang could outmaneuver him. But there wasn't much she could do about it right now—except believe in him. "You can do it, Fermi!" she shouted. "I know you can! Take that thing down!"
The ground rumbled. A path of upturned dirt raced toward Klinklang, growing faster and faster until it started to chase the Steel-type around. Klinklang was having trouble staying away. Magnolia was confused. Fermi couldn't move that fast—could he?
As Klinklang turned to avoid its pursuer, the floor exploded in dirt and dust, and a large, angular, dark blue shape rammed into the Steel-type. Klinklang let out a discordant cry and tumbled to the floor, gears grinding to a halt. "Vikaaa!" its insectoid opponent cried, wings buzzing and abdomen aglow.
"What—what is that thing?" Colress asked as he withdrew Klinklang. "How did it get here?"
"I'm not sure," Magnolia said, narrowing her eyes as she studied the new Pokemon.
"That's a Vikavolt!" Zossie said. "It evolves from Charjabug!"
"Vika!" the Vikavolt said as it buzzed over to Magnolia, while Klinklang struggled in vain to get up.
"Fermi!" Magnolia said. "It's really you, I can't believe it! You did it!" She threw her arms around Fermi and he hugged her back with his forelegs, his abdomen sparking in joy.
This universe's Colress scowled as he recalled Klinklang. "Unfortunate timing," he muttered.
"But how did you evolve?" Magnolia asked, inspecting Fermi's wings and mandibles. "I thought you should have gained more than enough experience in battle by now."
"Oh—" the Colress from her world said, pushing up his glasses. "I've heard that Charjabug only evolve in the presence of a strong electromagnetic field."
"Ah, that would explain it!" Magnolia said. She looked up at the equipment hanging from the ceiling and grinned. "And it's all thanks to our good buddy, Other Colress."
"Don't get too cocky," that Colress said as he took out another Poke Ball. "You've still got one Pokemon left to defeat. Go, Rotom!" He flung the Poke Ball, and out popped a Rotom with a cubical body and blue energy appendages.
"Oh, looks like that Rotom's possessed a washing machine," the other Colress said. "Nice choice. I should try that sometime."
"Yeah, this should be fun," Magnolia said. "Fermi, go get 'em! X-Scissor, now!"
"Kaaaa!" Fermi cried as he sped toward the other Electric-type.
"Hydro Pump!" Colress shouted. His Rotom flew across the arena, charging Fermi head-on, and opened the door on its washing machine. A flood of water gushed out, slamming into Fermi and sending the Bug-type flying.
It slammed into the wall and slid to the floor, legs and wings twitching. "Vi… vikaaa…" it moaned.
"Fermi!" Magnolia said. She ran over and picked up her newly-evolved Pokemon. "It's okay, buddy," she said. "You did great. Just rest now." She recalled him into his Poke Ball and stood up. "Okay… let's finish this," she said as she took out another Poke Ball. "Go, Aurorus!"
In a flash of light, an enormous sauropod-like Pokemon appeared in the arena. "Auuuu!" he said as he reared up on his hind legs and brought his front legs slamming back down into the floor.
"This one doesn't have a nickname?" asked the Colress from Magnolia's world.
She adjusted her glasses. "I do like to nickname my Pokemon," she said, "but honestly I thought Aurorus's species name was so cool that I couldn't think of anything else! But you like that name too, right pal?" she asked her Pokemon.
"Rus!" Aurorus said with a smile.
Magnolia returned it with a confident grin. "Okay then," she said. "Hyper Beam!" The ice crystals on Aurorus's sides began to glow.
"Substitute!" the other Colress ordered. His Rotom buzzed, and the blue energy surrounding it intensified.
"Auuuu!" Aurorus howled as power blasted from his crystals, engulfing Rotom.
Magnolia bit her lip. "Did we get it…?" she muttered to herself.
The light faded—and then what had appeared to be Rotom faded away into mere energy. "Ro!" Rotom said as it popped out from behind its substitute.
"Discharge!" Colress said, and electricity crackled around Rotom. Before Magnolia could order Aurorus to do anything else, Rotom let loose its attack.
"Russs!" Aurorus cried as lightning arced around it. The mighty Pokemon wavered on his feet and then fell to the ground.
Magnolia had lost.