Conquering the Dark
Chapter 6: Worthy of a Mega Evolution
Aaron stepped down from the stage. After the speech was over and everyone dissipated, Xerneas popped the psychic bubble he had trapped Mewtwo in earlier. Thankfully, he seemed to be much calmer now.
Mewtwo floated slowly over to Aaron, with no more malice held towards him. "Hey… Aaron."
Aaron looked at him, understanding. "Yeah?"
"I… This isn't easy for me to say, but…" Mewtwo sighed. "I'm sorry for how I acted earlier. It's just… I have such a hatred for the version of you here that… I couldn't control myself. I wanted to snap your neck in half. The only thing that my mind thought about before you spoke were the atrocities that… the evil version of you committed."
"Mewtwo, I'll be honest. If I were in your situation, I would've likely had the same reaction." Aaron confessed. "I could never believe that I… well, another version of me, would ever stoop to such evil. But I know it now. And believe me when I say that I'll do everything in my power to stop him."
"…Come with me, Aaron. There's something I want to show you."
Aaron and his companions stepped forward before Mewtwo spoke up. "Sorry. But I wish to talk to him alone."
Riley looked at Aaron before nodding, understanding what he wanted with no words said. Mewtwo and Aaron continued on their own, leaving the others behind.
"If I may, I'd like to explain a bit more about how things work here. I figure I should tell you before I get into further detail about our next subject." Mewtwo said.
Aaron nodded. "I understand. Go ahead."
"Everyone has their own roles. Search and rescue, soldiers, reconnaissance, upkeep of the base, healers, etc. My role? I'm recon. I serve and masquerade in Commander Aaron's army to gather vital information about attacks and report back to here. A double agent, basically. But keeping this cover has required me to… obey his commands. With the information I have gathered, I've helped the search and rescue team save lives… but I've been forced to kill innocent Pokémon and people to keep cover. And I've always despised him for it. In his eyes, I'm the most loyal and productive member of his team… but I couldn't hate him more."
Aaron nodded, taking this all in.
"But that's just me. The real point of why I want to talk to you alone is because… well, we've been fighting a losing battle. We lose more and more troops every day around Sinnoh, some of them by my hand. But when you gave your speech… you may give us a fighting chance. Rayquaza was our most recent loss, but they didn't gain his Mega Stone."
Aaron was a bit confused at this. "Mega… Stone? I'm not sure if I'm familiar with this."
Mewtwo uncovered a door to the base's hidden cellar, hidden behind an innocent bookcase he moved with his psychic powers. Inputting a password and fingerprint scan, the door unlocked. He guided the Lucario in.
"This is where we keep our most powerful weapons." Mewtwo stated. "Our Mega Stones. These stones have the ability to massively amplify our powers and help us fight against Team Galactic. They're the one thing we have that Cyrus's army does not… except for the Commander himself. He found his own Mega Stone."
Various Stones were laid down on a table, each one encased in bulletproof glass. Each one was intricately designed and radiated with an almost otherworldly power.
Mewtwo spoke again. "The glass containing these Stones will only open for the Pokémon that can use it via fingerprint scan. For example, I can only open two of these cases, for two separate Mega Forms. The reason I bring this up is because… Mega Stones exist for the Lucario species as well."
"Does everyone have Mega Stones?" Aaron asked. "Like Xerneas, Keldeo, and Groudon?"
"Mega Stones have only been discovered for certain species. Our team excavated an abandoned PokéBall factory up in Fuego Ironworks years ago and discovered many of these Stones. We've collected as many as possible to help our efforts. As I said, Lucarios have Mega Stones for them, but so do many of your friends. One for Metagross, Tyranitar, and Blaziken. Having you guys on our side will help us."
Mewtwo walked over to a certain Mega Stones encased in the glass, radiating with a blue and black aura. "That's a Lucarionite. The Lucario Mega Stone. Put your paw on the glass to unlock it."
Aaron hesitated a bit. He had a hard time digesting all of this. Mega Stones? Alternate and more powerful forms? Nothing like this was ever discovered in Sinnoh back where he lived.
"Wow. This is… you know, this is a lot to comprehend. I've never really heard of these 'Mega' forms. Alternate forms, yeah. But 'Mega' forms? That's new… but… if this will help stop Cyrus and my evil version here… then I'll give this a chance." Aaron said, nodding.
The Lucario touched the top of the glass box, glowing blue before the box opened from the top. Carefully, Aaron grabbed the Stone and pulled it out. Just feeling it in his paws felt like he was literally holding power.
He clutched it tighter. The moment he did, power surged throughout his entire body. He felt himself changing, gaining more power… evolving?! But he was in the final stage of his evolutionary line, how was that possible?! He felt his body morphing, his aura sensors growing longer and gaining red tips on the ends. His paws and feet grew longer, the ends also turning red with Aaron gaining an extra set of spikes on both his paws and feet. His thighs gained black tribal-like markings. His height increased, now almost as tall as Mewtwo. And finally, his long thin tail changed into a yellow fluffy tail that resembled that of the majestic Arcanine.
Aaron opened his eyes. "What… what on earth just happened to me?" he said, looking over his body. "Is this…?"
"Mega Evolution." Mewtwo finished. "It's not like regular evolution where the form is permanent. If you will it and release the Stone, you can change your body back to being a normal Lucario."
Only one question was on Aaron's mind now. "What would you need my Mega Form for, though?"
"…You will be going on your first mission today. It will be you, Riley, N, and Reshiram.
Instead of asking any more questions, Aaron nodded. "What are we doing?"
"Let's reconvene with Riley, N, and Reshiram first. Then, I will let Xerneas explain. I have to go back to my undercover state with the Commander." Mewtwo said, leading him out.
Xerneas had gathered Riley, Reshiram, N, and Aaron all back together. Riley and Reshiram were already in the room with Xerneas, but Riley had a mixture of both surprise and shock when Aaron entered with his new form.
"W-What? Aaron?! W-What happened?! I thought…"
"Calm yourself, Riley. It seems you are unaware, but your Lucario is capable of Mega Evolving into Mega Lucario." N said calmly.
"Mega Evolution?"
After a bit of detailed explanation about what Mega Evolution was and why Aaron looked so different from N, Riley had calmed down.
"So, our mission?" Aaron asked. "Mewtwo had told me that you would explain.
Xerneas nodded. "Yes. Dialga is busy on a different assignment currently hunting for the Mega Stones of Groudon and Kyogre up north at Fuego Ironworks, so I will tell you the details. Our double agent Mewtwo informed us of a planned attack at the Canalave City base which will happen tomorrow morning. However, you, Riley, N, and Reshiram will fly over there to inform our base of operations there to evacuate immediately and take all vital information with them. If it can't be taken, then it must be destroyed. N has an eidetic memory, so he can mentally recall any vital information that might need to be destroyed."
N nodded. "I will gather as much information as possible."
"Reshiram will help fly you over there, but be on the lookout for any possible drones that might be patrolling around. Try to avoid drones, but if they engage you, destroy them immediately. It is vital to not let any information get leaked to Team Galactic, especially any info regarding the location of our Mega Stones."
Aaron, Riley, and Reshiram also nodded. "Understood, Xerneas." Riley confirmed.
"Good. Now, best of luck out there."
The quartet made their way to the training grounds, where they could launch off without giving off any hint towards the location of their headquarters. N leapt onto Reshiram first, very familiar with knowing how to guide her and any possible emergency maneuvers that may need to be performed. Riley got behind N and held onto him, with Aaron doing the same for Riley.
"Are you guys ready?" N asked. He was met with nods of confirmation, ready to begin their mission. Reshiram rose into the sky, observing her surroundings carefully before soaring off to Canalave City.
Something occurred to Riley as they soared. "So… N?"
"Yes?"
"I'm still honestly not sure what lies for us ahead." Riley confessed. "What attack drones was Xerneas talking about?"
"Team Galactic and Cyrus's army have both attack and surveillance drones spread throughout the city. We have been quickly destroying any drones that get near our headquarters so our location wouldn't be given away. If Mewtwo is correct, then one of the surveillance drones found the base in Canalave. In Canalave, there's a lot of information regarding Legendary Lore. Some of it was already used to enslave Arceus and create this dystopia, but…" N paused.
"But wha-?"
"Shh." N looked carefully around, spotting a dangerous hunk of metal behind a building below them, a satellite on the drone just barely visible. N quietly whispered something into Reshiram's ears. With almost no delay, blue flames were created in her mouth before shooting a powerful Blue Flare towards the drone, incinerating it.
"W-What just happened?" Riley asked, a bit startled.
"I sensed a drone near us. We almost got within earshot of it before I noticed. Thankfully, it's nothing but scrap metal now."
"N's right. Look down there." Aaron said, pointing somewhere. Riley looked to where his Lucario was pointing to just barely see a hunk of metal being burned away into rust by Reshiram's attack.
"You have to be incredibly observant to notice those well-hidden drones. Otherwise, you're as good as dead." N stated, before continuing to fly towards Canalave.
"So… you were saying something, N?" Riley reminded.
"Huh?"
"Before you spotted the drone, I mean."
"…Oh yeah, right. In Canalave, there's a lot of information about the lore of Legendary Pokémon. Some of it, such as the Legend of the Red Chain, was used to enslave Arceus. But there's a lot more than just that. There are also plenty of books in the Canalave Library with detailed information on many, MANY Legendary Pokémon. If Team Galactic saw those books, they could deduce information such as locations of Mega Stones, many theoretical methods of capturing other Legendary Pokémon, and even a book with many theories about summoning the mythical Pokémon Mew. And with Team Galactic's brainwashing methods… that's not good for us."
"That's some dangerous information." Riley muttered in agreement.
"Indeed." N agreed. "So, it's imperative that we tell the base at Canalave as soon as possible."
N halted his flight once more. Two attack drones just outside Canalave City rose up to face the group. Riley and Aaron prepared to fight as Reshiram launched another Blue Flare at one of the drones. Riley charged his fist with Aura Energy, punching the other drone to stun it. Aaron, in his powered-up Mega Form, launched his trademark Aura Sphere to circle around the drone and blast it with the powerful Aura, shattering the drone into millions of tiny metal pieces.
"…" Aaron was silent at the realization of just how much power this new Form of his contained. "…My word."
"Mega Evolution is indeed powerful." N said, before finally flying at the Canalave City base and landing.
As Reshiram landed next to the base, a human inside came out to greet the group when the human determined that they were friendly.
"Hey, N! How goes it?! Who are your new buddies there?!" laughed a loud and booming voice, one Riley would've recognized anywhere.
"Byron?" Riley said, looking at him.
He laughed. "Of course, Riley! Who else…" Byron stopped. "Wait… RILEY?! How can you be here?!"
Riley looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"
N chuckled awkwardly. "I think I may have accidentally left out a SMALL detail."
"You're supposed to be DEAD!" Byron shouted in shock. Riley was completely silent.
"…That would be it." N muttered. "Listen, it's a long story but I can explain." he tried to assure Byron.
"That'll be one hell of an explanation." Byron said, still in disbelief.
The group leapt off of Reshiram, with N facing Riley. "Yeah, I probably should've mentioned that but… the Riley in this universe is dead."
"I'm dead in this universe?" Riley asked out loud, only to be met with a nod by N. "I'm dead in this universe." he said again, confirming it.
N nodded. "Yes. The reason no one at headquarters was shocked was because we all knew that you and Aaron were coming from your universe. So no one was shocked, they all knew ahead of time."
"But how did I die in this universe, then?" Riley asked.
"…The Aaron of this universe killed you himself. He even gloated about it. When it happened, we were all devastated. But you didn't go down without a fight. You managed to brutally injure Commander Aaron and put him out of commission for a month. No one has ever done that, and you probably indirectly saved many lives from death or enslavement."
A shiver went down Aaron's own spine. Even the thought of deliberately injuring Riley, much less killing him, was something he could never EVER see himself doing.
"So, this Riley is from another universe, huh?" Byron laughed, deducing the truth. "I'm guessing the same goes for Mr. Aaron over there too."
Aaron nodded. "You'd be right."
"Why don't you guys come in and have a nice cup of hot coffee?" Byron laughed again. "My treat!"
N shook his head. "The offer is appreciated Byron, but we can't do that."
"What? Well, why not?"
"Our double agent Mewtwo has informed us that an attack is planned on your base tomorrow morning. You and all of your Pokémon need to evacuate immediately. Gather all of the information that you can and get out of here."
Byron had a shocked look on his face, but soon nodded. "Understood. We'll take a ship and evacuate to Newmoon Island tonight."
"Gather what information you can from Canalave Library that could help Team Galactic. Anything regarding Legendary Pokémon, Mega Stones, and the like need to be taken with you. If it can't be taken with you, then it has to be destroyed. I'll start gathering books from the library." N said to Byron, leaving immediately to the library with Reshiram for protection.
Byron, Riley, and Aaron all watched N soar off into the distance.
"…I might as well show you around the base." Byron said. "It'll probably be the last time I can have a place to call home."
Byron was surprisingly silent after that; something that Riley wasn't used to seeing from him. Nevertheless, he and Aaron followed Byron inside.
Byron's Steelix was the first to see him come in, cuddling up to him and wrapping him around himself gently.
Byron laughed. "Hey, Steelix. I'm glad you're as cheery as ever. But I'm afraid I've got some bad news to break to you."
Steelix let Byron go, waiting for him to speak. "Team Galactic is planning an invasion on here tomorrow morning. Gather all of my other Pokémon, let them know, and bring them back here. Grab everything you need, we have to start packing immediately."
Steelix was silent, a very saddened expression on his face. He started to slither away to tell the other Pokémon before speaking up quietly. "…We're never coming back here, are we?"
"…Most likely not." Byron answered, before Steelix left to get Byron's other Pokémon. He sighed, pulling out a picture of his son from his pocket to look at briefly. A few tears fell from his eyes, but he still remained silent.
It didn't take Riley much thinking to figure out the context. Roark must've also been a casualty of the war, just like how this universe's version of Riley was. He didn't dare to speak up. It would've been insensitive.
Byron put up the picture quietly. "I apologize." he said. "But it's not important right now. I'm going to head over to my room to pack a few things. Riley, you and Aaron go get some private documents regarding Mega Stones from the basement floor, where the Canalave Gym used to be. You'll know it when you see them. Just start packing them."
Byron left, leaving only Riley and Aaron by themselves to head down to the basement floor from a set of nearby stairs underneath a hidden panel. Aaron spoke up.
"So… Roark's gone too. How… how many people do you think are dead from this war, Riley?"
"…I'd rather not think about it."
The two soon descended into the ruins that were once formerly the Canalave Gym. Once a place for Pokémon trainers to aim for their dreams of becoming a Champion, it was now nothing but an empty shell of those hopes and aspirations.
"I can't believe I was here just a few days ago." Riley said. "Watching hopeful trainers challenge Byron for his Gym Badge. I would never think one decision in your life would dramatically alter all of history."
"I never thought so either, Riley." Aaron answered. "But that's why we're here. To fix all of this."
Riley nodded. "Right. Let's look for those documents."
After a good bit of looking around, Aaron found a number of documents hidden underneath a removal panel on the gym floor. "The History and Properties of Mega Stones. Riley, I think I found it!"
"Good! Now let's…"
A crash could be heard from upstairs.
"…What was that?" Riley whispered to Aaron silently.
"I don't know." he whispered back. "It could be an attack."
"Then I'll go back upstairs to check it out."
"Riley, you can't do that!"
"Listen to me, Aaron. If something dangerous is going on up there, one of us is clearly more expendable than the other. I'm going."
Aaron shook his head. "Not on my dead body. If you're going, then I'm going as well."
"…All right. But hide the documents back underneath that panel first. We don't want Team Galactic to see those if it is an attack."
Aaron nodded, doing so. He tucked it safely back inside, now crawling carefully back up the stairs with Riley behind him. The two were just under the panel now, with plenty of crashing and other loud and unpleasant noises coming from above.
"Are you ready, Aaron? There could be an army up there waiting for us." Riley whispered.
"I'm as ready as I'll ever be."
The duo leapt out of the hidden panel, with Aaron immediately casting an Aura Shield to protect from any harm possibly around. It was smart on Aaron's part, as a quickly shot-out fireball made contact with the Shield and bounced off.
"I was smart to check this area ahead of time. I had a feeling someone would've warned you guys."
With the Aura Shield still cast, Aaron and Riley looked up to the source of the voice. It was an Infernape with the Team Galactic insignia imprinted on his palm, something he seemed to display proudly. He received plenty of glares of hatred from Riley, Aaron, the returning Byron and his own Pokémon as well. It certainly didn't seem to faze him, though. Plenty of drones backed the monkey, with around 5 behind him.
"But, you know, if you guys just surrender now, I'm sure Commander Cyrus can cut you a deal and we might be able to skip the torture." he smirked.
"Don't count on it." Riley replied.
"Fine then. Fighting's more fun, anyways." Infernape sent one of the drones towards Steelix, the drone's Flamethrower preparing to incinerate the Steel-type. As the drone approached, Steelix started to charge up his Gyro Ball. Just before the drone could unleash its' attack, Steelix hit it with the Gyro Ball, sending it tumbling back into another drone, rendering them both unfunctional.
The Infernape groaned. "You three drones! Get them!" The drones obeyed, going after Byron and his Bastiodon. The Bastiodon retaliated with Heavy Slam, slamming the three drones into the ground with such force that they were completely crushed.
"You stupid drones! Argh!" the Infernape growled. "I have to do everything myself!" the Infernape charged towards Riley and Aaron. Riley and Aaron swapped roles, with Riley now holding up a weaker Aura Shield as Aaron went on the offensive. He summoned a bone of pure aura energy, using Bone Rush like a staff to twirl and hit the Infernape with. Finally, he ended with thrusting the bone's end into the Infernape's guts, mortally wounding him.
"NAARGGHH!" the Infernape screamed, collapsing on the ground and clutching his wound. With the heavy damage the blow dealt, he was going to bleed out to death.
"You may have defeated me…" he muttered, his voice becoming softer. "…But I swear that you will pay for defying us. And you will bow to Lord Cyrus. We will rule this world. Ugh…"
With that, the Infernape became motionless, now dead. Everyone, even the normally boisterous Byron, was quiet. Finally, Aaron spoke up. "We won't have much time until they come looking for him. We better get a move on."
Pokemon © Nintendo / Game Freak
YES! YES! It is done! I had such a hard time figuring out what direction to take after the last chapter, but I finally got it rolling along! I really put a lot of effort into this chapter, and I really hope you enjoy it after such a long wait.