Robert's breath came out as a icy mist. He raised his gaze to look at the gigantic wave that had rose from the ocean to protect him. It had been frozen entirely and parts of it broke and fell onto the ice covered sea. Wailord shivered beneath him as he got to his feet unsteadily just as the frigate passed by overhead, casting a dark shadow over them. Robert watched its progress and sucked in a breath once he realized much of the coast had been frozen along with Looker's forces.
"Get us to shore," Robert patted Wailord and the gigantic Pokemon began to turn. Ice cracked all around them as they slowly made their way back to land while Robert gazed at the back of the frigate with dread. "It's up to you now, N."
"We should be safe here," Alex said, gingerly setting Zeno down on the bed. She and her Pokemon had managed to lose Team Plasma and had now begun holing themselves up in what appeared to be the medical wing.
"I should really take the time to learn first aid," she muttered to herself as she dug through the cabinets. Finding some alcohol-free wipes and some bandages, she got to work on dressing Zeno's wounds as best as she could. A couple of times he stirred, but he didn't wake up fully.
Praying he'd be alright, Alex went and pressed her ear against the door, Beartic and Ninetales making way for her to do so. She couldn't hear anything in the hallway outside, which was a good sign. What was probably bad was that any sounds of fighting had since ceased. She wondered if the Elite 4 had been overwhelmed and been captured.
She glanced at Zeno. Or worse...
The frigate lurched, nearly knocking Alex off her feet. Zeno groaned and almost fell out of the bed before Beartic rushed forward to hold him still. Alex leaned on the wall to stay upright. The ship was tilting downwards. Were they going to land?
We must already be at the Giant Chasm, she realized. She hurried over to the porthole and peered outside. A thin fog hung outside, but she could see snow covered pine trees and rising up to meet them. "Well, this is it. I had a feeling we'd end up here despite our best efforts." She gripped a fist. "Don't let us down, N."
The frigate lowered itself into the Giant Chasm, snow blowing in every direction as it made to land. It touched down, a gangplank shooting down into the earth. Ghetsis was first off, his cane clanging off the metal with each step. Just behind him came Colress, and flanking the two of them were the Shadow Triad. Marching down after them were the entirety of the Team Plasma forces, and tied with rope in the middle were the Elite Four.
"You are certain that you can access the pokeballs?" Ghetsis asked Colress gruffly.
"I can," Colress smirked. "It was just a matter of taking Zeno's vocals and reproducing them in a manner that would register to the pokeballs as the real thing. Zekrom and Reshiram are ours."
"Mine, they are mine," Ghetsis snapped as he set foot onto the earth. "Do not forget your place, Colress."
"Of course," Colress gave a little bow.
"Once the Original Dragon is mine, Unova will be but a mere stepping stone in my conquest to take the world," Ghetsis smiled cruelly as Team Plasma made their way towards the gaping hole in the side of the chasm wall. "No one, not even Zeno can stop me now. It's a shame though, that the freak had to go and lose to the likes of him. But no matter. He served his purpose."
"So that's really all I was to you?"
Ghetsis came to a halt, his visible eye widening. N stood in the entrance of the cave, his gaze troubled. "I really did love you as a father. I thought you really cared for me. For Pokemon. But you are the very kind of person I despise."
"Hah, so you did live," Ghetsis snarled. "I am no longer playing house with you, so move, or be killed."
On either side of N, his Pokemon emerged from the darkness. Zoroark, Volcarona, Archeops, Vanilluxe, and Klinklang all came beside the one they chose to follow. "I will stop you here, Ghetsis," N narrowed his eyes. "Your ideals will not come to fruition."
"You're still going on about truth and ideals," Ghetsis laughed. "You're pathetic." He slammed his cane into the ground and several dozen Genesects flew out of the frigate and planted themselves between Ghetsis and N. A final Genesect landed at the forefront, this one with sleek red armor. "You are nothing in the face of my might," Ghetsis boasted. "Now die!"
An explosion rang out. Ghetsis, having been forced a few feet back, lowered his cloak in shock. It had not been one of the Genesects that had fired. No, the attack had come from-
"You made a mistake, Ghetsis." N held out his arms as dozens of people and Pokemon began emerging from the trees on all sides and from the cave behind N. "You made me a king. And while I may not be a true king, and I may have failed to accomplish my goals, I did accomplish one thing. I gained the trust of my people." Two of the people beside him, wearing the old garbs of Team Plasma, slammed their flags down, the banner of Team Plasma flying proudly in the wind.
Ghetsis bared his teeth. "You dare-!"
"I do!" N took a step forward, and in that moment, he truly embodied that of a king. "I must right my wrongs, and I shall start by taking you down! Team Plasma, take them!"
A collective yell filled the air as the remnants of the Team Plasma of old charged, their Pokemon clashing head-to-head with the enemy Pokemon while the grunts on both sides traded blows. In the midst of the chaos, the Elite Four broke free from their bindings and overpowered the grunts closest to them before taking back their Pokemon.
The Genesects took off into the sky and fired down attacks from above, but the red Genesect shot straight for N. Zoroark ran forwards to meet him, both of them slamming into one another. Zoroark raised his claws, bringing them down along with fierce dark winds that pummeled Genesect into the earth. A blast of techno energy carved through the earth before aiming back up and blasting Zoroark in the middle. He flew backwards before flipping onto all fours and rushing back into the fight.
Genesect shot backwards, metallic orbs launching towards the Dark type and exploding just before impact. Zoroark appeared above the smoke, dark winds trailing behind him, when a blast of energy caught him in the middle and slammed him back into the chasm's rock face.
The battle had turned ugly in such a short amount of time. Grunts, bruised and bloodied on both sides, wouldn't back down. Those who followed Ghetsis' selfish and twisted ideals fought with a vicious ferocity of oppressive nature. Yet those who stayed true to their king and fought on the side of truth refused to back down even an inch despite the hardship. The Pokemon were the same, their loyalty to the one who could understand their language remained unhindered in the face of this brutal clash of truth and ideals. So they fought with everything they had, unshackled and empowered by the bonds that those bound to those ruthless and cruel humans could not achieve.
Reshiram felt her soul cry out for N. The human she chose to be her champion, the one to uphold the truth he held dear in his heart. Yet she could not be by his side. This was a battle he must win for himself. Even if she already knew the outcome.
In contrast, Zekrom loathed the ideals these humans promoted. Their reasoning for carrying out their dark deeds. He felt pride for the human he had chosen to not give into them, even if it nearly cost him his life.
And Kyurem... All he could feel was pain. The torment the humans have wrought upon him. He lamented that such suffering had been caused by his power. He wished for it all to end. Those that have cared for him were few and far between over the centuries that it seemed to lose all its worth. Waiting endlessly for the one who would fulfill him, bring clarity where nothing resided, and give a worthless existence a purpose. Even the chosen heroes of Truth and Ideals, in all their strength and conviction, could not give him what he so desired. In a twisted sort of way, he now had a purpose as a weapon of destruction, but what sort of life was that?
So he watched as those on the side of Truth fought against those with their twisted ideals, unsure of what the outcome of this battle would bring.
"Dang't, I can't sit by any longer," Alex cursed mentally as she hurried to the door, pushing the heavy objects out of the way. "Beartic, Florges, keep an eye on Zeno! Florges, do your best to heal him as much as you can. The rest of you, with me!" They burst out into the hall and Alex was already halfway down one direction when she got an idea. "Other way!" She shouted, running in the opposite direction. She had a rough idea of where she was going after having run around the ship earlier.
It took far longer than she could stomach with the sounds of a raging battle outside. But eventually she found it again. The storage room. She grinned as she kicked the door open. Unguarded as she suspected and containing a whole bunch of reinforcements.
Flames blasted outwards in fiery tendrils as Volcarona flew through the air, keeping pace with the red Genesect. The strands of fire closed in around him, scorching his metal armor. He let out a metallic screech and slammed into the Sun Pokemon, blasting her point-blank with Magnet Bombs. Eyes burning with rage, Volcarona let out her own unearthly screech as strands of webbing shot out from around her, wrapping around Genesect and tying him to her body. Unable to escape, Genesect let out a shriek as Volcarona's body burst aflame as she spun through the air.
Down on the ground, weakened and bruised, Zoroark stood. He let out a cry of fury and morphed into Volcarona and took off into the sky. When the real Volcarona's strands of webbing burnt away and Genesect fell from her grasp, Zoroark shifted back into himself as he slammed into the Bug/Steel type. He bit down on his arm as he slashed his claws across his chest. They fell back down to earth and right before impact the Dark type brought up both paws and slammed them down with a storm of dark winds. They hit the ground and when the dust settled, both Pokemon had fainted.
N managed a small smile, but it faded quickly when half a dozen of Genesects landed down next to their fallen leader.
"Give it up you foolish boy," Ghetsis huffed as he slowly made his way towards N. "You cannot win." Behind him the battle between opposing sides had since turned in Ghetsis' favor. Most of Team Plasma that followed N were down for the count, and not many Pokemon remained standing.
Beside N, his Pokemon surged forward towards Ghetsis. Unafraid, Ghetsis produced several pokeballs from his robes. With blasts of dark and ghostly energy, N's Pokemon were thrown aside as a Cofagrigus and Hydreigon hovered beside the cruel leader of Neo Team Plasma.
"Unlike you who only took the time to befriend Pokemon, I have trained mine to be as strong as possible," Ghetsis said, coming ever closer. "Now tremble in fear, boy, as you witness the face of death." His cane moved too fast for N to dodge and he found himself on the ground, a gash across his cheek.
"Pathetic," Ghetsis spat at his feet before marching onwards to the cave. N groaned, raising himself to go after him, when a loud explosion from the frigate made both of them turn in surprise. Smoke poured out from the side of the ship before a flood of Pokemon came forth. Zebstrika, Liepards, Gurdurrs, Crustles, and many more of the Pokemon Team Plasma had stolen over the last year poured out from their prison and into battle, quickly overwhelming the first wave of enemy Pokemon. Alex appeared last, leaping out alongside her Pokemon as she too joined the fight.
Eyes wide, Ghetsis didn't move, and that's when N struck. He slammed his fist into the side of his 'father's' face and when both Cofagrigus and Hydreigon moved to attack him, Volcarona and Klinklang appeared and blasted them backwards.
"I'm not done yet-!" N snarled, blood dripping down his face as he, for the first time in his life, wore an expression of pure rage. "Ghetsis!"
