Tree of Life, interior.
Ash, Serena and Paul held onto the tunnel's walls tightly. It seemed that the tree's trembling was only becoming more frequent as time went on. Screams escaped their lips as the ground beneath their feet heaved. Ash quickly raised an Auric barrier around them as they were rocked around the tunnel. The walls chipped and cracked. Above them, the roof splintered and collapsed. Ash gritted his teeth as stones fell upon his barrier.
He shouted as he forced his barrier to expand until it reached the splintering ceiling. When the trembling at last calmed, he turned toward the others. "Go!"
Serena and Paul nodded eagerly before sprinting down the tunnel as fast as their legs could carry them. Ash watched as they ran until the roof over them was no longer cracked. Only when they were safe did he begin to follow. Gradually, he let the stones fall behind him as he ran. When he met with the others, he held the barrier steady behind him, letting the stones gradually come to halt.
He sighed, letting down his barrier. An irate Paul growled, nearly smacking his fist into the wall. But as he stared at its cracks, he decided better. "We need to get out of this place as soon as possible. The moment we find our way outside, let's just hop on our flying Pokemon and get out."
Ash shook his head. "Not that I disagree, but Pikachu is somewhere in here. I'm not going without him, but…" His eyes went toward Serena solemnly. She merely gave him a knowing look, making him sigh and nod in acceptance.
Another tremble, fortunately less severe than the last, still nearly threw the three off their feet. Paul growled between his teeth. When it died down, he shouted, "Forget it! You're free to do whatever you like, but the moment we find an opening, I'm gone."
A spark of Aura rushed past Ash's head as it picked up on a signature. He turned toward it, suddenly, then hushed his friends. "Hold on. Something's close."
Motioning for the others to follow, he darted off. At first, his heart raced at the hope that this might have been Pikachu. But as the group neared it and he was more clearly able to discern what he felt, his hopes were dashed. When they rounded the corner, they came upon a small Ralts carrying itself through the tunnels of the tree as fast as its legs could carry itself.
"A Ralts?" Asked Serena. "What's it still doing in here?"
"Maybe it's just as lost as us," Mused Paul.
Ash squinted his eyes at it. Its Aura felt off, completely unlike any Pokemon he felt before. "Hey, wait!" He called out to it. Immediately, its head snapped around at them. Upon spotting them, it shrieked in terror before resuming its sprint into the tunnels. "Wait! Stop!" He turned to the others. "Come on, let's go after it!"
"Right."
The tiny Ralts's stubby legs stood no chance in comparison to the limber legs of a human. It took no time at all for Ash to isolate its movement paths by placing a screen barrier in its path. It looked up at the impediment in despair. And when it turned back around at the sounds of the footsteps of the following humans, it could only cry out in terror. When it saw them, it backed away until it made contact with the barrier.
But when it made contact with the concentrated Aura, an unusual feeling rushed all throughout its body. It felt…safe. It suddenly knew that these people meant no harm. They were unlike the humans outside, ravaging its home, and the ones it knew long before.
The moment it made contact with Ash's Auric screen, Ash could sense its revelation as well. He knelt down by the small Pokemon and smiled. "Felt my Aura, huh?" The barrier disappeared. "So you know we just want to help you."
"Ask it where we can find an exit," Came Paul from behind Ash, bluntly. Ash hid a sour look from him.
Despite the crudity of Paul's phrasing, the little Ralts pointed down through the tunnel, urging them to follow, and then resumed its stubby little sprint. Ash gave chase, resulting in the others following suit. Paul spoke up, asking, "Can we really trust this Ralts?"
"Well, it lives here, doesn't it?" Serena chimed in thoughtfully. "Shouldn't it know its way around better than we would?"
Paul shook his head as he ran. "That's not what I meant." He gritted his teeth as another tremor nearly sent him off his feet, but he narrowly managed to keep his balance. "I'm wondering if it will even take us where we want it to go! It might just want our help with something completely out of the way of our own goal."
"I don't think it'll do that," Ash told Paul, earning an incredulous scoff.
"Aura tell you that?"
"Something like that."
On the topic of Aura, as Ash watched the little Ralts run, something about it felt off. Its Aura did not feel like any Pokemon he had ever known before. There wasn't the same 'wild' feeling there usually was. Typically, even a caught Pokemon had Aura that had some flare to it. The word 'free' came to mind. But this Ralts's Aura was tame, like that of a human who could not control their Aura. As Ash's eyes narrowed upon the back of the little Pokemon, he couldn't help but to be curious about what that meant.
Viciously, two titans of steel collided. The fist of Registeel met with that of the Burned Man with a resounding clang. Neither could overpower the other, until the panels along Harper's elbow opened wide and spewed flame. The propulsion made the ground beneath Registeel's feet splinter until it crumbled. And without any solid ground to stand upon, it fell back.
Harper lunged forward and smashed his fist down into Registeel's face. Beneath them, shards of earth were jettisoned into the air from the impact. And with Registeel planted firmly into the ground, Harper opened his hand, pointing the palm of his hand down. Spiral plates opened on that palm as orange light crawled down from his shoulder toward it. As steam began to emerge from the gaps between the plating of his arm, Registeel retaliated.
A silver beam, Flash Cannon, shot out from Registeel's seven eyes. Harper flew back and shielded his visor from the attack. He growled in annoyance. Registeel beat its fists into the ground to propel itself back onto its feet and immediately lurched at its enemy with an Iron Head. When Harper brought up his arms to endure the blow, he was knocked back, but quickly responded with a savage right hook that scraped against Registeel's exterior.
Plates on his shoulders slid back, allowing for the thrusters underneath to spew and propel him forward. His large hands clamped down on Registeel's body, sending them both into a roll as each one tried to dominate the other. It ended when Harper hurled it into the air. He pointed his arms up, the plating of his knuckles and chest opening wide to let loose a torrent of red hot heat.
Shimmering silver glints appeared in front of Registeel's eyes. It chimed with aggressive, deep warbling before a Flash Cannon was loosed down at the oncoming flames. Hellfire met with the steel golem's attack in a thunderous blast. From the ensuing smoke, Registeel descended upon Harper. His front jets sped him back in time to evade a stomp, but Registeel's cold, mechanical eyes followed Harper's every move. It shot out another Flash Cannon that Harper attempted to intercept with another jet of concentrated fire from his palm.
He was too late. His flames only emerged the moment the beam struck his hand and could not push back. Silver streams flew through the gaps between his fingers, nearly scathing his vulnerable visor. The armor plates all along his back began shifting. His ankles, legs, back, and shoulders all exploded with heat to make him shoot forward. He kept up his hand to drive through the beam and, faster than even Registeel could react, drove his fist straight into Registeel's eyes with a savage haymaker.
Registeel was sent hurtling back, its body skidding helplessly across the jagged stone ground. Its eyes flickered and warbled at the sustained damage. The boost continued to push Harper forward, which he used well to his advantage. Pulling his left arm back, he crashed his fist into Registeel again, and when he caught up again, repeated it with his right. This methodical beating continued until Registeel was able to dig its fingers into the passing ground.
From its fingers, there was a sever in the ground that spread toward its opponent. Fiery light glowed from within the crack, and when it met with Harper's underside, erupted violently. An Earth Power attack exploded from underneath Harper, knocking him sideways off his course. As he flipped across the ground, he dug the tips of his fingers into it and released his rear jet thrusters once more to send himself at Registeel.
Registeel used Lock-On, recalling the data it had acquired when it managed to strike the dark visor of its adversary. As Harper rocketed toward it, Registeel held out its hand, completed its Lock-On attack on Harper's visor, and then used Zap Cannon. A potent orb of concentrated electricity was launched at Harper. Though he raised his arms in defense, the orb seemed to move of its own accord underneath his arms and strike up at his chin, where the concentrated lightning wreaked havoc upon the visor that contained Harper's senses.
Harper clutched at his visor and wailed in agony. In instinctually clutching the pained area, he unintentionally allowed the lightning to course all throughout his suit. Taking advantage of the Burned Man's paralysis, Registeel gathered strength to its right arm as it prepared to unleash Superpower and scatter the armor of its enemy to the winds. Then, it would rake apart the others. Every single invader to its home and charge. Each and every single one of them would have their bodies rent apart, reduced to dust, thrown to oblivion.
Those were the orders issued to Regigigas and its creations since time immemorial, and it intended to succeed. It raised its arm to deliver the blow, but before it could, a wire wrapped around it. The moment Registeel turned, a Black Suit had stuck something onto its arm before shooting his wire off elsewhere to back away. Registeel swiped at the man and narrowly missed before attempting to shake off what had stuck to it. The moment it attempted to pry off the contraption, it was engulfed in a fiery explosion.
Registeel's arm, unharmed, swept through the smoke to dispel it. The moment it did, it was met with the sight of a black, metal fist hurtling toward him. Harper roared with rage as he drove that fist straight into Registeel's eyes, not even waiting for the golem to fly from his fist before he blasted it with a wave of burning flames.
Four wires dug into the ground near the Burned Man and each pulled in a Black Suit. "Harper, you've got a damn lot to answer for. What the hell was that back there?!"
Another one of them chimed in angrily. "You left us with a horde of those beasts. You left us to die! We're supposed to be a team!"
Harper, still blasting away at his foe, merely replied, "You're still alive, aren't you? More than I can say for myself."
Resisting the urge to smack the metal hull of Harper, mostly because doing so while he was releasing flames would only result in getting singed by the armor, that Black Suit retorted, "Don't give me that. We. Are. A. Team! Get that through your skull, tin can!
One of the others raised their welding tool. "Unless you feel like you won't be needing repairs for that microwave you're wearing."
At last, Harper lowered his arm, continuing to stare out into the flame-coated field of his making. From those flames, the steel golem rose, its seven eyes gleaming at him through the smoke. "Fine, then," He replied, his metal boot crunching the black stone beneath him as he marched toward his adversary. "Join me in battle. As a team."
"UN UN UN UN UN!"
Regirock raised its arms skyward as it prepared to use Stone Edge. Jagged stones manifested from thin air around it before turning toward the surrounding soldiers. As they were loosed, screams erupted from the soldiers whose armor was penetrated, their bodies falling. But with each soldier it felled, more came to retrieve the bodies and replace them. They took aim. A wall of ice rose up in a circle around Regirock as Regice, at its back, used Ice Beam.
Bullets pelted away at the ice wall briefly before stopping. "Grenade!" Announced one of them. A small, orb-shaped object was lobbed over the ice walls and clattered at the feet of the two golems. They had only a moment to look down at it before it exploded, shattering the ice walls. The first line of soldiers raised shields to defend against the shards of ice before retaliating.
"Open fire! Use ordinary ammo; it's inherently Steel-Type!"
Bullets came from all sides and shot into the smoke. Angered beeping came from within. The ground suddenly quivered, and a Zap Cannon lurched out from the smoke, dispelling it. Regice was alone, hovering over a large hole in the ground. The soldiers dove out of the way just before the Zap Cannon struck the ground, but were unable to evade the ensuing field of lightning that exploded from it and coursed throughout their bodies.
A lone soldier narrowly managed to raise a shield before the electricity could wash over him. "Dammit!" He pulled up his transceiver. "We're taking heavy infantry casualties from Regice, and we've lost visuals on Regirock!"
"Pull back! The tanks are further south, but they're within firing range."
"Roger that, over." The moment the electricity died down, he lowered the shield and waved his hand to the surrounding men. "We've got orders to pull back! They're rolling in the tanks from down south!"
Regice fired Ice Beam after Ice Beam into the wall of soldiers around itself. Even as they turned and ran, it did not cease its attack. Unfortunate soldiers were turned into little more than ice statues, their expressions of shock frozen in time. As it primed yet another attack, the sound of something rushing through the air caught its attention, and it turned to the sky just in time for its sensors to detect a large, falling projectile.
Regice set its Ice Beam upon it, but upon unleashing the attack, the projectile exploded violently. Swirling flames bathed Regice in a swath of heat, eliciting a shocked cry of pain from the golem. Regice writhed in the flames, shooting more ice around itself in a desperate attempt to rid itself of the all consuming heat. This worked for a time until a second shell fell from the sky upon it. It shrieked again, only able to let out the closest thing to a scream it could make.
Further south, one of the many tanks rolling north held its smoking cannon steady as those within primed a third shell. Once it was loaded, they sealed the barrel shut and prepared to fire. Before they could activate the launching mechanism, the ground beneath them rumbled. Cracks began to grow along the ground from beneath the tank until a rift opened to swallow it whole. As it fell, the surrounding soldiers could only watch on in horror.
They ran to the sinkhole and peered inside. Something rushed up from it and crashed behind them. Before they could even turn, a rocky arm slammed into them, sending them careening down to their doom. Bullets began to pelt its stone hide from all sides. It brought up its arms in defense and dove back into the hole.
Bereft of the original plan, the soldiers near Regice stormed the ice golem. Some of them, adorned in thick padding, carried flamethrowers and spewed their contents onto Regice's frigid exterior. Regice retaliated with Blizzard to clash with the flamethrowers. As frigid winds collided with three jets of fire, one of them hurled a grenade behind Regice. It exploded, sending Regice face first into the flames that doused its skin.
Shrieking with rage, Regice pointed a finger at the men and fired Ice Beam's wildly. One struck a man in the center, instantly reducing him to a statue. The one beside him had his legs frozen to the ground. He cried out as the ice sapped away at all feeling below the waist. The third of the flamethrower-wielding men was struck straight in the head. Beneath the ice, he cried out and clawed at the crackling crystals that grew. He beat at it, ripped at it, to no avail, and collapsed.
"Plan B failed!" Cried a soldier from afar. "Proceed to Contingency 074!"
Roaring engines and whirring tires ushered in large vehicles. From one of them, a soldier with a blowtorch hopped off to thaw the ice off the frozen legs of his fellow soldier. The rest of the vehicles rumbled across the barren ground around Regice. Four humvees, carrying large discs upon them. When Regice aimed at them, the discs unleashed shockwaves that converged upon the ice golem.
The next thing Regice knew, it was shaking. The shockwaves made its body tremble worse with each passing second. As its sensors failed to compute what was happening, its eyes began to rapidly dim as if it were blinking. Cracks grew along its icy exterior when the shockwaves grew so terrible that Regice began to shake from the inside out. It let out a high pitched cry, warbled by the waves, and reached up to the frozen Regigigas at the foot of the Tree of Beginning before its body exploded into blue shards that rained down upon the blackened ground. A small piece with a yellow eye clattered upon the ground. Its glow blinked rapidly before fading altogether.
"Regice has been terminated," Reported one of the soldiers within a humvee, looking pleased with himself. He kicked open the door, walking over to the fallen pieces. When he spotted the shard with Regice's eye, he smirked, picked it up, and pocketed it. "I repeat: Regice has been terminated, over."
Further south, the forces of the Nova Branch were subjected to loss after loss as Regirock burrowed through the ground. Whether it was to create sinkholes to drag their vehicles down into, or geysers of Hyper Beams shooting up from the earth, the soldiers near Regirock were on the ropes. As the ground quaked beneath one soldier, he dove back just before a new sinkhole could swallow him. He lobbed a grenade down into the hole.
"That'll get ya!" He hissed, scrambling back to his feet. Far below, the ground quaked once more, and a puff of smoke and dust shot up from the hole. The soldier laughed and cheered, pumping his fists into the air. "That's what I'm talking about! Mankind wins again!"
Something rushed up from the hole, the wind knocking him onto his back. Regirock, using Rapid Spin through the air, locked onto the soldier below. But as the orange light of a Hyper Beam appeared in front of its many eyes, a tank took aim at it in the air and fired. Regirock emitted a discordant buzz as a Water-Type shell was launched at it, drenching it in scalding water. The soldier below scrambled out of the way of the boiling rain and the golem of stone who crashed down after it.
"AOURGH!"
Regirock launched the Hyper Beam at the offending tank. It went straight through the barrel, causing it to explode from the inside. Around Regirock, the soldiers readied their guns. "Open fire! Now!" The nearest circle of men went prone as they fired. Behind them, the next row stood on one knee. On all sides, bullets pelted Regirock's stone hide. It groaned and raised its arms to defend itself before making a deep, warbled noise and launching another Hyper Beam.
Soldiers scrambled and dove for their lives as Regirock's attack swept across its vision. More bullets, heavier ones, shot down upon Regirock from above to cease its attack. A helicopter circled around Regirock, a rotating gun on its open side firing way. Annoyed, Regirock used Stone Edge and prepared to return fire until it was consumed in another watery explosion. Regirock turned, only to be rammed head on by the tank that had fired upon it.
"That was for Rachel, you damned monster!" Roared the pilot from inside.
Unhearing and uncaring, Regirock pushed against the tank, digging its heel into the earth. Slowly, it lowered its arm and managed to lift the entire vehicle over its head. Orange light gathered to its eyes, and Regirock unleashed a Hyper Beam into the tank's underside. A shrill, deafening screech filled the air as the beam gradually pierced the metal until it melted through altogether.
The ensuing explosion collapsed the tank in twain. Regirock tossed aside the lesser half to hurl the larger one up at the helicopter. Narrowly, the Black Suit operating the gun hopped out just before the tank shard smashed into where he was, causing the helicopter to explode.
Its eyes gleaming, Regirock shot another Hyper Beam at the Black Suit, who raised his shield in defense. He disappeared into a veil of fire. Turning its attention elsewhere, Regirock launched another Hyper Beam at the surrounding soldiers. It shot this attack repeatedly into the horde of men. Screams filled the air shortly before being overwhelmed by the sound of the beam. Regirock did not notice those screams fading until it loosed more of these attacks.
As it primed yet another Hyper Beam, Regirock's sensors scanned for life. But it found none. The stone golem let out computing beeps as it turned in its search for targets. There were no screams. No men. No bullets, tank shells, tires, or propellers. There was only the sound of the crackling fire of its own making. That, and the sudden sound of footsteps.
Regirock turned to see six men emerging from the flames. Men draped in red, masks with large black tubes upon their faces. Though the flames licked at their suits, they continued to march until they breached the flames. Behind them walked another man. Wearing dark shades over his eyes, this man walked through the flames in another way. The flames did not touch him, as if he were not there at all. His boots made no sound, nor did they even leave a print in their wake.
As Regirock honed in on this seventh man, its memories flared a warning in its vision. Visions of Mew, and the Tree of Beginning by extension, flashed in Regirock's sensors. This was the man who fought and injured Mew. He, who was responsible for the attack on its lifelong charge. The man who slaughtered its kin and continued to do so. Regirock would not let this stand. It fired yet another Hyper Beam at Nova, who made no move to evade. Nor did he give any reaction at all.
One of the men in red leapt in the way. A protective gleaming sheen coated their body. As they raised a hand, the beam coursed all throughout their body, then coalesced back upon their hand. The Hyper Beam was launched back upon Regirock with double the force. Regirock warbled in shock, raising its arms to protect itself as the massive beam washed over it. This human…it had used Mirror Coat.
Calmly, Nova pulled up his transceiver. "All ground forces, proceed north. Ignore Regirock. Initiating the Red Suits." After putting the transceiver back upon its holster on his coat, he wordlessly made a movement with his hand, then motioned toward Regirock. Instantly, the six Red Suits lurched forward at the stone golem. Some sprinted with astounding speed, yet ran knelt forward like a beast. Others floated off of the ground and sought to curve around toward Regirock's sides. They moved not like people, but like Pokemon.
Leaf Blades emerged from the top of the wrists of the running ones before they slashed at the legs of Regirock, taking off small chunks of the stones. Regirock stumbled forward at the sudden injury, but by the time it went to retaliate, the offending men in red had already dashed off.
The two flying ones sailed into it on either side, one higher and one lower, with Focus Punch. The sheer force behind their attacks shook the air and sent Regirock into a deadly spin. It buzzed as its senses became disoriented. As it spun, it locked onto one of the passing Red Suits and used Superpower, smashing its stone fist into their leg.
Their leg shattered, going limp. As they soared to the ground, another Red Suit took hold of their ally's broken leg. From their fingertips, waves of gleaming light flowed into the leg. With a crack, it righted itself back in place as if nothing had happened at all. Regirock's sensors beeped with alarm as it recognized this ability as the move Heal Pulse, yet another Pokemon move. But these things appeared human. They were shaped like humans, at least, and certainly fought by their side.
As Regirock turned a step toward them, it was suddenly beset upon by another Red Suit that latched onto its side. It swung with its arms to try to reach it to no avail, and before it knew it, two more had come to restrain those arms. Three more latched onto its back and legs, each beginning to assault the stone golem viciously, and each making sure to stay out of the way of its eyes. It was when one of them stabbed into Regirock's shoulder with Metal Claw and flooded the wound with Toxic that it decided enough was enough.
Its seven eyes gleaming from yellow to red, Regirock used Rapid Spin to throw the six Red Suits off of its body. Those eyes glared past them, using Lock-On on the man who commanded them. Using Rapid Spin once more, Regirock dove into the ground to try its luck. Instantly, the Red Suits gave chase, practically throwing themselves headfirst into the hole.
Explosions of fire and dust erupted from the ground, along with the angered beeps and cries of Regirock. Near Nova, the ground splintered and glowed orange. A Hyper Beam shot up, but suddenly changed course from the ground and pulled back. The beam narrowly soared over Nova's head, tilting toward the sky before fading. Wordlessly, Nova discarded his used cigar into the hole and resumed his steady march northward.
With nearly every step forward he took, there was some sort of tremble in the ground around him from the vicious fight beneath his feet. Geysers of dust or fire sprouted up across the blackened field as he walked. The earth splintered and churned. Cries of anger and pain rose up from each hole in the ground. And even as Nova waded through the wall of fire, none of these things could touch him.
His march came to a halt when the ground before him was suddenly rent apart by a massive quake. A fissure in the ground ripped the land in front of him apart, creating a rift between him and his men who continued northward toward the tree and Regigigas. Nova peered over the edge, then took eight paces backwards. A warbling bellow shot up from the ravine. Regirock rushed up and stomped down upon the space Nova previously stood upon.
Regirock let out something akin to a bellow in Nova's face, earning no reaction. Scrapes and gashes decorated its body. Portions of its arms and shoulders were either chipped away, or missing entirely. It hobbled toward Nova on one leg, using the remnants of its arm to push itself forward. And as it raised a jagged stone fist into the air, that arm was caught by a red and black glove and pulled back. Regirock looked up, seeing a masked face peer back down at him from its shoulder.
The other five Red Suits shot up from the ravine. There was a loud cracking sound as the one on Regirock's shoulder pulled back, ushering the others to jump in. Regirock beeped and flailed at its attackers furiously. In short time, that anger turned to panic. Its remaining leg was the first to go, removing its ability to use Rapid Spin to force them off of it. It fell to its back, where the Red Suits continued to tear away at its body. Its beeps turned shrill, almost like a scream.
When Regirock tried to fire a Hyper Beam as a desperate attempt to rid itself of its attackers, it struck one in their mask as it pulled its head back to evade the beam. Slowly, they looked back down, and Regirock realized they may not have been human after all. Their skin was pale as frost, carrying no mouth and a flat nose. Their eyes were as hollow as the void and black as a moonless night.
A green light, which Regirock's sensors picked up as Recover, washed over the Red Suit, returning their mask to their face. Regirock was not given time to rationalize what that meant before the stricken Red Suit reached down. A silver sheen overtook their hand as they used Metal Claw, and then, they proceeded to dig their fingers into Regirock's face.
It flailed wildly as the Red Suits tore into it, to no avail. They cleaved apart its arms, ripped away its shoulders, splintered its central body, and before long, the golem of stone fell silent. One of the Red Suits tossed a large chunk with Regirock's eyes over their shoulder, which landed near Nova's feet. He looked down at it, then back up to the Red Suits and whistled. Instantly, they halted their assault and leapt away behind him.
Regirock laid near the side of the ravine in tatters. Little more than cracked stones remained. "Hm." Nova remarked only that at the handiwork of the men in red before kicking the shard with Regirock's eyes down into the ravine. He hovered one leg over the abyss, then took a step onto thin air. Then, he took another. One foot after the other, Nova walked over the gap in spite of the lack of actual footing. Behind him, his Red Suits leapt over the abyss. To reach the other side, some flew, one used Vine Whip, and one propelled itself over.
But Nova merely walked.
Two fists, born of metal, soared past one another. Harper's flew into the eyes of Registeel, and in turn, Registeel's smashed into the visor of Harper. Though they were both sent flying back, Harper clutched at his visor, the strike assaulting his every sense.
With Harper stunned, Registeel went on the attack. It did not notice the sound of something spiraling through the air toward it until it was too late. Its sensors blaring alarms, Registeel halted its attack and brought up its hands as a drilling spear collided with it.
The spear whirred loudly as it grinded against the steel body of Registeel, sending blinding sparks through the air like a geyser. At last, the spear's edge chipped, and with a loud clang, it flew off and clattered on the ground. Registeel's arms were red from the head, cracks lining it.
Holding a smoking spear gun, one Black Suit chuckled at his handwork. "So it's not invincible after all." He tossed the empty gun down and kicked the downed Burned Man. "Get up. That thing's on its last legs."
Beeping furiously, Registeel sent a Flash Cannon out at the Black Suit. Quickly, he raised his shield in defense, but was sent skidding back. He cried out as his arms were tested, doing all they could to stop him from meeting a quick and decisive end.
Harper held up a hand and let loose a torrent of flame. It washed over Registeel, using the new cracks in the golem's arms to flood its insides with fire as well. It screeched in agony, its sensors buzzing wildly from within its mind.
Amidst the haze of fire, Harper's dark mass shot through. Registeel had just enough sense left to turn its head and prevent its face from incurring what could have been a devastating blow in its vulnerable state. When Harper brought his fist back, there was a sizable dent in the left of Registeel's head.
Registeel's eyes gleamed, and then, it sent a punch back. Harper lurched forward, a jet of flame from his elbow propelling his fist. Their punches collided with a loud clang. Harper's fists were set alight from within. Again, their fists met, sending sparks and flame across the ground and air.
Again and again, their fists collided, each blow coating the area in fire. They, both of them, became bathed in these flames as their fists crashed against one another with rising speed. It came to the point their punches were like bullets…as Registeel had used Bullet Punch to match the speed of the Burned Man.
The ferocity and speed at which Harper and Registeel sent their speeding fists at one another sent powerful, nearly deafening, shockwaves across the air amidst the flames. It grew to the point the Black Suits nearby could only raise their shields to prevent themselves from being blown away.
However, Registeel's arms, cracked from the drilling spear, were beginning to give way. The heat overcoming Registeel's body inside and out caused its body to redden and soften. Its fists, being at the brunt of Harper's punches, were the first to break.
When Registeel's hands shattered, there was nothing to stop Harper from delivering a blow straight to its head to give it another dent. He lunged forward to finish the job, only to be met with a Hyper Beam directly to his visor. He recoiled, clutching the stricken sensory system.
Practically throwing itself back to its feet, Registeel flew at Harper with an Iron Head. Silver energy coated its body as it shot into Harper Like a missile, dragging him through the air. Below, the four Black Suits gave chase.
Registeel flew until it slammed into the trunk of the Tree of Beginning. It fell to the ground upon its feet, and as Harper slumped forward off of the bark he was partially embedded in, Registeel shot another Hyper Beam into his chest to keep him in place.
The beam sent up plumes of dust and smoke as it pushed Harper further and further into the tree. Warnings blared across his visor in response to the accumulating damage to his chest piece. The attack only stopped when a wire stuck into the ground below Registeel's feet.
Registeel whipped around and, upon seeing a Black Suit speeding toward him. Shot a Flash Cannon at the oncoming man. He gritted his teeth and raised his shield, and on impact, was sent tumbling back from the impact.
He cried out, flicking his pained arm. "Clever piece of scrap, ain't it?!"
A bullet hit Registeel's reddened leg from the side, causing it to crack and making the golem trip and fall. It turned its reddening eyes to another of the four Black Suits, who held a smoking rifle, and shot another Flash Cannon in retaliation.
A wire shot near the second Black Suit to usher in a third. The two raised their shields to block the oncoming attack and mitigate the damage. The fourth shot their wire past the golem, catching its attention. It turned, barely seeing the human in its peripheral before he darted out of sight with his wire shot again.
Registeel turned to them again, and yet again, they darted away before it could track them. This was repeated, Registeel unable to turn in time to lock onto the Black Suit due to the injury sustained to its leg.
Another loud shot rang through the air and Registeel fell forward, its other leg now sporting a dent. The Black Suit that had been knocked away from its prior attack now smirked at it, holding a smoking rifle of its own.
Before Registeel could retaliate, a wire shot across the ground in front of it. A blur raced from one end of its vision to the other, leaving a beeping metal disk on the ground. Registeel, learning its lesson from the first time, leaning back and brought up what was left of its arms before an explosion overcame it.
Parts of its body shook, even cracked, from the blast. More heat flooded its insides through those cracks, bathing it in an agonizing cascade of fire. Out from the flames came a Hyper Beam that aimed wildly. The Black Suits narrowly raised their shields.
The beam swept across the blackened ground, striking the shields of all whom it touched. They recoiled, snarling as they tried with all of their might to keep their shields steady. When one shot a wire toward Registeel, it snapped toward the sound and fired. The Black Suit raised their shield, but was sent flying back.
When another tried the same thing, Registeel immediately fought them back with another beam. It began firing wildly at all of them, no longer caring about what Hyper Beam did to its energy reserves. In its vision, there was little more than static, warnings, and fire. Its sense of self preservation had been deactivated.
Registeel continued firing wildly, forcing the four Black Suits further back. They retreated into the shadows of the tree's branches above their heads, aided by the smoke and jagged, uprooted ground all around them.
When its damaged sensors could no longer detect the four, Registeel began looking around frantically. They could be in any corner, any crevice in the ground, behind any rock or cliff. It used Lock-On, desperately searching for any sign of the Black Suits. And yet, for all its searching, it did not notice the burning storm brewing behind it.
A loud explosion rang out from the tree behind Registeel. It whipped around and used Lock-On, expecting to see one of the Black Suits. What it found instead was Harper, bathed in flame, and his fist hurtling toward Registeel's eyes. Within the suit of the Burned Man, the tiny shard of Necrozma's crystal began spinning violently.
Registeel was sent hurtling south, with Harper chasing right after him. When Harper, blasting flames from his back to achieve his speeds, caught up, he grabbed Registeel by its cracked leg and slammed it into the ground. It bounced back up off of the moving ground and spun, allowing Harper to rapidly beat into its face with both hands.
The final punch spiked Registeel back into the ground where it slid, sending sparks up into the air like confetti. Harper blasted the ground and sent Registeel flying, but was right behind it. He kicked off the ground explosively, caught Registeel by its broken leg, and then propelled them both back into the ground.
Their fall sent up an explosion of molten dust and rock that was heard across the entire valley. The impact cost Registeel its leg, now crumbled and crimson. Harper tossed it away, ferociously grabbed onto Registeel's head, and pumped his fist into the air.
Over and over, Harper began to beat his massive arm down into Registeel's eyes. Each blow dented the golem's face more and more until the light of its eyes sparked, blinked, and faded. But the Burned Man was not satisfied with that alone.
Ruthlessly, he kept smashing his fist into Registeel's face until it caved in completely. At last, the metal broke, and Harper drove his fist inside. He raised what was left of Registeel into the air above his head as if it were a trophy.
Orange light crawled up from the core of Harper's Suit. Within Registeel's head, Harper opened his palm and unleashed a torrent of flame. The heat reddened Registeel's body even further. Its corpse began to groan as the heat created pressure from within.
Fire began seeping from the cracks adorning Registeel's exterior. Then, as Harper's armor began sparking from the energy of the crystal shard, the flames became white. Registeel shimmered with a brilliant light like the sun itself, and then, its body could no longer stand the heat.
A massive shockwave burst out from the crater Harper stood in. Molten shards of metal that once were Registeel flew out in all directions. Their smoldering, smoking pieces rained down around Harper. He looked up, shielding his visor from the molten rain. Registeel was no more.
The steaming ice coating Regigigas began to quiver. Beneath that ice, the light of the titan's eyes began to shine brightly. There was a massive quake, sending many nearby Pokemon off of their feet. Even further south where the ground troops were, they could feel pangs of trembling ground.
Shards of ice began to slide and fall from Regigigas, shattering upon the rocks below. There was a loud roar, dampened by the ice. Finally, Regigigas moved its arm and threw off the ice upon it.
It used that arm to begin clawing at the ice on its other arm and tore it off. Viciously, it began ripping the frigid material off of itself, clawing, smashing, kicking, stomping, until the last of the ice was no more. Then, it raised its head high into the air and let out a roar that made the entire valley quiver.
The ears of soldiers and Pokemon alike were put under assault by the raging roar of Regigigas. It bellow with a fury never demonstrated before. Its eyes blipped as it attempted to establish a signal with its three creations. There was no response. And so, it roared in rage and anguish.
As he watched this, Nova felt his will being tested. "There's no mistaking that. Slow Start was worn off."
Orange light gathered to Regigigas's hands. It curved its arms up, and then two orbs were launched higher into the air. Suddenly, a beam shot down diagonally from each of the orbs. They drew a line southward over the entire valley. Soldiers caught in the line of fire cried out in their last moments before being erased in a flash of light.
Nova scowled as the two beams converged upon him. He twisted his watch, and suddenly, the beams curved around him and the Red Suits.
"Damn."
He tore his transceiver from his suit and shouted into it. "All units aerial or grounded, divide as much as you are able across the valley! Regigigas has lost its Slow Start! I repeat: Regigigas has lost its Slow Start! Do NOT group up! Our shields will not survive its attacks."
In response to his order, and the harrowing bellow of Regigigas as it gathered more orange light between its fingers, the soldiers of the Nova Corporation began to scatter across the land and sky in every direction. Two more orbs were launched into the air.
"All units, return fire! Marshadow, stop that damn thing!"
Mewtwo rolled his yellow eyes in annoyance at the words screamed into his head. "Very well."
The two orange orbs were coated in a violet glow before suddenly bursting, two beams being sent straight down upon Regigigas rather than the valley. They struck its shoulders with a thunderous boom, making it stumble forward. Its sensors honed in upon Mewtwo, but before it could retaliate, bullets from all sides began to pelt its body.
Across the sides of the valley, the helicopters rapidly fired at Regigigas's sides. From the south, they fired hails of shells and bullets that converged on the colossus. Above, the jets roared past with their engines as they bombarded its head and back. It writhed, then swung its arm at astonishing speed.
A wave of dust was thrown into the air to give it cover, as well as all the ordinary Pokemon behind it. It beeped out complex orders, understood only by the Psychic Pokemon. They telekinetically translated those orders to the others, and suddenly, all of them began piling into the tree again. They even rushed past Harper's Black Suits harmlessly, eager to get away from whatever Regigigas was about to do.
As Regigigas attempted to step forward, it was unable to. It shook in place, a violet glow coating its body.
Mewtwo chuckled, holding his three large fingers out at the titan. That was, until Regigigas rumbled and began to trudge forward in spite of the hold Mewtwo had on it. Mewtwo raised his other arm to increase the power of his Psychic grip, and yet, this only managed to slow the colossus.
"Y-you! You cannot resist my host's power!"
And yet, in spite of Mewtwo's cries, Regigigas Resisted. Through the dust, Regigigas swiped its massive arm through, pointing its hand in Mewtwo's direction as orange light sprung to life at its base. Mewtwo's eyes went wide with rage.
"You dare to challenge MY power?!"
Mewtwo teleported higher, summoning forth a colossal Shadow Ball above his head. Above Regigigas, the sun seemed to dim. Mewtwo's face contorted into a mad grin before sending the ball down.
Regigigas launched a titanic Hyper Beam from its hand, easily tearing through the Shadow Ball. Instantly, the smile on Mewtwo's face vanished. He raised a barrier in defense, but it was akin to shielding one's self against a hurricane with paper. In an instant, Mewtwo disappeared in a veil of orange light.
"GI-GAAAAAAAAAS!"
Crying out in victory, Regigigas sent its voice all throughout the valley. It was akin to a shockwave. Without the barriers each soldier carried, they would have perished. It took one thunderous step forward and splintered the ground. Then, it twisted its massive body forward to take another. Each step would put an Earthquake attack to shame.
It leaned forward, its next step faster than the last. Nova's eyes went wide. "Find cover beneath the ground!"
The massive lumbering stomps of the continent puller grew faster and faster as it brought up its shoulder. Soldiers all across the battlefield sought refuge in the myriads of craters scattered about. Some of them began to attempt to scale the valley walls when they figured out what Regigigas was attempting to do.
Regigigas was sprinting across the valley. A swirling cone of energy surrounded the titanic golem's body as it ran. It was using Giga Impact. The energy burnt the ground black, and when it neared the soldiers who had been in its path and had yet to find cover, they stood no chance. Flesh and metal alike were obliterated.
Its six eyes honed in on one target specifically. An individual whom one of its children recognized as the most dangerous. A man in a white trench coat, draped in shadow. Nova. It roared furiously as it targeted the man responsible for all of this.
Nova glowered back at the rapidly approaching titan. "All men, open fire on the ground in front of it, coordinates 0700,1400 valley statistics! Lee, focus the Azathoth's turret fire on these coordinates as well!"
Fire erupted from all sides, aimed not at Regigigas, but at the ground in its path. Even the Azathoth shifted focus from the regenerating Tree of Beginning and set its turrets in Regigigas's path in a deadly hail. Stone and soil splintered as it was pulverized into dust in a massive growing crater.
It saw this, and promptly leapt over it. Wordlessly, Nova motioned something to the Red Suits and they quickly vacated the area. He began to fiddle with his watch, keeping his eyes upon the approaching disaster beneath his black shades.
His grafted crystal shined brightly in response to the watch's frequencies. It was much dimmer than when he faced Mew, but it would have to suffice. For all Regigigas's might, it was still nothing compared to the mother of all Pokemon.
Before Regigigas was upon him, Nova gave one final order. "All units, attack Regigigas and bring it down by any means necessary. Lee, I want that railgun online."
In response to the danger of the nearing Regigigas, the crystal responded. Regigigas let out another furious cry as it barreled down upon Nova with the full brunt of Giga Impact. He disappeared in a veil of swirling light and flame as a massive explosion shook the valley.
A massive shockwave splintered the valley and its walls. Soldiers on the land and in the sky were sent flying back, some ending more fortunately than others. Amidst the dust, Regigigas scanned the land for its target, and found no trace of the man.
It then set its sights upon his followers.
The nearest men gazed up in horror at the six colored eyes peering through the dust. They pointed their weapons up and fired, sending swaths of orange streaks flying up at the titan. It let out a growl that shook the ground, raised its fist, and then smashed it into the ground.
The result was a geyser of stone, dust, and human bodies sent hundreds of meters into the air. Regigigas emerged from the dust cloud with a fearsome bellow, only to be met with more fire.
Wisening up, foot soldiers loaded in Fighting-Type ammunition. Tanks did the same for their shells. All across the valley walls, helicopters fired upon Regigigas's head. Jets raced by, pelting Regigigas's skin with strafe runs before quickly zooming off.
Regigigas attempted to swipe one of the jets out of the air as it passed, but the pilot narrowly managed to tilt it through the titan's fingers. Orange light gathered, but the jet was far too fast. It was gone in less than second, replaced by another firing at its side and speeding off before it could react.
Growing irritated, Regigigas swept its arm through the air, causing a wave of pressure to carve apart the valley floor where it swung. A jet, caught up in the wind and dust, began to spark and blare alarms as the pressure ripped apart its shield. Narrowly, it flew through the dust, its pilot scrambling to right the flight of the damaged jet, only to see the gleaming eyes of the colossus and helplessly crash between them.
A Hyper Beam was launched across the valley to its western edge, sweeping through the many helicopters firing at it. One by one, they erupted in flame and disappeared as they were consumed by the massive attack. Scarcely, a few managed to evade.
It then raised a massive moss-covered foot as it prepared to use what would become an utterly devastating Earthquake attack. However, the intense turret fire from the Azathoth far above knocked it off balance. It staggered back, raising an arm to shield itself as it gazed up at the massive airship.
Its eyes scoured the valley as it computed a solution. Then, it locked onto the massive branch of the Tree of Beginning that had fallen early on. Its lumbering legs carried it north in full sprint. From on high, the turrets along the bottom of the Azathoth's underside fell upon the valley like rain. Soldiers dove for whatever cover they could find across the splintered valley as Regigigas passed.
Regigigas leaned to its left to go westward, shielding itself at least from the helicopters along the eastern border of the valley with the massive branch. Its fingers clamped onto the bark of the fallen tree limb, and with thunderous crackling of splintered wood, it began to lift it.
Along the eastern base of the tree, Commander Thorn and his accompanying men watched with horror as Regigigas lifted the colossal branch despite the colossus being dwarfed further by the branch in size. A shadow was cast over them by that branch as it was lifted into the air.
"Commander, do we engage?" Inquired one of Thorn's soldiers.
Thorn watched one of the visor screens within his tank with bulging eyes, unable to take them away from the sight of Regigigas. Bluntly, and wisely, he answered, "No, Lieutenant. No we do not."
"Gi-GAAAAAAS!"
With that harrowing, world-shaking bellow, Regigigas hurled the massive tree branch up at the airship far above. Screams erupted on the bridge, and Lee quickly shouted, "Max shields, max shields!"
The barrier surrounding the Azathoth intensified in a brilliant blue orb of light. Crackling filled the air when the branch impacted the barrier. It exploded, shattering the branch into thousands of pieces, and making the ship's barrier crackle and dim.
Alarms blared within the Azathoth as the impact wracked the ship. On the bridge, Lee and everyone else were forced to grab onto something as the ship tilted. Engineers suddenly found their toolboxes sliding, and then, themselves. Unlike the other doctors in Yveltal's chamber, Dr. Death did not take his eyes off the glass casing that contained the Pokemon of Death. As the ship tilted, he gripped the railing, and continued to stare.
One wire sparked and fell from the writhing Yveltal's wing as the ship shook.
On the bridge, an ensign shouted, "Shield capacity at fifty-five percent!"
Gradually, the ship righted its position automatically, and everyone within scrambled back to their positions. Unusually uncomposed, Christopher Lee pointed at the people rushing past his chair and shouted, "Get that railgun online, NOW!"
"Yveltal Railgun at ninety-nine percent, General Lee!"
Lee slammed his hands onto his desk as he watched Regigigas priming a Hyper Beam to finish the job on one of the bridge's holographic screens. "Get it to one hundred percent now or none of us will live to regret it!"
Pieces of stone-hard wood fell upon the valley like rain. From mere splinters to colossal chunks, soldiers ran for dear life in the wake of the falling remains of the branch. Tanks on the ground fired up at them in an attempt to splinter them further before they hit the ground.
Orange light gathered to Regigigas's palms with a loud, rising whirring noise. Similarly, the colossal railgun on the ship began to spark red with the gathered energy from Yveltal, amplified by the large crystal chunk. It became to the point that the sky itself reddened.
Regigigas's sensors blared warnings at the gathering energy. It looked behind itself at the Tree of Beginning, and its defensive programming kicked in. It began sprinting south once more, holding the charging Hyper Beam in its hands to gain distance from the tree in case the Azathoth fired, and when it was directly underneath the ship, held its arms high and fired a concentrated, constant emission of orange light.
The beam was like a pillar that ravaged the ship's barrier. Though not as devastating as the colossal branch, the beam was still steadily draining away at its shield capacity. Lee watched with horror as it steadily counted down from fifty-five.
Through a field of trees, hooves galloped to take a certain Pokemon closer to the valley of the Tree of Beginning. Over its head, two Pokemon of black and white shot past it, leaving trails of fire and lightning in their wake. As it neared the valley, Keldeo slid to a halt and gazed upon the sight of the war.
From southwest, Rayquaza slinked across the sky. Its eyes narrowed when it saw a crimson spot of sky ahead of it. A golden rainbow glint flew gently from the west. Below it, the pattering of three beasts carried them toward the valley's edge.
Four guardians from Alola flew in from the east, momentarily abandoning their charges of the islands to fight for the world itself as they did once before. Many other Legends followed. Hoopa appeared from a ring just over the valley's southern edge, momentarily staring out at the marred battlefield before summoning more Legends from its remaining two rings.
Those golden rings grew, creating a blue rift in their centers. Victini, Diancie, and many others came piling out, ready to fight for the Tree of Life. These gathered Legends once scorned the tree when the threat of Necrozma was paramount. It was only now, after the damage the tree had sustained was felt across the world, that they realized they were wrong back then.
Along the bottom of the Azathoth, the railgun adjusted its position to aim down at Regigigas. The ship's barrier sparked and whined. If the colossal Pokemon's beam broke through, it would certainly destroy the railgun. Soldiers all across the battlefield fled from their own weapon in the skies above.
Beads of sweat dropped freely from Lee's head as he watched the shield's capacity drop to thirty percent. But then, there was one resounding beep that filled the Azathoth's bridge. The count of the railgun as it reached one hundred percent. He flicked open a glass case and smashed his fist into the button underneath, eliciting a loud, resounding buzz.
A crimson flash filled the sky, blinding all who saw it. Even the Legends on the valley outskirts were forced to halt their travel to shield their eyes from this horrendous light. Sparks gathered along the railgun surface with the rising whistling of burning air and powerful electricity until, as the gathered energy boiled over, it fired.
The red beam pierced Regigigas's Hyper Beam as if it wasn't there at all. In an instant, it shot straight through. Regigigas had only the briefest of moments to process the red beam shooting through its own before impact. The colossus cried out, and then its body disappeared in a massive dome of crimson light.
Smoke and fire filled the air, blackening the sky. A massive black crater had appeared in the center of the valley, still sparking with leftover fits of crimson electricity. Within that crater, Regigigas laid still, flat on its face. Half of its head had been blown open. One arm and one leg were missing outright. Cracks and burns littered every inch of what remained of its body.
Its eyes blinked with light erratically. Slowly, it began to stir. It let out a low whine as its remaining arm glided across the charred ground. It pushed itself up slightly to look ahead. There was nothing it could see but smoke. That was until a man stepped into view.
Regigigas let out a harrowing bellow at the sight of this man. Without a scratch from their previous encounter, Nova marched toward the collapsed colossus, sporting little more than another crack upon the crystal by his neck from Regigigas's efforts.
Wordlessly, he pulled out his gun.
Instantly, Regigigas began to scramble toward Nova in a last ditch effort to kill the ringleader of these accursed humans. It tripped as it tried to use its missing leg. Enraged, it writhed in the ground, resigning itself to merely use Hyper Beam once last time in spite of the condition of its remaining arm.
Orange light once again appeared in its palm, taking aim at Nova. He stopped, raising his gun against the titan. The shard of Necrozma's crystal in the gun whirred and spun. A small charge of electricity ran along the gun's barrel toward its tip.
And then, Regigigas found itself the victim of a painful deja vu. Nova's bullet, charged with the erasing properties of Necrozma's most horrific power, turned the beam of Regigigas to dust on contact. That beam became little more than violet dust as the bullet shot straight through into the titan's palm.
That purple dust began to spread along Regigigas's arm. Its systems blared with alerts and warnings as the dust crawled up its arm. In a last ditch effort, it tried to fire another beam, only for its arm to fade. It tried to kick the ground with its leg to draw closer, only to find that its leg had faded as well.
It screamed and wailed with fury, trying everything with its disappearing body to land one final blow against the man responsible for every offense against the Tree of Beginning on this day. Its final directive failed, and it faded, its screams going silent amidst a fountain of rising violet flickers.
Nova marched through those flickers as his Red Suits leapt through the smoke to rejoin him. He picked up his transceiver and called Lee.
"Is the way clear?"
"Negative. Multiple Legends have begun to appear over the horizon on all sides. The ordinary Pokemon have begun to emerge from the tree again. Out of the frying pan and into the fire, partner."
Nova allowed himself to sigh. "And our remaining forces?"
There was a brief pause as Lee convened with the others aboard the Azathoth's bridge. "Taking into account our soldiers, vehicles, and the remaining capacity of the Azathoth, estimates suggest our remaining total forces are only at forty-nine percent."
Nova's hand rose to clasp the grafted crystal at his neck.
"…It will have to do. All units, tend to the wounded while we still have time. The battle is far from over."
In the wake of the demise of the tree's second greatest guardian, Pokemon began to vacate the tree en masse for a second time. Two groups of the Nova Corporation remained northward enough in the valley to be affected.
Commander Thorn's men went prone in a circle around the Ares tank and fired at the ankles and knees of any Pokemon in sight. The tank itself whirred back to life just in time, launching its defense systems out in all directions to keep the beasts at bay.
The Black Suits of the Burned Man were less fortunate. In seconds, they were swarmed. They had neither the space nor the firepower to combat the overwhelming numbers of these Pokemon, and were quickly forced to resort to hiding behind their shields as the beasts pounded away and clawed relentlessly.
"Harper!" One shouted into their transceiver. "Return to our position! Get these damn things off of us!" He waited for a response. His blood ran cold when he received none. "Harper, come in! Report, damn you!"
Further south, Harper continued to stand in the crater he had made against Registeel. He stared up into the sky at something as the desperate cries from his men rang through his suit's auditory systems.
"Harper! Come in, Harper! We're being overwhelmed-"
There was an electric cracking noise, followed by screaming. Panicked voices rang in his suit and in the ears of the charred man within. But these words went in one ear and out the other. Far, far above were two birds. One, of ice. The other, of fire.
Harper stared blankly as Moltres at last came into his vision. The bird that had burned him alive, that he had sworn his existence to destroy in retaliation, was at last in his grasp. As the last cries of his men died out, Harper clenched his metal fist.
Author's Note.
Pokextinction Fact of the Day: Originally, Regigigas was intended to survive a lot longer and he would have thrown the entire tree at Nova's forces toward the end of the war as a last act of spite. There's an obvious reason why this was changed. As another fact, there was a beta scene of Lee firing the railgun at Regigigas we wrote five years ago with wildly different context and dialogue. That was around the time we were writing the chapter where Ash and Serena fought Misty in Arc 1.
Never give up on your dreams.
Creator: As the fact of the day said, the scene of Lee firing the Azathoth upon Regigigas is something we created a beta scene for five years ago. It's the only scene, actually, we made a beta scene for. Not even Nova's reveal or anything to do with Necrozma had a scene written in advance like this one did. It's humbling to be able to write it at last.
However, my favorite scene this chapter was Registeel VS Harper by a mile. In more recent memory than Regigigas, I spent many days and many nights imagining that scene. Two big hunks of metal beating the life out of each other. What more could you need?
Hydra: I can't believe the day has finally arrived that we get to see the deaths of the Regis. This was the first death of a legendary Pokémon that we've seen since the war with Necrozma and we lost all of them in one chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed this emotional roller coaster, trust me it's only gonna get worse from here.
Silverwolf1130: "Zeraora's badass moment didn't last long.
Damn. The Regis aren't doing too well.
Slow Start. Worst. Ability. Ever.
Latias is gonna be devastated when she learns about the Soul Dew. And I don't think she's gonna fare too well against Mr. Hothead. Poor girl…
Damn. Poor Yveltal. He's been through so much hell this entire story.
I wanna see Mr. Mengele die.
And yeah. Hard to believe anime Ash's story is really ending…
I don't think your Ash is gonna have the same happy ending, even if he stops the Nova Corps and restores peace to the world. He's been through too much hell…
Anyways, another great chapter. Can't wait for the next one!"
Creator: Zeraora is not the most fortunate Pokemon. And uh…about the Regis…yeah, they're really not doing too good now. At least Regigigas had a hell of a showing when Slow Start finally wore off. Regice kind of got shafted. Died to some sound waves when Regirock and Regigigas at least had the dignity of being downed by Nova, and Registeel fought tooth and nail against Harper and his Black Suits.
To think Harper would abandon the men that saved him from the Elemental Islands back when he was a Black Suit.
Hydra: It really breaks my heart to see Ash's story finally come to an end. I honestly thought it would never happen in my lifetime, but I guess all good things must come to an end eventually just as we saw with the Regis. Dude i'm surprised Yveltal is even still alive after all the hell he's survived, Dr death is really a horrible person, let us not forget what he did to little Palkia as well. I don't think there's any redeeming qualities associated with him.
G: "Good chapter, so continues the battle for the Tree of the Beginning, and now the Golems appeared to the battle, well the situation is certainly becoming more intense with each chapter.
Also, so Mewtwo was deployed to fights the Regis, and even he managed to separated Registeel from his counterparts, to throws him to the position of the Burned man, leaving the Metal Golem fighting against Harper, adding that Regirock and Regiice are being overwhelmed by the forces of Nova Branch.
Well, regarding the possible fates of the Regis, while i guess that Regigigas could managed to saves Regirock and Regiice from the enemy forces, in the case of Registeel, to considers his situation to be forced to faces the Burned man, i dread to think that maybe the Burned man could kills the Metal Golem, or at least injures it severely, something easy to him, to considers his weaponry flame-based, making that the Burned man be capable to harm severely Registeel, especially if Harper analyzes the possibility that if they harms more Legendary pokemon, this could draws the attention from more of them, among them, Moltres.
And talking about Legendary pokemon, so Latias appeared here too, well regarding to your point the Creator, this is certainly an interesting analysis, because to difference of others Legendaries, Latias didn't show notably some psychological trauma, at least on screen, making that we can't be sure if she developed a notable grudge against the Burned man, like Lugia toward Lee, or maybe she ended developing some notable fear for the Burned man, making that Latias even harbor fear to faces him, something that could be a problem, because if Latias see the Burned man, she could be paralyzed out of fear, making her useless to fight, or even an easy target to kills. Well, i hope that Latias can finds Ash first, as our hero could certainly helps her to deals with her inner demons.
Also, if Lugia will appears as well, this could be like an pokemon equivalent to the grudge of the Burned man toward Moltres, as Lugia hates Lee so much, to the point that the Sea Guardian could attack him recklessly, to the point of shows little to not concern by some collateral damage, meaning that if Lugia appears here, this could ends leading to more problems than solutions for out heroes.
To finishes, i wonder how could be the waited battle between the Burned man vs Moltres, because even if i guess that the Burned man could simply kills the firebird, i have a hunch, in that maybe the Burned man hides a secret weapon, a specialized weapon against fire type pokemon, to basically nullifies their fire types, forever, like a way to gives Moltres a taste of his own medicine, in the sense that Moltres took away the body of Harper, and in turn, he will takes something from Moltres; his fire type, like a proper payback. Well, i can't waits for the next chapter.
Keep the good job."
Creator: I'm afraid most of your predictions for the Regis didn't exactly pan out. The Nova Corporation takes no prisoners…well, besides when they do. Hey, look on the bright side. Your prediction for Registeel was spot on!
Yeah, I imagine Latias would probably stare at Harper as if he were the devil himself. Watching your family burn alive doesn't exactly go away in your head. But…what if she had help…?
As for Lugia, he was last seen chasing Ryder through the Nova Corporation's imitation rings of Hoopa. I wonder what became of them, or where they will end up?
Hydra: It's really crazy to see how each legendary has developed their own personalities over all these years of writing the story. I love how each has their own quirks and abilities that make them unique. Just gotta wonder how some of them are going to react to potentially taking a human life. Doubt can get you killed, so are the legends as prepared as they make themselves out to be or was the Regis deaths just the beginning? You wanna know a fun fact is that I've actually envisioned a story for what Mew would've been like had she become the next Necrozma, I would've called it "Mew Supreme" where she would have gone on a mind control rampage making everyone see the "logic" in her lifestyle and way of ruling. Btw I wanted to ask you G what were your thoughts on evil Mew back in the earlier chapters? One reason I really enjoyed her personality then was because Mew isn't a character you see act evil very often.
Creator: Next chapter, the Legends have at last touched down upon the valley, finally recognizing the value in the Tree of Life. Now, they will fight with their lives to protect it. The Nova Corporation has less than half of their remaining total fighting power. However, their most powerful adversaries are already defeated. What will happen when Harper at least meets with Moltres, and what will happen when those with their own grudges against Harper make their move?
Hydra: It's that time again folks. Hope you all enjoyed this rollercoaster of a chapter. The story is just gonna keep getting more intense from here on out so Buckle your seatbelts and enjoy the ride. Have a good weekend guys!