Nonsense67: Thanks for the reviews!
I've noticed multiple reviewers commenting on the beginning of this story; specifically, about how rushed the first few chapters feel with regards to Meditite's capture. Looking back, those comments are entirely justified. Knowing what I know now (mainly, that 2 - 3,000 words is not a very good length for chapters), I realize that I could have easily put in another chapter about forest life, which would have done wonders in expanding Meditite's character and making it feel far more impactful when she was taken from the forest.
In the future, if I wind up having a massive amount of free time on my hands, I might go back and redo the first few chapters to make them line up better with the rest of the story. But that will require a lot of time (not to mention a lot of research to ensure that the additions don't conflict with the reveals later in the story), and as such I won't be able to do that until after I finish Season 2, at the very least.
As I've heard many people say throughout my life, hindsight is 20/20. I'm saying all this because I want you to know that your feedback is seen and valued, even if I don't do anything with it at present.
A shiver passed through Oblivion. It was like a sudden breeze, present for a half-second before fading away.
"You sense it too, Master?" Bringer-Of-Visions asked.
"Yes," came Darkrai's response. "It is nonsensical. We can only assume that whatever the mysterious beings were planning worked as intended."
"They couldn't have been intending to take Marcus's Medicham along with them," Bringer-Of-Visions pointed out.
"No," said Darkrai, "but her disappearance is disconcerting all the same. I sense an 83.39% chance that Marcus will do something rash as a result of this development. And with Betrayer-Of-Kin on Alola, we cannot afford such rashness."
"I'll contact Seeker-Of-Endings," said Bringer-Of-Visions. "Let him know to expect such a thing."
"Indeed," said Darkrai. "I shall venture into the Dream World. With any luck, whatever happens to Medicham, she will go to sleep, and I may be able to find her."
"Very well," said Bringer-Of-Visions. "I will see you again soon, Master."
"And I you." Darkrai's presence faded. Left alone, Bringer-Of-Visions began to softly sing the notes of a Perish Song, casting the melody through Oblivion and out into the Pokeball that held Seeker-Of-Endings.
The ferryboat was surprisingly calm. The various Trainers were all at separate tables, utilizing the expansive array of medicines on the boat to at least get their Pokemon back to consciousness. Even the large amount of medicine was beginning to run dry under all the use, but at least if worst came to worst, most of the Pokemon on the boat could at least fire off attacks if more enemies arrived.
Seeker-Of-Endings watched closely from his Pokeball as Serena sprayed Jolteon with a Super Potion. The Electric-type had taken several powerful Ground and Psychic-type attacks from Faba's Claydol, and had been knocked unconscious towards the end of that battle, her mind and body overcome by the strain of staying up.
Connie and Theo were nearby, healing up their teams; most of Theo's team had been engaged with Faba's Slowbro, who'd from the look of things been more of a defensive Pokemon, and as such his team was not nearly as wounded as Connie's. Connie's Tyranitar had sustained plenty of damage, her Scrafty and Shiftry looked like they'd fought Kyogre, and the rest of her team wasn't looking much better. Across the ship, Elio and Hau were utilizing plenty of Revives; Seeker-Of-Endings hadn't seen any of their battle with that Type: Full, but he'd seen the devastated landscape and the multiple bodies, and knew that not a single one of their Pokemon had gotten out of that battle conscious.
The sound of swift footsteps drew all of their attention. Elio and Hau grinned broadly as Lillie stepped onto the ship, closely followed by Gladion. The white-clothed girl gave a slight smile as her eyes fell upon them. Gladion had a frown adorning his face, one hand clutched tightly upon the Pokeball that Seeker-Of-Endings now knew contained Silvally.
Any good cheer that Lillie's safe arrival had brought to Seeker-Of-Endings was dashed the instant Marcus stepped into view. The Absol could at once tell something was wrong. Marcus was grim-faced, his fists were clenched, and his eyes looked wet as he stood behind Gladion and Lillie.
"Thank Arceus," Connie said emphatically, adding a slight chuckle to the end of her words. "How'd you manage it? Gotta say, can't wait to hear that story."
Lillie and Gladion moved towards Elio and Hau, while Marcus stalked forwards, passing by his three prospective Gym Trainers with barely a glance towards any of them.
"What happened?" Theo asked nervously.
"Medicham's gone," Marcus responded, placing one of his Luxury Balls onto a nearby table.
Shock filled Seeker-Of-Endings' body. Gone? At once he cast out his Future Sight, scanning the timeline for Medicham. What he saw shocked him; up until a point, everything seemed normal, and then Medicham…just ceased to exist.
Along with Lusamine, Guzma, and both their teams, but Seeker-Of-Endings didn't care too much about that right now.
"Gone gone?" Serena asked.
"Stuck in some kind of alternate dimension," was Marcus's response.
At that moment, Seeker-Of-Endings felt the call of a Perish Song, and knew instinctively that it was Bringer-Of-Visions and that she had sensed Medicham's disappearance too. Swallowing, Seeker-Of-Endings answered the call, closing his eyes and allowing himself to fade into Oblivion.
He opened his eyes to see Bringer-Of-Visions looking agitated. "Seeker. Report."
"I'm afraid I can't tell you anything more," said Seeker-Of-Endings guiltily. "I was not with her when she disappeared."
"You…you weren't with her?" Bringer-Of-Visions narrowed her eyes. "Your job is to protect Marcus and his teammates. Why were you not with them?"
"Serena and the rest went back to the boat," said Seeker-Of-Endings.
"And you couldn't-" Bringer-Of-Visions stopped and took a deep breath. "I apologize. I know sometimes your Trainer leaves you with no choice. It is just…with Betrayer-Of-Kin roaming Alola, we can't afford to have Marcus making the rash decisions he will make now that Medicham is gone."
"Wait, what?" Seeker-Of-Endings asked. "Betrayer-Of-Kin is still in Alola?"
"Yes." Bringer-Of-Visions sighed. "Our assault upon her failed. She was well-prepared, with multiple allies and a well-chosen battleground; in all honesty, I wouldn't be surprised if she wanted us to attack."
"But…the other Absols…are they-"
"Finder-Of-Knowledge is dead," said Bringer-Of-Visions. "The rest were left unconscious but alive, thank Arceus. But now is not the time to dwell on that. I seem to recall Marcus knows you can speak?"
"Yes," said Seeker-Of-Endings.
"Then I need you to talk to him," said Bringer-Of-Visions. "Tell him you have allies working on locating Medicham, and to not do anything reckless."
"Bringer?"
"Yes, Seeker?" said Bringer-Of-Visions, a bit of impatience trickling into her tone.
"Marcus said something about Medicham being stuck in some kind of alternate dimension," said Seeker-Of-Endings.
Bringer-Of-Visions stared at Seeker-Of-Endings levelly. "Do you know anything more about this alternate dimension?"
"I am afraid not," said Seeker-Of-Endings. "With all due respect, you called me away before he could elaborate."
Bringer-Of-Visions sighed again. "If Marcus knows something about where Medicham has gone, find out everything you can and report back to me immediately. What he knows may be able to shed some light on these mysterious happenings."
"Yes, Bringer," said Seeker-Of-Endings.
"Go," said Bringer-Of-Visions. "May the Master guide you."
"And you." Seeker-Of-Endings willed his body back to reality. Swiftly, he looked around; Marcus was moving away from the group, making for the inside of the boat.
He couldn't very well explain to Serena that he needed to talk to Marcus. Not in front of all the other Trainers, none of whom knew he could speak. But thankfully his Pokeball had been left unsealed. So Seeker-Of-Endings released himself, appearing on the table in front of Serena.
Deftly, Seeker-Of-Endings hopped off the table and followed Marcus across the ship. He felt a couple of curious glances on his backside as he did so, but thankfully they shifted away after a few moments, more concerned with their own pursuits than whatever Seeker-Of-Endings was doing.
Marcus stepped through the door and into the bowels of the ship. Seeker-Of-Endings followed a little ways behind.
Ultra Space.
At least this place had a name. Not one that Medicham recognized, though. From the armored being's words, though, Medicham was pretty sure it was a place Lusamine's group had been intending to go to.
Had that been their plan all along? Would the case Nebby was in have forced him to teleport them here somehow? But why? What could they want here?
"Marcus?" Medicham cast a telepathic message out. "Can you hear me?" But there was no response; she felt a slight stabbing pain in her head as the message fizzled.
Guess that doesn't work.
"So this is Ultra Space," said Guzma in awe.
"Ultra Megalopolis, specifically," said the armored being who had not yet spoken. "Is everyone all right? All allies accounted for?"
Guzma and Lusamine both glanced around. "All of my Pokemon were successfully transported," said Lusamine. "And all three Type: Fulls as well."
"I've got my team." Guzma's eyes settled on Medicham. "And it seems we've picked up a stowaway."
Suddenly, all eyes were on Medicham; there was no friendliness in any of their gazes, and Medicham felt herself instinctively step between them and Nebby's case even as she shrank back from all those piercing stares.
One of the armored beings sighed frustratedly. "We don't have time to deal with this. Put it in a Pokeball or something."
"It's already owned," said Lusamine. "It can't be recalled to a Pokeball that isn't its own."
"Well, that's just perfect," said the other armored being. "It'll be nothing but dead weight against Necrozma."
"We can't very well just leave it behind," Guzma pointed out.
"And I suppose you have a better idea?" said the first armored being.
"Enough." Lusamine's voice was sharp and commanding. Guzma and the armored beings ceased squabbling as Lusamine stepped towards Medicham. Medicham looked up at the blonde-haired woman, trying to keep fear from her expression.
"You're a Psychic," said Lusamine. "Can you communicate telepathically?"
Medicham hesitated, afraid to answer, but realized after a moment that if she didn't answer, she wouldn't really get the opportunity to have a say in her own fate. Not like she would anyway, but if she spoke she might at least have a chance.
"Yes," Medicham said telepathically.
Lusamine smiled. "Good. Let me make one thing clear: you're not supposed to be here. This place is dangerous, and if we leave you alone you'll probably be dead by the time we return. Your death might represent a fairly large blow to Aether's reputation, and if your Trainer filed a lawsuit it would also cost Aether a decent sum of money. So I'd much rather you not die. I presume you'd rather not die either?"
"Yes," Medicham responded.
"Then you're coming with us," said Lusamine. "You carry Cosmog's case. Two of my Pokemon will be watching to ensure you don't try anything. Once we engage Necrozma, you will stay back and not engage in the fighting. If you do try anything, then any consequences that befall you will be entirely on your head. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes," Medicham said for a third time.
Lusamine turned back towards the rest of the group. "There we go. Problem solved. Let's move."
A hiss of the Ultra Balls on Lusamine's belt heralded the release of two of her Pokemon, a Clefable and a Mismagius. The two moved swiftly to either side of Medicham as the rest of the group began to move forwards; Medicham picked up Nebby's case, not looking at either of the two Pokemon around her, and followed close behind.
It quickly became apparent that the group was heading towards the largest building in the city, a thin but towering edifice that looked as if part of it had been blown out. Medicham was reminded of the Prism Tower back in Lumiose, though that was not nearly as damaged-looking as the tower that the group were now walking towards.
"Nebby," Medicham asked telepathically so as not to draw the attention of her guards, "how are you doing?"
"the case hurts," said Nebby. "but not as much. i can last. but…i promise, i didn't intend to-"
"It's okay," said Medicham. "You didn't do anything wrong, I promise. I need you to tell me everything you know. Where are we going? What is their plan?"
"they want to fight necrozma," said Nebby. "they said i was once part of necrozma, and that i was necessary to teleport them here and back."
"Okay, and who's Necrozma?" Medicham asked.
"necrozma is a legendary," Nebby responded. "a corrupted being of light. that's what they said, anyway. i don't know if they were telling the truth or not. i can't remember any of it."
"We're going to be fighting a Legendary?" Medicham asked worriedly.
"You're not going to be fighting," an unfamiliar telepathic voice chimed in. "That's the job of the Type: Nulls and the Naganadels. Our job is to reinforce and support, and yours is to stay back and hope Necrozma doesn't come for you."
Medicham looked around and saw Lusamine's Clefable wiping a slight smile off her face. She glared at the Fairy-type, who chuckled softly. "Telepathic communication has always been somewhat of a strength of mine."
"So…all this was just to fight a Legendary?" Medicham asked.
"An evil Legendary," Clefable corrected. "One that was going to come for our world unless we came for it first. That's what the Type: Fulls and the Naganadels are for. Five Legendary-level fighters should be able to take on a single opponent, no matter how powerful it is."
"And Clefable's got Reflect and Light Screen," said Mismagius. "She'll be erecting them around all five of the fighters, and the rest of us will be using our Psychic powers to strengthen the barriers."
"What about Guzma?" Medicham asked.
"He'll be in charge of dealing with any unexpected guests," said Clefable. "Necrozma's got allies, you see. He's got the Ultra Beasts - you remember Nihilego?"
Medicham shook her head. "That white Tentacruel-like creature?" Clefable pressed. Medicham recognized the description from the news broadcast; she nodded.
"That's one of his allies," said Clefable. "We were hoping to wait for a little longer to enact this plan, but Nihilego's successful escape left us no choice but to hurry our timeline."
"Hence the kidnapping," Mismagius chimed in.
Clefable shot a look at Mismagius, who fell silent. "Necrozma's also got some kind of 'dark entity' on its side that apparently helped it escape being imprisoned. If that entity or any Ultra Beasts show up, Guzma's Pokemon will occupy them and try to keep them away from the actual fight."
"How long have you been planning all this?" Medicham asked.
"For months now," said Clefable. "Look, Medicham, when Lusamine said you had no idea what was going on, she wasn't lying."
"So why not just tell us what was going on?" Medicham asked.
"Because Lusamine didn't want to risk anyone else trying to join us," said Clefable. "Anyone who wasn't part of the plan would likely only be a hindrance."
"And Nebby is from the same world as Necrozma?" Medicham asked.
"Yes, as are the Ultra Recon Squad." Clefable pointed to the two armored beings. "That's Dulse and that's Zossie. They came to our world to seek our help against Necrozma."
Medicham's head was beginning to spin; she shook it to clear her thoughts. "How did I get myself into this?" she asked to herself.
"By being an idiot and trying to interfere with something you didn't understand," Mismagius said matter-of-factly. Medicham shot a glare at the Ghost-type, who shrugged. "What? You didn't want an actual answer?"
Medicham sighed and turned away, focusing back on the tower. Already she could tell it wouldn't be a short walk. She could picture Marcus and the rest of the team searching for her. Scared that she was gone for good.
Medicham clasped her fingers tightly around Nebby's case and continued to walk. With any luck, if I follow their instructions, I'll get out of this alive.
Pangoro understood the grief that the rest of the team was feeling. They'd known Medicham for far longer than he had. Had fought alongside her and trained with her. She seemed competent and patient, if a little withdrawn. And Pangoro had seen her fight. She wasn't weak, not at all. But as he eyed the surrounding corridors from within his Great Ball, he had to wonder why he should feel sorry for Medicham.
If she's gone, that just means she was too weak. Isn't that how it works?
Pangoro ignored his inner pragmatism. Such beliefs were well utilized in the wild. They kept him alive, kept him strong. But in this new way of life, pragmatism took a back seat to teamwork. Medicham was the leader, the Pokemon the rest of the team revolved around. Without her, their effectiveness in battle, both as a team and as individuals, would take a hit.
Anger flashed through Pangoro at that last part. Sure, he'd taken down that Bruxish. But he'd fallen himself. If he'd been there when Medicham had gone, could things have gone differently?
It's not like I'm ever going to find out.
"What do you want, Seeker-Of-Endings?"
Marcus's voice disturbed Pangoro from his thoughts; he twisted to see Marcus staring at an Absol. Serena's Absol, Pangoro recalled; he'd fought alongside Medicham in the recent battle, taking on that enemy Hypno.
"I want to talk. That's all."
Pangoro's jaw dropped. Never had he heard of a Pokemon who could speak to humans.
"What about?"
"You know what." Seeker-Of-Endings' pointed tail lashed.
"Can we not?" Marcus asked frustratedly. "It's…I don't want to talk about it."
"Please, this is important," said Seeker-Of-Endings. "I need to know what happened. You mentioned an alternate dimension. What did you mean?"
"Lillie called it Ultra Space," said Marcus brusquely. "She said Lusamine and her allies were going there to fight some evil Legendary called Necrozma. That's all I know. Now can you please just leave me alone?"
Seeker-Of-Endings dipped his head. "Look…I just want you to know that I have some allies working on finding Medicham." He closed his eyes as if dreading his next sentence. "Betrayer-Of-Kin has been spotted in Alola. I need you to promise me you won't do anything reckless."
Pangoro felt Marcus shiver, and spotted several of his Luxury Balls twitch at the name. "All right," said Marcus. "But I'm not leaving Alola without Medicham."
"I hope you won't have to," said Seeker-Of-Endings. "I will notify my allies of this information. Thank you."
With that, the Absol withdrew. Marcus uttered a quiet curse before turning and continuing his movement deeper into the bowels of the ship. Pangoro frowned. Clearly, something else was going on with Marcus. Something that, apparently, at least some members of the team knew more about than Pangoro did.
It didn't sit well with Pangoro. He needed to know what was going on. Who was Betrayer-Of-Kin, and why were Marcus and most of his team so scared of whoever that was?
Pangoro pondered the implications of this as he watched Seeker-Of-Endings disappear around a corner, the Absol's footsteps echoing in the metal corridor.
"Here we are," said Dulse. "The Megalo Tower. Necrozma is inside."
"Once we reach the top, stay quiet," said Zossie. "Our device will protect us from his Psychic gaze, but we must take care not to let him detect us through sound."
Medicham followed the rest of the group through the double doors, Mismagius and Clefable following behind. Inside was a fairly spacious elevator, one that could fit all of them; Lusamine quickly recalled all of her Pokemon, watching Medicham closely as she did so. Medicham tried not to look at any of the four Trainers surrounding her, instead focusing on the outer wall of the elevator as it began to rise.
The elevator rose for nearly a minute before it finally slowed to a halt. Slowly and quietly, the two members of the Ultra Recon Squad each released one of the purple, massive-stingered creatures - Naganadels, Medicham recalled Clefable had called them - while Lusamine released all six members of her team. Guzma released none of his, creeping along behind the other three Trainers. Medicham followed last of all, aware of Clefable and Mismagius looking back towards her even as they ascended the series of stair-like platforms that the elevator led onto.
Suddenly, Dulse and Zossie stopped moving and signaled for the rest of the group to halt. All eyes turned to the left; Medicham looked left as well, and her eyes widened at the sight of the creature hovering slightly over the top of the tower.
"Necrozma," Dulse whispered.
Medicham gazed upon the creature's body. Necrozma was a pitch black color with creamy white highlights. Its body looked like a series of overlapping polygons, a fairly large head and stomach tapering off into skinny legs that didn't look like they were used at all and even skinnier arms. These arms led to hands that were shockingly large; each looked about the size of the rest of Necrozma's body, with three wicked-looking hooked claws on each hand. Necrozma was floating in the air with its back to the staircase; it did not seem like it had noticed their arrival.
Three hissing noises heralded the release of the trio of Type: Fulls; a strange sense of satisfaction filled Medicham at the sight of one of the Type: Fulls looking damaged, even though she recognized that wasn't a good thing in this situation. "All right, it's time," Lusamine whispered.
"Protective Barrier." With a low murmur, Clefable raised her stubby hands, casting out her Reflect and Light Screen. The rest of the team reinforced the barriers with Psychic energy of their own, solidifying and strengthening the dual screens. Even the towering, clearly physically-minded Bewear contributed a small amount of Psychic energy.
Guzma finally released his team. Medicham recognized the Golisopod instantly, but the other five - Scizor, Ariados, Vikavolt, Masquerain, and Pinsir - were all new to her.
Golisopod glared at Medicham. "You stay back," he growled. "And don't try anything. If an Ultra Beast does come, you'll be next to useless."
"Thank you for your concern," Medicham muttered.
"Naganadel," whispered Zossie. "Are you ready?"
Both of the Nagnadels nodded.
"001, 002, 003," said Lusamine. "You know what to do."
A chill filled Medicham's body as she watched the five fighters prepare themselves. She knew Clefable was right. Five Legendary-level fighters should be able to take on anything, no matter how strong. But all the same, worry was beginning to take hold in her heart. Worry that, despite all their power and the Psychic reinforcement from Lusamine's team, it somehow wouldn't be enough.
"Now," Dulse commanded.
The five Legendary-level fighters surged forwards, the Type: Fulls leaping from the stairs onto the top of the tower, the Naganadels hurling themselves into the air. Two cries of "STINGER BLAST!" rent the air as what was most certainly Eterna flew from the Naganadels' stingers. Of course such powerful beings could wield base energy like that. What came from the Type: Fulls, though, was clearly Ghost energy as each of them launched a Shadow Ball at Necrozma. Powerful Ghost energy, to be sure, but not the raw form of Distortion.
"Prism Armor."
Necrozma's reaction was so fast Medicham couldn't help but wonder if he'd known the attack was coming. The towering black Legendary twisted to face its adversaries, light streaming from every orifice on its body; the light coalesced into a glowing multicolored weave of polygons, intertwined into a glittering barrier around Necrozma's entire body. The five powerful attacks slammed into different parts of the Prism Armor and dispersed in five bright flashes of light.
"You dare to assault me?" The word was borne upon a wave of Mind so intense that even as far back as she was, Medicham could feel it pulling at her body. Gravity seemed to intensify all around; the Type: Fulls shifted to Dark-types and powered through the blast, but the two Naganadels were grasped in the wave and slammed hard into the top of the tower. The Reflect and Light Screen around their bodies shivered, but held; Medicham had a feeling that had they not been there, the attack might have been enough to severely injure the Naganadels.
"Multi-Attack." Three voices sounded as one, and three massive blasts of Dark energy flew from the Type: Fulls, coalescing into a titanic black wave.
"Dark-types?" Necrozma's voice sounded almost offended. "Is that it?"
The wave of Dark energy exploded as Necrozma slashed one of its clawed hands, encased in a layer of Prism Armor, through it, slicing it to pieces. "My light does not bend to such tricks. Prismatic Laser."
Protect barriers came up, surrounding the Type: Fulls in layers of shielding as several of the glowing polygons surrounding Necrozma's body erupted into blinding beams of light. Medicham could dimly see the Protect barriers straining under the bombardment. "STINGER BLAST!" Abruptly, Necrozma had to break off the attack, raising a Prism Armor-encased hand to block the blast of Eterna that came at it from one of the Naganadels.
Both of them had managed to once more take to the air; as Necrozma blocked one's blast, the other darted for its stomach. "METAL STINGER!"
"No." Mind burst out again, grasping the Naganadel's body. Once again the Psychic barriers held, preventing Necrozma from crushing the Naganadel in its Psychic grip. Necrozma tossed the Naganadel aside as the Type: Fulls leaped for the black-colored Legendary once more. "Multi-Attack." This time all three targeted different points of Necrozma's body.
"Photon Geyser." Necrozma brought both hands in front of its body and let loose with a colossal stream of light, intercepting all three Dark-type Multi-Attacks and dispersing them before it. "RKS System: Flying Memory!" The three Type: Fulls were forced to split up, hurling themselves through the air to escape the massive blast of light.
The two Naganadels came around for another pass, the three Type: Fulls lunged for Necrozma, and the battle took fully to the air.
Medicham watched in awe as the six Legendary-level fighters clashed. Necrozma was larger than all of its opponents and dominated the scene, light shimmering around its body as its Prism Armor protected it from the numerous hits its opponents landed; Stinger Blasts from the Naganadels, numerous Ghost, Bug, and Dark-type attacks from the Type: Fulls. Necrozma fired back with flurries of Prismatic Lasers and powerful Photon Geysers that lit up the dark skies of Ultra Space, and occasionally unleashed vicious waves of Mind at the Naganadels that only the Psychic barriers protected them from. Several times its wicked claws flashed, swiping at its opponents, who only barely managed to dodge each time.
But, through a combination of the Psychic barriers and the five combatants' sheer speed, none of Necrozma's powerful attacks were landing. And furthermore, Medicham noticed something as the battle wore on. The Prism Armor was fluctuating, only slightly at first, but then more and more. Dulse smiled. "Necrozma's light reserves are running out. It won't last much longer."
"Prismatic Laser!" A barrage of beams flew in all directions. Once more Necrozma's five opponents hurled themselves out of the way, but this time one of the Naganadels was not quite fast enough. A beam of light caught it in the side and it fell, landing hard on the roof of the Megalo Tower, the Reflect and Light Screen around its body flickering madly.
Necrozma's eyes gleamed in triumph. "Photon Geyser!"
"RKS System: Ghost Memory!" the three Type: Fulls cried at once. "Shadow Ball!"
Three powerful Shadow Balls flew at one specific point on Necrozma's side. The blasts impacted, and Necrozma staggered under the barrage. The Photon Geyser blasted out, but flew wide of the downed Naganadel as an entire section of Necrozma's Prism Armor shattered from the combined attack. Necrozma's retaliatory Psychic wave was dispersed by the trio shifting into Dark-types, and in that moment the second Naganadel lunged into view.
"METAL STINGER!"
Necrozma let out an agonized roar as Nagnadel jabbed its stinger straight into the gap in Necrozma's Prism Armor. A swipe of its claws narrowly missed the backwinging Naganadel. "Photon Geyser!" Necrozma bellowed, but the blast was wild and unfocused, and the four fighters it aimed the blast at easily dodged it. "STINGER BLAST!" both Naganadels cried; more of Necrozma's Prism Armor shattered as it stumbled again, the flurry of attacks overwhelming it.
It was at that moment, when Medicham finally began to believe that Lusamine's forces were about to win, that things started going wrong.
Abruptly, a cry of alarm came from Zossie. "Guzma, behind you!"
Medicham whirled to see a flash of silver light come screaming out of the sky, arcing straight at her. "Aura Avoidance!" she cried, but even Detect wasn't enough to get her out of the way fully; a searing pain ripped across her chest as the silver light coalesced into a metallic creature barely the size of Medicham's fist. Medicham dropped to one knee, clutching the hand that wasn't holding Nebby's case over her chest to try and staunch the bleeding.
"Kartana!" Dulse cried. "It's an Ultra Beast! Don't let it hit you - it can cut through nearly anything!"
"em epacse ton nac uoY." Kartana stated, hurling itself towards Lusamine's Clefable. Guzma's Pokemon leaped to Clefable's defense. With a cry of "Tempest Dash!" his Golisopod lunged for Kartana. But Kartana twisted away from Golisopod's attack, so close that his claws skimmed Kartana's back. "ecilS gnihtycS." Kartana's body flashed across the side of Golisopod's neck; blood sprayed from the Water/Bug-type as he cried out in pain.
Kartana leaped to the side, evading a Bug Buzz from Guzma's Masquerain and a Thunderbolt from his Vikavolt, neatly leaping over a burst of webbing from Guzma's Ariados and skittering out of the way of Guzma's Pinsir as it charged with Fighting energy surrounding its body. Guzma's Scizor was the last thing standing between Kartana and Lusamine's team. "Technician: Bullet Barrage!" But even though Scizor's claws were aimed right at Kartana, the Ultra Beast deftly dodged each one. "ecilS gnicreiP-romrA." A gaping rent opened in Scizor's armor, and the Bug/Steel-type collapsed, clutching the rent tightly. Kartana lunged at Clefable, whose backside was open as she strained to keep her protective barriers up in the face of Necrozma's numerous attacks.
She saw Kartana coming; her hand waved and a Protect barrier erected itself between her and Kartana. "ecilS gnicreiP-reirraB." Kartana's sword-like arm flashed and it cut through the Protect like it wasn't even there; with a spinning slash it buried its other arm into the small of Clefable's back.
Clefable screamed, staggering; atop the Megalo Tower, the barriers faded from around the bodies of the Naganadels and Type: Fulls. Necrozma wasted no time in taking advantage; a wave of Psychic energy slammed into the Naganadels, hurling them away like leaves caught in a hurricane. He paid for the blast, though, as two of the Type: Fulls tossed more Shadow Balls into Necrozma's exposed side. Necrozma tumbled to the ground, slamming into the top of the Megalo Tower with an earth-shaking crash, his eyes shut.
"Finish it!" Lusamine cried. The three Type: Fulls charged, bodies blazing with Dark energy as they closed in on the downed Necrozma.
And that was when Necrozma's eyes flashed open. "Now!"
The wave of force that erupted from Necrozma was enough to send all of the Trainers and Pokemon on the staircase stumbling. Even Kartana was staggered by the wave, flailing uncontrollably through the air for a moment before recovering. Medicham could make out the three Type: Fulls tumbling across the Megalo Tower, digging their claws into the ground to stop themselves. The Naganadels, still flying even though exhaustion was clear in their movements, were forced to a halt by the buffeting wind.
Necrozma was glowing with a blazing silver light as it rose into the air once more, its body mutating before Medicham's eyes. Its hands compacted; its legs increased in size; its body shifted, changing to a less bulky form. Two wings burst out from its body where its arms had once been, wings that flared with pure silver light.
"What is this?" Lusamine asked.
"I don't know!" Zossie cried. "I've never seen this before!"
Necrozma rose into the air, staring down his five opponents. "Time to end this," he snarled. "Menacing Moonraze Maelstrom!"
Silvery light exploded out of Necrozma's new form, forming into six beams of coalescing radiance; five of them lanced out towards its opponents, while the sixth streaked straight for the staircase. "Protect!" Lusamine ordered. Her entire team summoned a massive Protect as one, even the downed Clefable; the beam rammed into the Protect, and even that barrier strained to hold it back. The Naganadels attempted to dodge, but the beams twisted just like Kriesh's Sniper-boosted Hyper Beams and slammed into their backs, hurling their unconscious bodies into the roof of the Megalo Tower so hard that their impacts left craters. The Type: Fulls summoned forth Protects of their own, but even so they were shoved backwards by the sheer force of the beams.
In that moment, Kartana struck; the tiny Ultra Beast was streaking at one of the Type: Fulls before Guzma, Lusamine, or the Ultra Recon Squad could do anything. "ecilS gnicreiP-reirraB." The Type: Full roared as Kartana scythed through the Protect and into its side, staggering under the vicious swipe.
The other two Type: Fulls barely had time to drop their Protects before bursts of blue light heralded the appearance of yet more strange creatures.
Medicham recognized Nihilego immediately, rising into the air all around the tower. The rest were less familiar: a creature whose entire body seemed to be made of wires that flared with Electric energy; a pair of humanoid figures, one incredibly muscular with four tiny legs and translucent orange wings, one slender and incredibly tall with a pair of long, sweeping antennae and what seemed to be a white-colored cloak adorning its back; a towering behemoth of a creature that looked almost like a floating conical building with two more similar buildings as arms; another behemoth, this one's body blending in with the dark sky, its stomach open to reveal a cavernous blue hole that looked a lot larger than its body should have been able to fit; a blocky creature that seemed like it was made of hastily piled-together stone bricks with glowing blue eyes peeking out of the numerous small holes in its body.
An almost musical cackling arose behind Medicham, and she whirled to see yet another strange creature. This one looked somewhat humanoid, with a thin body covered in alternating stripes of purple, blue, and yellow. Its limbs were mismatched, some blue, others purple, but its hands and feet were pure white, as was a ruff around its neck that looked almost like a flapping sheet. Its head was spherical, white and dotted with multicolored spots and stars. The head seemed to be floating above the rest of its body, bobbing up and down as the creature danced in midair. It had no visible mouth, and yet was cackling madly in a manner not unlike Trevenant.
"BlaCephaLon iS Glad yOu couLd comE and Play!" The creature's voice was like five different voices speaking at once. "mInD bLown!" To Medicham's utter befuddlement, Blacephalon reached up with one hand, grasped its head tightly, and hurled it at the group on the stairs, still cackling the entire time.
The group swiftly sent up a network of Protects, hoping to take whatever this attack was, but it wasn't aimed at any of them. Blacephalon's head slammed into the staircase and erupted in a colossal explosion, ripping through the metallic construction of the staircase and forcing everybody to leap out of the way. "Aura Avoidance!" Medicham cried, leaping back down the staircase with a death grip on Nebby's case. As the explosion cleared, Medicham could see Blacephalon's head reforming atop its body; its other hand materialized a Shadow Ball, clearly formed of Distortion, and sent it flying at Guzma's Pinsir as it was trying to dodge the collapsing staircase.
"Hyper Cutter!" Pinsir cried. "Saber Horn!"
Pinsir's horns flared with energy as he swept them towards Blacephalon's Shadow Ball, but even as the attack connected Blacephalon snapped its fingers and the Shadow Ball exploded in Pinsir's face, sending the Bug-type flying into a nearby railing. He bounced off and fell to the ground, clearly unconscious.
Blacephalon cackled. "WhO's nexT?"
The rest of the group rushed up the stairs, currently uncaring of the dangers that waited atop the Megalo Tower. Medicham pressed herself tightly against the elevator doors, watching as half the staircase gave way and tumbled down, leaving a gaping, jagged hole between Medicham and the rest of the group.
Medicham felt her heart leap into her throat as Blacephalon's head spun towards her. "ooh, A strAgglEr, eh? wEll, WE can't hAve thaT, can wE?" The cackling rose to a fever pitch as, with a dramatic flourish, Blacephalon tossed another sphere of Distortion at Medicham.
Pure adrenaline galvanized Medicham. With a grunt of effort, Medicham hurled herself forwards, leaping into the air with a burst of Aura. She heard the snap of Blacephalon's fingers and felt the heat of the explosion ripple across her back. A momentary wild thought crossed her mind that if Blacephalon had wanted to hit her, it would have, but that thought was lost in the surge of survival instinct. Blacephalon's wild, unearthly cackling echoed in Medicham's ears as she landed and took off like a rocket, running after the rest of the group as they rushed to the top of the Megalo Tower.
As Medicham crested the summit, she could see the wire-like creature gyrating as it rushed one of the Type: Fulls. A massive blast of Lightning flew from its wiry arms at one of the Type: Fulls; the Type: Full shifted to a Ground-type, taking the attack, only for Kartana to streak in from the side, one arm flaring with Overgrow, and carve a gaping rent across the Type: Full's side. The Type: Full whirled, snapping at Kartana with its jaws, but the tiny Ultra Beast easily evaded the snap, raised one arm, and carved it across the Type: Full's face, ripping through both its eyes in one smooth motion. The Type: Full shifted to a Fire-type - "Flamethrower" - and exhaled a blast of Fire energy at Kartana, who swiftly dodged yet again, though Medicham noted an expression of fear on its face as it avoided the stream. The wire-like creature lunged, and now Medicham could see its hands were bronze and shiny, almost like copper; it grasped them both around the Type: Full's body and, with a deep snarl of "ONE MILLION VOLT CONDUCTION," sent a vicious burst of Lightning into the Type: Full. The Type: Full's entire body sparked, shuddering under the barrage; a few seconds passed before the wiry creature released the Type: Full, allowing it to topple to the ground, smoke pouring from its mouth and its ruined eyes.
Another Type: Full was charged by both of the humanoid creatures, one lashing out with powerful fists, the other with swift kicks. "RKS System: Fighting Memory," the Type: Full droned. "Multi-Attack." In a flash the Type: Full was upon the muscular creature, Fighting energy-infused claws flashing, but the muscular creature crossed its arms in front of its body; Aura flared around its arms as it took the blows and, with a roar, lashed out with a powerful blow that the Type: Full barely avoided. The other creature came in from behind, sending an Aura-infused spinning kick flying at the Type: Full's side and forcing it to raise a Protect; in that moment the muscular creature lunged, one burly fist smashing into the Type: Full's face and sending it stumbling. The two creatures pressed; Medicham had never seen a Type: Full overwhelmed before, but even the insanely fast Legendary-level Pokemon was unable to keep up with the duo of enemies, and a brutally powerful-looking blow from the muscular creature dropped it like a sack of potatoes. The spindly creature lashed out with a swift axe kick, and the sound of the Type: Full's neck snapping was audible across the Megalo Tower
The last Type: Full had already taken several hits from Kartana and was stumbling around aimlessly, one of its legs severed and half its neck carved out. Nihilego descended onto it, tentacles lashing out and coiling around the Type: Full's body. The massive creature with the cavernous toothy maw in its stomach rose up behind Naganadel. "FOOD?"
"FINE." With a disgruntled noise, Nihilego released the badly damaged Type: Full.
"FOOD!" The behemoth reached out with one massive arm, grasped the barely functional Type: Full, and dragged it flailing into its mouth. The Type: Full disappeared with a strangled artificial scream; the behemoth closed its mouth and let out a contented rumble.
Necrozma Psychically levitated the two unconscious Naganadels and tossed them backwards. The conical building-like creature raised both its arms at once. "Analysis: Target Sighted. Locking On." The two arms glowed with Blaze. "Dual Engine Burst." The creature let loose a devastatingly powerful blast of Blaze that consumed the flying, unconscious Naganadel in midair.
The stony creature allowed the Naganadel thrown at it to slam into its blocky body. "MATTER ABSORPTION." Even as the Naganadel's body hit, a large wave of stone dotted with glowing blue eyes flew out from the creature's body, wrapped around the Naganadel, and dragged it into the creature's form.
And then five of the creatures spoke at once, five strange voices rising up to speak two words in perfect harmony.
"BEAST BOOST!"
All three behemoths' forms flared with energy, as did the spindly creature and the wire-like creature. The burst was enough to create a massive gust of wind, one that Medicham had to brace herself against to avoid being tossed away. It only lasted for about five seconds before fading away, but those five seconds felt like an eternity.
When the wind faded, Medicham looked up to see that the Type: Fulls and the Naganadels were gone, their bodies consumed by whatever Beast Boost was. Lusamine's team and the remnants of Guzma's surrounded their Trainers, all of them trying and failing to hold back terror from their expressions. The Trainers weren't even trying to do that; all of them were gazing with undisguised horror at the ten monsters arrayed around them.
Necrozma, in his new form and not looking at all like it had just been in the midst of a battle with five Legendary-level opponents, loomed over the top of Megalo Tower. "Did you really think you'd caught me off guard?" it asked. "And furthermore, did you actually believe such a pitiful force could overcome me? You forget - I absorbed Lunala a long time ago. And with her power returned to me, I gained this new, much stronger form. You fools…you lost the instant you came to Ultra Space."
"Are they…are they all Ultra Beasts?" Guzma asked.
"Yes," said Dulse grimly. "And they've just consumed the power of all our fighters to make themselves even stronger."
"This can't be happening…" Zossie was breathing hard, staring at the scene as if she couldn't believe her eyes. "How? How could he have seen us coming? We were Psychically shielded? The technology had been verified!"
"Oh, he didn't see you coming." A new voice came above as part of the darkened sky faded to reveal yet another figure, floating gently downwards from above. "I did."
Medicham's eyes widened in shock and horror as she gazed upon this new figure. She'd never seen the body before; it was black in color, the same black as the sky, with red highlights around the neck, piercing blue eyes, and a shivering white horn looking almost like smoke atop the creature's head. But that voice…
She'd never forget that voice.
"It can't be…Darkrai?"
Fun fact: Blacephalon's random speech pattern was one of my favorite ideas for this story...until I started writing it, whereupon I realized how difficult it is to write someone with that kind of speech pattern.