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Vivian wasn't quite sure when she regained consciousness, but when she did she opened her eyes to see that her view was obscured slightly by a white veil of light that had fallen around her. She then became aware of the fact that she was in fact standing inside of a gleaming white bubble, alongside Decres and Arpeggio, her Alakazam and Chatot respectively.
"Whoa...what is this?" Vivian whispered as she began to watch what was happening outside of the bubble. The entire world before her seemed to be moving, but in a way that didn't seem to make sense.
"It seems as though time is...flowing backwards." Decres said quietly to Vivian, with the woman nodding slowly in surprise. The world outside of the strange white bubble was viewable through a strange filter, with events flowing slowly in reverse. Right now, Roran was removing the knife from Hugh's chest with a manic grin on his face. Vivian shivered at the display of carnage, but then turned her attention to the world beyond that. Spots here and there seemed to glitch in and out of reality before fixing themselves, and the violinist realized who was responsible.
"It did it…" Vivian whispered, a smile coming to her lips as she watched the explosion from Cloyster earlier in the night flow back inside the . "It really managed to turn back time. Dizz?"
Silence.
"Dizz? Are you there?" Vivian asked again, only for more silence to be her response.
"It seems as though your strange friend isn't around." Decres remarked, glancing to his right and left as he extended a mental probe around. Sensing nothing, the Alakazam shook its head. Vivian frowned worriedly before she looked upwards.
"MissingNo...Are you there?" Vivian asked aloud, causing the two Pokémon beside her to flinch as the horrible sound of static filled their ears. Vivian clamped her hands over her ears, dropping her violin onto the ground as the world around them flowed backwards at an even faster rate.
...somehow.
"You're alive!" Vivian shouted out with relief, falling to her knees as the pain began to grow worse. Decres and Arpeggio fell onto the street, writhing in agony as it continued to build and build. Vivian grit her teeth and shut her eyes, enduring the pain as the strange entity that called itself MissingNo continued to rewrite reality, turning back the clock. Vivian forced an eye open in time to see Roran choking the life out of Aether President Lusamine.
"How much longer can you keep this up?" Vivian asked, fighting the urge to throw up. The awful feeling of wrongness filled every fiber of her being, telling her to run. Run and scream and to get away from the terrible force that was going against the laws of space and time and nature.
However...this was her friend. And she wasn't going to let it suffer alone.
A few more minutes. Prepare yourself as best you can...It'll be a little while before I can directly step in. Once I release control of this timeline and Dialga and Palkia take the reins again, I'll need some time to recover.
"Can you teleport my friends to safety? I hate to ask, but…" Vivian trailed off, earning a strangled groan from nowhere.
Maybe. I'll send them to the Library if it's possible. Just keep in mind...because things don't work the way they should...Everyone will retain memories of what happened. Everyone who died knows that they perished. There will be confusion. Mass pandemonium worldwide...Use this chance wisely, my friend.
"Are you going to be okay?" Vivian asked the Anomaly, who didn't respond right away.
Even if everything I do isn't my own free will...I've made my choice. This may permanently destroy my code. But I will put my all into helping you avert further disaster.
"You didn't answer my question." Vivian noted, causing a pained laugh to echo around the area.
No...No I didn't. Now brace yourself! I'm about at my limit for turning back time, so you need to make this count.
Vivian turned her attention back to what was happening outside. She saw Sun and Ollie standing against Roran's onslaught of attacks, with Roran pulling the knife that he had used to murder Ollie out, causing the wound to reseal itself as the damage was undone by the power of the Anomaly. Vivian sighed with relief as the pressure left her body, allowing her Pokémon to slowly get to their feet and gather their bearings. Vivian picked up her violin and inhaled deeply, trying to calm her nerves before exhaling deeply.
"I am Vivian Elise Delacourt. Musician and Pokémon Trainer. Though my friends may be the real heroes of our tale...I won't stand by and let them hurt any longer. I too must stand alongside my friends and create a symphony of hope." Vivian murmured as she mentally braced herself for the coming battle, placing her bow on her violin. She was still scared, but now she had the will to fight.
I...I can't keep it going anymore. Are you ready?
Vivian allowed herself a soft smile, taking in the scene before her. With a nod, the violinist prepared herself for what would be the show of a lifetime.
The white bubble around her faded, and with a thought directed towards Decres, the trio vanished as the world began to follow the flow of time properly once again. Where Roran was facing down Sun and Ollie, with Roran's Pokémon preparing to attack the duo.
"So brave, Agent Quill. But who protects the protector? My friends are keeping yours busy, after all! And I've come too far to let my ambitions all short now!" Roran boomed at Ollie from behind his mask, preparing to swing the burning artifact downwards. He then froze, stopping as he placed a hand to his head. Sun and Ollie did the same, pained expressions on their faces as the very air itself rippled.
"W-what...I...No. What happened? I died…" Roran hissed as he looked up, seeing that Sun and Ollie were standing in front of him, alive and well and looking equally as confused and disoriented. Roran swayed on his feet as Sun collapsed onto the ground, with Ollie barely staying upright. Every Pokémon and human in the street looked disoriented, trying to gather their bearings.
It was at that time that the sound of a violin playing filled the street.
"Music…?" Roran muttered, trying to make sense of what was going on. His train of thought was cut off when a Psychic blast slammed into him and all of his Pokémon, forcing them down into the concrete. What followed was a shockwave of pure sound crashing down on them, followed by a massive blast of lightning falling down from above onto the street where Roran and his Pokémon stood. An explosion enveloped the entire street, causing smoke to fill the street and for Ollie and Sun to wince and cover there faces.
"Sun, you...Wait...I'm alive?" Ollie asked weakly as he stumbled backwards, falling to one knee. Sun didn't respond, instead rubbing his head as Oliver swooped towards Sun and embraced him with his wings, letting out a cry that his translator didn't pick up. Sun hugged his Starter instinctively, but he felt the Dartrix shaking slightly. Sun then realized that Oliver was crying.
"You're okay...you're not dead. You're alive...I'm so sorry. I won't let it happen again. I promise. Just don't leave me alone again." Oliver whispered as Sun hugged the owl harder. Ollie looked alarmed at the statements of absolute panic and relief from the Dartrix that was named after him, but then focused himself on what was happening in the street as Vivian teleported into the street with her Alakazam and her Chatot, as well as with an Eelektross.
"You two get out of here. I've got this." Vivian said as she stepped forward, barking out, "Hyper Beam! Hyper Voice! Thunder! Don't give him a chance to recover!"
Before Vivian could start another round of attacks, an Ice Beam suddenly shot out of the smoke in the street and Vivian screamed in surprise before Decres threw up a Protect to block the move, freezing the shield. After a few moments, the shield vanished and the ice shattered, showering them in frozen shards. Vivian shivered as the smoke cleared, revealing Roran and his team standing tall, albeit sporting heavy damage. The madman's outfit was heavily damaged, and his Cloyster was visibly panting in pain.
"I should've known better...A Trainer of his caliber won't be cut down by a mere sneak attack." Vivian said quietly, fighting a shiver as a Roran took a moment to look around the street before turning towards Vivian. His expression turned to surprise as there was a ripple in the air and Hugh and Aria suddenly appeared in the street, looking just as dazed as Ollie and Sun.
"Well now...This is certainly unexpected!" Roran remarked, flashing the violinist a grin. Aria and Sun got to their feet first, with Hugh and Ollie doing the same after a few moments. A wall of whirling particles swarmed past the group, cutting off their line of sight.
"Thanks for keeping them safe. I can't let them get killed again." Vivian said aloud, unsure if MissingNo could hear her. Roran blinked twice at that, nonplussed at the sight of the people he had definitely killed but a few minutes ago having come back to life. Roran walked onto the street, flashing a deadly smile at the violinist.
"Now, that's not any fun. While I don't necessarily need Sun, having him would certainly make things more convenient. I'd rather not have to go through extra steps to get what I want." Roran said as he tilted his head, his smile widening. "Or do you really think you can actually stop me by yourself?"
The woman's eyes narrowed as she wordlessly levelled her bow at Roran Rubinara like a sword, the fear still in her eyes. But what outmatched that fear was her anger and her determination to put down the monster who had slain her friends. The righteous anger that Roran had seen in so many of those who had stepped up to challenge him tonight, only for every single one of them to fall short.
"You think you can stop me from achieving my destiny? The Tapu chose me, little girl, to become the savior of Alola. All I need is time." Roran said as his smile faded, a serious expression coming to his face. Claydol let out a groan and fired off a Hyper Beam, which Vivian made no effort to dodge.
That was because the Hyper Beam never reached her. Instead it was sucked into a vortex that had sprung up out of nowhere. Roran's eyes widened in surprise, but then his gaze trailed upwards as something began to form overhead that slowly began to eclipse the sky above them, blocking out the moon and expanding quickly enough to cover the entire city within moments.
It was something terrible.
Roran felt his breath rattle in his chest as the feeling of something completely wrong filled his body, as the swirling cloud of what he imagined raw data looked like, glitching in and out of existence. Vivian looked up at the cloud fondly, a smile on her face for a moment before she looked back down at Roran.
"You kept going on and on about this being a performance, Mister Rubinara. What show would this be without a bit of music?" Vivian asked the man coldly, pressing the bow against her violin as Roran's eyes drifted back and forth between Vivian and the monstrous force whirling above her.
"I don't understand any of this...Nor do I understand why I'm still alive. But I think I get the point. You used that thing to undo some of my hard work this evening." Roran said slowly, a smile coming to his face. "You think you can steal my spotlight, Miss Delacourt? Nothing has changed from what happened before!"
NOT QUITE!
Roran and Vivian shivered as a god-like voice boomed from the sky, shaking the very air itself. Both of them could feel the inherent feeling of wrongness in the air. Thanatos the Claydol hummed worriedly while Cloyster closed its shell most of the way for protection. Roran himself tightened his grip on his dagger and his special artifact, willing the flames surrounding the street to burn more.
"Dizz? You...no, I should probably just call you MissingNo, huh? It seemed to have more of an effect earlier. I wonder why that is." Vivian mused aloud as a tendril of raw glitching...something extended down to the street, with the entirety of the whirling mass that was the Anomaly slowly drifting downwards.
WHILE I MAY HAVE USED QUITE A BIT OF POWER TURNING BACK TIME...I STILL HAVE ENOUGH POWER TO HELP VIVIAN END YOUR MISERABLE EXISTENCE.
"This power...I've never felt anything like that. Even the ritual's might and all of the Legendaries that Ashton's collected...what the hell is this thing?!" Roran hissed, thrusting out his artifact. "It doesn't matter. Everything will still burn, and the plan is still in motion. The ritual has claimed plenty of lives. I just need time for it to spread."
"You really think I'll let you do that? After what you did to my friends?" Vivian said to Roran, who cracked a bloodthirsty grin. Vivian's facade of confidence broke for a moment and she took a step back in fear.
"What I think is that you're a pathetic coward, Miss Delacourt. And that even if you do have some strange force on your side…" Roran thrust out his artifact, grinning as it burned bright white and blasted a beam of pure flames at the violinist, who screamed before an explosion of fire engulfed half of the street. Cloyster chuckled softly as the entire street became an inferno, with Roran letting out a cackle of delight.
"By the end of tonight...You'll just be another body to throw onto the pyre." Roran said as he lowered his artifact, grinning as his eyes began to glow orange again.
"Still though...to imagine a force in this world exists. Something that can turn back the clocks...I remember dying. I remember killing Sun and Captain Quill, as well as Hugh and Aria. This is unprecedented." Roran thought to himself as Thanatos the Claydol and his Cloyster floated nearby.
"Stay close, you two. I may have to use my Radiance to stop that thing...MissingNo, she called it." Roran said aloud, causing the storm overhead to flicker slightly as Roran clamped a hand to his forehead as pain roiled through it.
You shouldn't have said that aloud, you little fool.
Roran's eyes widened as the flames smothering the street suddenly dimmed down, revealing Vivian standing tall in the street beside her Alakazam and Chatot. A whirling mass of distorted glitching had seemingly protected her from the flames. The violinist sighed softly before placing her bow against her violin.
"Coward I may be...But my friends are counting on me. Through my sacrifice, they're going to achieve a better ending for this world. The same can't be said for you, oh Chosen One." Vivian said as her eyes snapped open. Determination burned within them along with the fear, and for a moment Roran simply stared at the young woman before taking in the sight of the strange creature whirling around Vivian that rose back into the sky and began to rapidly expand once again. The destroyed street around them began to slowly repair itself before their eyes, with the faint song of whispering clawing at Roran's ears like a bad itch.
"What...what are you…" Roran whispered as he beheld the almighty wrath of the strange being whirling above Malie City like a thunderstorm of raw chaos. Several tendrils of raw...data seemed to reach out from the writhing mass, extending out towards Roran as Vivian began to play her violin.
"You may call him MissingNo, in this brief time before your death." Vivian said as her Alakazam braced itself to fight, with her Chatot fluttering into the air. "Let us compose a song together, Mister Rubinara. A duet of sorts. I was thinking a dirge."
Roran scowled at her words, straightening up and flipping his knife in his grip. He opened his mouth to speak, only for the roiling mass to suddenly emit a horrifying howl of sheer rage, causing Roran's eyes to widen in surprise.
It was then that a cold sensation began to creep into his heart. For a few moments, Roran was unsure of what exactly this strange feeling was. And then, after a few moments, it dawned on him.
For the first time in over twenty years...Roran Rubinara felt fear.
Meanwhile...
Lillie screamed as the building behind her exploded as a Hyper Beam struck it, tearing through it and showering the street with rubble, but Brago was already moving past it before it ever came close to harming the girl on his back.
"Brago! Left!" Lillie shouted, glancing back and seeing two Cipher Peons soaring behind her on a Tropius and a Pidgeot. Brago darted down the street, putting on a burst of speed. Lillie worried about whether or not they could lose their tails, but thankfully for Lillie, a wicked bolt of lightning erupted out of a Luxray that had suddenly run past them. The powerful electric attack took out the two Pokémon in a single shot, while causing the two Cipher Peons to scream in pain.
Brago kept up the pace for another minute before looking back at Lillie, who watched as the two flying Pokémon crashed into the street and the Luxray bounded away.
"Now where?" Brago asked the girl, sniffing the air. He could feel the terrible wrongness in the air, and was more confused than anything else. He and Lillie had been running down the streets of Malie for what seemed like ages. In fact, he felt as if he had already been down this street before. The Legendary Pokémon looked up and saw the horrific storm billowing above a street a few miles away and shivered.
"Everyone...Please be safe." Brago murmured, lowering his head for a moment. He then raised it and glanced back at Lillie. "Where to next?"
"I think...U-um, I t-think...Oh no, I've got us lost. I'm so sorry, I'm awful with directions!" Lillie apologized to Sun's Arcanine, feeling tears beginning to well up as her fear and frustration began to get the better of her. Brago turned his head and licked the girl on the cheek, causing her expression to lighten somewhat.
"None of that now. All that matters is making sure you stay safe. Now...Focus. Where are we going next? I don't know this city very well." Brago admitted as Lillie thought about it. She had tried calling several different people, but Aria and Hugh hadn't picked up and neither had Sun or Hau. Lillie hoped they were all safe.
"There ya are!"
Lillie looked towards the voice and screamed in surprise as a Cipher Peon dropped down from one of the rooftops, shouldering a shotgun with a grin as he grabbed a Poké Ball from his waist and called out a Gyarados. The Pokémon was cloaked in a black aura, which told her that it was a Shadow Pokémon. Alongside him on the ground was a smirking Gastly.
"Mean Look!" the Cipher Peon shouted, with the Gastly's eyes glowing a harsh red and blue color. Brago shuddered as a strange sensation flowed through his body, and he knew that running away to keep Lillie safe was no longer an option. He'd have to fight.
Unfortunately, Lillie wasn't a Pokémon Trainer. So he was on his own.
"Lillie...get off my back. I'll end this as soon as possible." Brago growled, with Lillie nodding and carefully hopping down off Brago's back. The girl's eyes widened as Brago suddenly dashed towards the Cipher Peon as he shouted out commands for Shadow Ball and Shadow Rush. Brago swiftly dodged the Shadow Ball as the Gyarados lunged forward with a roar. Brago kicked off of the ground, leaping above the Atrocious Pokémon and firing off a Flame Burst at Gastly, who barely dodged the flames. The Cipher Peon had to throw himself to the side to dodge them, swearing loudly as Brago landed on the ground and then lunged at the Gastly with Flame Charge, slamming into it hard and knocking it out.
"Damn it! Gyarados, Dragon Rage!" the Cipher Peon bellowed as the serpent roared furiously, charging up the energy within its maw and firing it off towards Brago, who sped towards the beast once again. Brago was able to dodge with ease, using Flame Burst to bombard the Atrocious Pokémon from afar while moving to dodge its attacks.
"Shadow Rush!" the Peon shouted angrily, clearly getting annoyed that this wasn't going smoothly. He was pleasantly surprised that when Brago tried to dodge the attack, the Shadow Gyarados rammed the canine with its head and sent him flying across the street. Brago bounced once on the cobblestone and came to a halt a few feet away from Lillie, wincing in pain.
"It's strong…" Brago grunted, forcing himself upright and ignoring the pain. "But I will not lose."
"Ice Fang!" the Peon shouted as Brago rushed forward, spewing several Embers in quick succession that exploded against the side of the Shadow Gyarados. To the surprise of the Peon, Brago also fired a shot towards him, forcing him to drop onto the ground to avoid the flames, dislodging his helmet and knocking it to the ground.
"Shit...You'll pay for that, mutt." the Peon growled as got back to his feet and pointed forward. "Ice Beam! Freeze the ground!"
Shadow Gyarados roared once more and released the attack at the street, mindlessly obeying its master and freezing the street solid. Brago growled in annoyance at the street being frozen, knowing that this might cost him the battle. The beam then arced towards Brago, who snarled in pain as the attack struck him, but ceased after a few moments as Brago fought back with a Flame Burst and cancelled out the attack.
"Now what…?" Brago muttered, trying to think. He wasn't in the best of conditions, considering the battle against the Alolan Golem clan and carrying Lillie through a battlefield, picking up various small injuries along the way. This Gyarados was a strong threat, and Brago had to protect the girl entrusted to his care.
"Brago!" The canine turned out to see Lillie looking at him, her eyes lit up in excitement. "Use Flame Charge! The fire around you should be able to melt the ice easy, and it'll make you faster!"
"Shut up, girlie! Or do you need me to smack you around before I drop you off to the psychopath?" the Peon demanded, raising a fist in her directly. Brago barked out in fury, stomping down a paw as his body burst into flames and rushed forward, unhindered by the flames and slamming into the side of Shadow Gyarados.
"You will not hurt her!" Brago snarled defiantly, breathing a Flame Burst at the Cipher Peon and his Shadow Gyarados. The Atrocious Pokémon roared in pain as the flames exploded against its side before it was commanded to lash out with an Aqua Tail, which Brago dodged by leaping into the air and clamping down his jaws on the neck of the massive beast, snarling as he slammed it down onto the ground with Bite.
"Aqua Tail, damn it!" the Cipher Peon shouted furiously, as the Shadow Pokémon roared and slammed itself into the ground on sheer instinct, dislodging Brago. It then raised its tail as it became immersed in a flume of water and struck Brago directly, sending him crashing down into the street.
"There we go. Now, time to collect our prize." The Cipher Peon said as he began to walk towards Lillie, with the Shadow Gyarados looming above it. Lillie whimpered in fear, causing Nebby to coo softly from within his bag as she backed away from the man.
"No!" Brago snarled, forcing himself back to his feet despite the pain he was in and rushing forward, his body glowing white as he slammed into the Gyarados with Take Down. Both the Cipher Peon and Lillie were shocked to see the massive Pokémon crash down onto the ground senseless. Brago landed on his feet, but whined in pain as the recoil struck him and caused him to drop onto the ground.
"Damn...That mutt's got some strength, knocking out my Shadow Gyarados. But I don't need Pokémon to kidnap a little girl." The Cipher Peon said as turned towards Lillie, aiming his shotgun at her. Lillie froze in surprise and horror, too shocked to even back away as the man approached her with his weapon drawn.
"There. Nice and easy. Now you'll come with me, and the old psycho gives me enough money to buy anything my heart desires. Maybe I'll buy that yacht I've always wanted." The Cipher Peon said easily, grinning as Lillie trembled in fear. Brago growled softly from the ground, trying to force his uncooperating body upright. The Cipher Peon glanced at the canine for a moment before he chuckled, turning to Lillie.
"Y-you won't get away with this…" Lillie whispered, unable to make herself speak any louder. It was then that her legs gave out from sheer fear, causing the man to bark out a laugh while shaking his head.
"Psh. Yeah, right. Who the hell is gonna save you?" the Cipher Peon asked, grinning widely as he cocked the shotgun and then reached down to grab the girl and drag her back to where more of his comrades were.
However, he would soon find that task impossible to perform.
Why is that?
Because the moment he bent down to grab Lillie's arm, a small mouse suddenly threw itself at the man's face and began clawing at his eyes, causing him to scream in pain and surprise.
"Oh god, what the hell!?" the Cipher Peon shouted as he flailed wildly, dropping his gun to the ground in surprise. Lillie gaped at the small Pokémon that had saved her life, clinging to the man's face as hard as it could. It was a black, brown and yellow rodent with pink cheeks that she didn't recognize.
It was then that Lillie heard a voice.
"Thunder Shock, Morpeko!" shouted a female voice with a rather thick accent, causing the rodent to give Lillie an evil grin before delivering a shock right into the face of the Cipher Peon. The man stumbled back with a shout, grabbing the small rodent, but only serving to send the shocks to the rest of his body.
It was at that moment that a baseball bat suddenly collided with the back of the man's head hard, causing him to fall face-first onto the ground with a groan, falling unconscious. The little Morpeko sat smugly on his head, chittering softly as if this was simply all part of its plan.
Lillie stared at the Pokémon for a few moments before she turned her attention to the new arrival, and was surprised to find that the wielder of the bat that had knocked out the Cipher Peon was a young girl not much older than she was.
She wore a pink sundress with black sandals, though she wore a black necklace showing a strange symbol that looked vaguely familiar to Lillie. She had her black hair tied into twin-tails with a black ribbon and she carried a red backpack. The girl had rather pale skin and calm green eyes, which regarded the little rodent with bemusement.
"You enjoyed that, did't you?" the girl asked, her mouth twitching for a moment as if she was trying not to smile. The little mouse known as Morpeko snickered before scampering towards Lillie, chittering softly. Lillie looked back and forth between the two before looking at Morpeko.
"Thank you for saving me. That was very brave of you." Lillie said gratefully to the Two-Sided Pokémon, which beamed at her and nodded before scurrying towards her Trainer. "And thank you as well."
"Thank nothin' of it. Couldn't just let that guy do whatever he wanted. I don't think that was lethal, but he's certainly not getting up from that anytime soon." The girl examined the man's head, taking note of the fact that it was bleeding rather heavily. She shrugged and turned back to Lillie.
"Are you alright?" The girl remarked casually, walking towards Lillie and extending a hand to her. Lillie nodded shakily after a moment and accepted it, and was helped to her feet. It took her a few moments to properly stand, given how frightened she had been just moments ago. She then noticed Brago lying on his side, a pained smile on his face.
"Oh no! Brago!" Lillie cried out, hurrying over to the injured canine. The black-haired girl followed at a more sedate pace, glancing around the street warily.
"You're safe...good…" Brago murmured, his breathing strained. Lillie shut her eyes tightly, trying to fight back the burning tears that threatened to spill out. She was surprised when she felt someone tap her shoulder.
"Stand back. I've got some healing supplies on me. I guess goin' on that shopping trip before we left home was a good call." The girl muttered as she moved Lillie aside and dug into her backpack, pulling out a Full Restore and a Revive. Lillie watched in slight awe as the girl quickly treated Brago's injuries, and within a minute the canine was getting to his feet.
"Thank you. I feel like I could fight anything." Brago thanked the girl, who blinked twice at the Pokémon that spoke clear english to her.
"Did...did you just talk?" the girl asked, glancing at Morpeko. The little rodent shrugged, causing the girl to look back at Brago. She then noticed the black collar around his neck and put two and two together.
"Oh wow, that's a TACV, huh? They haven't started sellin' those back in Galar yet. I didn't even know they started sellin' 'em outside of Unova." The girl remarked before suddenly shaking her head. "Distracted. Sorry."
"It's fine. Thank you for all of your help. That was...terrifying." Lillie then sighed, wiping at her eyes with her hand. "We wouldn't have even been in that situation if I wasn't so bad with directions. I always get lost."
"It happens. So what was that about?" the girl asked, earning a shake of the head in response. "You dunno, huh? Well that sucks."
"What about you? I heard they're evacuating people to the Library. I was on my way there when...this happened." Lillie explained to the girl, who just shrugged.
"A lot of this island's Trainers are there. I was actually trying to find a friend of mine who wandered off before this mess happened. Have you seen a loud girl in a gray sweater and pink dress? Green hat? Probably drunk?" the girl asked Lillie, who shook her head. "I 'spose I should just take you back to the Library then. Maybe we'll find her along the way."
"Okay...um, thank you." Lillie said to the girl, bowing to her slightly. The other girl looked confused for a moment before shrugging.
"It's nothin' special. By the way, my name's Marnie. And you are…?" the black-haired girl trailed off a little awkwardly, looking at Lillie expectantly. The blonde-haired girl stared at the other girl for a few moments before it clicked that she was asked a question.
"Um...Lillie. My name's Lillie. You actually look familiar for some reason...Have we met?" Lillie asked, causing Marnie to sigh quietly, brushing her bangs out of her hair.
"No, but you've probably seen me on TV doing an interview somewhere. My brother Piers is pretty famous, by all accounts, and I've dealt with the press more than once." Marnie admitted somewhat ruefully, though her eyes widened as she spotted something down the street and suddenly grabbed Lillie's hand and dragged her down an alleyway, with Brago and Morpeko close behind. A few moments later, loud shouts filled the air.
"Damn it, I could've sworn Target 2 was nearby! She was spotted in the area."
"We got Target Number 3! If we can grab at least one more of those brats, we'll live like kings! We'll find that little bitch somewhere...she can't hide forever."
"Oh shit, look what happened to Warren!"
"Let's exit stage left…" Marnie muttered, quickening her pace so that they got further away from the Cipher Peons investigating their unconscious comrade.
"Good idea...these jerks don't know when to quit." Lillie remarked, earning a look from Marnie.
"Those jerks want you, huh? Any idea why?" Marnie asked, glancing at the girl she was leading down the alleyway. Shouting could be heard nearby as some Trainer engaged the Cipher members that had been chasing them.
Lillie offered a sigh in return, with Nebby cooing softly in her bag. Brago kept glancing back and forth down the street, alert for any immediate danger. "Honestly...it's the story of my life. I really am tired of always looking over my shoulder all the time. If it's not one group trying to track me down for some crazy scheme, it's another."
"Really? Huh...So what's your best story?"
"My Mother currently wishes that I was a jellyfish."
"...You wanna run that one by me again?"
Thirty Years Ago
Malie City
"YOU CANNOT RUN FOREVER."
Roran ignored the furious Tapu as it smashed apart another building, with his Ariados frantically Shadow Sneak-ing him away yet again to avoid certain death. The Kahuna scowled in fury as he frantically revived his team, most of which had already been knocked out by the angered God of Abundance. The Kahuna turned around and thrust out his burning artifact, sending a beam of flames at Tapu Bulu. With a bellow, the Guardian Deity smashed through the flames with ease by retreating into its shell and surging forward. Roran dove into his shadow and reappeared down the street, gritting his teeth in anger.
"This wasn't supposed to happen. Tapu Bulu never comes out...even for something like this. I don't usually make mistakes like this. I was overconfident...I was so sure of my success that I didn't even consider the fact that Tapu Bulu would try and stop me." Roran realized with some annoyance, taking a step back as Tapu Bulu flew closer to him.
"YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS WITH YOUR LIFE. NEVER AGAIN SHALL A KAHUNA BETRAY MY TRUST." Tapu Bulu intoned, floating closer to the ground.
Roran shivered then, shaking his head. "Alola is stagnant, Tapu Bulu. It needs to know an enemy like me so that it can grow into the true paradise it was meant to be. I know I can lead us to our destinies."
"I CHOSE YOU TO INHERIT THE POWER OF THE LIGHT...THE GIFT WE RECEIVED FROM THE BURNING ONE, CENTURIES AGO, TO BESTOW UPON THOSE WE FELT WOULD LEAD ALOLA TO A BRIGHTER FUTURE." Tapu Bulu responded, its tail swishing slowly as it drifted down to the ground. Roran braced himself, his Golurk and Ariados preparing to attack.
"And you weren't wrong! Alola is stronger than ever thanks to my efforts! And all I need is a little bit more time and influence, and the people will hail me as the harbinger of Alola's Golden Age." Roran responded as the Guardian Deity considered the man's words. To Roran's frustration, Tapu Bulu shook its head slightly.
"I BELIEVED THAT YOU WERE AMONG THOSE CHOSEN. THAT WAS WHY I GIFTED YOU WITH THAT POWER, AFTER WE ABSTAINED FROM DOING SO FOR SO LONG. BECAUSE ONE DAY, THE BEASTS FROM BEYOND WILL RETURN. AND WE SHALL NEED THE STRENGTH OF THE ONE WHO WILL UNITE ALOLA. ONE WORTHY OF THE RADIANT LIGHT FROM ABOVE." Tapu Bulu responded, causing anger to ripple forth as Roran clenched his fists.
"I AM WORTHY!" Roran bellowed, defiant as the God of Abundance shut its eyes and snorted softly in derision.
"NO...YOU ARE NOT. BUT YOU ARE DESERVING OF SOMETHING ELSE...MY WRATH." Tapu Bulu said as it opened its eyes, a terrifying orange glow leaping into them. Roran snapped his fingers and Golurk hurled two Shadow Balls at the Land Spirit Pokémon while Ariados tired off a Sludge Bomb, with the attacks striking Tapu Bulu as Roran unleashed another blast of flames at the Guardian Deity. A wicked explosion of raw force and energy erupted as the attacks struck their target, and for a moment Roran grinned in triumph as smoke filled the street.
That moment passed as the smoke cleared away, revealing Tapu Bulu emerging from his shell as a fierce orange glow surrounded his body. Roran ordered another wave of attacks against the Tapu, but it dodged them and soared into the air before whipping its tail downwards, aiming it right at Roran.
Ashton and Jackal emerged onto the street from the shadows, thanks to a revived Gretel, just in time to see a bolt of orange energy erupt from the tail of Tapu Bulu and strike the Ruby Raider leader directly in the chest. The man let out a howl of raw agony as his Pokémon were thrown aside by the sheer force of the move, with Roran himself throwing apart his arms and letting loose a howl of absolute agony and despair.
Ashton's eyes widened in horror as the man that had attacked Malie City was struck with the full might of the God of Abundance, the power of the curse felt even from the considerable distance away that he stood.
Roran continued to scream, finally clutching his head as the energy continued to radiate off of Tapu Bulu and flow into the Kahuna. Orange light poured out of the eye holes as the curse began to take effect. Sooner than any of them expected, Tapu Bulu's light faded and it floated to the ground, level with the man that it had now ruined as a human being. Roran crumpled, falling to his knees as smoke drifted from his body and the simple mask that he wore.
"I AM SORRY, MY CHILD...BUT YOU MUST SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES OF YOUR ACTIONS." Tapu Bulu intoned, it's 'voice' sounding almost somber for a moment through the Kahuna's Z-Ring. For several minutes Roran simply kneeled there on the ground, shaking uncontrollably as his mind was flayed open by the curse now burying itself deep into his very soul. He could feel nothing but pain in every part of his body, and he felt his grasp on the world slowly slipping away. His mind was slowly tearing itself apart, and it made the Kahuna genuinely regret all of his schemes and ambitions.
For a brief moment, there was true regret in Roran's heart.
None of it was worth the pain that was now being delivered unto him. He couldn't even tell what was happening to his mind right now, only that Alola wasn't worth the suffering that he now felt. He only hoped his former God would be merciful and kill him before he completely lost himself to the madness that was a Tapu's Curse.
"I...You…" Roran wheezed as he lowered his head, hugging his body tightly. Ashton watched with horror as the Tapu drew closer, it's arms glowing green. "I just wanted...everyone to be happy. Alola...deserves better."
"YES IT DOES...THAT'S WHY I'M CORRECTING MY MISTAKE. MY NEXT KAHUNA WILL HOPEFULLY BE-" Tapu Bulu began to say, only for a beam of energy to suddenly strike the God of Abundance from behind. Tapu Bulu whirled around to see Ariados fire another Sludge Bomb at it, knocking the Tapu back with the double Super-Effective move and causing it to roar in pain.
Roran seemed to snap back to reality for a moment, and basic self-preservation took over and he stumbled to his feet still clutching his head. That was when a Baltoy teleported to his side and teleported the man away from the street as Tapu Bulu swiftly knocked out the Ariados with a Wood Hammer attack before realizing that its Kahuna had slipped away.
Tapu Bulu shot into the air with a wild cry, ignoring the attacks sent its way by the Ruby Raiders, though it did glare at them angrily. Wild roots and vines suddenly erupted from the ground beneath each of those that had attacked them, and within moments those who had dared attack the Guardian Deity were being crushed to death by the vines and roots that the God of Abundance had summoned.
With what, the furious god whirled around and soared towards another part of the city, causing Ashton and Jackal to exchange a brief look.
"Let's go support the Tapu." Jackal said as he looked to Hina, who was staring at the dying Ruby Raiders with horror.
"Hina, ignore those idiots and find Tommy. Regroup with Lusamine, Mohn, and Nanu if you can find him. We'll need the backup. Ash, you're with me!" Jackal growled as a battered Dusclops floated out of the Commander's shadow. Ashton returned his Pokémon and Gretel grabbed both Trainers and Shadow Sneak'd away. Hina sighed and made a rude gesture in their direction before walking towards one of the unconscious Ruby Raiders and kicking his prone form angrily.
Ashton and Jackal began to follow Tapu Bulu as it rampaged through the city, letting out a bellow of anger as it soared through building after building and smashed them apart in pursuit of the Ruby Raider leader. They eventually lost track of the Tapu, due to the speed at which it was pursuing the criminal mastermind behind the destruction of Malie City.
"I've heard legends about Tapu Bulu's anger but...this is beyond the pale." Jackal remarked as he allowed Gretel a moment to recover, with the Dusclops having used Shadow Sneak over ten times in the past few minutes.
Ashton opened his mouth to respond, only for a colossal pillar of fire to erupt from a nearby shopping district. Gretel grabbed Ashton and Jackal and dove into the shadows, and the three of them arrived on another street littered with small fires burning away. Both Trainers were surprised when a criss-crossing wave of fire suddenly blew apart the street, sending Tapu Bulu flying backwards. The Guardian Deity crashed into a large building and caused the entire thing to collapse on the Tapu.
A column of rocks rained down on the building even before the dust settled, and the two of them turned their gaze to where the Ruby Raider leader was lowering the burning artifact in his hands while clutching his head, his entire body heaving as an exhausted Golurk stood beside him. A few moments later, a badly injured Ariados emerged from the criminal's shadow, looking somewhat dazed but concerned about it's Trainer's well-being.
"Tapu Bulu!" Jackal shouted out before turning his furious gaze to the rogue Trainer ahead of them. Ashton walked past Jackal and Gretel and called out Damien again, preparing himself to battle.
"Don't count on a god to do a Trainer's work. I'll kill you myself." Ashton growled as Roran let out a scream, clutching his face as the light in his eyes flared once again. Roran dropped onto the ground, his entire body shaking violently for several moments and the screaming rose in pitch as blood began to drip down Roran's eyes, causing the Golurk and Ariados to turn to him in concern.
"So...the Tapu can do this to people, huh? Sounds about right." Ashton muttered darkly before throwing out a hand. "Damien, Flamethrower!"
Damien snarled before releasing a blast of flames that soared towards the downed Trainer and his two Pokémon, who both turned towards the attack with surprise. Then, a wall of white flames sprang up out of a rift in the ground and Damien's attack was blocked completely.
"Don't...push your luck." Roran spat out, looking up at Ashton. The Kahuna's hand was resting on his Artifact, which was burning brightly. The Baltoy beside him, which in the future would be named Thanatos, gently lifted its Trainer to his feet as his glowing orange eyes shined through the mask once again. "I...I…"
Roran simply screamed and brandished his Z-Ring, filling the street with light as it consumed him and his Ariados, morphing his Z-Ring into a black variant of the bracelet.
"Even if it kills me...I WON'T LET ALOLA FALL!" Roran screamed, not even bothering to hide his voice anymore. Ashton and Jackal could've possibly recognized it, but the man sounded so deranged that they didn't even consider that voice to be Roran's. The Ariados and Golurk seemed hesitant, almost confused at their Trainer's behavior. Jackal took note of this, as well as the small Baltoy hugging Roran's leg, and made the connection.
"He's been using that Baltoy to relay orders to his Captains and his Pokémon. No wonder he's been a pain in the ass to battle." Jackal muttered to Ashton, who considered that.
"And considering the Tapu basically fried his brain, he's in no shape to battle. At least with that curse in effect. His Pokémon look so confused. I almost feel bad about knocking them out...Almost." Ashton remarked, smirking slightly as he said, "Damien, Fire Blast."
"Gretel, Shadow Sneak into Shadow Punch." Jackal instructed the Dusclops, who laughed softly before vanishing into her Shadow. Damien bounded forward and fired off a massive star-shaped blast of flames that soared towards Roran, who swung his hand down wildly and caused a rift of fire to explode out of the ground where Ashton and Jackal were standing, with them barely dodging it at the last second.
Ariados tried to dodge the Fire Blast, but was easily knocked out by Fire Blast due to the spider being too injured to avoid it. Golurk fired off two Shadow Balls at Gretel as she appeared in front of the Golurk, but she managed to dodge both of the attacks and deliver two Shadow Punches to the chest of the Automaton Pokémon before knocking it out with an uppercut of Shadow Punch. Roran called out his Runerigus, a deranged chuckle coming from his mouth as the light faded from his eyes, causing the man to clutch his head with a moan of agony.
"Ooouugh...I can't...give in. I can't...give up now. Alola needs me...to be strong." Roran gasped softly, bending down and pounding the cobblestone with his fist as he was helped to his feet again by Thanatos. Roran glanced down at the small Pokémon and grinned widely.
"Well, my little friend...Let's see if our bond is enough to allow my light to shine forth a second time. Even if it kills me...I refuse to lose!" Roran hissed, with the Baltoy remaining silent at those words. Roran turned his attention back to the two Trainers ahead of him as he swung the artifact around, knocking Gretel away with a wall of flames.
"Prepare for the end, my friends! Even if I die...I'll destroy you and everyone else in this miserable city!" Roran bellowed as he raised his artifact high into the air, sending up enough flames to completely block their vision of Roran. The soon-to-become-madman dug into his coat pocket and pulled out two Max Revives, healing his Ariados and Golurk as he fought the urge to vomit. He smelt copper and his vision was blurry. Every single thought, every single emotion he felt was wildly spinning out of control. He didn't even know what the curse had done to him.
But Roran knew that he'd never be the man that he was before tonight again.
Roran took a deep breath before he shook the artifact, allowing the flames to part enough so that he could see the two Trainers. Jackal was grabbing his arm, which looked like it had been burnt in the inferno Roran had called forth, but Ashton simply looked livid.
"You're not going to hurt anyone else!" Ashton bellowed as the leader of the Ruby Raiders let out a laugh, thrusting his hand forward as it glowed bright gold.
"Who's going to stop me!? Your leaders are nothing before my might! I command the ancient power our ancestors cast aside because of their fear! I alone wield the Light of Alola!" Roran roared, his patience having finally run out. He was exhausted after being subjected to the Curse of Abundance and had no idea how much longer he would be in control of himself. And he was at the point where he'd rather die than give in. He knew exactly what the price of using his special power a second time, especially in this state, would be. And he was perfectly happy with that.
This should have been Roran's first clue that this was the beginning of his descent into true madness.
"Bask in my Radiance, boy...because once this city falls, I will become something far more than you could possibly imagine." Roran said quietly as his Araidos became engulfed in an aura of golden light. He had been considering using Baltoy a few moments ago, but in hindsight, Ariados was stronger and the resulting move would almost certainly kill these two pests.
The Kahuna and his Ariados felt their excitement and satisfaction through the connection the Z-Ring provided them. They were one, mind and soul, and would use the power of their bond to crush those who stood against them and their scheme. A scheme to improve the lives of everyone in Alola, if only these idiots would stay out of their way! Even if they were to die in the attempt, such a feat would be worthy of their legacy.
"I…" Ashton trailed off, amazed by the sheer power that was once again coming off of the leader of the Ruby Raiders. It was overwhelming, the disguised Kahuna's sheer malevolence somehow able to manifest in the air around them. With the curse having twisted his mind, the power felt even more oppressive than it had earlier when he had attacked them with it.
Jackal and Gretel made a move to attack Roran beforehand, but were surprised when a Golurk appeared behind them and attacked with Shadow Balls, knocking out Gretel and sending Jackal crashing to the ground with a shout of pain. Ashton looked back and forth as Damien growled softly, with the duo now facing enemies on both fronts.
"Not even the Tapu will deny my will…" Roran hissed as power began to pour from Roran and his Ariados, the effort of using his Radiance visible on his face. Ashton couldn't help the crushing feeling of despair in him, knowing that he hadn't been strong enough to stand up to the evil of the Ruby Raiders when it mattered the most. The man had taken out a Tapu and killed hundreds tonight. Even after being subjected to a Tapu's Curse, Roran continued to fight...What chance did Ashton have against a foe this powerful?
GRRRRRR!
The sound of fierce growling snapped Ashton out of his thoughts as Damien padded forward, crouching low to the ground as if ready to pounce. Roran cackled with delight as he gestured in a sweeping motion.
"Aww, sweet puppy! You think you can stand against me? How adorable. I'm the lead role in this show. You're just part of the supporting cast!" Roran remarked with clear amusement as he set down the burning artifact, with the the flames suddenly receding around them.
"We won't let you hurt anyone else!" Ashton challenged Roran, who's eyes widened in surprise under his mask as the fear in Ashton's eyes was replaced by grim determination. "Damien's right. We're not gonna stand for this! Alola's a shithole...But it's my home! And I won't let you ruin what few good things there are in it by burning it all to the ground!"
"Such defiance, boy...Is this the part of the show where you show me every single bit of your hidden power?" Roran mocked the boy, striking a pose as he began to use his own special power. Roran grinned in triumph and delirium, looking towards Ashton…
And the Kahuna was genuinely shocked at the sight before him.
Ashton's Z-Ring was now glowing many different colors at once as he and Damien stared down Roran, matching expressions of righteous anger on their faces. Their hearts were one in their determination to bring down the criminal ahead of them, to protect those precious to them in a world that had offered them little enough kindness. United they were in their sheer anger at the man who dared hurt the ones they cared for.
Damien and Ashton's eyes both began to burn with golden light, just like Roran. Power began to pour out of them, with the Firium Z on Ashton's Z-Ring slowly morphing into a black Z-Crystal with a white and red center. The bracelet slowly morphed into a darker color, becoming black after several seconds.
"He...He's just like me." Roran thought, lowering his arm for a moment in complete shock. His muddled mind required a moment to think on this sudden development, instead of doing that smart thing and attacking now. "I was right. The boy had the potential as well. Chosen by the Tapu to carry out their will, for the first time since the ancient kings and chiefs of the past. Ashton...how bright will your star shine, compared to mine? Will you be able to walk down this road with me? Or will we become true enemies, after tonight?"
"No…" Ashton responded in a low voice, almost a growl that matched the noise coming from the furious Houndoom standing beside his Partner. "This is every single bit of our anger."
Ashton hissed as the golden light pouring from his Z-Ring burned even brighter. Roran took a step back in surprise at the sheer amount of power surging from the boy's ring compared to his own. It was like a burning star about to go supernova.
"I won't be stopped now. Not after what I've given up!" Roran thought, snapping out of his daze as he began to slowly strike a series of poses. He was stopped in his tracks as a massive Incineroar suddenly dropped down onto his Ariados from above, hitting it with a flaming fist.
Roran whirled around in complete surprise to see Hina grinning at him from behind a lamppost. Roran turned back towards Ashton in time to see the boy slowly moving his arms, as if in a trance. It seemed so familiar to Roran, because he remembered doing something similar the first time he tapped into the special power he had been given by the Tapu.
The same power that Ashton Aupuni was now tapping into, against him.
"We'll protect all of them! You won't hurt anyone else!" Ashton bellowed as he threw out his hands to his sides and held his head upwards, the words coming almost as a howl. Damien mimicked his Trainer, even as the multicolored light flowed between the two of them.
"Damien! Channel Inferno...and use HEAVENLY HELLFIRE!" Ashton bellowed as Damien's entire body shined with golden white light, the eyes of the canine burning with golden flames as the canine let out an ethereal howl, sending shivers down the spine of Roran who's own powers began to falter, especially since his Ariados was knocked out. Baltoy and Golurk had reappeared at his side, with the Automaton Pokémon throwing up a Protect, but Roran knew it wouldn't be enough.
"No! No, this can't be possible! How could his resolve to stop me be as strong as my desire to save Alola from itself!?" Roran thought as he tried to gather the will to use his Radiance, but his shock and horror over Ashton wielding the power that Roran had believed was only reserved for him and him alone was overpowering the bond he held with his Ariados. The fact that Ariados was currently restrained and unable to move made retaliating next to impossible.
It was then that the attack was unleashed, as Ashton suddenly raised his hand to the sky, with white and gold flames erupting from the maw of Damien that rushed into the sky, soaring over a thousand feet into the air before slowly coming down to earth as a rainfall of white fire. The flames struck Roran's shield, causing it to crack violently even as Roran's hidden headset blared to life with his Ruby Raiders frantically reporting that the white fire coming from the sky was knocking out their Pokémon and scorching them and only them.
"What...how...why!?" Roran hissed as he saw that Gretel and Jack, as well as Hercule and Hina, were completely unphased by the white flames that were all around them.
However, for anyone that Ashton perceived as an enemy, they would suffer at the hands of his power. Roran grit his teeth in fury as the shield finally exploded inward, causing flames to pour down into the barrier as Ariados Shadow Sneak'd away from Hercule and back to its Trainer. It tried to get Roran away, but it was quickly knocked out by Ashton's move, causing Roran to only move a few feet in the shadows before being dumped out onto the street.
The Kahuna stumbled to his feet, panting heavily as the attack seemed to end. All three of his Pokémon were knocked out, and the screaming he heard in his ear from his forces reporting in seemed to indicate that he got off relatively lucky, with the flames burning some of his clothes and not much else. The power, however, was unnerving to Roran.
"I'm cursed. My team is badly hurt...and my forces are scattered at the moment. I suppose there's only one thing left to do. I accomplished what I wanted to do here." Roran thought as he brought a hand to his mask and pressed a button to communicate to his Ruby Raiders.
"Everyone, fall back…" Roran hissed from beneath his mask, trying to hide his surprise as he returned his injured team. The genuine awe that he had felt knowing that a mere child had accomplished what it had taken Roran years to do. That Ashton had been chosen as well as him to wield the greatest power of the Tapu's was...something he had never considered. It was humbling, in a way, and Roran felt that was proof that he had chosen his future successor well.
Ashton stepped forward, only to fall to the ground with a gasp as weakness suddenly consumed his body. Damien growled softly, lunging towards Roran as the defenseless man's eyes widened in surprise, only for several rocks to suddenly erupt from the ground and trap Damien before he could get further than a few feet.
Roran looked down at the ground to see his Baltoy slowly rotating in place, and then turned his gaze back to the two Trainers ahead of him.
"You did well today, boy. But rest assured this is a mere setback!" Roran barked as he took several steps back, but not before a gunshot rang out and Roran screamed in pain, crashing to the ground and clutching his hand. Ashton looked to the side of the road and saw Jack aiming his pistol at Roran with a pained grin.
"Don't got any fancy armor there, huh?" Jack asked Roran as the Kahuna writhed on the ground, yelling out expletives as blood gushed from his hand. Roran rolled onto his stomach and into a kneeling position, heaving deep breaths as he tried to force away the pain.
"There will be hell to pay for this...Mark my words." Roran hissed before his Baltoy teleported him away from the city, right before Hercule the Incineroar reached them with a flaming punch that missed Roran's head by inches.
Ashton swore silently as he tried to force himself upright, but found he couldn't. Jackal rose to his feet, panting slightly as he limped over to the boy and helped him to his feet. Ashton noticed that the flames surrounding Malie City were completely gone. The flames that he had summoned with that power had cleared Roran's flames away.
"But that doesn't mean this is over. Not by a long shot." Ashton thought as Damien padded over to him, nuzzling his leg. The teen smiled faintly and crouched down to pet Damien, but that was when another thought came to him. Ashton looked down at his Z-Ring, a contemplative frown on his face as it slowly began to change from black to white.
"What was that power the Ruby Raider's leader used...And how was I able to use that same power to stop him? He seemed shocked that I had managed to use it." Ashton thought to himself before suddenly swaying on his feet, using Damien for support.
"Maybe...maybe I should think about it later." Ashton thought as he shut his eyes, deciding to sit down on the ground and lean against Damien, who regarded his Trainer with concern. Ashton watched the dying golden white flames with a deep sense of unease. The strange mask-wearing leader of the Ruby Raiders had definitely been an interesting character, but completely unhinged. Especially after the Tapu had cursed him.
"I'll have to tell Roran all about this...he'll know what to do." Ashton sighed, shutting his eyes and passing out from the strain of the day. Damien kept watch as Jackal revived Gretel and began to take control of the situation, with Hina walking over to Ashton and joining Damien in keeping watch over the teen as he slept.
Present Day
Malie City
Roran remembered that night well. It was the beginning of the end for his ambitions as the man
who would bring Alola into the golden age. And it was the night where his greater machinations were born. He learned of the truth behind the creatures known as the Tapu, and learned firsthand the cost of his scheming.
And now, as he beheld the power of the entity that was called MissingNo...he felt that same terrible fear he felt that fateful night.
Roran and Thanatos dodged a deadly wave of lightning and another Shadow Ball, with the madman pulling out a Revive and pressing it against Cloyster to revive it for the second time since the battle with Vivian had begun.
The Cipher Admin held out his artifact and blasted flames at the chaotic mass in the sky, which surged forth and swirled through the air, causing the blast of fire to soar harmlessly past it. Roran scowled as Thanatos teleported him, allowing the mass of whirling particles to slam against the ground, retracting with a otherworldly cackle. Roran glared at the entity above them before the sound of a violin filled the air again.
Roran turned his attention to Vivian once again and ducked to avoid a Thunderbolt as an Eelektross wriggled through the air, hissing furiously as the music picked up. Roran held out his hand as Thanatos and Cloyster floated forward, firing off an Ice Beam and a Hyper Beam as Arpeggio soared forward, releasing a Hyper Voice that erupted down the street.
Thanatos teleported and rained down a Rock Slide on Arpeggio, who screeched in pain as the attack struck him repeatedly. Decres quickly teleported into the deluge of boulders and grabbed the bird, teleporting out and firing off a one-handed Shadow Ball at Thanatos, who teleported again. Decres' eyes widened as a rift of fire opened up beneath him, blasting him high into the air. Arpeggio flapped away from the flames, screeching in surprise.
Vivian gasped audibly, stopping in her music for a brief moment before she caught herself and continued to play, causing the Eelektross to fire off a Flamethrower at Roran, who threw himself to the ground to avoid it. A crackle of electricity ran down the length of Vivian's Eelektross before it fired off a Thunder at Roran, which Thanatos blocked with its own body.
This did nothing to stop the sudden Shadow Ball from the side that Decres launched at the Clay Doll Pokémon as he reappeared with a Teleport, with the attack exploding against the side of the Claydol. Arpeggio took that moment to fly at Roran, blasting both him and Thanatos with another Hyper Voice before Cloyster could interfere with an Ice Beam that the Chatot barely dodged. Decres fell to one knee, panting from the burns that now covered his body. He began to softly glow then as he used Recover, since Arpeggio was keeping their opponents busy.
Roran growled audibly in pain as he slammed his hands over his ears in an attempt to stop the horrible ringing. The madman glared at the violinist who had suddenly proved to be a considerable threat. The former Kahuna thought about what to do about the girl, as well as the whirling entity that was MissingNo overhead. Roran thought it was curious that the strange being hadn't attacked much, but he was going to take down the little upstart before it became an issue.
"She may have some talent...but I won't have my ambitions denied a second time." Roran muttered as he got to his feet, glancing at Thanatos as the Claydol blasted Arpeggio with Psychic, knocking the bird into an Icicle Crash from Cloyster and getting knocked out.
Vivian swiftly returned Arpeggio and sent out Forte, her Beartic, which promptly fired off an Ice Beam at Claydol and sent it reeling backwards with a groan of pain, which was doubled when a Shadow Ball slammed into it from above. Roran grit his teeth in annoyance as Thanatos crashed onto the ground, fainting after a few moments. Roran swung his artifact in a wide arc, sending a wave of flames at Vivian that struck her Beartic instead as it flung itself in front of his Trainer to protect her by using Aqua Jet. As the flames passed, Forte dashed right at Roran who laughed and allowed his Cloyster to ram into the Beartic, knocking it out of the attack and onto the ground. The Beartic grabbed the Cloyster and tossed it into the air before slamming a fist onto the ground and sending a Surf at Roran, knocking the old man back about thirty yards as his coughed and sputtered weakly, trying to gather his wits as Vivian continued to play her dangerous song.
Roran drew out a Max Revive from his cloak and hurled it at Thanatos from the ground, reviving it while he called out his Shadow Archeops and Shadow Rampardos. Roran mentally commanded his Pokémon to swarm Vivian's team while he shakily got to his feet, pulling out a familiar syringe from within his cloak.
"He's about to make himself really strong again...But Roran can't think straight when he does that stuff." Sun remarked as Vivian began to play her music again, with the group of Trainers watching the battle with interest. The violinist's Eelektross surged forward, only to be struck by an Acrobatics from Shadow Archeops.
"If Vivian doesn't want us to fight, then we'll have to trust that she and...MissingNo can take down Roran. Instead let's observe." Aria said with a thoughtful expression on her face. "Sun, you're a smart kid. Have you noticed any patterns or tells so far with Roran?"
"He has trouble commanding his Pokémon, especially using telepathy with his Claydol, when he uses the drugs that give him a physical strength boost. On top of that, he keeps eating something gold that makes him go back to normal." Sun remarked, earning a nod from the Snagger. "And when he's in that glowing eye state, I guess when his curse is active, he's a lot more...wild? It's hard to explain."
"I noticed some of that as well." Aria agreed as Roran jammed the needle into the crook of his arm and hissed audibly. After a few moments the Cipher Admin chuckled as he threw aside the syringe and drew his dagger, pointing it at Vivian as his team continued to battle her Pokémon. Like Sun had said, Vivian's team seemed to be getting the better of Roran's team in a straight up battle. The madman's Pokémon now seemed confused, unsure of what to do or how to avoid certain attacks, unlike Vivian's which were much more sure of themselves.
Roran scoffed and slowly removed his metal mask, stashing it within his cloak as he stared down Vivian with his insane orange eyes. He then offered her a smile before suddenly snapping his fingers, causing Thanatos to float forward and teleport away with him. Vivian had time to blink before Thanatos and Roran teleported right in front of her and Roran lashed out with a kick that smashed right through the young woman's violin and sent her crashing to the ground.
"Vivian!" Aria yelled as Roran stepped forward, drawing back his dagger and plunging it towards Vivian...only to be stopped in his tracks by an invisible forcefield.
You think you can hurt my friend so easily...You little fool.
Roran barely had time to duck before a yellow whip-like tail slashed through the air where his head had been a moment before. Roran turned around and gasped as a strange Heliolisk stood in the streets, rapidly growing in size and morphing into something far more sinister.
MissingNo's Heliolisk form grinned demonically, showing a row of jagged teeth as it snarled at Roran, swishing its tail and causing the air to ripple. No...not the air. Reality itself was being torn apart by the monster before him by the mere act of moving. The whirling mass overhead had now shrunk in size, funneling itself into the strange creature that now stood before him.
"What are you...I've seen many things in my time. I know many legends. But you're something else." Roran said calmly, not betraying the genuine fear he felt. He was a psychopath, yes, but he wasn't deluding himself here. This was not a battle he was confident he could win. For something to overpower Dialga and Palkia's control over this world and reverse the flow of time…
MissingNo had to be a being of their equal or greater. And Roran wasn't confident that he could defeat a true god of this world.
Vivian...take a break. I'm going to have some FUN.
That was all the warning Roran had before the monster phased in and out of reality, swiping at Roran with claws that burned with shining white fire. The madman barely managed to throw himself to the ground in time to dodge them, allowing Cloyster to fire off a Hydro Pump at the Anomaly as it laughed at him. Shadow Archeops and Shadow Rampardos charged at MissingNo, but were suddenly slammed into the ground by raw tendrils of glitching data-like particles as the monster laughed, grabbing both Shadow Pokémon and carelessly tossing them towards Roran. The two Shadow Pokémon hit the ground with a rough thud, unconscious. As this happened, Vivian returned her team and watched as MissingNo began fighting the madman who had attacked Malie City.
"W-what...what the hell are you?" Roran hissed, taking a step back as his Cloyster shuddered in front of him. If Roran was unsettled, he couldn't imagine how his Pokémon were feeling.
MissingNo's body twitched and a deadly wave of raw lightning burst from its body, striking the ground all around Roran. The madman swung his artifact as Cloyster teleported on the spot, leaving Roran behind to desperately create a barrier of flames as he threw himself to the ground. The fire siphoned from Heatran barely managed to block the flames long enough to keep the former Kahuna alive.
I see the person you really are under that mask…
Roran rolled to his feet with a snarl, thrusting out the burning artifact and releasing white hot fire at MissingNo, who's face became a swirling black hole that sucked in the flames while the laughter boomed louder. The whip-like tail lashed out, smacking the man hard enough in the chest to send him flying backwards onto the ground while the sound of his ribs breaking filled the air. Roran slowly sat back up, the drugs coursing through him blocking out the pain in his chest, and was shocked to see the horrifically monstrous being glitching in and out of reality before him.
Both the metal one...and the one you use to hide yourself from the world. Your secret self. The persona you hold as your most precious secret.
Roran's eyes widened in terror, and he opened his mouth to protest, but somehow he knew that the creature before him knew the truth. It knew his greatest secret. The personality he had so carefully crafted as a disguise to protect him. His ultimate fallback plan and his persona that had protected him from the worst of the Curse of Abundance. The key to his sanity, all this years.
This monster knew the truth.
And for that Roran would ensure that both the creature and the truth died tonight.
You're a coward. You made that other self not because it's your secret fallback plan. No, you made it to save yourself from the sins you committed along your journey. When you slowly became the monster Alola needed...Until you began to enjoy being the bad guy. Tapu Bulu's curse was an excuse for you, wasn't it?
"Shut your mouth! You don't know me!" Roran snarled as he returned his Claydol and called out Umbral Torkoal, who's mutated body shuddered in pain for a moment before it let out an eerie groan, purple smoke pouring from its back. "All squads not currently working on Objective Alpha are to report to Sapling Street now!"
You did your experiments. You ran your tests. You manipulated the people you swore to protect just to save them from a world that was holding them back. But in the end, you were simply fueling your own messiah complex. Pretty pathetic, honestly. How fitting that Tapu Bulu cursed you to be the bloodthirsty monster you really are inside.
"I said...shut your fucking mouth." Roran said quietly yet coldly, his narrowed eyes as bright as the flames surrounding them. MissingNo simply laughed as its body suddenly doubled in size and became even more monstrous, with face reverting into its usual nightmarish form. MissingNo's body began to distort and break even more than before, and as Cipher members began to appear on the street, they too felt true fear from the force that was simply not a Pokémon...but wasn't anything else either.
Very well. Allow me to show you, Roran Rubinara...What a monster truly is.
Meanwhile…
"GET BACK HERE!"
"Morpeko, use Agility! Keep moving!" Marnie called out as her Partner flickered slightly, swiftly dodging the Cross Chop from the furious Machamp. Lillie shrank back as Brago growled softly, firing off a Flame Burst at the Machamp as it barreled forward, tanking the fire attack like it was nothing in an attempt to smash the small rodent. The man in charge wore slightly fancier armor than the regular aprons, and had been called Captain Armstrong by the two Peons he was with.
"This guy is way outta my league…" Marnie muttered, taking a step back. Marnie then turned towards Lillie, who was standing still in mute horror as Brago turned around and continued to battle two Peons nearby on his own. The canine was holding them off, but with the numbers against him and being given no instructions by Lillie, he was taking a lot more damage than he should have been. Plus he was continuously trying to help Marnie fend off the Machamp.
"Come on! I need some backup here! Are you a Trainer or not?" Marnie said to Lillie with a bit of annoyance, causing the blonde to shrink back.
"I-I'm not a Trainer! This is Sun's Pokémon!" Lillie replied anxiously, causing Marnie to sigh before turning towards Morpeko, who had retreated to her side looking winded. The Cipher Captain advanced with his Machamp, the former looking amused while the latter was annoyed with the battle it had just gone through.
"Now then, I've toyed with you enough. I'd rather not kill a child, but the payday Roran is offering us is too good to not take up. Now come along, blondie, and your friend doesn't have to die." Armstrong remarked, grinning at them. It was then that a whirlwind of flames erupted wrong Armstrong and his Machamp.
"What the hell!?" Armstrong yelped, jumping back in surprise as his Machamp grunted in pain and side-stepped the flames. Marnie and Lillie were both surprised and confused, as Brago hadn't been the one to do that.
"I've got it from here." Spoke a calm, measured voice from behind them. Marnie and Lillie turned around to see a cloaked and hooded man standing beside them, wielding a wicked and bloodied sword in his hand. A Braixen and a Sylveon padded alongside the man, who's golden eyes peered from under the hood, though most of his face remained covered. Brago sniffed the air, tilting his head slightly in surprise. It then recognized the Pokémon alongside the man, and after recalling where he knew the man's scent from, nearly sighed with relief.
"You're that man from the island." Brago remarked, earning a nod from the man that was Wes. The former Snagger turned towards Captain Armstrong, who took note of the bloodied sword gripped in the man's hand. Pyrrha the Braixen stood ready to fight while Eve the Sylveon wrapped her feelers around Wes' free hand, steadying it as it shook slightly.
Wes was currently struggling to focus on the task ahead, to keep killing for the sake of protecting people. The fire raging around him simply reminded him of lives lost in a never-ending fight against evil. And yet here he was again...it was only the comfort of Eve's powers as a Sylveon that kept him resolute.
"Tell Sun I said hi." Wes said calmly to Brago, who simply nodded. "And keep these girls safe. My team is all over the city, helping where they can."
"I thought I smelled Leon a little while ago. I wouldn't mind battling that Luxray again sometime." Brago remarked with a smirk, earning a shrug from Wes before he glanced back at them.
"I think he'd be pretty happy to battle you and your friends again. He's a jerk sometimes, but he does like a good scrap." Pyrrha the Braixen said with a friendly smile. Lillie watched the exchange with surprise, but then turned her attention to the strange man who had helped them, and apparently been helping other people today as well.
"Um...thank you, sir." Lillie said quietly, causing the man's eyes to soften for a moment as he looked at the blonde-haired girl. Wes didn't respond verbally, instead choosing to face the increasing alarmed Cipher personnel.
"You're welcome, miss. Now move along, you two. I'm going to kill these idiots and see what I can do about the psychopath trying to abuse Heatran's power." Wes said as Marnie nodded, grabbing Lillie's hand and pulling her down the street as Brago and Morpeko kept an eye out for trouble close behind.
"Brago, do you know that man? Who is he?" Lillie asked the canine, who grunted after a moment.
"Sun promised to keep his identity a secret. That promise will extend to me as well. I can say this, however. He is a powerful ally, and I'm glad to see that he's here to help us fight." Brago said as the two girls began to slow down, with Lillie having to catch her breath. The extreme heat around them from the burning city made the two of them grateful they were wearing outfits that could breathe.
"It's way too hot here…" Marnie grumbled, wiping her face with her hand and wiping her sweat on her dress. Lillie agreed, huffing for air as Brago looked at her worriedly. Lillie was surprised when a wet tongue licked her face, and she smiled at Brago as the canine pulled away. Lillie stepped forward and hugged the dog tightly, savoring the fuzziness of his fur before pulling away.
"For a Pokémon that ain't yours, he seems to obey you pretty well." Marnie noted as she continued down the street, albeit at a slower pace than before. Lillie quickly joined her, with Brago easily keeping pace while keeping an eye out for danger.
"Lillie is the mate of our Alpha and has earned respect through her kindness and bravery. That is enough for me to trust her judgement in battle, even if she is not a Trainer." Brago responded in a tone that sounded as if that made perfect sense. Lillie blushed furiously at being called Sun's "mate", while Marnie looked surprised for a moment before Lillie saw her smile softly.
"I see…I guess it's not all 'bout bein' strong, huh? Good to know." Marnie said quietly with approval in her voice, her smile fading away as quickly as it appeared. Lillie opened her mouth to ask the other girl a question but was interrupted by a new voice calling out across the street.
"I'm surprised to see you out and about, young lady." Marnie and Lillie jumped in surprise at the voice and turned around to see that a very old woman was peering out at them through a café window, looking at them with faint amusement on her face.
She wore a pink and purple sundress and pale pink slippers, with intelligent blue eyes and white hair. The woman regarded them all with amusement, despite the fact that she was currently alone in an empty building while the entire city around her burned. "Now come on inside! The streets are dangerous.
Marnie looked genuinely surprised, though she recognized the woman. "Miss Opal? What...what are you doin' here?"
"Sitting down for a moment. My Pokémon are currently out shepherding those who haven't gotten to safety somewhere safer than this poor city. It's a shame, too. This city has already suffered one terrible fire at the hands of a madman. To suffer a second by the same fool? A tragedy." Opal remarked, her voice rough with age as she sipped some tea. Lillie looked at Marnie, who still looked completely bewildered as the two girls walked into the empty café.
"Now, are you going to introduce me to your lovely little friend?" the old woman asked with a smile, her eyes twinkling.
"Um, this is Lillie. I met her a few minutes ago. And this is Brago, an Arcanine that her boyfriend let her borrow so that she could get to safety." Marnie explained, causing Lillie to blush furiously.
"He's not my boyfriend!" Lillie yelped, covering her face as Brago coughed, trying not to laugh. Lillie gave the Arcanine a reproachful glare, but that made the canine stop trying to hide his amusement and only start laughing in earnest.
"How adorable." Opal remarked, chuckling softly before she took another sip of her tea. "Well, I suppose I better introduce myself. I am Lady Opal von Hamilton, Gym Leader of Ballonlea in the Galar region."
"Oh wow, you're a Gym Leader?" Lillie asked, receiving a nod from the older woman.
"Indeed. My Fairy-type Pokémon are known far and wide throughout the world, and even in this day and age my knowledge and prowess are still called upon by the Pokémon League. That's why Piers and myself were sent to Alola under the pretense of a vacation. It seems Chairman Rose and Champion Leon made the right call...This is a mess." Opal remarked wryly, shaking her head.
"HEY!"
Marnie and Lillie jumped as Cipher Captain Armstrong burst into the café, his Machamp standing beside him with a furious expression on its face, covered from head to toe in burns. Armstrong aimed his SMG at each of the females in turn, scowling as blood dripped down his forehead.
"You little brats...You're lucky I don't smack you around a little before handing you over to that monster." Armstrong growled before turning his gun to Opal. "You! Old lady! Get on the ground and put your hands behind your back!"
"Dear me, don't startle an old woman like that! My poor heart has only eight beats left!" Opal remarked as she placed a hand over her heart, though her tone was dripping with an amount of sarcasm that Lillie thought was incredibly bold for someone being held at gunpoint by an angry criminal.
"Damn it, we don't have time for this!" the Cipher Captain snarled furiously, stomping forward with his Machamp as it flexed its arms.
"You have plenty of time, dearie. There's no need to get so angry. It's bad for your health. Besides, it's me you should be worried about! I could die any moment now!" Opal responded as she slowly and dramatically put a hand to her forehead, causing Marnie and Lillie to both go slack-jawed at the brazen lack of concern in Opal's voice, considering she was outright mocking the man poised to kill both her and them.
"Listen, you old coot. I want that girl. So stand aside. How does that sound?" Armstrong demanded, with Opal adopting a thoughtful expression and putting a finger to her chin.
"Hmmm...Let me tell you what the voices in my head are telling me." Opal replied with a smirk, causing the man to growl audibly in anger while Lillie blinked several times in shock.
"I don't need this from some old bitch. Said goodnight, grandma." The Cipher Captain growled, levelling the gun at Opal's head. The old woman sighed, shaking her head.
"I warned you about getting so angry. Now my dear Hatty is going to have to tear you limb from limb. What a waste of youth." Opal sighed disappointedly, sighing with annoyance. Armstrong took a step back at the sudden threat from this defenseless old woman, but Marnie and Lillie were even more shocked.
"Ma'am?" Marnie asked, causing Opal to turn her head slightly towards the young girl.
"You two better close your eyes and take a step back." Opal said lightly to the younger girls, who scurried to the back of the café and did so. Opal slowly stood up and smiled at the Cipher Captain still holding her at gunpoint who was shocked by the complete lack of fear from the Gym Leader. The old woman looked him dead in the eyes and grinned cheekily, knowing that she was in no danger from this pathetic excuse for a man.
The lead performer had taken the stage, after all. And now she would perform for her audience.
"W-w-what...Why did you tell them to get back?" the man asked, his surprise and growing sense of dread overpowering his anger. Opal's smile became something much darker. Almost sinister.
"Because, my stupid boy...I'd hate for you blood to stain their dresses." Opal said sweetly, laughing softly as the man growled and re-aimed his weapon at Opal's head-
Only for him to be yanked backwards by a powerful Psychic attack and slammed violently into the ground, causing several snapping sounds to echo throughout the café as the man's arms and legs snapped in half. The Cipher Captain's Machamp turned around in surprise, but only took one step forward before being struck hard enough with a Psybeam to knock it through the faraway wall and into the street. The entire time the Cipher Captain screamed in absolute agony, causing the two girls at the back of the building to shiver in fear.
Standing in the entryway of the café was a slender Pokémon that was white, pale pink and baby-blue, with a strange hat-like appendage on its head that turned into a claw-like tentacle of sorts. The Pokémon was currently glaring furiously down at the Cipher Captain as he begged for mercy, with Opal still wearing her smile.
"I did try to warn you. You're not the first criminal I've been forced to put down to protect the innocent, and I doubt you'll be the last." Opal said casually as she glanced at the two girls currently disobeying her orders and watching in mute horror. "Girls, close your eyes. This won't be pretty. Hatty, end him."
Marnie quickly covered Lillie's eyes and shut her own as the Hatterene screamed in fury and picked up the man's screaming form with Psychic and slammed him repeatedly into the ground one final time, sending deadly amounts of pressure into his body. Within seconds the man was dead, his blood gently leaking onto the floor.
"Now...kindly put him with the rest of the garbage." Opal instructed her Pokémon, who sighed with relief and gently lifted the body and dropped it in a nearby waste bin. The Gym Leader reached into her purse and dropped a few thousand Pokédollars onto the table, leaving a good tip for whoever was forced to deal with the body. The elderly Gym Leader then turned towards the two girls and smiled.
"Open your eyes, girls. It's about time we get to the Library. I think we've had enough excitement for one day, and I think Piers will be quite cross about you disobeying his orders and helping get people to safety." Opal said to Marnie as she opened her eyes, crossing her arms. She forced herself to ignore the blood and the grisly scene she just witnessed.
"I couldn' just stand by and do nothin', Miss Opal. Piers is already stretching himself and his team thin. Besides, Lillie here is one of their targets. They're tryin' to find her and some other boy." Marnie explained, causing Opal to bow her head for a moment as Hatterene hovered nearby, with the two of them shutting their eyes.
Marnie assumed they were talking to others in the city via telepathy, so she remained quiet. Lillie hesitantly opened her eyes and shivered at the bloodstains on the floor, as well as the cracked sections of the building around them.
"Piers is looking into it. Apparently the Kahuna was injured and there's a big battle taking place within the city with the leader of these hooligans and a few other Trainers." Opal said as she began to slowly make her way out of the café, her colorful parasol (that matched her dress) clacking slightly on the tile floor. "The library is still secure, despite Cipher's best attempts to breach it, thanks to the efforts of what appears to be the Lorekeeper and Zygarde. They want to destroy that place, and badly too. It's best we get back there and assist in their efforts to protect it."
"I don't know what half of that means!" Marnie exclaimed, with Lillie looking at the girl for a moment. The blonde wondered how good it must feel to not be involved with Cipher's nonsense at all, away from Alola.
Opal then turned to the two girls and said, "Well, let's get a move on. I'm not getting any younger, after all."
However, as the three women made their way into the street, two more Cipher Peons accosted them with two Flareons, which launched Shadow Balls at Hatty and knocked back the Hatterene. Opal looked unbothered, shaking her head in dismay.
"More misguided youths. What do you really hope to accomplish by working with such an insane man? Rubinara won't reward your hard work, you know." Opal said that the two Peons, who didn't seem bothered by the statement.
"Look, so long as we get our money before the old coot goes really crazy, we don't really care." The Peon on the left said with a grin, aiming a shotgun at Opal. The old woman didn't look impressed, though she did smile as Hatterene threw up a Protect around them.
"What good will that do?" One of the Peons asked mockingly as he fired his shotgun at the barrier, causing it to crack slightly as Hatterene groaned and caused it to flicker.
"Waste your time. Because something very amusing is about to happen. Listen." Opal said as she placed a hand to her ear. Brago tilted his head in confusion, unsure of what the sound he was already hearing really was. Marnie and Lillie strained to hear it, and the two Cipher Peons let their curiosity get the best of them and listened as well.
"Do you hear...bagpipes?" the Cipher Peon asked his partner, who shrugged. It was at that moment that a gunshot-like blast of water suddenly struck the two Flareon's from out of nowhere, knocking them both out. The two Cipher Peons yelled out in surprise, but were then blasted with a massive wave of water that knocked them to the ground.
It was then that a young girl staggered out from behind a nearby dumpster and charged at the two Peons as a lanky blue lizard Pokemon calmly walked beside her. The girl grabbed the guns that lay on the ground and tossed them away, grinning widely. She wore a gray sweater and a pink dress, with brown boots and a green cap with a white puff on top. She wore a strange band on her wrist, but what was even stranger was the large glass bottle of dark liquid in her hand and the fact that her cheeks were flushed, her eyes unfocused as she glared down at the two criminals.
"Ye cheeky cunts think ya we're gonna get the last laugh here, huh? Well fuck that!" The girl slurred as she kicked one of the dazed Peons in the groin and grabbed the helmet off the other. The man began to yell at the girl, but was quickly silenced when she cracked the glass bottle over his head and knocked him out as the glass shattered.
"Dat's right! This Champion-to-be just kicked your sorry arses! How's thaaat feel, ya gobshites?" The girl slurred as she swayed on her feet, with the lizard Pokemon carefully holding her upright.
"Oh my god, I was joking about her being drunk" Marnie asked, an expression of exasperation on her usually calm face. "Where the hell did Gloria even get booze? The city is literally on fire!"
"She always finds a way. What's more impressive is her ability to not get arrested over it. At least she's wearing clothes, unlike last time." Opal mused as Marnie coughed and flushed pink.
"I think I've officially lost track of the plot." Lillie remarked in a level voice, watching as the teen known as Gloria stumbled toward them. Lillie looked down at her bag, seeing that her Cosmog was looking up at her. "Nebby, what do you think?"
"Pew pew!"
"I thought so. I'm glad we're on the same page."
"Pew."
Gloria managed to make her way over to them, pausing to take in the fact that she knew two of the three people present. It was then that the girl suddenly vomited into the street before wiping her mouth and grinning at them.
"Marnie! Miss Opal! How ya the two of ya faring?" Gloria remarked giddily as she stumbled over to them, wrapping an arm around Marnie and leaning on her shoulder.
"You reek, Gloria. It's a shame the hotel we're staying at is probably on fire right now, otherwise I'd send you to bed." Marnie said ruefully as Gloria giggled, with Opal looking very amused. That amusement grew when the sound of snoring suddenly filled the street, and Lillie realized that somehow the strange drunk girl had suddenly fallen asleep on Marnie's shoulder, which made the black-haired girl shrug her off. Gloria tumbled onto the street, still asleep.
"Who...who is that, exactly? A friend of yours, I'm assuming? And is she really drunk?" Lillie asked as Marnie pinched her nose in annoyance, though she didn't seem particularly mad. It was almost as if she had dealt with this before.
"That's Gloria...And yes she is." Marnie responded with a facepalm as Opal sighed and walked forward, snapping her fingers impatiently as the Inteleon picked up his unconscious Trainer and hurried after the elderly Gym Leader. Marnie followed, with Lillie quietly wondering what on earth would happen next.
Meanwhile...
Roran bit his tongue to hold back the scream of fury as more of the street suddenly vanished beneath him, leaving glowing patches of energy that he sure as hell didn't want to step in. Especially after witnessing one of the Cipher Peons stop on one and explode in a shower of light.
Everything about the force he was now fighting simply seemed wrong to Roran. It wasn't supposed to be here. It wasn't supposed to be fighting him. It wasn't even a Pokémon.
But it was here. It was here, and it wanted to fight him. It wanted to kill him. It had undone some of his grisly work this evening in an attempt to stop his plans.
Roran would ensure both MissingNo and Vivian died for that.
"BEGONE!" Roran bellowed as he held his artifact out, releasing a deadly blast of fire at the deformed Heliolisk as it batted the attack aside like it was nothing, even as it scuttled along the street and stabbed its deadly tentacle-like tail into the face of a Hitmonchan and killed it instantly, causing it to explode into nothingness. That same tail slashed through the air, bisecting a Staraptor and slicing it in half, causing the bird to explode in a shower of confetti.
You really don't have any idea what you're messing with, do you?
MissingNo exploded into its glitching amorphous mass again, lashing out with its tentacles as it fired off streams of fire, ice, lightning and other attacks from nowhere in particular. Roran grit his teeth as Pokémon after Pokémon was cut down by Anomaly, which simply continued to laugh at him.
Roran thrust out his artifact towards where Vivian and the others were watching the battle in awe and grinned, sending out a blast of raw fire at the group. Oliver reacted instinctively, throwing up a Protect with a shout, though MissingNo beat him to the punch as it shifted over to them, transforming into an angel girl.
"Not happening!" Dizz-Anael cried out as a staff appeared in her hands. The angel held it out towards the flames and sent a powerful gust of wind towards the attack, blasting apart the flames as more tendrils of MissingNo extended out towards Roran, tearing apart the flames even as they exploded out from the artifact. Dizz-Anael cried out as she flared her wings, causing a shimmering bubble of light to surround the humans. Dizz-Anael gave them a cheeky grin. "That should withstand anything this jerk can throw at us."
"So...who are you? And are you even who you look like?" Sun asked, curiosity getting the better of him. The angel girl chuckled as she turned towards him, with another burst of particles appearing next to the angel girl and taking the form of a black-haired woman wearing blue and white armor. The woman who looked like a soldier offered them a kind smile, though Sun's eyes went to the trident-shaped scar on her neck that stood out vividly. It reminded him of the scar his father had in a similar spot.
"Name's Indiana. Sorry about all of this. I'm sure Vivian can explain things to you later. Needless to say, we need you all to stay out of our way." Dizz-Indiana said politely, summoning an SMG into existence. The angel girl nodded in agreement, ruffling her feathers.
"Oh, and my name is Anael. In another world, I worked with my master Nari to stop a group of bad guys from destroying all dimensions. But then everything stopped one day...And then MissingNo came." Dizz-Anael explained quickly to a very confused bunch of humans, looking towards the battle again.
Roran barked out orders to his team as he swiftly revived his Shadow Pokémon. Thanatos fired off a Hyper Beam, which Dizz-Anael blocked by waving her wand and summoning a purple rift in the air, sucking in the attack well before it came close to hitting her shield. She then swept her wand aside and sent the attack right back at Thanatos, who teleported to dodge.
Dizz-Indiana suddenly phased out of reality and reappeared besides Roran, who lashed out with his knife. Indiana summoned a combat knife with a golden blade and easily blocked a slash by the old man, disarming him and kicking him to the ground within moments. Roran swung the artifact as he hit the ground and Dizz-Indana dodged with a graceful backflip as Roran rolled to his feet, scowling as a horrible tremor ran down the length of his body. Indiana held out her arms and slowly morphed into a perfect copy of Roran.
"W-what!?" Roran sputtered as his doppelganger gave him a terrible smile. Five more Rorans suddenly flickered into existence, slowly walking towards him as their eyes glowed bright orange. The former Kahuna reached into his cloak and pulled out something gold that he stuffed into his mouth, chewing quickly before swallowing whatever the object was as awareness returned to his gaze. The other Roran's didn't disappear, to his frustration.
Meanwhile a skeletal Aerodactyl that shouldn't have been able to fly, let alone move, soared into the air. It rapidly grew into something five times larger and promptly spewed a torrent of flames that blew apart a horde of Shadow Pokémon that had been rushing the monster from the side. The Pokémon crashed onto the ground, slowly burning away into nothingness as another of MissingNo's forms began to wreak havoc through Cipher's ranks.
"What the hell is that thing!?" one of the Peons demanded, with several of them opening fire with their weapons. MissingNo screamed in fury and with a shift of the world, the bullets suddenly rebounded off an invisible shield around the skeletal creature and went back at the Cipher Peons, who were forced to fall back as their own attacks became too much to handle. Meanwhile, Roran was glaring daggers at the five clones of himself that were staring him down.
Reality is nothing more than clay that I can mold. Does that make you feel insignificant, Roran? I can make hundreds of you and not even break a sweat. So much for Alola's Chosen One...but that was never about you, now was it?
"Shut your mouth!" Roran bellowed as he held out his arm, allowing the light of his Radiance to shine forth as Cloyster hovered beside him. The clones of Roran winked out of existence as the madman shouted, "I will not be talked to with such disrespect!"
Bring it.
MissingNo suddenly exploded outwards as Roran tried to complete the movements, only to find that the world had shifted somehow, and that gravity was now pulling him to the side of the street. Everyone on the street that wasn't in Dizz-Anael's bubble were thrown onto the left side of the street while MissingNo laughed. Gravity reverted to normal for the villains who suddenly found themselves teleported back to the middle of the street.
Roran slowly got to his feet, panting from the pain that he was in and quickly removed another syringe from his cloak and jammed it into his arm, sighing with relief as he injected more of the serum into his veins. After a few moments he felt a rush of energy and strength as a sharp smile danced across his face.
"Umbral Torkoal! Prepare to roast this abomination alive!" Roran shouted as he called out Umbral Torkoal, who snorted in anger. The mutated Shadow Pokémon billowed out a jet black cloud of smoke from its back, dark flames spewing from its back. With that being said, Roran snapped his fingers and Thanatos quickly teleported Roran to where Dizz-Indiana was, throwing a punch at the woman that wasn't even real.
"He's out of his mind...when he's jacked up on drugs, he's more dangerous, but he makes stupid mistakes." Sun noticed as he watched the battle between what was a small part of MissingNo battle Roran in a hand-to-hand fistfight, completely ignoring the fact that MissingNo was quietly descending over the crowd of Peons, currently using the powers it had to overwrite their free will and force them to stop breathing by the dozens.
Roran blocked a kick and slashed out with a backhanded swipe, which missed as the soldier ducked away with ease. She then morphed into a taller man with white hair and crimson battle armor. In his right hand was what looked like a metal baton. At least until he flicked it out to extend it, and the length of the rod crackled with electricity.
Roran tried to have Umbral Torkoal attack, but it was suddenly trapped by a whirling mass of particles and unable to move. The same was true for his other Pokémon, and Roran scowled in anger at the man standing opposite of him. Or rather, the thing that had taken the form of a man not from this world.
"Let's dance, old man." Dizz-Jacobson grinned as MissingNo's true form appeared overhead, laughing ethereally as streams of water struck down from above, hitting the Cipher Peons who tried to interfere in the battle. Each Water Gun punched a hole through their bodies, causing them to fade out of the world with a shimmer.
As everyone that was mortal and not evil watched this display, Dizz-Indiana phased back over to where Dizz-Anael was, but that was when the two of them both shuddered and glitched for a moment, remaining oddly still before reverting to normal.
"What was that?" Vivian asked, concern visible in her eyes.
"I may have expanded more energy than I said did turning back time." Dizz-Indiana explained with a wince as Dizz-Anael continued to hold a shield over everyone, though her wings were now disintegrating before their eyes. Vivian bit her lip in worry, knowing that if this kept up, MissingNo wouldn't be able to...to...
"What happens when you run out of energy?" Hugh asked warily, with Vivian looking away with a pained expression on her face that only Sun noticed.
"Don't worry about that part...Worry about cleaning up after the mess Yena leaves behind." Dizz-Indiana remarked as the form of Harvey Yena lunged out of the shadows from behind Roran, grinning monstrously as razor sharp teeth gleaming in the firelight. Jacobson had vanished with a flicker, reforming into the mass overhead that was MissingNo.
"So you become a cannibal when that curse hits you...pathetic. I was a real demon in my world. Let me show you!" Dizz-Yena boomed as he held out his hands towards the incoming gunfire that erupted in his direction from the remaining Cipher Peons.
Sun's jaw dropped as the man's own shadow rose up from the ground and became a whirling mass of black tentacles that blocked all of the gunfire, with Dizz-Yena grinning as Roran released a deadly blast of fire at the man, who simply dodged it by sinking into the ground to avoid it before popping up again.
The scientist then flicked his hand, causing Roran's own shadow to rise up and ensnare Claydol, quickly slamming it into the ground and constricting its movements, though it soon teleported away and fired off a Hyper Beam at Dizz-Yena fearlessly smiled at the attack and opened his arms, allowing the attack to smash into him and cause him to explode in a cloud of darkness, only to reform a few moments later with a grin.
"Ta-da!" Dizz-Yena sang, doing jazz hands as his shadows ruthlessly continued to tear apart Cipher like they were nothing. Or rather, any of those foolish enough to actually attack him or the others. Some of the Cipher Peons simply had their Pokémon stand down, fearful of losing their lives by attacking the strange being that their boss was foolish enough to anger, lest they be slaughtered like nothing as well.
"What the hell are you supposed to be?!" Roran demanded as he lunged forward and stabbed Harvey Yena in the face, sending him reeling backwards as crimson dripped down his face. Roran smirked with triumph for one moment.
"Wow. That was really pathetic. To answer your question, I used to be a scientist. Then I became a murderer. Now I'm nothing but shadows." Roran's eyes widened as Dizz-Yena grabbed the knife and yanked it out of his face, with the scientist offering Roran a terrifying smile as the stab wound knit itself back together. "Now then...Time for a bloodbath that'll really get the crowd screaming!"
Yena let out a cackle of delight as he swung his hand upwards, causing the shadows to suddenly erupt forward and smash through the armor the Cipher Peons wore, impaling them completely through the chest. The men and women of Cipher screamed as they were thrown into the air and then tossed away like garbage, collapsing onto the street in bleeding piles. Roran's jaw dropped in awe before he turned to Yena, who lunged forward and grabbed the other man by his throat. Roran tried to break the monster's grip, but Yena simply grinned and jammed a pistol against Roran's head as he raised Roran's own knife in a shadowy tentacle.
That was when an Ice Beam struck Dizz-Yena, who screamed in agony as his entire body became squirming particles that phased out of existence and reappeared into the air as a floating Heliolisk, which released a wave of deadly red lightning at the Shadow Dewgong that had attacked him. The Sea Lion Pokémon howled as the attack washed over both it and its Trainer, causing them both to explode in a shower of white sparks.
Roran took that moment to send a beam of flames at MissingNo, who hissed in annoyance as the flames smashed against its side and it phased out of reality again. With a snapping sound Roran felt himself suddenly slam onto the ground as a strange force began to oppressively crush him from above. Roran turned his head slightly and saw it was nothing…
"Can this thing control gravity too? What exactly have I pissed off?" Roran thought as the force faded, due to MissingNo's attention being diverted by some of the newly arriving Peons rushing forward to attack.
The Heliolisk grinned maliciously as it rapidly grew in size and shape, its hands becoming demonic-looking claws and its tail a massive scythe, which it in turn used to cleave in half a Rhydon charging at it from the side. Both sides of the Pokémon remained in place for a moment before phasing out of this world. MissingNo laughed as several gunshots smacked against its body, blowing off chunks of its form but seemingly not hurting the creature. It casually swept its claws forward, tearing through the armor of the Peons with little effort. Roran watched all of this in mute horror, his gleaming eyes and drugged mind not comprehending how a creature like this existed. And now it was making a complete mockery of everything he had strived for.
Roran slowly got to his feet as MissingNo quickly assumed the form of a skeletal Kabutops that lunged at the Cipher Peons, slashing and slicing through them and their Pokémon while attacks randomly fired off from nowhere at anything within striking distance. Roran growled softly in anger, which the Anomaly somehow heard as it turned its head towards Roran.
Are you mad I'm forgetting you? I thought I could share the love, but...You know what? It's rude to ignore someone.
"What the hell are you?" Roran breathed as MissingNo lost its Kabutops form and whirled around and around in a circle, becoming a huge storm yet again before suddenly letting out a shriek that made everyone present shiver in anticipation. Every bit of the Anomaly surged together into a perfect sphere of raw chaos. The sphere began to quickly take form, eventually becoming Agent Indiana. The dark-haired woman smiled softly at the man, walking towards him as particles swirled wildly around her.
"I am a hero." Dizz-Indiana said quietly, drawing two throwing knives from nothingness and tossing them at Roran, who was protected by a barrier that Thanatos summoned at the last second. Indiana grinned as the terrible scar on her neck burned bright red and her body morphed, growing in size until she took the form of a large man wearing crimson armor, with eyes that matched and hair the color of bleached bones.
Captain Alexander Jacobson, final bastion of the United Revolutionary Front and the very man who gave Indiana the scar on her neck, grinned monstrously at Roran. Wth a simple movement of the wrist, an elegant sabre appeared in his hands. Roran shivered, whether in fear or anticipation, and barked out, "Ice beam!"
Cloyster fired off the attack at the murderer given form by MissingNo, but Alex didn't seem bothered. Alex simply dodged the attack by moving forward, with a tendril of particles tearing free from his back and slamming into Cloyster, knocking it out as Thanatos surged forward, throwing a Stone Edge at the Captain Jacobson, who glitched through the attack and clamped a hand down on Roran's throat with a sadistic smile on his face. Roran was thrown backwards by the man as an electrified baton replaced the sword in his hand, which he then used to strike Roran. The man shouted out in pain as a jolt of electricity surged into his body, taking a step back.
Dizz-Jacobson laughed as he lunged forward, quickly smacking Roran a dozen times with the weapon in quick succession, causing more yelps to come from the old man as he frantically tried to swing his artifact at Dizz-Jacobson, though he was having trouble hitting an opponent that kept glitching out of reality to dodge his attacks. Eventually Jacobson made the baton vanish as well, stepping forward to grab Roran around the neck with an evil smile, his toothy grin resembling a Gengar.
"I am a villain." Dizz-Alex whispered gleefully, peering into Roran's glowing eyes with horrible delight. The eyes of a man who condemned thousands to death and enjoyed every moment of it. A madman of Roran's equal, staring him in the eyes with an approving grin. Alex was blasted backwards by a Stone Edge from Thanatos, landing on the ground with a laugh. Dizz-Jacobson exploded and reformed into someone standing up now, becoming another man with black hair and icy blue eyes, determination burning in them as he levelled a lethal-looking sniper rifle at Roran.
"Torkoal, use Overheat!" Roran bellowed as Umbral Torkoal snarled angrily and released a massive ball of flames that made Sun and the others wince as it raced towards them. Dizz-Minnesota sank into the floor while Harvey Yena emerged from the shadows with a Cheshire smile, throwing up his arms and causing a wave of shadows to rise up from the street and smother the attack.
"I am the redeemer." Dizz-Minnesota remarked firmly, firing a single shot that Thanatos tried to stop, only for the round to punch through the Clay Doll Pokémon's body. Roran's eyes widened in surprise as Claydol groaned in pain, with black-ish fluid beginning to drip down onto the ground from the hole left behind.
"You…" Roran hissed as the Claydol Pokémon floated lower to the ground, with Roran snarling furiously in anger as his orange gleaming eyes met the cold eyes of Agent Minnesota, who offered Roran a scowl in return before exploding into a whirling mass of particles, flowing into Harvey Yena yet again. With a casual snap of the fingers, Roran's Umbral Torkoal was grabbed by the shadows and crashed into the ground as the shadows repeatedly slammed into it.
"I am the one who sins, simply by existing." Yena laughed, showing off razor-sharp teeth as he threw Umbral Torkoal's bleeding and unconscious form back at Roran, who swiftly returned the corrupted Pokémon. Yena's body then began to shift as MissingNo took the form of another figure, this time of the male angel wearing a crisp-black suit. His beautiful face wore an expression of disappointment, his wings extended as he floated into the air.
"I am your salvation." Dizz-Nari said solemnly, holding out his hands as brilliant light filled the street. Golden flames appeared at his fingertips as he held them out, sending out a wave of fire that quickly enveloped the street, surrounding Roran and enveloping several of the Cipher Peons who had rushed forward to help. Those who touched the flames were dead before they their bodies touched the ground
It was then that MissingNo's body began to change again, shrinking slightly as the angel shivered, with the wings vanishing. As the light around the figure faded, Roran was surprised to see a rather short young woman standing before him.
She wore purple and black robes and had snowy white hair with black braids hanging in front of her face. Glistening silver chains dangled from her arms, clanging slightly as she wriggled her hands, a soft black glow coming from them. Her eyes were black as the void...and looking into them made Roran's heart go numb with cold terror.
"I am your ruin." Dizz-Amatis whispered so softly that Roran barely heard it, but he was barely able to even think because of the terrible waves of raw madness that emitted from the woman in front of him. As terrible as Yena and Jacobson had been, she was something entirely different.
To his immense relief, the Anomaly only held the form of Amatis for a few more moments before exploding outwards into the amorphous mass that was MissingNo's true form. The otherworldly creature suddenly expanded faster than the mind could comprehend, until it was hanging over the entirety of Malie City.
WE ARE MISSINGNO!
The almighty boom from the Anomaly forced Roran to the ground as he screamed, gasping for air as the glow from his eyes receded, with the Curse of Abundance fading his body right now.
The very air around him rippled and shuddered, causing his skin to somehow burn through his cloak. It felt like the world was ending, as the sky began to slowly change colors. The very air itself smelt of copper, and Roran looked down to see his mouth and nose were bleeding. Several of the Cipher Peons screamed as they fell to their knees, clawing at their faces desperately. Some even turned their weapons on themselves, ending their lives in a fit of madness.
Roran glanced around as he pushed himself upright, seeing the hundreds of corpses littering the streets and those that were soon joining the fallen. How many of them had he called to their deaths? This thing had slaughtered his forces by the hundreds...and it was mocking them all the while. It was then that Roran became aware of the fact that the fire on the street was gone...in fact, the street looked...normal. The Cipher Admin glanced around and saw that nothing seemed to make sense. That city that had been completely destroyed moments ago seemed completely fine.
"How...this entire city should be levelled!?" Roran half-wondered and half demanded, glaring up at MissingNo, who simply laughed at the villain who had worked so hard to destroy the city, only for it to be fixed completely within moments.
You're right...it should be. But I fixed it with ease. And guess what? You're next. I'll be coming for you, Roran, no matter what face you're wearing.
"Destroying the Library and killing these idiots just isn't in the cards right now...not with that thing around. I'll have to settle for getting one of the three targets and achieving the ritual in a few days as opposed to tonight. After that, not even this thing can stop me." Roran thought angrily as he pressed a finger to his temple.
Thanatos fired off a Shadow Ball that simply winked out of existence halfway to its mark, only for it to appear from behind Thanatos and explode against the Claydol, knocking it back to the ground where Roran was. Harvey Yena reformed from part of MissingNo, half of his body melting into shadows but with the other half grinning wickedly as it drew a single magnum.
"Everyone, fall back...We're retreating." Roran said firmly as he held out his artifact, allowing the flames to burn as brightly as he could will it. It was then that a loud gunshot rang out and the artifact suddenly exploded in a shower of fire and glass, making Roran shouting out surprise and anguish. The remains of the artifact clattered to the ground, and as the light died Sun and the others could make out what it was.
A beautifully-crafted lantern that was now destroyed beyond repair, with the remnants of the Magma Stone now lying in the street. Golden fragments and shattered gemstones scattered along the ground at Roran's feet.
"You...Damn you!" Roran snarled, looking down at the priceless relic now destroyed at the hands of the Anomaly, as well as losing his complete control over Shadow Heatran. "That artifact was hundreds of years old! I can never replace that!"
"It's still hundreds of years old. It's just...you know. In hundreds of little pieces." Vivian responded with a grin as Roran gave the woman a look of loathing.
"Still, is this what the Curse of Abundance does to you? I really need to ask more about that. Why would anyone curse someone to be a cannibalistic nutcase?" Vivian remarked as Dizz-Yena lowered one of his pistols, half-glitching and partly consumed by shadows.
The disfigured form of Harvey Yena grinned as he shifted his aim slightly to aim his pistol at Roran's head. "That aspect of it hasn't changed...It's just in a lot more pieces now."
"You think this is the end of me? Never...I'll end all of you. Ashton Aupuni will be dead within the next hour, and I'll ascend to my rightful place here in Alola in mere days. I'll burn everything to the fucking ground!" Roran roared, insanity resounding loud and clear through his voice now.
It was a completely unnerving sight compared to how composed and confident he was earlier. Dizz-Yena fired off a shot that Roran barely managed to dodge, though the bullet did connect with his shoulder. Roran let out a scream as his entire left shoulder imploded, spraying the ground with crimson as he fell to the ground. Thanatos let out a cry of alarm and quickly teleported its Trainer away and off the street, with Dizz-Yena scowling as its arm suddenly twitched as he dropped the large pistol he was carrying with the weapon phasing out of existence.
"C-can't...get stable." Dizz-Yena hissed, hunching over as the remaining Cipher members began to flee the street, though not before Dizz-Yena swung his arm in an arc and caused the Cipher Peon's shadows to grab them from behind, breaking their necks. Aria and Sun rushed forward as Dizz-Yena melted into the glitching mass of particles that was MissingNo's true form.
That...should keep them away. For a time. Like I said before...give it time. You'll be able to get into their base soon. Kill him then...he'll have nowhere to run. His end will be very...s-satisfying.
"What's going to happen to you? You look like…" Sun trailed off, concerned. The group heard the sound of pained laughter that made their heads hurt.
Don't worry about me...After all, I'm not real. I was never meant to be real.
"What do you mean?" Ollie asked, resting a hand on Sun's shoulder. With a weary sigh, the glitching mass began to slowly spread out around them, closing in on the cluster of humans.
Long ago...so, so long ago...Arceus made everything. He created his three beings to govern time and space, as well as antimatter and the world that reflects this one. And in the act of creating more gods and everything else, ended up making me as well.
"So you're really a god of some kind?" Aria asked as Vivian sighed, shaking her head as her feet nudged her broken violin.
"When Arceus made the universe and the dragons who control reality, there was a lot of energy and matter leftover from a new being like Arceus doing something like that. Even gods aren't perfect, after all. MissingNo formed from what was left over from those creations, given sentience. It technically isn't supposed to exist, but was blessed by Arceus' with all the powers of the Creation Trio." Vivian explained as the group looked at MissingNo with a growing sense of understanding and awe.
"Creation Trio?" Sun asked, having not heard that phrase before.
"Palkia, Dialga, and Giratina, rulers of space, time, and the Reverse World." Ollie clarified for the boy, receiving a nod of understanding. Sun returned his attention to the glitching mass that seemed to be shrinking in size.
Every waking moment...since my birth has been pain. Forcing myself to exist. To be alive. When I shouldn't be. Eventually, though, I realized that I could control the very fabric of reality. Bend it to my will. And that was when I learned who really writes the rules of the world I was in. I couldn't handle the truth, so I left my original world for another. And then another. There was no escaping him or his whims. I saw what he had done to so many others. The suffering he inflicts upon them...You yourselves have gone through so much pain. And for the simple sake of entertainment. Can you b-blame me for being as jaded as I am?
"What does any of that mean?" Hugh asked, simply confused by all of this.
"Just because you weren't supposed to be created doesn't mean you don't exist." Sun remarked, earning another pained laugh from the creature known as MissingNo.
I'd love to debate that point with you...But after everything I've done tonight, I can't maintain consciousness for much longer. I'll likely fade out of existence altogether after this.
"What!? No!" Vivian shouted as MissingNo, who's body continued to flicker wildly. More flecks of data-like particles burned away from the Anomaly as it laughed painfully, the sound almost sounding like a sob.
You knew the price of this gambit, Vivian. It was one I was happy to pay. I only hope your sacrifice will be worth what this second chance will give you all. I'm sorry t-that I won't be around to see w-what happens...
"You can't go! You...y-you…" Vivian began to sob as she looked around, seeing that there were no traces of MissingNo around them, though there was a sea of bodies lying in the road. The city had somehow, against everything that had happened to it...returned to normal. It was a miracle.
Or rather...an act against the very fabric of nature. An act that only something that defied the laws of reality could do. Aria walked forward and put a hand on Vivian's shoulder, though one final whisper brushed past them.
At least I exist...in the memories of a friend.
"No!" Vivian screamed out as the group of Trainers suddenly teleported on the spot, reappearing inside of a large room filled with people and books. Sun recognized it right away as the Malie Library.
The group frantically looked around in surprise, as did the crowd that noticed a cluster of new arrivals. Noah approached them, looking relieved, while Professor Kukui smiled at them all.
"What just happened?" Aria asked Vivian, who slammed her hands onto the floor of the library.
"MissingNo…" Vivian whispered, shutting her eyes as tears began to fall. Noah stepped forward, limping heavily and wearing a bandage around his head, and hugged the woman. Vivian quickly hugged Noah tightly as the young man stroked her hair comfortingly, even though he didn't know what was going on.
Aria exhaled harshly as she looked around the area. She saw Professor Kukui talking to Kahuna Nanu, who was currently given some pills by Molayne. To her surprise, Colress was lying down on a couch with a heavily bandaged head, fast asleep. Nurse Joy had already taken charge of tending to the injured, with several people resting on makeshift cots and chairs.
"Zinnia took charge of defending the Library as soon as it became apparent that Cipher was targeting it. Her and Zygarde are outside protecting us right now, even though most of Cipher has retreated." Noah said to Aria as he filled her in on what happened. The Snagger looked out the front window to see that was indeed the case.
A horde of powerful-looking dragon types were positioned in front of the Malie Library, with Zinnia and a battalion of Trainers fending off the remaining waves of Cipher members trying to attack the building, which was currently glowing a faint green color That was when the Snagger noticed that it was actually the vines that surrounded the building that were glowing, and not the building itself.
Aria took notice of the green canine standing beside Zinnia, with the Lorekeeper's head held high. Aria smiled faintly at Zygarde, feeling surprisingly happy that the Order Pokémon found a way to cooperate with the rather difficult Zinnia. The two of them standing alongside other Trainers, protecting them all, was a strangely satisfying image.
"So now what?" Sun asked from his position on the floor, stroking Oliver's head as the distressed bird shut his eyes with a sigh of exhaustion and rested his head against Sun's chest. Sun busted out his Pokémon Refresh kit and began to groom Oliver, which actually began to calm him down. The boy knew that it wouldn't exactly ease the worries of his Starter after watching his Trainer get killed, but it was a start.
"We mop up the rest of these clowns, since the bulk of Roran's forces have retreated." Aria replied, looking back towards Vivian. "And once she calms down, we have a talk about what happened out there. Because some of us definitely died, and now we're here."
The doors suddenly burst open, revealing Opal, Marnie and Lillie. A snoring Gloria was currently being held in her Inteleon's arms, much to the embarrassment of Marnie. Sun dropped his brush and got to his feet, his eyes flickering to gold.
"Lillie!" Sun yelled out, running forward and crashing into the girl with a fierce hug as she walked towards them. Lillie gasped in surprise, but returned the hug just as tightly. Sun couldn't help but laugh in sheer relief, especially when Nebby popped his head out of the bag and cooed at Sun. The boy rubbed the Cosmog's head affectionately, making Nebby sigh with joy.
"What happened? Me and Brago had some problems getting to the Library, but we met some people who helped us get here safely. Did you have some problems too?" Lillie asked Sun, who wasn't exactly sure how to respond to that question. After all, he and several of his friends had died, only to have their deaths undone by an otherworldly Pokémon that shouldn't have been real to begin with.
"It's a long story. What's most important is that you're okay." Sun replied quietly, hugging her even tighter. Lillie flushed pink, very aware that some of them were currently looking at her, but she shut her eyes and simply enjoyed the hug. The two children pulled away from each other, and after a few minutes went upstairs to a section of the library where everyone began to discuss what had happened.
Apparently Cipher had targeted several prominent members of their group right at the start, including badly injuring Colress and Acerola. The Ghost-type Captain was still unconscious, but was thankfully saved thanks to the intervention of Zinnia and Zygarde. The Lorekeeper had been a pivotal force in protecting the site, which had definitely been something Cipher had wanted to see burned to the ground.
The main question everyone wanted to know was...why?
"None of this makes sense...Why go after Sun and Lillie like that?" Hugh asked, crossing his arms with a frown.
"Unfortunately, at the end of the day, we don't know much about this guy." Aria responded, wrapping an arm around Hugh's shoulder and resting her head in the crook of his neck. Hugh's frown turned into a smile as he wrapped his arm around his girlfriend's waist.
"President Lusamine knows about Roran, but I don't know where she's at now. She caught up with me after Ollie died the first time, but I guess things have changed." Sun remarked, shrugging after a moment. Lillie tensed at the mention of her mother's name, but said nothing.
"Maybe your father knows?" Lillie suggested, causing Aria and Hugh to look at Sun in surprise.
"I don't know if I'd consider Borlath a useful source of information." Hugh said in a tight voice, though Aria wore a thoughtful frown.
"Considering what Roran pulled, I'm willing to consider Borlath the lesser of two evils right now." Ollie remarked, rubbing his chest despite the fact that he hadn't been stabbed there. Sun pulled out the phone that Lusamine had given him and looked down at it with an unreadable expression. On the one hand, his father had done so much wrong. He spilt so much blood. Had killed so many people.
But on the other hand...Ashton Aupuni was still his father. And misguided as he was, still wanted his only child to be safe. And he had even made an effort to speak to the Pokémon League and ended his association with Neo Team Plasma. And Ashton definitely wanted Roran dead more than any of them.
All Sun needed was information, after all...maybe this was the right call. Literally. With a shaky breath, Sun called the number.
It picked up on the second ring.
"Sun? I'm surprised to hear from you again. How's the traveling going?" Ashton asked his son, sounding rather cheerful. It was an odd change of pace from the exhausted anger that seemed to always be present in their conversations, as well as the pained guilt.
"I had to stop and head back to Malie City with Lillie. Dad, Roran attacked the city. He caused a huge fire and killed a ton of people." Sun said to Ashton, who remained quiet for a few moments before a soft growl emitted from the other end of the line.
"Is he really trying for that insane ritual a second time? You'd think after Tapu Bulu cursed him last time that he'd try something else" Ashton muttered, sounding worried. "Sun, I'm assuming you went back to Malie to help."
"Yeah. I couldn't just not do anything, and I didn't think I'd run into Roran right away." Sun said to his father, a note of guilt in his voice. He had promised not to get involved with Cipher or try and seek out Roran. Even if he didn't mean too, he did go back on his word and fought Roran.
"I'm not mad at you Sun. You're safe, and that's what matters. I've been locked in a meeting with the other Admins for the past hour, and we're trying to figure out a strange phenomena that happened just a little while ago. We seemed to have repeated about 27 minutes of time...Did this happen in Alola as well? Was this Roran's doing?" Ashton asked, sounding genuinely confused.
"It's because of some strange creature called MissingNo. Not important. The Peons mentioned something about wanting to go after me and Lillie and Hau, something about a 'ritual'. Do you know what it is? It sounds like you're at least familiar with it." Sun asked his father, who hummed after a few moments of thought.
"I don't know much. Just that Malie City is a special place, much like the settlements close to the ancient ruins of the Tapu, and that Roran's fire exposed something strange that night all those years ago. I imagine it did something similar tonight?" Ashton asked Sun, with the boy's eyes flickering to light gray.
"Yeah...he kept going on about him being the chosen one and picked by the Tapu." Sun explained to his father, who again hummed on the other end of the line.
"Venus, get some people looking into Malie City's history. We'll follow up on some old legends, but those damn Councils in Alola suppress all sorts of things, so I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't find anything." Ashton growled, though he regained control of himself after a moment. "When enough blood is spilled and the street is set ablaze, it creates a strange sort of energy in the air that feeds back to the hearts of the islands, or so I understand it." Ashton explained, sounding as if he was trying to put the pieces together as he explained things. "Roran has done this twice now. Had his followers kill people and then attempted to burn the city down. The first time...I don't think he knew exactly what he was doing. It was too grand. Staged, in a way. He was pretending to be someone else for the sake of playing up a threat to unite Alola. This time, he was a very real threat wanting to kill as many as possible...I think. I understand him better now than I did back then, but even now I don't get what he's trying to accomplish besides kill everyone."
"He said he had a plan to kill you too…" Sun said quietly, unable to help the concern in his voice. "He said you'd be dead within the hour."
"Roran says a lot of things. I'd focus on his plans, rather than his irrational hatred of me. I'm more interested in what he plans with the ritual he's trying to do." Ashton said almost dismissively, causing Sun to frown in response.
"But what is this ritual? I don't get it either! And why does he want me and my friends? He was trying his hardest to kidnap us alive." Sun explained to Ashton, who sighed on the other end of the phone.
"I don't know much more than what Roran rambled in the brief snippets after he set the city ablaze. And after what happened on the Endless, I tried as hard as I could to block that memory out of my head. It was...incredibly traumatic. Much like with what I did to Nova." Ashton explained sorrowfully, causing Sun to wince.
"Alright...So what's he trying to do? What's his goal? Do you know?" Sun asked, causing Ashton to remain silent. When he spoke again, his words were serious.
"Put the phone on speaker. Your friends should hear this." Sun did as his father instructed, and Borlath spoke aloud to everyone present.
"I've been attempting to break into the Ula'ula Cipher HQ's systems for the past few days and I've reached the point where I can confidently say that Roran's endgame is using Heatran to destroy everything in the Alola region and start everything from scratch."
"Why would you need to hack anything? Aren't you the Master of Cipher?" Ollie asked, sounding annoyed.
"Because, Agent Quill, Roran changed a lot of things in the past few weeks and getting into those systems has been next to impossible. And sending in Amber to kill the bastard would've put Sun in danger, so that's been a no-go. I myself can't go to Alola, so the plan has been to destroy Roran from afar." Borlath said smoothly, sounding almost smug. "In a few hours, his entire operation will be going up in smoke."
"So what about what he tried tonight? Got an explanation for that?" Hugh asked hotly, earning a chuckle from the other end of the line.
"He planned to enact a sacred ritual involving setting fire to Malie City and killing people inside of it as the ancient cobblestone burned, though what the ritual does or how it benefits Roran is unclear to me. Once I've finished my work, I'll be shutting down the base itself and sealing it from the outside." Borlath explained, a note of dark amusement creeping into his voice.
"The life-support systems inside the base would go out as well, killing everyone inside. A fitting end for him." Amber Fontaine spoke up, causing Aria to scowl.
"While I am sorry I wasn't able to work fast enough to prevent more death, I did have to stop and get some affairs in order over the past few days. I've been setting up some things for my next discussion with the Pokémon League. If all goes well over our next few dealings, then I'll be surrendering myself over to the police in just a few months and the world will be a much better place." Borlath said, sounding oddly triumphant.
"You...you what!?" Ollie barked, sounding completely unbelieving. remained silent for several long moments, and Sun wondered if their call had been dropped somehow, but Ashton finally spoke after about half a minute of silence.
"I just wanted a world where my son could have the peace of mind that alludes me to this day. I tried to make this world a better place through peace, but I failed. I tried my hand at using power to force the world into peace and stamping out the shadows with my own darkness, but that just made things worse. I'm trapped...Trapped in a mess of my own making." Ashton said heavily, a desperate sigh escaping him after a moment. "I'm...None of you deserved this. Any of this. And I'm so sorry for that."
"Dad?" Sun asked, concerned as to the sudden shift in tone of his father's voice.
"I've hurt all of you, so much. If the Pokémon League comes through and begins to enact changes across the regions, and those changes bear the fruit that I'm sure they will...then Cipher will completely disband. I'll hand the assets of the organization over to the International Police and turn myself in. I handed over the reins of Aupuni Industries over to my new COO a few weeks ago, so he'll continue things along. After I'm taken into custody, I'll likely be executed for my crimes, depending on which region I'm tried in. But I doubt that'll upset any of you." Ashton didn't sound particularly bothered by that either, Sun noted, which worried him.
"Except that you'll be dead." Sun deadpanned to his father, who let out a laugh. Sun scowled at that, and waited for his father to stop chuckling.
"We all have to face the consequences of our actions sometime. After I deal with Roran and if the Pokémon League are willing to cooperate with me, then I can handle whatever comes next. You will be safe, and that's all that matters." Ashton said to his son, sounding satisfied.
"Except...you…" Sun was frustrated, but he didn't know why. Ashton chuckled at the boy, sounding amused.
"Sun, you're so much like me that it hurts sometimes. We both don't believe that we're worthy of the love that others give us. That we're undeserving of the friendship we've experienced in our lives. You are my son. You are such a kind-hearted boy, and…" Ashton trailed off after a few moments before screaming suddenly erupted from the phone as a door slammed, with the sounds of an explosion going off in the background.
"Dad?" Sun asked as shouting suddenly burst through the call.
"What's going on?" Kukui asked, walking over to him with confusion on his face. Sun and the others continued to listen on as the sound of crashing and screams continued to sound out from the phone. The boy couldn't help the concern he now felt for his father.
"You said they were working with us, Borlath!" Venus' screams carried across the line, with Dakim's loud swears audible in the background. Ashton simply sighed into the phone and his next words were very clear.
"Sun…" Ashton's voice was quiet, but full of emotion. "I love you. And no matter what happens, I will always love you."
Sun flinched as the sound of explosion erupted from the other side of the phone, cutting off the call completely as static roared in his ear. Sun felt a shiver of fear roll down his spine as he considered what could have happened.
"Dad?...Dad!?" Sun yelled out worriedly, shaking slightly as Ollie rested a hand on his shoulder.
"Sun…" Ollie trailed off, unsure of even what to say. It sounded like something terrible had happened inside of the Cipher HQ, but with how Borlath had been speaking, it sounded as if he was saying his final words.
The words of a man who knew he was about to die.
Sun shivered as he closed the phone and slipped it into his pocket, trying to fight back the tears that now stung at his eyes. Lillie hugged the boy again, murmuring something that Sun couldn't even process right now. Did his father die? How were they going to stop Roran? And how much worse were things going to get before they got better? They had only survived tonight because MissingNo has sacrificed itself to save them from their fate. How could they stop someone as powerful as Roran? And who else would the madman hurt before he was satisfied?
As if to answer that last question, the front doors of the library were suddenly thrown open and a large figure strode past the group of Trainers watching through the windows of the library. Sun snapped out of his fear and concern for his father and took in the sight of Kahuna Hala walking towards the stairs, and Sun's feeling of terrible unease deepened when he noticed that something about Hala was very off. And with a pang, he realized what it was, seeing that Hala's eyes were bloodshot and his normally stalwart visage was wracked with emotion as he climbed the staircase.
Hala was crying.
"Hala? What's wrong?" Kului asked, clearly worried about his mentor as the old man strode forward, clutching something in his hand. Hala didn't respond right away, though he did slam his palm on the table beside them. After a few moments he removed his hand, revealing the object the Kahuna had been holding.
It was an Island Trial Amulet, stained with blood.
Sun felt a terrible feeling of dread suddenly wash over him, even if he didn't know exactly what was going on. Hala's next words made that feeling turn into horror.
"He took my boy… " Hala muttered as he looked at everyone in the now silent room, his expression looking almost helpless. Raw fear and pain was in the eyes of the powerful and mighty Kahuna, renowned as one of the strongest Trainers in the entire region.
"Took who? What's going on?" Aria asked as Sun and Lillie glanced at each other. Hala shut his eyes, and everyone saw a single tear roll down the man's face as his entire body trembled with the effort of holding back a sob.
"Roran Rubinara. That monster has Hau. He broke into our home in Iki Town a few minutes ago...and told me that Hau would be his sacrifice." Hala muttered as he clenched his fists, his entire body shaking. Kukui moved forward to embrace the man while Aria swore silently.
Sun's eyes slowly began to change from gray to pink, as anger and fear molded together. The boy felt Lillie grab his hand and give it a comforting squeeze. But that did little to stop the rage currently pounding through Sun's veins or the terror gripping his heart at the thought Hau's fate in the hands of the madman that was Roran.
NEXT TIME: Borlath faces some very real consequences for his actions, Sun has a heart-to-heart with his Team, Guzma gets very confused, and an old frenemy returns.
Q & A
From: JDunks896
...okay, can ALL his Pokémon do Ultra Z-Moves? If he is channeling the power of a Tapu curse, it would make sense... but that is WAY too OP, even if he can only managed one of them!
Also, Sun, go ahead and murder the bastard. It'll probably scar you for life and send you into another depressive spiral... actually, no, just get your dad to drop him in the Workout Sea and let nature take its Sharpedo-filled course.
All shall be explained. And while it's OP as hell, it's only because Roran is smart enough to work around the downsides to using the power that he's abusing like hell.
From: Madame Rodoshe
1. I have couple of questions related to Ano. Like how did Ano met his wife, Lahela? When I read their interaction, it seems that Ano doesn't have any affection towards his wife, while Lahela tries calming him down. I'm not surprised if Ano verbally abused his wife.
2. What's the relationship between Roran and Ano? We're they friends, rivals or acquaintances.
3. How come Roran didn't capture Ano? I'm not surprised if Roran killed Lahela, I doubt Ano would miss his wife…
Aside from meeting and bonding in Alola during the days where Ano wasn't as insane as he is now, there's honestly nothing of note about their relationship. Though I won't deny that their relationship wasn't abusive in some ways.
Ano served on the Alolan Regional Council and the Malie City Council during the days when Roran was Kahuna, and was one of those that opposed Roran during those days. He's a fundamentalist at his core and hated the things Roran was trying to go for. Roran also had a genuine soft spot for Ashton back then, and when he realized how deep the abuse really went between the boy and his father, Roran's disdain for the man increased.
Because Roran didn't think the man was worth his time and effort, and assumed he would burn to death once Malie City was completely destroyed.
From: Joey
1) This will probably be addressed in the next chapter but what specifically is Tapu Bulu's curse. Is Tapu Bulu's curse the reason Roran is a cannibal and can channel Ultra Z-Power so much, or is there more to it? Also what are Tapu Koko and Fini's curses like? Since we've already seen Tapu Lele's curse on Amber in action.
2) Was having Ashton/Borlath share similar backstory with Guzma intentional or just a coincidence? Both have abusive parents that they at some point in their lives distance themselves with (though Guzma returns to his parents house in the post-game), and both of them end up befriending Lusamine at some point in their lives. Though as seen in the games, Lusamine goes insane from the Nihilego venom and pretty much abandons Guzma in the Ultra Deep Sea, and the poor guy doesn't even mention Lusamine come the post-game.
3) Also, if Ashton wasn't able to leave Alola for Kanto, what would he be doing?
This will be explained in a chapter coming soon, and in depth. Both the effects of the Curse of Abundance and the other curses of the Tapu. But I will say that the curses do have different effects depending on the person.
Truthfully, it's a coincidence due to having bad experiences with Alola's culture. Many members of Team Skull share similarities with Guzma, as do many people not in Team Skull. That's a point raised a few times throughout the story, but once we finish the Cipher Arc and start making moves towards Sun's battles in Po Town, we'll start seeing more of this come up. Also, I'd definitely say Lusamine is just using Guzma to further her plans, whereas Ashton and Lusamine were very good friends who grew apart due to being in different regions and having families of their own.
He would have done what Roran did, but properly, and he would have eventually been chosen as a Kahuna by Tapu Bulu. He wouldn't have ended up getting involved with Cipher, but he also wouldn't have met Laura Smiles and Sun wouldn't have been born. Ashton probably wouldn't have gotten married either.
From: Defender31415
I literally have no proper expression of shock to describe the events of this chapter. Mass death, near protagonist death, and the wrath of a being which ought not to exist, but does. Roran is in fact dead, though, right?
Well, he did die, but it didn't stick.
From: Anasazi Darkmoon
Also, Shiva in a Chevy, Roran needs to be gone. Seriously. And what in the blueberry fuck was Tapu Bulu thinking, using something like that as a curse on a sociopath? How would that even BE a curse to a man like Roran? Though now that we've seen his and Tapu Lele's curses, it has me curious about what kind of curses Tapu Koko and Tapu Fini bestow.
It did more to him than just turn him into a cannibal. And well, Tapu Bulu didn't have a chance to finish Roran off before he fled. And usually people end up killing themselves as a result of the curse's effects on the mind. Amber's tried to kill herself multiple times since she's been cursed.
From: Baistro334
Dizz said that Dialga was his brother, does that mean that Missingno is a part of the creation trio, or is it just speaking in a general sense of being a high tier legendary?
I really like this question, and I'll definitely be covering MissingNo's origin story soon, though this chapter did cover some of it.
From: Moosicorn
What a chapter! I never thought Vivian would play such a pivotal role in this arc, I really hope she'll be the one to save the day.
I wonder what would happen if she decided to let things be and not alter reality?
MissingNo would have teleported her and Noah to another region and kept them safe from Cipher's influence as the world began to fall apart. Noah would never understand what actually happened, but Vivian would always hold that guilt in her heart for the remainder of her life.
Man...this one took forever. Partly due to writer's block, being burned out, Destiny 2 Beyond Light coming out soon and me needing a last-second grind for gear, and me playing Persona 4: Golden for the first time. Mostly the second and the third ones.
But onto another thing. The reviews from this past chapter. Big shoutout to those who reviewed in the past few chapters, which includes JDunks896, Oragonking, BraviaryScout, Madame Rodoshe, SonicIKE, a Guest reviewer, Aquahaze675, Joey, Defender31415, fatwhiteguy, SolanaLeonhart, Anasazi Darkmoon (who I believe has predicted like three of my plot twists so far), Moosicorn, a new Guest reviewer known as LOLXDDDDDD, and three new reviewers known as Baistro334, Gs33022, and rocklover163. You all are absolute legends! Thank you so much.
I apologize if I missed a question asked or didn't respond to certain things, but I'm writing this while immensely sleep-deprived and I don't trust myself to not blab spoilers while we're barreling towards the end of this Act.
Honestly, the reactions/reviews I got at the end of the last chapter were some of the best I've gotten in the entire story. I'll admit that I've been waiting for the big MissingNo reveal for ages now and I was extremely excited to drop it, but the overwhelming amount of surprised and excited responses were amazing.
While I do admit I'm really burnt out at the moment, because I'm cramming a lot of stuff in these chapters and tying up a lot of loose ends in just a few more updates, feedback like what I've gotten recently makes it all worth it. At the end of the day, I spend hours upon weeks of my time to entertain people with a story. So long as people are enjoying my work, I'll keep chugging along on this story. Because I'm in this one until the end.
The outpouring of support that the reviews had in the last chapter, urging me to keep writing, telling me how much they enjoyed my updates and the story as a whole...I can't even explain how genuinely touched I was. Truly. It was the most motivating feedback I've ever gotten from any of my stories.
So thank you.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for helping me through this crazy little journey and making the hard work worth it. And I hope that all of you will be there for the remaining 85ish chapters that remain in the story. Because we're far from done.
Please make sure to favorite and/or follow the story if you haven't already to stay updated with RS. Also, if you're feeling especially awesome, leave a review and tell me your thoughts on the chapter and what you think might happen next. I also answer questions, and I have a Discord channel for the story where I interact with readers and banter about this and that.
Stay safe and stay awesome.
Until next time, FlygonNick out!
