Tearing the Heavens

by Cepel

A young soldier from a once great family is thrust into the future and ends up in an unfamiliar and bizarre world, where his presence can cause complications both ancient and modern. He inadvertently becomes a trainer through mere misunderstanding and sets off in a journey to discover his own self and where he stands in a world that isn't his own.

75. Ghosts of the Past

Naueilh. The Crystal City.

A true jewel of the desert, the city was massive for its time—a technological marvel compared to the usual cities of old with walls and gates that stretched for several miles. Even from outside Riven could see that the city was far from the dilapidated remains of the present that the desert had gleefully swallowed after decades of human absence. A ruined oasis. The city being this large for the time gave a clearer indication that these sphere creators were more advanced than historians and artifact hunters believed.

Glistening crystals hummed and glittered in various colors of the spectrum under the sun, woven and melded in with the surrounding structures, including metals and stone. The reflected light seemed to cast a type of aurora above the sky, swirling about like some sort of arid aurora borealis. Bizarre. Crystals also composed the outer layer of several buildings that Riven could just barely make the top of below the wall. Ancient skyscrapers perhaps. Did they have offices in them? He doubted it. Being this far from the inner city near the wall, there weren't many discerning smells or distinguishing features besides the forest behind him. That in and of itself was an oddity.

A forest in the middle of a desert. Oases didn't nearly have enough water to manage an ecosystem of this size. There was no way. How? The Celebi watched him with curiosity as he turned back and squatted beside the nearest patch of soil.

Scooping up some of the soil and sand, he noticed a fine layer of crystal dust, shimmering with reflected light in his hand. Energy faintly pulsed through his body, eyebrows climbing to his forehead. Come to think of it, some of the plants were semi-luminescent, but with so much light getting tossed around, he wasn't entirely sure. Was this a fertilizer? Sacrificing an empty pokeball, he opened it and poured a palm of the topsoil inside, making sure he collected more of the dust than soil. If he got this to Steven, maybe he could get a botanist or geologist to study it and no doubt fawn over the damn stuff.

Curiosity crept into his mind, drawing a grin. Considering the city gates mesmerized, he could only imagine what the inside was like. Of course, the only problem with that was that he was currently outside of said wonder city and the gates were at least seventy feet tall with no way to climb them.

I assume knocking wouldn't work? Of course not, who the hell opens the gate for random people? So what's plan B?

He counted it off in his head. There was not a single flying pokemon in his repertoire. Ever since Gale pulled that stunt, he vowed he'd never get a flying pokemon, but sometimes they came oh so handy.

Damn. No cheating then.

So, the only options available were; try and warp pursuit vertically using Efrain(not recommended), try and attach himself to Spoopy and hope for the best like he did at Prism Tower with Cormac's Ariados, or have Aine try to jump him over the gates.

One, trying to scale another large edifice on the back of a spider was a soundly stupid idea with a more than fair chance of ruined pants, and two, trying to boomerang a blade into a wall various times was even more stupid, not to mention how awkward it would be of an explanation to Efrain. Getting that to work would probably be more of a hassle than it was worth. The third, final, and most viable option was probably the least stealthy one available at that, too. Oh well. He enlarged Aine's pokeball and brought her out closest to the wall in case a guard miraculously managed to catch the flash of light.

The Blaziken swiveled her head around at the oasis, the wall, and back to the oasis before she craned her neck upwards at the enormous wall looming over them, eyes wide. She touched the wall and backed away suddenly as it repelled her with a small push. A tiny squawk came out of her as she tried to hide her surprise. Her trainer chuckled.

"Welcome to the Mauville Desert. Or at least what it looked like twenty thousand years ago. Apparently there was a pretty city here. Exhibit A. I'd have shown you what it looks like back in our time, Aine, but I was busy dying at the time. It's also not as pretty and a twentieth or fortieth of the size? So small you'd need to be looking for it on purpose and no massive wall for one. No nice forest as a tourist backdrop either."

There was a nervous laugh that Aine ignored completely, fixated instead on the pretty colors along the wall.

"Is that when you and Will got stuck after the sandstorm? You got really sunburned then. Still have some of the color!"

"That's the only good thing that came out of the whole ordeal, I guess. Getting stuck in a desert is horrible in so many ways I don't want to list, but yeah, here it is. Just… prettier. And with more grass."

"Ohhhhh. This where you got rescued by the Claydol and Will became like me? That happened in the same place? Haona and Baron didn't feel like explaining it to me. Jerks."

"That's because you were a Combusken at the time."

"Oh, right."

Her trainer gave her a small, knowing grin. Getting the Blaziken's attention was difficult as it was. When she was a Combusken it was practically impossible outside of fighting. The two pokemon must have gotten fed up with trying. Omy was kind of like her, in a way. Certainly explained how well the two got along.

"But yeah, same place," he said with a small smile. Excitement in three, two, one…

She clapped her claws together and skipped. "Let's go, let's go! You want me to jump up there, right? Will there be fun stuff inside?"

"I hope so," Riven shrugged with a laugh. "But I'm more interested in some answers, preferably. I'd rather avoid fights against an adversary I don't know a damn thing about. This whole Origin aspect is a mystery to me still, and I was born one. There's no telling what an experienced one that isn't holding back can do. No fights for now."

"But it's so pretty…" Aine pouted before breaking out into another, more focused grin. "I'd die to fight here though. Like fighting in LaRousse! Right, trainer?"

"Sure, Aine."

Seeing a fully grown Blaziken gush in excitement like that never got old, and Aine had a funny way to shaking her tail feathers whenever she was happy about something.

However, Riven concerned himself more with how welcoming the city inhabitants would be if they saw a crazy bastard jump over their wall with a pokemon they'd never seen before. Oddities to the baseline of any given situation tended to raise questions. His presumed response to that would be, "let's shoot it full of arrows first, then poke it with a stick if it's still alive to answer questions". Standard protocol back in the days for unidentified anomalies just about everywhere was kill it until it's dead and kill it some more, then if it's not dead enough, talk to it. The modern era twisted this around and while less draconian, that often led to perpetrators wreaking havoc before getting neutralized.

Hence why the deathmatch between Deoxys and Rayquaza royally fucked LaRousse up while authorities presumably scratched their balls the whole time. Giant angry dragon and space invader kind of warranted some pointed hospitality. Logically speaking, at least. If it was up to Riven, he'd have lit the sky up in a colossal display of so much concentrated fuck you that he'd dare another alien pokemon to come down into his city and fuck his things up again.

So, it went without saying that popping in to say hello waving a white flag and a smile was an unwelcome idea for his well being.

"Celebi, can you see if the gate has any narrow or secluded parts to it? A way that gets us spotted the least?"

The green pokemon blinked, flying up and over the structure to survey the area. It returned ten minutes later, leading them over to a section of the wall and pointing at it.

Little humans in this area. Safer than others. Less guards.

Most likely a semi abandoned residential area near the wall. Patrols either didn't care, or the people there didn't. Few liked living near the gates in walled cities, mainly due to being the first to die in case of an invasion(and first to be abandoned), and because it was rather mundane compared to living closer to the center of town. At most the housing areas were little more than repurposed barracks. Walking sucked too. As a result, only the poorest bastards downtrodden on their luck or soldiers unlucky enough to be stuck on guard duty. Shifts were long and boring, which meant most guards wouldn't wake up even if a bomb went off. Regardless, it presented a reasonable entry point.

"Aine, you're up."

She made a grunting noise and craned her neck, blue eyes working to gauge the distance as she limbered up. Limbering up and stretching completely, she held her hands out for her trainer.

"Ready?" She asked. "It's pretty high, but I think I can do it if I added some explosive power with my fire. I don't wanna burn you."

"You won't. You're the most accurate out of everyone, Aine. You've never been a forceful fighter. Even Baron gets a little wild from time to time. Don't think I don't notice it."

The fire type gave a cheeky bird grin and flared fire at the edges of her feet.

"Let's go," Riven replied, grabbing onto her opposite shoulder with his left arm and gripping her right claw as tight as he could.

True enough, Aine blasted forward as jets of fire burst and collided with the ground, causing an explosion beneath her powerful feet as she jumped, propelling her even higher than she normally jumped. It felt like getting shot out of a rocket, with only the soles of his shoes getting singed. The two easily sailed up the wall, overshooting by twenty feet before they began to fall. Aine landed nimbly, unbothered by the force of the landing to let Riven off so he could inspect the area.

It was then that the full scope of the city could be seen—well, more like admired.

Fountains of water and deep ground irrigation canals flowed along the streets, channeling up through thin crystalline piping to reach agricultural areas that blended with the surrounding buildings, spiraling up towers and structures to create a magnificent fusion of forest and city. Crystals of light shown between the foliage, feeding the wildlife with energy like the forest outside the gates. Grass pokemon crawled along the growth hundreds of feet high, scaling spiraling structures with astounding speed.

Gardens full of berries and vegetables grew stacked in layers atop the rooftops of smaller buildings, built upon stranger and more sophisticated architectural designs than Riven was used to, preferring natural shapes and sleeker edges than the geometric and often rectangular designs of the modern world. Faint trails of smoke rose in the distance, a marketplace most likely. Food, culture, and trade. Ancient trade routes of the past often stopped in oases to refuel on long journeys. Naueilh was that and more.

A beaming smile spread on Riven's face, amazed beyond words.

Nearing closer to the city, hundreds of people with glowing robes went about the city squares and markets, appearing no different than any other populace of a prosperous trade city.

The same robes he saw in Dewford. Upon focusing, it could be noted that different people wore differently colored robes. Some red, others green and brown. White too… oddly enough. They seemed color coded, and the ones who wore the same color often had similar physical traits, from hair color to skin color. What eye color they had was impossible to tell from the distance, but it wasn't completely off the mark to assume they shared that trait too.

Riven eyed the ones in blue, recalling their connection to the azure sphere in Dewford. Perhaps they belonged to the same clan? Race? Kingdom? But they were hundreds of miles away from Dewford… Cross continent travel wasn't out of the question. The problem was that the majority of the populace wore blue robes far more than any other color. A water clan in a desert? That made little sense.

It took a slight moment for Riven to snap out of his mesmerized state and refocus, eyeing the defenses instead. Celebi had chosen well to choose the deserted part of the enormous wall. He could make out vague outlines of people if he squinted hard enough, seemingly preoccupied with whatever they were doing rather than look in his direction. Lines of guards marked the wall, some whipcord focused, postures immaculate while others sat atop some barrels, scraping their shoes and greaves. Knowing guard duty, Riven assumed they were bored as hell and would kill for some action. Best take it easy then.

Sadly, Riven didn't have Gale's eyes, and without binoculars, it was hard to tell what kind of weaponry the guards along the wall had. However, on the ground, soldiers stood watch beside what Riven assumed were temples or governmental buildings(they were triangular, he had no clue), wearing metallic armor that glowed just like the robes of the regular folk. At their sides were blades, one shorter and curved while the other was larger and double-edged, similar to a longsword from the looks of it. He could even make out bowmen. The weapons were sheathed but the bows seemed to be made out of some sort of crystalline material that glowed and ebbed randomly. That was worrying. Exotic materials meant trouble, as he'd learned first hand with Efrain.

On the bright side, they didn't have some sort of futuristic crazy laser weaponry. Reading fiction on his spare time in the gym was doing some terrible things to his mind. Still, that meant if push came to shove he wasn't entirely helpless. He could fight human opponents without firearms for once. Especially with his full team on his person.

Descending was easier than ascending. And by easier, Riven meant Aine crashing into the floor like a fucking meteor, complete with more fire than overly necessary. Hell, the fire and dust reached over one of the buildings and charred the stone black. Several crystals splintered, littering the floor with shards. She could have safely descended using the buildings but no. She'd been hanging out with Will too much apparently because low profile was for other people. Avoid trouble?

Out of the question. Cue explosion.

Maybe she was frustrated because he ordered her not to fight, and she really liked to fight. He decided not to ask. An unstressed Aine was the best Aine. She had a tendency to revert to a Combusken temperament if left with no venting options.

Thankfully, no one was around where they landed. At least not yet. Blast like that wouldn't be hard to miss. Riven returned Aine and retreated into the shadows before scaling a building to reach the rooftops overlooking the streets. Within a few minutes, he began to hear sounds of distress among the city guard below, speaking in a language he could hardly understand. Sounded distressed, at least.

Wasting no time, he hopped from roof to roof, quickly making distance between himself and the puzzled guard trying to figure out what had blown up at the edge of town. Reaching a more centralized location-he knew judging by the buildings- Riven found a suitable location and began to scout the area. Upon first glance, it could be said that Naueilh's inhabitants were similar to a modern city's. However, that wasn't really correct.

They were nowhere close.

What he was looking at appeared to be somewhat of a school, only tailored for kids with superpowers.

Children played with streams of water in their hands, shaping and restructuring the liquid into various forms with cheerful squeals and playful splashing. The adolescents practiced more advanced forms, settling into stances while shaping water into weaponry, listening to close instructions from the adults as they drilled through several exercises. Those closest to adulthood stood in formation, flowing their element around them like an extension of themselves, following their blades like a fluid afterimage while others incorporated water based attacks to their strikes along with creative uses of what seemed like bubble and adapted water gun techniques.

Beside them practiced another class of children. Riven could make out puffs of flame and blasts of air entwining with each other, creating fiery whirlwinds and vortexes of flame that rose into the sky. Their robes and tunics were grey and red, reflecting their elements. Alongside them were brown and green colors, uprooting the ground with spears of rock and vine alike. Some robes were more ornate than others, which likely indicated rank or status.

An identification system? Riven speculated. Maybe there's a caste?

Further into the city he saw the bustling market in far more detail, as well as the places of leisure, characteristics of many old cities he'd seen in the past. All the people he saw could very well do the same as the youngsters training in the west side of the city for all he knew.

This was a city full of synthetic Origins. While hardly surprised, Riven was astounded by how many of them there were, and at such a young age. These weren't children trying to discover their element, like Will had. No, they were being instructed. Taught. Guided. And training meant militant as well as dangerous. Far more dangerous than a self-taught Origin in most cases, even despite the fact that Will had grown to use his fire frighteningly well. Armies of Origins were all but confirmed now.

Fascinating was putting it lightly… he desperately wanted to see what they could do. What trained Origins were truly capable of, and how they grew at a young age, as opposed to the cryptic adults he'd been dealing with as of late. Then something else hit him upside the head. Something was sorely missing.

Where are all the pokemon? Are there no trained pokemon? In the future there's as many pokemon as there are people in a city. Here… it's all people. Where are they?

The only pokemon he could see were the wild grass pokemon living amongst the foliage surrounding the buildings as well as the gardens, but elsewhere the streets were devoid of them. A single Staraptor soared into the air, circling above its nest at the tip of a crystal tower. What little pokemon he could see were as far away from people as possible, not very big or dangerous, and seemed to have little interest in the humans. The sentiment appeared mutual.

You are wondering where the "pokemon" are, are you not? Celebi inquired. Riven ducked out of view, sitting down to reassess his thoughts.

"Can't say it's not bothering me. I've gotten so used to seeing pokemon everywhere in places like Lumiose and Nimbasa that it's hard to think about a city that doesn't have them. Where are they?"

The Naueilhi have no need for them, Celebi answered with a conflicted tone. They cannot be tamed, and they have all they need to survive. Pokemon are irrelevant to them. Here there is harmony, but only amongst humankind. A fragile peace, made without the need of pokemon. There is no symbioses among people and pokemon, as there is in the time we came from. No balance. They think themselves above them. Arrogance… is a defining trait of humankind.

Riven couldn't deny that. He frowned, thinking about his world and how they only bred and trained pokemon to kill. Mightyena, Arcanine, and few other canine species that could be taught how to obey without a pokeball.

"Wait… Come to think of it… they have different typings in the same place. I can imagine having fire and water under the same roof is difficult. Fire types are aggressive. Flying—I mean air, is here too. From my experience, people don't tend to like being inferior. Humans are not pokemon. Coexisting is a huge no-no. If there's no internal strife, there will be. Arrogance breeds prejudice, which brings hate. Training brought people together—the pokeball changed the world, Celebi. A mutual non-violent sport with a thirst for adventure, and a world built upon that need for harmless, senseless violence humans crave so much. It's the ultimate form of satisfaction… Here, there's none of that. No way to appease human nature or find companionship with creatures that aren't other humans you despise. And humans are… well, you know how we are. How are they not killing each other? Or you mean to say… it hasn't happened yet."

Nature is as it is meant to be. It cannot be changed.

"And yet we keep trying," Riven said, grimacing at the city below and turning his gaze towards the rolling sands of the desert.

Pessimistic view of the world or not, Celebi's expression confirmed it.

For such a reputably happy creature, the grass type looked like a wilted flower that got hit by jeep. Charles' pokedex entry for it explained that Celebi only really appeared in times of peace, and yet here it was, on the precipice of disaster transporting an ex soldier into unknown, dangerous lands. Probably brought him here before the chaos started to see what went wrong… That certainly made Riven uneasy, and all the more hasty to scout more of the city and look for answers.

If only he could find how they made the spheres, and what made them. Somehow, Singularity had discovered it before him and it was pretty much a given that he was crucially lacking in information. A lot of information. The spheres were uncharged, yes, but that made the whole issue ten times more worrisome. They had the capability, the only thing they were missing was the means of mass production.

Seeing how the people of Naueilh fought as children… gave him a spine chilling thought of what an army of criminal Origins could do to destabilize an entire region. Or hell, god forbid Sayre followers. They were just children too, now that he thought about it…

Even if they're just kids, they got destructive potential. The adults…

Fire and smoke dyed the sky orange and black as ashes blew in the winds caused by towering pillars of flame and heat. Charred corpses of mothers holding their children and men kneeling in ashen defiance assaulted his mind, remembering the state that the elite pyrolancers had left Altea in. They'd left no traces of the Grand Noltan Forest. A once great ecosystem and landmark reduced to cinders. Entire cities consumed by blast burns from just a few dozen people. That was the terrifying part.

The force of modern day ordnance available to all with sufficient skill and a flick of the wrist. Destroying as easily as breathing. It seemed like magic, like something impossible. Only it wasn't, was it? He'd seen an elite pokemon before. He'd seen the sky rip open under a Legendary's will and roar.

No, it was entirely possible.

Just what could the other types do? Summon tornadoes? Tsunamis? Thunderstorms? What could he do with dark's destructive power? Blacken the sky, bring about eternal night?

What if the Remnant army had fought the Rosans using their Nightmares? He'd gone toe-to-toe with high level pokemon in that state before, and his usage of his typing and its abilities was passive at most. Had he trained them and realized the full extent of the power running through his veins, what would his destructive output be in comparison? What would two armies of unrestrained Origins do to a landscape if only a few could level a city within minutes?

It wracked his brain. Terrifying was an understatement. A clash between Origin armies would be nothing but a charred, scarred, and blackened landscape, rendered inhospitable and devoid of life. His throat caught, fingers flexing. The Judgment started to seem more like a precaution than a reactive measure. This time, He'd been too hasty. Back then He'd been too lenient. A thousand years too lenient. And the third…?

"Celebi… how far back?" Riven asked quietly.

I told-

"I meant until it happens. Judgment. Their civilization-" He gestured with an arm to the surrounding city, "-disappeared out of thin air. Not a single descendent with an Origin's abilities has ever appeared in a history book. Those that did appeared seemingly out of nowhere, with no parents or roots. People from my time. Lirans, Curians, Raksas, Alteans, Astalans. These people never made it. How long?"

The green psychic paused for a moment, eyeing Riven warily.

Ten years. What day as you call it I do not know.

A decade.

No, it couldn't be a coincidence. It had been ten years since Altea's genocide when the first judgment had passed. Ten years since he had wandered into the Remnant army and trained to be a soldier. When he was taken to the future, it had been little past mid-day. The same time Altea had burned. Almost exactly. Once was a coincidence, twice was an anomaly… One humanity wouldn't survive a third helping of.

What would happen that would set into motion mankind's second mass extinction? And if so… when?

He had to find out. Removing a pokeball from his belt, shadows emerged from the center, pooling into his own shadow beneath the sun. Yellow eyes peered up at him from the shadows, almost sleepily.

I have been incredibly bored, prince, Efrain complained unenthusiastically as he almost lazily dipped in and out of the shadowy mass. He yawned for emphasis with a mouth he didn't have. I need to fight something. Possibly kill it. Practice in an empty arena bores me. Have you brought me souls to eat? I didn't think I'd feel hungry. I was wrong. That wretched pokeball is screwing with me.

Riven stomped on his shadow with a foot. "Stop complaining. You're the one that lost, remember? You're not allowed to complain. I can't use you in official battles, Efrain. Or non official ones while I'm not moonlighting as Prime. Otherwise I'm fucked and you're fucked by extension. But see I'm not in Unova anymore, so I'm bringing you out when things go badly."

No if? I see you have finally accepted that you will never catch a break, Efrain pointed out, snorting in his mind. Weird how he could do that both mentally and while lacking any kind of neck or mouth.

His trainer tapped a finger against his temple.

"That's why I don't buy lottery tickets, see?"

Maybe because you'd get assaulted on the way to cash them in with your luck. A disembodied voice chuckled in Riven's head. So, because we are outside, I take it that you are away from prying eyes?

"Very, very far away. Yeah. So I can use you however much I want without worrying about anyone recognizing us now. Aren't you happy to stretch your legs?"

I don't have legs.

Efrain blinked innocently to further annoy him.

"Figure of speech…" Rolling his eyes, Riven reached into his shadow to bring out Efrain's blades, clanging them together. "Hopefully, there will be no fight. But seeing as how it's broad daylight and my luck is hot garbage, there probably will be one. And down there are enough Origins to make me feel very, very small. A lot of them are kids, and most of the Sayre murderers were too. I'm done underestimating people. Especially children and women."

Still traumatized from that woman destroying your ego I see. Getting sat on must not feel nice being the big strong man you are. Riven huffed and rubbed his finger against one of Efrain's eyes.

Gah, stop that!

"Then stop insulting me, your big strong man of a trainer, damn it."

While I find it amusing, getting your dirty fingers rubbing my eyes is less so. Fine, we do it your way. Do they have pokemon?

"Not that I've seen. Seem to be adverse to using them."

Then you are not completely lost yet. Although I do believe this will be the second most idiotic thing you've done today.

Riven raised a brow.

"How do you even know about the first?"

The fact you acknowledged there was one, obviously. But my prince is a fool, and he is not where he should be, therefore, he decided to do something that, as modern humans put it, is a 'stupid fucking idea'.

The gym leader paused for a moment and withheld the ironic chuckle he wanted to let escape.

"Got that right. Regardless, I wish you would respect royalty more often, worthless dead knight. You are sworn to me, since you lost our little duel. And you broke what you just said like a minute ago about not insulting me."

I'm a sword now, technically. And if my trainer and king provided me with souls to consume, I would be less inclined to snark.

"Is that you saying you're trying to get back at me? You treasonous, dishonorable windbag of a blade?"

It is the duty of my liege to feed me. But oh you living humans have to be so civilized these days, Efrain lamented. 'Oh, I can't kill anyone, I'll get in trouble.' In conclusion, I propose we must settle for equal disappointment and unleash our frustrations violently on a poor unfortunate fool by default. Just like in the glory days.

"So in the end we still murder someone."

Yes.

Riven brought out Efrain's pokeball, muttering lowly about useless talking metal sticks and not having the time to deal with cranky magical deathswords. Efrain's eyes widened upon seeing the prison ball.

Wait… I was clearly joking. You need me at the moment, yes?

"Unfortunately. Now focus, before I recall you and have to do this by ground. Then you'll sure as hell never see the light of reality again. Enjoy your simulation graveyard, it's missing the wonderful scent of depression you like so much. FOR. ETERNITY."

The Doublade glanced around almost bashfully before obeying, sharp as a whip. Riven angled the blades upwards in the air, pairing the two together so Efrain could see the city like a person would. Quite beautiful I may say… Where are we?

"Ancient city in the past. One that's going to meet its doom in ten years because of what will happen.. uh, soon. And I suppose I've been sent here to find out why."

I see. The air here feels distorted… or are we the distorted? No matter, are there things to kill?

"We'll find out when I throw you at someone's head to get you to shut up," Riven grumbled as stepped off the roof of the building he was on and threw a blade as hard as he could into the next, warping onto the roof with a pursuit. Celebi teleported beside him, undaunted by the trick or the ghostly swords, though it kept its distance from the crimson edges. "Is it the sun that's bothering you?"

Another warp and the ghost answered, blade jittering. The sun makes me anxious. And large amounts of time in that poor excuse that prison you call a pokeball makes for my sword graveyard.

"You waited three thousand years for some excitement, resorted to attacking lowlifes for my attention, and you're complaining about a few weeks? It's not like you can die again. You'll outlive me if I don't dump you in a fire pit first," Riven reminded sharply. Efrain rattled lightly, but composed himself once his trainer began building hopping more frequently. The ghost sword could be quite a dick at times, but at least he was considerate and focused when the time called for it. This did not, however, extend to his desire for consuming life forces and getting blood on his blades. Ghosts didn't really eat, but Efrain seemed fixated on those two things.

There are humans spitting fire out of their hands down there, Efrain commented as Riven sailed in the air, angling an eye towards the ground. I don't like fire. There is quite the amount down there. What is this place?

"All I know for sure is it's a very dangerous place to be if we're discovered."

Reorienting himself after warping onto the strange spire-like building beside the training grounds, the gym leader stuck to the foliage growing along the edges of the spire, scaring away stray Aipoms that scurried higher to avoid him. Riven tilted his head, perplexed.

Strange. Usually Aipoms don't avoid humans, they steal or beg for food instead. Looks like the people and pokemon here really don't associate with each other nearly at all.

Being this high up and with a good vantage point, Riven was able to make out several structures he could infiltrate when nighttime came. Usually problems arose when guards had ghosts, dark types, or psychics with them to detect the presence of others during the night and thus needed sharp creativity to deal with. Modern day also meant cameras and equipment. Luckily, no modern tech and no pokemon meant that this was a standard night stalk like many he'd grown accustomed to during his time as a scout. Infinitely easier.

Deciding to wait out the day until night came, Riven sat on the spire for several hours, napping in between and waking up to a very empty stomach. Leaving the hospital had left him with nothing but bare essentials and scouting a location for hours on end usually required some form of food. God forbid if he had to fight several Origins, he needed energy. More waiting meant less energy later, and right now he had no time to spare. Standing up, Riven nudged the sleeping Celebi awake.

"Hey, wake up. We're moving. Do you know what it is I'm looking for exactly? Or where?"

The green pokemon then went and did the equivalent of a shrug. I do not know, Steven assured me you would know what to do. But I know that what occurs today will shape the present, and ruin the future .

"Great," Riven sighed. "So we're meddling with time then. Nothing I haven't done before, I guess. Would have been great to know what I'm looking for, though. Why couldn't Steven find it? His pokemon are far more powerful than mine. Could've turned everyone to paste if he wanted to..."

He only witnessed the human city from above. Moving closer to the ground would be too dangerous. The people of this city do not take kindly to strangers. There is… conflict between other humans.

Concern grew as black eyebrows furrowed. Rising tensions between kingdoms or factions. Celebi was a psychic, but he couldn't quite understand human societal issues that well. That meant that whatever the people of Naueilh were involved in, it meant that they were on the precipice of war. Or about as close to it as any walled kingdom that discovered an outsider in their city. War was another constant in his theory.

Would that mean a war would break out in the future? But between whom? Rival nations? A war between realized Origins? He didn't know the players, so there was very little he could surmise regarding how much shit could hit the metaphorical fan. And badly enough to get damn near god level pokemon to intervene.

Celebi then cut off his train of thought when it remembered something actually useful. Now I recall. Steven said to look for a glowing building.

Okay, not that useful.

"Seriously? Then why did you say you didn't know?"

I forgot. Being here is clouding my mind, it responded wearily, floating down to sit amongst the vines. I will rest here for now.

"Oh. Now you sleep? How cute. You are a shitty guide, you know that?"

Celebi did an aerial shrug.

I do not typically interact with humans. Steven warned me that being around you may have ill consequences. If something happened to me… you would be stranded in time. With no way out. I am old and more powerful of mind, but… I cannot fight like younger Celebi, nor do I wish to.

Sighing, the human nodded. That was fine. Adjusting to the current time took him several years—which was an experience he was not keen on repeating in an era that was currently careening towards destruction. The modern world had been so much more accommodating. Also, deserts really sucked.

Riven groaned, about to climb when Celebi stopped him.

Wait, dark one. I must give you something.

"Like what?"

Preparation, it said, and tapped his forehead without forewarning.

What felt like a hammer hit him as years of linguistics and speech recognition patterns flooded into his mind, feeling his brain begin to comprehend entirely alien words and phrases that he himself could not possibly make sense of before. The information dump forced him to use the spire for support as his legs lost their strength and almost doubled him over. He'd never been psychically touched before as a result of his typing, but somehow the powers of legendaries surpassed mere shortcomings. At the same time though… it didn't quite feel like psychic touch. It burned where Celebi had touched him.

After several minutes spent recuperating and waiting for his mind to clear of the haze that had entered it, Riven croaked. The feeling was like getting a hangover but three times worse.

"W-what… did you do to me?"

I gave you knowledge of the Naueilhi language. Otherwise how would you be able to understand what they are saying? A dark one cannot speak mentally with another. Your Gallade has tried before, has he not?

"Then how were you able to do that just now?"

I used not the powers of the mind, but the powers of life. The light of the fae, or fairies as you know them to be. It is harmful to the dark ones, but in small amounts it allows one to touch their minds enough to do as a psychic would. They synchronize far more than other typings, just as dark and ghost coexist strangely together.

"Of course it'd be goddamn fairies…" Riven grumbled. "I'd be angrier that you hit me with fairy juice, but I guess jumping in there without knowing anything would have been rather stupid. I knew advanced psychics picked up on languages like breathing, but this is… something else."

For one as old as I am, it is quite easy, the Legendary replied mirthfully. I will remain here. Go, dark one. Should events get too dangerous, I shall transport you back to the present. Please do not senselessly kill.

"No promises," Riven replied, stretching his legs. Beginning his ascent the top of the spire using the vines growing along the edges, he briefly stopped to see into the distance, noting the darkened sands of the desert far beyond the rim on the city and the forest that surrounded it. The aurora above had lessened significantly, only a faint trace among the star lit sky.

At the top he just realized how far up he was, and how the water canals glowed a deep fluorescent color, illuminating the city in hues of turquoise and iridescent blue. The cityscape felt unnatural compared to the darkness of the desert. Nearly every building had traces of fluorescence, but the one building that stood out from the others was a temple like structure about a few hundred meters away. It was lit up like a holiday tree. He couldn't help but snap a picture of it with his holocaster.

Will's going to like this. Gale too.

The lighting was reminiscent of Black City's dim streets, with street lights and neon glows replaced by the shimmers of crystal along the buildings and the canals. The other two would probably get annoyed he didn't take them along for the ride, but he was thrown in so suddenly there wasn't much else he could do. At least there was pictures?

Riven and Efrain easily maneuvered around the light guard patrolling the streets, opting for traditional sneaking rather than pursuit warping. Clever usage of the dark and several shadow sneaks quickly brought Riven and Efrain to the outside of the glowing structure. On the outside, fractal patterns pulsed hypnotically, just like the ones Steven had found in the Tower of Mastery. This must have been normal to the people living here.

Several guards stood motionless in front of the entrance, blades at the ready. They were clad in metallic armor, not unlike the kind used during the era of kings back in modern times. Armor didn't really change much. Still, there was no telling how hard that armor was. Efrain would probably be able to slice through, though it did little to convince him to try that out instead of more battle tested methods. Like blunt force trauma.

Ducking behind a wall, he brought out Aine and Baron. The psychic looked around bizarrely and was about to protest before Riven waved a hand. "Tell you later," he whispered, pointing out the group of guards by the door. He brought a fist up to his head and knocked on his skull, instructing the two pokemon on what to do. While dissatisfied and annoyed, Baron nodded, locking eyes with Aine as they disappeared in a pink flash.

Mere moments later both materialized in mid-air. Aine appeared directly above both, firmly twisting in the air to land a vicious spinning kick to one of the guards' heads, smashing him to the ground. The other jumped back to bring up his sword but was too late, receiving a flaming punch to the wrist followed by an even stronger kick to the face that would no doubt leave his nose on the wrong side of his face. Baron had more or less followed the same routine, only he appeared behind both, tapped them on the shoulder and dropped them as soon as they turned around.

After they moved the bodies(and used heal pulse to reverse the damage Aine and Baron did) to an obscure corner of the street, Riven glanced at one of the unconscious guards. The armor wasn't too difficult to put on, but it was surprisingly light for how heavy it looked—and that wasn't counting the mail he was wearing underneath his clothes.

Considering Celebi had dumped the entire language and speech patterns for the Naueilhi people into his brain, Riven had a pretty damn convincing cover as a guard. He even took a longsword for himself.

Reaching the roof of another building overlooking the temple, Riven released the rest of his team. Immediately he hushed them when he caught even a glimpse that Boagrius, Omy, or Tai were about to make a comment.

"Shhh… As you can see, we're in a bit of a spot, so just keep it down, okay? Stay here and don't move unless something bad happens. Long story short, this needs to be quiet or we're all fucked. Should something happen, Aine and Baron will go in first. Haona and Tai, you'll be secondary support. Bo, you got overwatch. Spoopy… protect Omy with your life but focus on making traps if need be. We'll need your electricity here, probably."

Instantly, Spoopy strapped Omy onto his back with some webbing and scuttled off to the side of the building. The rest of his team hardly made a peep, seeing as how they were getting a little used to being released into a variety of situations that either made little sense, or had people and their pokemon trying to murder them. It was a toss up at this point. Lunch breaks seriously messed with them because of this.

Swallowing, Riven stepped into his shadow, reappearing in a corner with a sightline to the roof his pokemon were watching from. Boagrius followed high in the air, overlooking their position. Not only had Riven begun to use him as a support, but also for identifying any advancing enemy threats through his link with Baron.

He entered the building, passing through a strange barrier of energy that felt like passing through a wall of air. Fractal patterns extended along the walls of the structure, illuminating glyphs and etchings in the stone used as its foundation. What few people remained in the building were dealt with quickly as Riven hit them in the side of the head with the flat of Efrain's blade. They didn't look like soldiers… they looked like priests, or researchers. Several rooms contained strange contraptions of crystal and metal Riven couldn't make sense of.

Riven picked up a small crystal pole, squinting as it darkened in response.

These react to Origins? Weapons of some-

A giant projection of dim light surrounded the room, showing Riven a diagram of various plans and scripts in Naueilhi language, highlighting future projects and experiments. He could move them with a flick of his hand. Quite cool, just like the holograms in the future. Hundreds of tests of experiments and logs of failure and retries were inscribed within the various poles. Whatever they did here, they were just as zealous in their pursuits as scientists in LaRousse were.

A small smile broke out at the sight of them all. Rows and rows of the things everywhere. These people wouldn't take no for an answer at least.

There were smaller crystal poles too, appearing like flashdrives in size. Upon further inspection, each of them listed tasks that had to be completed during the day, from mundane things like cleaning the testing sites to complaints about missing meals. One note read, "stop peeing in the water soul containers, they are NOT waste disposals". Riven had to snort.

Good old memos.

Well, at least one semblance of modern day life remained the same, even in the past. Setting it down, he continued further into the building, freezing when he came to a wide open room that he definitely recognized. A stream of water cascaded down the sides of the room, pooling into the center of a fountain that glowed like the crystals outside. Water looked inviting.

"This is where I woke up," Riven mentioned, voice between a whisper and a gasp.

Woke up where?

"Years ago I got stranded in the desert and passed out after running out of water. Woke up in here. My throat was so dry I drank from that fountain last it was the last drink I'd ever have." Moving over, Riven cupped his hand into the pool, drinking from it to see if it was as fresh as he remembered. It was. No, it tasted even better. "So this is what it looked like…"

There were no Claydol, though… Not anywhere. Hadn't seen a single one since he got here. So then why were they guarding the city ruins in the future? The hell did they come from?

Eventually, Riven came to the same room Will had transformed in. Now it hosted an array of spear-like pillars rising from the floor, encasing rows upon rows of Origin spheres. The characteristic lines they saw when the azure sphere reacted were fully lit, showing that some kind of energy circuit powered the room. Riven followed it along the ceiling, leading him to a gigantic chamber filled with crystals.

Just like what Steven had found in Kalos, the lattice structures varied in height between five to a little over six feet tall. None were wide than an arm's length, either. Dozens of crystals lined the outer edges of the chamber, resting atop runic symbols carved into the ground. Each glowed with light correspondent to its crystal, which fed into circuitry and channels that extended upwards and along the temple wall.

This was a generator room. Only using people as fuel.

Riven slowly walked among the crystals, pity rising within, knowing that these people had probably died in agony. Peering up, he saw names etched into the stone, detailing every individual that had given up their lives. These weren't prisoners of war or criminals.

"They were just regular people," Riven whispered, touching the edge of a red crystal with his fingers. Energy flowed through it and into his finger, pouring warmth into his hands. The spirit of fire. "Naueilh… they tried to harness it too."

Harness what? The energy?

"Yeah... what they're doing… is what people in the modern era are trying to do. Gather energy and turn it into things. Resources." He shook his head, grimly. The beads around his neck were not coming off this time. There was a sorrow even he could feel with the stones blocking it out. Faint whispers of loneliness. Regret. Pain. "Unlimited energy. That's how you build an oasis in a desert. How you can have forest in an environment designed to kill it. Could sustain anything, especially an ecosystem that doesn't belong. Mega evolution is the key to that, but it seems the creators of Origin evolution never quite figured it out either."

How to harness it without killing the host, Efrain assessed, floating curiously above a cluster of white crystals. His sash lowered, wrapping around one as tendrils of white light flowed from it into his metallic body. There was no feeling behind it, only pure energy and traces of what used to be human.

Once the light simmered out, Efrain hovered, deathly still.

Riven cocked his head. "Efrain? You alright?"

We should destroy them. All of them.

"…What?"

Do you know what it is like to be trapped between life and death?

"I suppose not."

There is no purpose in an existence like that. There is only the reason why you were left behind. For me it was duty and will, a stubborn wish to cling to existence after a horrible death. Duty to my king. And now, to you. But these people… they live in isolation. Unable to move, unable to fulfill a purpose. Purgatory. A soul trapped in an anguish of nothingness. Release them. It would be mercy.

Eyeing the crystals, Riven shook his head. "This was their choice, Efrain. They died so their civilization could prosper. Even if they could feel, I'm sure they'd be content with their choice. The knights who died for their kingdom. The people who fought beside me for something that was already doomed to begin with… you think they weren't content, or at least knew what they were getting into? It was their choice, we should honor it, even if we think it's horrible."

The ghost remained silent for a moment, retreating back beside Riven.

I suppose. If that is your choice, I will respect it.

Efrain was right, in a way. But there wasn't any time, and there was still more chambers up ahead. Taking pictures, Riven continued on.

They walked for several minutes in a dimly lit passageway which fed into the largest chamber yet, full of moving pillars and numerous amounts of crystalline objects; more of a laboratory than a generator room, complete with work stations and tools.

In the center stood the stone and crystal machine that had transported both Riven and Will out of the desert. In its full glory it certainly looked like a mechanism, and the room it was contained in seemed far larger than the one Riven had recalled from the present. There wasn't old rubble getting in the way at least.

The machine whirred and hummed, silently fabricating small glass orbs. The same he'd seen after the raid. Everything about it was the same, except polished and clean instead of caked with dust and worn from neglect.

"So this is what produces them…" Riven concluded. "And Singularity found it. They must have after it saved us…" He snapped his fingers, pointing to a random location along the wall. "No wonder they wanted us dead and didn't pursue after they realized we knew jack… But that also means they've had this for years… Or maybe it took them that long to figure out how to use it. No instructions. They had to wing the hell out of it. Or go searching around the world for more clues…"

Kalos, Hoenn, several reports in Sinnoh, and now Unova. It made sense. Crime organizations were generally localized, not global. Singularity didn't fit that mold. This, however, gave a lot more credence to that theory.

Perhaps they left a manual around here? Efrain suggested. Researchers are rather careless.

"With baseless experiments maybe. Energy sources, bioaugmentation, and weapon creation are hardly that. They wear kid gloves for things like that. Log everything. It's just good science, or so Steven says. I had to hop into an abandoned mine filled with Aberrant pokemon in order to get classified files that got scrubbed off the corporate archives. When they want secret, they'll get secret. That's why Singularity's been running around in circles. But… they're not sitting in the goddamn source. I am. Maybe there is an instruction manual."

Looking around, he quickly began to go through the projections on the crystal memos. Each one described mundane experiments and loggings of what occurred, sometimes adding a sarcastic note in between. Nothing seemed to be of relative importance. No instructions, nothing. The only thing he could think of was the ominous white orb in the machine's groove. The last time he had messed with it, he got teleported outside the desert. Hopefully something like that wouldn't happen. No telling what the outside was like in this time. No way was he chancing another run with the desert.

When he touched the white orb, it lost its luster, turning pitch black as energy rocked through the Origin's body. Black circuitry snaked up his arm and throughout his body which then pushed back into the orb and the surrounding building. The light that illuminated the building darkened almost completely, setting off a high pitched wail as the machine clicked, whirred, and unraveled itself.

A stone. No, a mass of… something.

Distorted currents of air crackled and fizzed around the twisted heap of black lattice in the center, pulsing hues of red and spare sparks of blue. Power lines converged beneath it as several other focusing crystals split the black energy it gave off. The lines connected to the main ones around the room and the rest of the structure. Staring intently at it, Riven almost subconsciously grabbed for it before a piercing pain in his skull stopped him.

Don't touch that! The Nightmare howled inside, grunting as he was resisting its call as well. Fucking idiot will kill us both!

"It feels like… the other side. The part the Other Flow comes from. It's pulling me in," Riven managed, grinding his teeth. His hands clenched the Diancie necklace in a vicegrip despite the stinging it caused. With the Nightmare resisting it as well, the pull was manageable.

It's not from here, the Nightmare clarified. It's powerful. More powerful than anything we've seen. Where did those fucking idiots get it? What did they go poking around in? How did they make it out without one of us turning to crystal for it?

"Don't know… but I suppose… they wouldn't leave knowledge like that lying around."

Close that fucking lid!

The wail continued to ring, and with it, there'd be no chance he was going to leave undiscovered. Still, he was not going near that… thing. Struggling against the call of the distortion, Riven slammed the white orb back into the groove. Instantly, the machine began to contain the leaking distortion from the blackened crystal as it closed. Within a minute, the normal lights of the temple returned.

Power source. Had to be. But corrupted somehow. Or maybe that was what it was supposed to be like. Friendly was not a word he'd use to describe it.

The alarm was still blaring, though. Dashing back through the temple, Riven caught a brief glimpse of the Legendary pokemon hieroglyphics on one of the adjacent antechambers before six men clad in armor appeared before him.

He swore there was a new glyph beside the depiction of Arceus. One that hadn't been there before. A black… shape?

"Cayul vo!" One shouted before unleashing slash of wind from his sword. A combination of Gust and Razor wind. Efrain matched it easily, sweeping it aside as crimson blades shone purple. The shadow claws ripped across the corridor, screeching across razor sharp air as it slammed the enemy guards into the wall.

Not unconscious yet.

Riven bounded off the wall, gripping the blade of the longsword with both hands, using the pommel to bludgeon a guard's head as he tried to use a gust against him, sending the attack to one side. The force of the air blast reduced the wall to nothing but bits of stone and dust. Fire flared at him from the fingertips of another recovering guard, only to be met with a gash to the leg as Riven slashed downwards, aiming for the unarmored knee. A strike to the jaw finished it.

Efrain quickly dealt with the others, using the flat of his blades to inflict blunt strikes rather than edged ones.

Seeing the darkness of the street, Riven emerged from the exit, legs moving too quickly to stop and assess the area. Failing to check his surroundings fully, he hardly noticed as Baron teleported above him and knocked him down, narrowly escaping an arrow that sailed past where Riven's head would have been. Except that wasn't the end of it. Said projectile then hit a nearby building and exploded with the force of a high powered explosive, creating a blast crater in the wall from where the tip of the arrow had connected. An orb of water burst around the impact area, disintegrating anything unfortunate enough to be caught in its proximity. Riven and his team looked in disbelief.

A bubble impact… fired from a god damn arrow?! What kind of ballistic weapons did they have?

Last time Riven had seen bubble wreak that much havoc was when one of the rangers in Kalos had their Greninja use bubble infused water shurikens against the Aberrant Pangoro. Just one of those tiny shurikens exploded like a grenade, mangling and rending flesh with every ounce of deadliness one would expect from shrapnel grenades, only with highly pressurized pockets of water instead.

Strange how stone could tear as easily as flesh and bone.

Glancing to the side, Riven quickly made it to his feet to deflect another arrow, knocking it aside as it veered to the right and exploded along the ground. Focusing on the incoming threat, Riven and Baron readied themselves.

Orbs of liquid shimmered in the sparse light, floating beside an approaching man and a group of guards, all fashioning various forms of bladed weaponry from shortswords to greatswords.

Guards weren't all that intimidating, really. They usually spent long shifts patrolling, bored out of their wits for days on end. Fighting on a dime wasn't something they were used to. These… didn't really look like run of the mill guards. That was bad. But it was the one in the middle that made Riven pause. Will had always said that Riven had luck so shit that if he ever played a video game, he'd run into the boss before his first mob.

Curse the legendaries, he was right.

Standing in an armored blue tunic that pulsed with some kind of energy, the tall man in the center held a crystalline bow in his hands. A belted quiver remained at his side, and in his draw hand he carried three more explosive arrows. A longsword was strapped onto his back, wide and long enough to no doubt confirm that no regular human could wield it effectively, let alone carry it.

His hair was tied into a ponyta-tail, eyebrows furrowed into a fierce expression that Riven could recognize on any experienced fighter—a man who'd seen plenty of combat before. Aqua blue eyes seemed to reflect the ambient light around them. As he nocked and drew another arrow, a small bubble of water formed at the tip of the crystalline arrow as the shaft began to glow in response.

This time, Baron stepped in, psychokinetically sending the incoming projectile off course and harmlessly into the air. In the far off distance, they could hear it explode. The man tilted his head, lowering his bow. He strung it around his body before drawing the large blade behind his back. However, he didn't advance, choosing instead to simply wait. Must have figured arrows were useless against a psychic.

"Who are you?" The man asked simply. "Guards do not enter the Shrine of Rebirth, and neither have I heard of a beast taming guard among our ranks. Even less a psychic beast taming guard. You set off the alarm. What did you do? Who are you and which kingdom sent you? Gulveryn? Lical? Vertas? Answer or face the consequences."

Riven removed the helmet off his head without bothering to drop his weapon.

"I don't have time for this. I don't want to fight anyone, and I'm not with anyone." Scanning the group, he figured who he'd go after first. The answer was inevitably mister warden over there, mainly because he worried he might kill Aine if she tried to fight him. She at least stood a chance against rock types.

"You are outnumbered," the other man stated coolly. "Stand down and we will spare you."

"That's bullshit for give up and we'll kill you quickly. No." Riven swallowed, then chortled. "Since my chances of getting out of here alive are slim to none... What is that crystal inside the machine? Where did you get it? The spheres can be created. But that? No. What the hell did your people do? Or more importantly, who gave it to you? Who gave their life to form that crystal? I know the messed up shit your civilization did to people."

The water Origin's eyes narrowed, body going rigid for a moment. "The alarm… You opened the shrine." Aqua blue settled as he decided enough was enough. "I wish you good fortune in the next life, spy. You have great courage coming here by yourself. We will not allow you to take our Creator."

Creator?

"Eliminate him."

Flashes of white burst in the darkness.

Each man flew forward, their swords white streaks in the night. Fire, rock, and air flew forward as gouts of flamethrower, stone edge, and powerful gusts came their way. Aine dove in first, crossing her arms to sway the flames as she opened her mouth, unleashing her own blasts of flame. A boulder jutted up from the ground, effortlessly launched toward the Blaziken by the guard in a brown tunic. Surprise colored his face when Aine took a step back and smashed it to pieces with a kick.

Air prepared to cut into her before being cut apart by sharp slashes of psychic energy. Baron closed in quickly, using his blades to hold the guards' swords at bay while he teleported circles around them, phasing in and out of position as he hammered them from angles they barely saw coming.

But they were tough. Not like the ones protecting the temple. They shouldered the blows with ease, huddling together until fire, rock, and air unleashed deadly elemental barrages at the two pokemon, and consequently, their trainer, who was currently in a dance of swords with their leader.

Metal cried as Riven met the other man's blade with his own, matching every attack that came his way. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Aine getting buried under a mound of earth while Baron took a sizzling cut of fire infused steel to the side. The hot blade seared through skin like it was made of butter, and Baron fell to his knees from the pain, screaming loudly. He wanted to help them, but he had to focus on the opponent in front of him. Moving to capitalize on a parried strike, Riven found himself striking at empty air as his opponent deftly backed off, faster than he'd realized. Minute uses of quick attack to accelerate his body at key intervals in order to make unexpected movements… interesting combat application.

Fast, though not as fast as a Liran's spear.

Baron let out a snarl, still screaming as he held the blade at his side. A fist smashed against the fire guard's jaw, disorienting him momentarily. He recovered quickly, spinning a vortex of flame around himself to prevent Baron from teleport striking. The Gallade had no need, though.

Adrenaline pumping and rage running through his system, Baron unearthed Aine with psychic power, lifting several boulders with his mind to block a stream of flame. He teleported from behind the shield of rocks, appearing next to the red guard and smashed a foot against a knee, a vicious snap echoing in the air before a scream of pain followed it. Fire shot forward from the man's fingertips, curving to the right as Baron angrily displaced the air immediately in front of him.

Directly at the air wielding guard who thought he could hit Aine with a blade of air and get away with it. The blast of fire hit him square in the chest, burning through cloth and searing skin and metallic armor as it sent him flying directly into a wall. Aine knocked him out by smashing him further into it with a flaming knee. He fell out of the hole and onto the ground with a mild thump.

One down, two more.

And red guard wasn't down yet. Fire flared again, this time stronger and hotter—a deep indigo flame. Dragonbreath? No chance he was going to get burned by that and be fine afterward. Fire was one thing, dragonfire was entirely different.

Protect formed around Baron's palm as he thrust his palm into the man's fingers, dissipating the shield into a palm strike that instantly snuffed the blue flames when fingers bent backwards and broke like toothpicks. Not dragon breath, then. The other hand came up instead, ready to sear Baron's face off with a flamethrower. The Gallade reached up, blocking the arm with his right forearm as fire roared beside his ear. They struggled against each other until Baron's left elbow blade extended, perforating the guard's right leg in a spray of blood. He dropped onto a knee with a yelp, just as another green blade cut through the tissue, muscle, and bone of his right bicep.

Baron flexed a palm and a psychic force lifted the weakened fire Origin into the air, promptly smashing him into the ground face first. The crumpled bleeding wreck was out cold.

Baron finally had a chance to see how Aine was doing.

He was surprised to see her completely shatter the front of the brown guard's bubble of stone, glowing red hot from her cooking him in it with her fire. She ripped him out of it with a claw after catching a flying stalagmite with her claws and crushing it. Aine picked him up and began deftly striking him with dozens of punches and kicks until she finished her close combat by kicking him through the rest of the bubble, shattering it into pebbles. A flaming fist then came from the air to cave in his metal armor and shatter his sternum. Not unconscious, but from the way he was breathing, there was no chance he'd get back into the fight any time soon.

The two pokemon recovered their breath, standing up to full height as they stared daggers at the final man. The one in blue. He broke off his assault, seeing as his backup was literally and figuratively broken.

Now he was outnumbered. And he bloody knew it. Calmly but not without caution, he circled Riven and the two members of his team, eyeing what they did to his men. How they did it.

"Are they dead?" He asked, noting the two still forms of the red and grey guard. One sported horrible burns while the other was bleeding from more places than normal. The one in dusty brown groaned on the floor, injured badly but still alive. Broken bones were a given.

"No," Riven answered. "If I wanted them dead, they would be. My companions were lenient."

"If shattering bones like tree branches and crippling men for life counts as lenient, then your pets are no better than wild beasts. Those were three of my best. And you… Far from a lowly scout, are you?" The man noted. "Skilled with a blade. And with the speed and strength to match a Naueilh trained soldier. I expected your pets to be more of an issue. A normal man's arm would have snapped in two from one of my swings. A foreign Greigas? Your country invested a great deal in you and your beasts. But where did you get our technology? Or… What defector might have birthed you? Black hair and those eyes… An Ehial you are not. What Greigas are you?"

"One that doesn't like using his abilities. I prefer fighting like in olden days, honestly." Greigas must be what they called Origins. Riven frowned, sighing. "Besides, I already told you I'm not with anybody. I'll even tell you my name. It's Prime. Ever hear an enemy combatant say that? Or leave your buddies alive? I could have killed them."

"Then you would have been a very stupid spy. Had you killed them, I would slay you on the spot."

Riven frowned as the man dipped his head.

"Since you have some wits about you, I will give you my name also. I am Seisora Seira, high commander of the Ehial Class and one of the protectors of the city. The Shield of the Oasis," he replied calmly. "I also do not believe your little excuse. Outsiders hardly wander the desert , let alone Naueilh for no good reason. They also never casually get past the wall no man or creature has breached or climbed in the entirety of this city's two thousand years."

Hard to believe, considering Aine had casually blasted herself over it. Granted, she was more akin to a rocket than a climbing hook. Blaziken weren't in abundance even back in Hoenn either, so it was reasonable to assume they weren't common this far back, if at all. They probably shot down any aerial invaders too. They were fortunate Celebi scouted ahead first.

Nonetheless, Riven eyed the man carefully, noting how he carried himself despite the fanciful title. He was extremely experienced, surely, and his clothing established him as a highly ranked soldier, not a scientist or a priest. He couldn't give him the answers he wanted. He could give him a whole lot of trouble, though. As if those three on the floor hadn't given Aine and Baron one hell of a fight. And these were fucking city guards? Albeit some of the elite but good Arceus, what the hell?

Riven steeled his will and readied his own sword.

"Okay, dustboy. Whether you believe me or not is your deal. We don't need to be friends, that's fine. But I didn't kill your men and you obviously don't want to kill me that badly since you're still talking to me. So, what say we call this an impasse, eh?"

Aine and Baron tensed, as Riven continued.

"What happens in this… Shrine of Rebirth? Apart from giving people abilities they shouldn't have? And these crystals you have, were they once human? And how do they work? How do you harness their energy?"

"We obviously lick the crystals to do so," Seisora said dryly. "Why would I tell you anything, spy? So you can steal our technology and aid your ailing kingdom? Your masters have already gone out of their way to send you here by yourselves, have they not? I would hate to make this easier for you." He glanced to the side, glaring at Baron. "They are watching. I know you can understand me, psychic."

Actually, Baron had no damn idea what they were saying. He could only look between both of them and try to read the mood. Pretending to understand was something he picked up from his trainer pretty early on when he was still an idiot to the surrounding world. The language they were using was downright bizarre and he still had no clue why his trainer understood it. Old dead people language? Who knew? What Baron could understand was that a weapon was pointed at them and the guy looked pretty pissed off.

The gym leader sighed, swallowing. Well, time to try the last resort. If this doesn't work… I'll probably have to murder this guy. "Look, Seira, I already fucking told you, I'm not with any nation or kingdom. Because—" Another deep sigh. "—I'm a time traveler. And I came twenty thousand years into the past to figure out what the flying hell is going to utterly doom your civilization to extinction. In ten years you will all be dead. Understand that? Not just a few, not a hundred. Not a thousand. Not just the men or the women or the children. All of you. Every single one. Gone without a trace, possibly erased from existence. That sound appealing to you? I'm trying to help you."

"What a coincidence." The other man's face hardly faltered, if anything, it twitched. "A man just falls out of the sky to usher warnings of doom and peril. Is this how far whatever kingdom you-"

"Oh my fuck! Can you even understand words?" Riven shouted, flicking a wrist upwards as his patience finally jumped off a cliff. "I swear what's the damn use…"

Just as the invader had finished cursing, Seisora noticed just the tiniest edge of his shadow move under the dim light, despite the fact that he was standing still. Stepping away, he narrowly avoided the blood red blade that emerged from the shadow, cutting a gash into the man's cheek as he brought his own blade up to block the twin sword that followed.

Then Riven was upon him too. As if to add onto the onslaught of attacks, the green psychic at his side appeared behind him, green blades extending outward to catch his blindspot.

Gritting his teeth, white light coursed around the water Origin's limbs, increasing his speed to not only deal with Riven's attack, but bring his sword down fast enough to protect against the psychic's blades.

In an instant, Seisora spun, whirling around the blade as water materialized around him, knocking off the three attackers in a revolving shield of pressurized liquid. A jet of water shot at Baron from the liquid shield, who merely dissolved it with a psychic before a more powerful blast forced him back. The psychic teleported back to its trainer, wary of the swirling mass of water.

"Three against one?" Seisora spat. "Floating swords that can hide in shadows? Psychic beasts that consider you worthy of following? What technology have the other nations uncovered? Or are they simply beasts you've come to tame?"

"I don't know about any technology of these so called nations." The time traveler shrugged lightly, breaking into a lopsided grin. "And I accepted your duel. I just never said it'd be a fair one. You never specified anything. You're the one using superpowers. All I got is sentient metal sticks."

That made him angry.

With a motion of the hand, the liquid shield broke into smaller, segmented streams of water, spiraling around him like a vortex. Charging forward, the Origin's body flashed white as he jumped into the air, slashing downward with a water wreathed sword.

Riven brought up his own sword, staggering as what felt like hundreds of pounds of force came down on him in an instant. It took a split second decision to have quick attack reinforce his muscles to just offset the force from breaking his legs and arms. The streams of water around Seisora split off, attempting to drive Baron and Efrain off enough to try and attack once more. Breaking away from the clash, Seisora opted for brute force, bringing his sword down in a two handed overhead swing.

This time Riven made no attempt to block it, instead stepping back as the force of the slash cut into the ground. The slash was closely followed by the crashing of water and shattering of stone. A column of it rose like a geyser, uprooting the floor in a rain of dust.

A waterfall attack?

Efrain recovered quicker than Baron due to his steel resistance, shrugging off the water attacks with powerful shadow claws. Baron, while slower to deflect the streams and bounce back from the blows, followed through with a psycho cut, closing in on Seisora's side.

The repelled water instead instantly reformed, forming a protective cocoon that hardly budged when both psycho cut and shadow claws made contact, crashing and screeching as pressurized water fought against hardened energy. Both humans continued to clash, locked in a duel of blades even despite pushing the Gallade and the Doublade back. Whatever advantage Riven had in numbers, it was gone now with that kind of a defense.

Well, not entirely, Riven mused, grinning viciously.

Clashing against Seisora's sword, Riven let go of the blade with his left hand, quickly producing a knife from his coat and flinging it at Seisora's head. The vanguard jerked to the side, offsetting his footing enough to allow Riven to knock him off balance with a powerful two handed swing.

An opening like that would normally be fatal in a battle to the death. Unfortunately, that water shield proved to be fantastically annoying. Shadow claws, psycho cuts, and a heavy swing of Riven's longsword all but bounced off the pressurized liquid, which in turn melded itself into spears and fired off in a shower of sharpened water projectiles.

Riven barely managed to deflect the spears with the help of quick attack improved reflexes, taking several cuts along his arms and legs from the spears he couldn't deflect. They cut into the armor with some difficulty, just deep enough to leave light gashes, which proved that had he not been wearing three layers of protection, the wounds would have been much deeper. Pressurized water was not a joke.

Baron had simply teleported away, and Efrain had more or less entirely dismissed the spears seeing as how his body was more weapon than exposed flesh. Seisora picked himself up off the ground, his cheek cut from the knife Riven had underhandedly thrown in their blade lock. Clearly irritated, Siesora's shield then formed into several swords of water, angling themselves at Riven and Baron. Bubbles flowed along the length of the water blades—explosives disguised within.

"Boagrius! Energy Ball!" Riven called in english as a water sword collided against his longsword, knocking him back as it exploded in front of him. Droplets were hardened knives, slicing the fingers and wrists of both hands. Riven grunted, skin slick with blood. "Baron, thunderbolt!"

Seisora's eyes widened as a green flash came from the sky and a ball of energy smashed against his watershield, utterly ripping apart the water that formed it. Behind him, electricity cracked in green palms as the Gallade recalled the move he had learned as a Kirlia, redirecting the current between his fingers. A bolt of lightning struck outward from two fingers, both attacks timely blocked by a solid shield of blue energy.

"He knows protect too?" Baron cursed, firing another thunderbolt. This time the attack turned water to steam but was nowhere near as powerful as the bolts made by electric types or specialized attackers. Being a physical fighter, Baron never really had the need to train his prowess with energy based special attacks after evolving. As a result, his special attacks were best used as distractions rather than for damage purposes. Even if he did bother training them, there was only so far he could get before hitting diminishing returns. He wasn't a Gardevoir. Their lightning bolts could tear a tower apart.

The water bastard apparently also knew about conductivity, considering he kept the water away from his body as much as possible around lightning. The only water he did keep around him was one he cleared of any debris or dirt. Electricity only fizzled against it, electrolyzing a very small portion of it.

Boagrius released more energy balls, which were now blocked by the water blades Siesora had fired at Riven before. The explosive power reduced the impact of the grass move enough to allow the water shield to easily shrug it off, further annoying the team.

Haona, Aine, and Tai observed from the rooftop, growing just as exasperated as the fighters on the ground. Even in pokemon battles a good defense was an absolute bitch to overcome. A good defense was frustrating. An amazing defense felt nigh impenetrable. Some trainers spent years honing setups like that, carefully structuring their teams and lineups to cover any weakness; some of the best double and triple battle trainers ran with some form of god defense lineup. The solution to break that was either a direct counter, an overwhelming offense to break through, or some rather innovative thinking.

"That looks annoying to deal with," Haona mentioned, scraping the rooftop with her claws. "You think Spoopy and Omy can get through that?"

"Not before getting cut to ribbons, or blown to shreds. Take your pick. Spoopy is neither fast nor durable. Omy is just a child," Tai explained, sharp eyes examining the pressurized water swords carefully. His tail swayed curiously. "Electric types are water resistant, not explosion resistant. See what it did to that rock? I never thought humans could be so fast, or dangerous with abilities like ours. I can see why our trainer is so concerned with this. Bubble is quite the terrifying move indeed… You're not thinking of jumping in there, are you, Aine? This is no pokemon battle. He will kill you."

"I know." The Blaziken's blue eyes narrowed, pointing a claw downward. "Look at the water Baron electrocuted."

Steam. Gaseous water. And yet it remained untouched by Seisora unlike the rest of the water he controlled. Liquid water obeyed the Origin's every beck and call, yet the rising steam remained as it was. Untouched. Which meant one of two things. Possibly both.

Either he couldn't control different states of matter regardless of the substance, or he couldn't control the temperature of the water. If it was both, then that meant he couldn't recover any lost water that was frozen or evaporated. Stripping him of resources would weaken his defense, allowing the close quarters fighters to easily take him down. Like their trainer always said.

If you can't muscle your way through, find a weakness and kick the living shit out of it. Something will give.

Haona quickly grasped the situation. They had to hurry and help Riven deal with the guy. Spoopy's electrical wires wouldn't last forever and more and more guards were mobilizing. He'd littered the rooftops and streets with them but they'd wise up soon.

"I'm going in," Aine said. "I'll try and avoid the water."

"Just don't melt my ice," Haona replied. "Less water he has to use the better. What about you, Tai?"

"Oh, I figured I'll go play some hide and seek with the guard," The Liepard smirked. "I'm no good at long ranged fights and I can't form energy blades or shoot ice beams out of my mouth. The best I have is a rather weak dark pulse. Why do you ask? Ah, is it that you're worried, my queen? Is that concern in those beautiful red eyes?"

"God no. Let's not assume I'm your anything, you pervert. Don't get killed or trainer might go ballistic."

"I'd rather not have that, and I'm sure you'd miss me. Be back soon. Keep our trainer alive, will you? I hate the desert. Wouldn't want to be stuck here. Horrible place to raise our future cubs." Smirking, the feline hopped off the roof and slunk into the shadows. At least that'd buy Riven some time.

"He's an asshole," Haona spat.

"Yes. But he means well, and does care about you."

"Bah."

"Ready to go?"

The Absol nodded. Aine picked Haona up, jumping high into the air to spot Riven on the ground.

Bib, Aine called mentally. The psychic froze briefly, looking up into the dark sky to see beige and red feathers holding white fur. We're coming in. Clear out, please.

Got it, he replied. "Trainer, incoming! Move!"

Leaping back, Riven felt the heat before he saw it, watching Aine descend from the sky, expelling jets of flame from the soles of her feet. Nearing the ground the flames intensified, boiling any water that came into contact with them. Seisora hardly seemed disturbed by it, firing off a blast of water upwards to interrupt her.

Water froze as an ice beam made contact, shattering water columns apart as Aine smashed into them, spiraling downwards in a fiery tornado. Breaking her spin into a mid-air blaze kick, a wave of fire exploded against Seisora's water shield, giving off enough heat to rival a volcano, the resulting blast of fire engulfing the street for a moment in a blinding flare of orange light.

The area was scorched red—covered in steam as hot stone cooled with the surrounding water. Seisora had taken little no to noticeable damage, albeit his water shield had shrunken significantly. Aine had landed beside Riven, putting down Haona in order to kick more giant plumes of fire in the Origin's direction. They were quickly swatted away by water whips. Seisora just looked bored.

Soon enough the street looked like someone had dumped several hundred gallons of water on a volcanic lava flow, got confused and threw a bunch of arctic ice sheets in there for good measure. Whatever water attacks were converted into harmless shards of ice, frozen nearly instantly. They'd stalemated. Neither Seisora nor Riven's team could do anything as water got turned to steam, ice, or turned back into water again. They couldn't approach each other to do anything other than deflect one another's attack. Eventually the fight seemed to devolve into a tug of war, except nothing bloody moved.

Seisora growled, noticeably irritated. He repelled more blades, as well as blasts of fire and ice, finding himself surrounded on all sides. Defending was somewhat easy, at the cost of being unable to attack. Letting the opponent wear himself out had proven useful before, but once multiple enemies came into play, that strategy only served to tire out the defender. At this point both parties were just senselessly attacking for the sole reason of exchanging blows with no real outcome.

"You're starting to annoy me, intruder," Seisora hissed, crushing a fire wave with a water wrapped fist. "You and your little team."

"Good," Riven taunted wryly, "I get that a lot." Get in the opponent's head. Throw him off balance. Annoyance is sometimes mightier than the swing of the largest blade.

"I see." Seisora's expression hardened, eyes beginning to glow. Water rumbled, ebbing and flowing. "Then surely you will enjoy this."

Blue circuitry began to spread along Seisora's skin, eyes shining a deep cerulean. Riven and his team paled, realizing what was coming. He raised a sword in the air, now glowing like a blue star.

"Firen eyzoz calmare."

Gleaming metal struck stone like flint as the ground exploded.

---

"I seriously hope the Challenger Rush will be more exciting than this."

"At this point I'm wondering if we'll be able to go through with the thing at all. You know, they could've at least brought something with a punch."

Morty, Sela, Flannery, and Viola sat in the hotel lounge the gym leaders had convened in, swirling around glasses of juice and other non-alcoholic drinks. After today's events everyone wanted to drink themselves into tomorrow but Alder and the rest of the Elite Four insisted there'd be no alcohol to avoid any misunderstandings or some drunk idiot going about telling their pokemon to poke holes in the hotel. With a bunch of strong pokemon and trainers congregated in one location, the decision was probably a good idea.

On the flip side, drinking juice at two in the morning and being unable to drink yourself to sleep was absolutely pitiful. Even Zach and Lance looked like they wanted someone to beat them upside the head with a shovel.

Meanwhile the other leaders conversed with their Unovan counterparts to pass the time, the unlucky four found themselves wholly absent of their Unovan team leader. Small talk was worse than abysmal too. The others at least had their team leaders fill their heads with interesting stories and what sights to see in their respective cities. Some of the other groups were even having fun.

"You think he's alright?" Morty asked suddenly, swirling the sweet liquid around in his glass. "I mean, he did get shot and all but he didn't look that bad, y'know? Never been shot in the chest so I wouldn't… uh, know."

"I saw him fly across the room," Flannery put in quietly. Her red hair wasn't tied up, making her look like a completely different person. "I'm glad he survived but it's still surprising…"

"Crazy fool was decked out in body armor just anticipating something like that to happen. Can't say I'd blame him, it was pretty smart," Sela pointed out. "I'm sure he's fine. He's most likely in a hospital bed right now having the same success trying to sleep that we are." She gave the room a quick scan and grimaced. Despite the mingling the Unovan leads were involving the others in, the tension in the air hadn't diminished in the slightest. As thick as Mamoswine steak.

"God this is bringing back bad memories. If we start having nightmares again, I'm done. I'll get the hell out of this country even if I have to smuggle myself off it. Or start wearing body armor myself."

Maybe that's why Sela had her Lopunny out. Didn't trust the security, despite the multitude of dark types. Seriously, why did they have so many dark types? Were they expecting a powerful psychic? Regardless, the rest of the Sinnohan gym leaders had one pokemon out, for assurance maybe. In fact, several gym leaders did. Everyone was nervous. Having UFOs with guns in the room didn't alleviate that sentiment.

Viola, meanwhile, remained silent in her chair. She hadn't touched the juice, instead deciding to feed it to her Surskit.

Flannery tapped her on the shoulder, breaking her out of her fixated stare. "Hey, Viola? You haven't said a word since we got here. Are you okay?"

No, she most definitely was not. Not only was this a glorified trap, but several leaders she knew personally had almost gotten killed, and to top it all off their Unovan guide was gone after getting himself shot in the process. She also couldn't shake the feeling that she'd seen Nathan before. Maybe not seen him—not exactly. She hadn't gotten a good look at him after the whole fiasco in the airport, but there was something off about him, a certain familiarity.

If anything, it seemed like the fourth Unovan gym leader was trying his damned best to avoid her. No, not just her. Everyone in the group. People in general. Then he went and got himself shot. Diantha and the rest of the Elite Four had warned them he was a little… quirky, according to what they'd heard in the grapevine. Unorthodox, rough around the edges, and antisocial. Most of the Unovan Elite Four hadn't even spoken to him yet. At best he was described as reclusive and hardly anyone ever saw him outside of the gym. He was also reported to hardly ever go home, once a week from what she read. Where he went after the gym was a mystery reporters were still trying to figure out.

Some theories went that he was involved in a gigantic conspiracy and was a government agent posing as a gym leader. Most people thought that was ridiculous, Viola included.

Managing an unconvincing smile, the Kalosian leader nodded her head once as if to accept the current circumstances. "Uh… No, not really. Are any of us okay with this? We're locked in here like prisoners. It's just… it's suffocating. Kalos isn't like this at all. Was it like this in Sinnoh? When it… you know, happened."

Sela pursed her lips, grimacing afterwards at the thought. She glanced at Zach, Alicia, and Vai. The short boy sat in a corner of the room, rubbing Des' pokeball absently. Was about ready to summon the furry beast too by the looks of it. Alicia and Vai were chatting in a bid to dissuade any negativity, which seemed only mildly successful. Benjamin kept eyeing the UFOs. "No. It was worse. A lot worse. Got a feeling Hoenn is going that way soon, from all the protests going on there. All it takes is one nutjob."

Flannery frowned, recalling the appalling number of forest fires raging throughout the region. Battles between trainers were cascading out of control, with some devolving to straight up intent to murder. The damage caused by their pokemon was bleeding into the cities as well, Winona had at one point called in rangers to thaw out a fourth of Fortree from a confrontation between an ice and water specialist. Calming the general public down hadn't been this difficult since the Magmas began their tyranny.

Anti trainer protests, worsened with recent news of the return of Sayre, added more fuel to the fire and increased the wariness of both the non trainer community and the Hoenn training scene alike, fearing another challenger going rogue and inciting a killing spree.

Morty sighed, dragging his shoulders. "Well, we shouldn't keep bringing it up like this. I know it's relevant to the situation but negativity will just make everyone's mood worse."

"Didn't something horrible happen in Johto too?" Sela pointed out. "A city got hit or something? Lots of people got killed."

The ghost type leader's sorrowful eyes looked at Sela, who immediately backed off. The man looked absolutely dejected.

"Several did. Simultaneously too. The worst of it happened in Ecruteak. My city." Morty slouched even further, eyes lidded. "Saw a fifteen year old girl get drilled into by a rabid Fearow. Blood everywhere. Died on the way to the hospital. "

Viola's body tensed, suddenly finding herself unable to breathe. Morty simply nodded.

"That's why I don't want to bring it up. Not yet. I'm trying not to think about it. Tauros, Fearow, and Ursaring. They came from every route, like—like they wanted to hit the heart of the city. The tower." Morty smiled weakly. "Ecruteak's always attracted oddities, but I never expected the Haunter and Ariados to emerge from the forest to fight them. It's like they knew… the Haunter were scared. That never happens and I'm not sure if this is some kind of team experiment or natural phenomena. Those pokemon were too strong to be considered normal. Strong trainers got repelled by them. Imagine that? An Elite trainer having trouble against a few Fearow. Fearow are never that strong."

He laughed, distraught and clearly shaken.

"A few months ago an extremely strong Medicham killed my Charizard," Sela said quietly, instantly drawing the attention of the others. "It didn't have any TM moves or selectively bred moves, which worried me. What it did have was unholy power in spades, enough to take down Ascher. He was an old dragon, but he was tough. I just thought it was a coincidence that the Medicham was that strong, some kind of weird super wild pokemon you hear about as a newbie. That kind of thing. Zach was there too."

They all glanced at the short champion, who pretended to listen to Burgh's flamboyant tale of Team Plasma's defeat. Silence pervaded the group, until Flannery quietly spoke up.

"Cianwood got hit too, didn't it? Chuck doesn't seem…"

"Bothered?"

"Yeah… He always seems happy. Easy going."

Sela frowned, a tinge of sadness in her eyes. "Wake was like that. Kind of miss that rowdy man."

Morty peered over at Chuck, who seemed to breathe charisma and energy. Beneath the smiles was an exhausted man with bags under his eyes and the weight of dozens of people who were hospitalized or killed from the Tentacruel attacks that came from the ocean.

"We don't know why wild pokemon are coming from the deep so vicious. I heard a few things from G-men and rangers earlier in the year, but never expected something like this to happen simultaneously in several cities at once. That attack didn't have any follow ups at all. It's like it was a one-time thing. So far everything's been quiet. For now…"

"First it was crazy kids, now it's crazy pokemon and kids?" Sela said, shaking her head. "What's next? The Legendaries themselves coming from the heavens to wipe us all out? This is ridiculous. I'm not donning a tin foil hat here but something has to be up."

Morty hushed them to keep it down.

"Lance will most likely brief the rest of the leaders at a later time. The only reason I know is because it happened in my city, and I don't want anyone else freaking out over it. There's enough of that already." He sighed. "Balance is important to the soul. We should relax. Get some sleep, think it over tomorrow."

"And how do you suggest we do that?" Sela asked crossly. "They refuse to let us take sleeping pills. And I doubt any of us can sleep soundly knowing we got targets painted on our backs in a region we hardly know our way around in. Who knows if Johto's pokemon problem is a contained incident. At least Sinnoh was familiar. Here? Even the air here feels hostile. Unova didn't like outsiders even before the Sinnoh mess started."

Viola grimaced, knowing that it wasn't a contained incident. That Pangoro several years back definitely fit the description. That didn't explain why the attacks were intensifying.

"Or you know, we can just snort sleep powder," Benjamin, the current leader of Canalave, put in, suddenly behind them. Everyone jumped."Erika's in my group and her Bellossom uses it to lull her to sleep on stressful days. She says it's completely harmless, and there's no risk of overdosing and killing yourself. Blaine's already gone, didn't even hesitate. Says no sleep is bad for old people. I believe him."

True enough, the mustachioed old man was snoring happily, and loudly, away.

While the thought of snorting blue pokemon powder was fairly unsettling, none of the leaders seemed to actually protest the idea given the situation they were in. It was late and headaches had already began to set in.

Flannery stared at the small pile of powder in front of them, clearly hesitant. "Uhm… what if Nathan comes back while we're asleep? Sleep powder can put people into deep sleep for hours. What if something happens?"

"I think it's fine," Sela said, holding her head. "Everyone is here, including two champions. No one will blame us for sleeping in the only place we feel safe in." She leaned in and took one strong whiff of the good stuff. She was dead to the world in seconds, out cold.

"That was fast," Benjamin gaped. Normally he wouldn't dare touch Sela, but she didn't so much as move when he poked her in the cheek. Even her Lopunny shook her to test. Not a single budge.

That opened the flood gates and soon enough half the room was snoring.

Flannery was one of the last to take the magical night-night powder, still staring at it with an equally skeptical Morty. They both saw Brawly furiously sniff half a pile of the stuff and hit the desk face first a second later.

Swallowing, they both sighed.

"Well, I hope our team leader gets here by tomorrow or we're gonna be stuck in this hotel until then." Morty took a cupped palm of the stuff, swishing it around. "So much for seeing what Nimbasa has to offer. Really wanted to see that Ferris Wheel too. "

Maybe the distractions would help his mind, still heavy with guilt.

"I did too… Heard it's beautiful at night." The redheaded Hoenn gym leader took her own palmful. "Viola, are you staying up?"

The Kalosian leader nodded, reclining on the couch . "Yeah. Working around the Santalune forest got my nose sensitive to most of the powders grass pokemon use. I tend to get allergies. I thought I'd work up a resistance to it but it seemed to go the opposite way. Haha… It'll just gives me nausea when I wake up and a serious case of the sniffles. I'll just wait until I'm tired enough to fall asleep. Have a good sleep, everyone. I'll be okay."

Once the other two fell asleep, Viola's Surskitt fidgeted in her arms. The juice and sugar was finally taking effect. Setting her pokemon down on the couch, she stood up to go find the bathroom, hearing the door to the lounge open. One of the UFOs had followed her, a standard security protocol, apparently.

Trying not to look back, Viola entered the bathroom, finished her business and turned around, suddenly finding the male UFO in front of her.

Inside the women's restroom. With a gun.

He looked up at her, rifle in hand with a friendly smile. Blonde hair hid under a black hat, eyes blue as the summer sky. Behind him was an imposing black and red pokemon with blades for arms and a missing eye—a result of a slash wound with another pokemon, probably. Many experienced pokemon tended to carry scars or missing limbs. The cut had been deep, no doubt painful.

"Hey! You're one of Nathan's, right?"

"What are you doing in the ladies' restroom?!" Viola demanded instead, outraged. "I don't care if you're supposed to guard us, you don't follow us in here! Get out! It's not like there's any windows in here for me to escape from! And I'm a bug specialist! I don't have psychics! Isn't this a violation of privacy?! Diantha will be furious."

The warning fell flat as he refused to move. It was then that his smile registered in Viola's brain and fear began to set in. She paled, feeling her stomach sink. It's not like the Sayres hadn't infiltrated institutions before… She was alone and cornered, defenseless with no pokemon out and standing three feet away from an armed man and his metal pokemon.

"You're… not a UFO."

Her fingers nervously brushed against the pokebelt, ceasing only once Viola saw the Bisharp advance toward her, polished steel glimmering light.

"I suggest you not," the UFO suggested idly. "Azazel's been jumpy ever since he got his eye cut out. Best not test it out on your pokemon. And no, Viola, I'm not an operative. Just like Nathan isn't a gym leader. That's who you're assigned to, correct? Well, he's actually Prime, the mercenary. The one that got shown on live TV cutting people to ribbons? He's the one that cut Azazel's eye out with a sword. Crazy, right? I believe you've met before in Kalos. Prism Tower. Possibly prior to that, it seems. You got the police involved in that little snafu. He tip you off? He did, didn't he? I can see it in your eyes."

The girl's jaw hit the floor well before the UFO stopped talking.

"Doesn't matter, his real name is Riven Cerul, by the way. His actual, real name. Not an alias. He left the hospital over two hours ago and left to a random hotel out in the shady part of town to do god knows what. I don't know what for and am very interested in finding out why a Metagross of all things is keeping watch outside. A very strong one too. That's all I wanted to say. Sorry for being dramatic with the gun and everything but it came with the uniform. By the way, don't forget to wash your hands. Very important."

Viola remained slack-jawed until she regained her composure, holding a hand to her forehead.

"I-I can't… what, why? Why are you telling me this? And why did you follow me into the restroom? Just to corner me and dump a bunch of information on me? I don't know where to start processing it! Couldn't you just have struck up a conversation like a normal person?!"

The blonde grew embarrassed, his face flushing.

"I, uh—understand the approach was terrible but you were the only one awake and sound is isolated in here. The discussion topic is hardly normal at that. Besides, having friends among the gym leaders is nothing to scoff at. Prime doesn't trust me, which is irritating me greatly. Gym leaders are far more trustworthy. This also needs to be private. There are many, many, many parties at work here." He cleared his throat with visible discomfort. "And of all things, I didn't really expect everyone to snort sleep powder like it was cocaine—so I improvised. I'd say it worked well and it just so happened that the opportunity, erm, presented itself. I was originally planning on Flannery but whatever, this works too."

"Why Flannery? She's never met him before."

"That's true. However…" The UFO bashfully scratched the side of his cheek. "Well… she's… kind of attractive? A lot of them are. Whitney... Clair… Erika… Sabrina… even that rowdy woman Sela is quite the looker. Women are more understanding, usually."

"And because of that, you thought cornering them in the restroom was the best course of action?" Viola pointed out instantly, a thick eyebrow arching upward. "That's not a good way to get a woman's attention. At all. Forget your menacing pokemon, you're lucky I'm still talking to you and not screaming at the top of my lungs for help. Sela would have planted you into the wall."

"It know it looks really bad, I didn't really mean it that way. I already talk to too many untrustworthy men that are more pain than they're worth. I just wanted a change of pace. You don't have to listen to what I have to say, but if you want to know what's going on, then I suggest you take the offer, accidental creepiness aside. Again, I'm sorry."

Viola simply crossed her arms.

"Who are you?"

He gave her a smile that was all teeth, mirthful and far too playful to fit the atmosphere he'd created. It made literally no sense. Like a happy face with a bomb strapped to it. Nathan-no, Riven- was right not to trust this guy. She wouldn't either.

"I'm a guy that looks at the bigger picture. But fulfilling that frame takes more effort than what one man can provide. He needs allies. My name, Viola of Santalune, is Tesla." He extended a hand, which she shook awkwardly, given the situation. "Now that we're acquainted, want to head back to the lounge? Or maybe the bar once I get out of this uniform? We got a lot to discuss and a relaxed mental state is incredibly important for this. It might be a bit… far-fetched."

The butt of the rifle tipped his hat up, revealing his face and another cheeky grin.

"Relaxed mental state? Wait, did you just—Are you… asking me out on a date? After cornering me, threatening me, and lecturing me on personal hygiene?" Viola asked. Her bushy eyebrows nearly hit the stratosphere. "Is this one of those dreams that don't make sense or is this for real?"

"I told you I was sorry and it's quite real, I assure you. As for the date, you could call it a business proposal should that make you more comfortable. A date would be nice, considering you're quite the beautiful woman. You do have a stunning pair of green, beautiful eyes. Like emeralds. "

He gave her a smile that could melt any girl into a pile of goo. Viola's face lit up but she resisted the charm like the fearless leader and photographer she was. Normally if a guy like that asked her out she'd think about it. This time was much different. He did, after all, just do something insanely creepy. Her guard was on full alert. A thick eyebrow arched upward.

"And Flannery? Did she have a stunning pair of green eyes?"

"Her rubies are beautiful in their own right but Flannery… had a stunning pair of something else." The rim of his hat tipped downwards, obscuring his eyes. "Although, maybe you can almost match her in that department."

Tesla instantly twitched then went rigid as a board. "Shit," he whispered.

Viola's face scrunched. "What does that mean?"

"Uh… It's a compliment. Almost forgot. Catch. Souvenir." Tesla turned towards the door quickly, tossing something to Viola. Scrambling away, the door clicked shut after his Bisharp bowed and followed him out.

Viola blinked, staring at the object in her hands before looking back at the door with nothing short of absolute confusion. It was a small yellow sphere in a ziplock bag? What the? Radiating light, it seemed to be from a different world entirely.

"What is this? A marble?"

Examining it, Viola looked in the mirror and froze, noticing what she was wearing. Unova's chill was clearly made evident by her top. She'd worn a thick coat before coming to the hotel, but had changed into a comfortable tank because of the hotel's heating systems. She then remembered that his eyes had been obscured by the hat, so he was most definitely looking elsewhere, and from the angle his chin faced…

Maybe you can almost match her in that department.

"That son of a Swinub!"

She huffed and angrily began washing her hands. Prime suddenly came to mind, in his stupid mask, wearing that same cocky grin. Taking the object in her hands, annoyance boiled up inside. This stupid event, this stupid hotel, this stupid situation, this stupid gym leader of hers, and this stupid lack of sleep was absolutely—

"ARGH!"

The marble clanged loudly against the garbage can from the angry pitch Viola had thrown.

Only to accept that she actually needed it. Cursing under her breath, the gym leader walked over and took it back out, seconds later realizing she had to wash her hands again.

"Don't forget to wash your hands," she recited sourly, vigorously scrubbing her hands. "I need to calm down. Come on Viola, just like trying to get the perfect shot… take it slow and get the perfect angle. Lighting… correct frame… All you have to do is hit that flash…"

She could do this. After all, she was a gym leader. The first gym leader in her circuit, and dealing with children gave her infinite amounts of patience. This was nothing.

Outside, Tesla curiously opened the door just a crack to listen in to a near meltdown.

"I can't go to the bathroom in peace, I can't go to sleep and now I have to answer to a liar who also happens to be another immoral… ass! Do I look like Diantha? Or Siebold?" She huffed loudly. "I shouldn't have to deal with this! I'm just a photographer! You know what?! And this thing? I have no idea what it even does! Who gives a stranger a marble as a souvenir?! Why do they have to be so cryptic and annoying?!" She laughed incredulously. "I have an idea! Why don't all these mercenaries just LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Tesla jumped when he heard another clang. Viola burst out of the restroom seconds later, glaring green lasers at him. His grin fell apart instantly at the mere sight of her expression.

"I accept your offer. Just one thing. If I see your eyes wander anywhere besides my face again, I might just bring Sela and her Lopunny along and we'll see how tough your metal attack dog is then. And two more things. NEVER. EVER. Go in the ladies room again and don't you ever tell me to wash my hands again. I'm not a little girl, nor are you my father. You're just a smug, immoral jerk. Just like Prime, so don't for a second think we're friends! I'm tired and stressed and really don't want to deal with these things right now. You better explain everything. Or it's Lopunny foot to face treatment time. Are we clear, Tesla?"

Tesla straightened, trying to contend with a flag pole.

"Y-yes, ma'am."

"Okay, good. I'll see you there, operative." She stormed off toward the lounge, hands still slightly wet. The mercenary couldn't help but snort.

Walking up from behind, a disguised Aveena clicked her tongue. Leaning against the wall, she whistled lowly.

"Yeesh. Viola of Santalune, huh? Pretty and a first badge leader, means she's nice too, when she's not pissed off. Sounded like a Gyarados right now." Aveena watched the blonde disappear into the lounge. "Hmmmm, blondie just like you. Cornering her in a restroom just to talk with her? Was this you trying to improvise? Not the meticulous Tessy I recognize. Smitten much?"

"Of course not. I adapted the plan and things worked out nonetheless. I don't prefer the way things played out, seeing as how awkward the situation was."

"Oh so you were just playing at the clueless guy shtick? Mm-hmm. Don't think I didn't notice that look. Tesla wants. She's got a nice rack."

"Ally, shut up. I'm thinking."

"About her rack? It's quite lovely."

He gave her a baleful glare.

"Oh come on, I know this was all part of your master plan but it's fun teasing you. I mean, think about it! Blue and green eyes, I can see your kids now. So pure they could be protagonists in a Final Fantasy game. 'Friends are my power!' Haha!"

She received a middle finger in response.

"Anyway, Operation Toilet go that badly or did you tell her you drive a white van filled with candy around elementary schools in good neighborhoods too? I look like that when I catch an old man staring at me. Disgust is easy to see on a woman. What'd you say to her?"

Tesla frowned at her.

"I made a sly comment about her…" He sighed, smashing a palm against his face. "I made a comment about her rack. Wasn't wearing uh… you know. And it's kind of cold so... I shouldn't have said that. I don't know why I said that. Impulse control was shot. Improvisational skills need work, I'm not as good at this sort of thing like you are. I can steer powerful men with a few words, but one woman shows up and I lose my words. It's frustrating. It reminds me of that woman."

"Who, Yanine?"

"Yes."

His partner shook her head and laughed.

"Figures. I know you're a planner, and you like to get into your roles but Tes, you fucked up."

"I fucked up," he admitted instantly. "But it worked out anyway. And now she's also understandably pissed, like we wanted. She's going to tear him a new ass. Maybe that maneuver was overkill? Not only did I make myself look like a lecherous pig and an insecure fool with a crush, but I made her wash her hands three whole times."

"What a villainous and most heinous act." Aveena arched an eyebrow, eyeing him sternly. "Wait. Tell me you didn't remind her how important washing your hands is. Like a child. She's a grown woman!"

Tesla smiled.

"Oh, you fucking dick. Yeah, you might've unleashed that sweet girl's vicious side again. Kiss that date dream good bye. First gym leaders aren't all daisies and roses. Just look at Skarmory feather boy Vaikuntha. Guy's cut up more people than some of these UFOs." Aveena shook her head. "Meanwhile this poor girl just wants to take pictures and do her job; then gets caught up in the world's most private dick measuring contest instead. Almost feel bad for her being the victim of your little scheme, but Riven's playing dirty. As for our friend, he's not going to hear the end of it. I love this!"

She danced happily, her equipment jingling.

"This amuses you? I thought you liked him?"

"It's not like Viola's going to hurt him or anything. Snap a picture of him naked is the most harmful thing that comes to mind. If she's into that. And for the record, I don't like him like him. I do think he's ruggedly hot and I can't get that thing he did to that girl out of my mind because I want someone to do that to me, and vigorously. I mean god—she was in total bliss, her hips were bucking everywhere, she was soaked and-"

"Ally, focus."

"Right. Well, I also enjoy seeing your plans and pranks come to life. Part of the reason he's so interesting is how he gets around all the crap our outfit throws at him and continues to surprise us. I'm still extremely surprised he nearly eviscerated Loberia if you hadn't saved the damn tool. Dickhead is full of himself. Psychics are such pansies. Dark types are the real interesting ones. They just refuse to quit, even when the odds are against them! It is amusing. Like a good underdog story, everybody loves those."

Tesla sighed.

"Is that so? Well, all I can say is I hope he's the one having fun right now."

---

Riven flew into a fucking wall.

A tsunami must have hit him. That's what Riven could piece together when he got hurled into the wall of the building by a wave of water nearly twenty feet in height, followed by another even larger than that. Baron and Haona were similarly thrown far off down the street, shot like a cannonball by a blast of pressurized liquid that exploded from beneath them—which curved and then blasted them forward. Rereleasing Aine from her pokeball, Riven wheezed, his vision blurry from the hit. He could feel warm liquid running down the side of his head. Every part of his body ached from the force of the impact, nearly causing him to fall over. He shivered from the cold night air of the desert, made worse by his soaked clothes sticking to him.

Following his awakening, Seisora hadn't simply powered up. Not only had his control, speed, and strength with the water improved, but it seemed that he was able to control more of it than before. The clear pipelines that flowed through the city burst as he lifted his hands, breaking apart as streams of irrigation water gushed out of the cracks and around the Origin, creating an area of water waist high around him.

Efrain's swords came loose, protecting his trainer while he recovered from the hit, cutting through currents of water sharp enough to slice through stone.

Quite dependent on that water, isn't he? Efrain said, sounding like a grunt in Riven's head. Can't fight head to head?

He's outnumbered. Knows he'd lose, Riven responded. Aine, Baron, and Haona were just barely keeping him at bay, covering each other with ice beams, psycho cuts, and flamethrowers that only served to stall him when he began to push them back. Playing it smart. We need to regroup, think of something that gets us close and personal. Right now we're playing his game, and we're getting trashed.

Returning Baron and Haona before they got smashed by a hand of water, Riven called to Aine, who was futilely trying to evaporate the sea of water under her. Whatever had been the Blaziken and Absol's intent to strip Seisora of usable resources had failed; there was just too much of the stuff to do that. With more irrigation pipelines below them, Seisora had access to nigh unlimited water. Granted Riven recognized that he didn't want to cause untold amounts of damage to his own city, made evident by the sheer fact that Seisora hadn't ruptured all the canals and drowned them in tsunami waves fifty feet high.

"Aine! Rooftop! Now!"

Seisora fired a blast of pressurized liquid as Aine picked Riven up. The attack lost shape as it collided with a protect formed from Efrain's crossed blades. Once they reached a high enough building, Riven released Baron and Haona again, calling Boagrius over to them from the air.

"Baron, try to contact Omy or Spoopy, tell them to get back here as soon as possible. I don't think human Kyogre down there can follow us this high." He swallowed. "Hopefully."

Baron nodded and within a minute, Spoopy scuttled up the side of the building and onto the roof. Good thing Spoopy never tended to stray far. Tai, on the other hand, was still nowhere to be found. While worrisome, Riven didn't think the sly feline would get himself skewered yet. Gathering the rest of his team, he swallowed, still dripping wet.

"Listen… this guy… he's nothing like we've fought before. To do the things he's doing… trainers would need to practice for days upon days until absolute perfection. I'm talking champion level coordination. At least with pokemon. This guy is both a trainer and pokemon in one. There will be no input lag, no slip ups. All of that is gone, he controls exactly what he wants without worrying about it getting misconstrued. You get caught… you're dead. Which is why we need this to work. Beating him head on is a death sentence."

His entire team suddenly took a very deep breath. And held it. Riven ignored it completely.

He turned to the Castform, eyes beaming. "And for this… I'm going to need you, Boag. Spoopy and Omy, you're going to be the finishing touch. Everyone else, I want you to attack as relentlessly as you can, protecting each other every step of the way. Like a phalanx, you protect your partner. We need to be the main focus, or else this all goes to shit. And lastly… kick up as much dirt and smoke as you can, we'll need it."

"Oooooh, trainer's got a plan!" Omy sang, sparking along a jittery Spoopy.

"So, how are we going to keep him distracted?" Haona asked, suddenly dreading the answer. That grin said everything. "Don't tell me-"

"We're fighting him head on."

They collectively sighed.

Baron rolled his eyes and jabbed Aine in the side. "Told you he'd pull something hypocritical out of his ass."

"Always does," Aine complained.

"Maybe because he's an idiot we have to keep saving him from his own stupidity," Haona added. "This is going to hurt. Better be treats after this."

"Daddy's stupid!" Omy cheered.

Riven frowned.

"I'm trying not to die here, and my plan is foolproof trust-"

Words cut off as the foundation of the building itself seemed to falter. A loud crash could be heard as the building started to cave in on itself—more so out of a result of getting pieces of it cleaved off by giant blades of sharpened water. Riven had figured that since they were this high up, Seisora couldn't follow them. Correct assessment by technicality, to be fair. He couldn't follow them, per say, but that didn't mean he couldn't bring them down to him—and bring them down he did.

"Scatter!" Riven yelled as the spire finally gave way, feeling himself go into free fall. Aine had no time to try and save him, choosing instead to take Spoopy and Omy to another building to commence the plan.

Accelerating to the ground, Riven hurled a crimson sword at an adjacent wall, trusting Efrain to see it landed where he wanted it to. He was a mere second away from ending up a pancake when he reappeared above the sword as it embedded itself into the stone. Problem was, he was still falling.

Again, physics decided that it was going to make this a painful experience that his shoulder wouldn't forget any time soon.

Because contrary to popular belief, teleporting did not stop the momentum of anything. The same went for any sort of instant transmission move, like pursuit or faint attack; to a certain extent, shadow sneak also applied. Inertia took no shit from anyone, not from space magic or pokemon shenanigans. Unless you were Palkia, that meant you were going to sit your goddamn ass down and obey the first law of physics. For the rest of the world, that meant that if you were in free fall and teleported beside someone, you'd be moving at the same speed you were falling at. Teleporting higher just meant you accelerated faster. Trying to stop that speed would need gradual deceleration-like a parachute- or one hell of a strong body to withstand the whiplash.

And he didn't have a parachute.

The full force of his acceleration and fall speed nearly dislocated his shoulder and wrist when his hand gripped the handle of the sword, almost dislodging it from the wall at the velocity he was going. Efrain even grunted.

Had Riven been a regular human and not reinforcing his muscles with quick attack, his arm might've come off. He yelled in pain, pushing himself up to stand on the flat of the sword, looking down at the water wrapped form of Seisora, who'd shaped an elongated lance of water in his right hand that roared from the pressure.

That right shoulder ached unbearably, but he had to fight through the pain for now. Both arms were needed for this. Adrenaline blocked some of the strain on the joint, and he just knew he'd regret it later.

Aine, Baron, Boagrius, and Haona came out unscathed from the descent and were now attempting to surround Seisora. If he had to focus on multiple angles at once, he was forced to use large area of effect attacks, instead of focused power attacks with enough force to kill or incapacitate. A mixed blessing. His lance whirled and spun, streams of water rising after each movement.

Riven breathed, launching the first attack—hoping Seisora would fall for it.

A single sword flew through the air like a missile, aided by Riven's throw and Efrain's guidance. The water origin simply side stepped it as it passed through the water shield. He was about to throw the hydrolance in his hand when Riven materialized behind him, crimson blades glowing a menacing violet. Seisora was caught completely off guard, using the lance to block.

Shadows and darkness howled against roaring water as swords interlocked with what felt like liquid steel, each attack wearing away at the hydrolance. The water bounced back into a revolving shield when the lance eroded away completely, leaving the metal blade that formed its base. Before Seisora could redirect the water currents into explosive spears, Riven pushed off his sword with a foot, launching himself into the air.

Spears of water formed around the water Origin, launching themselves into the air to track Riven's descent. Throwing a blade high into the air, the spears exploded collided with each other as they converged on his location, striking empty air as their target had translocated high above. A flash of red flared high above before a sword came down from the sky with enough kinetic energy to momentarily dissolve Seisora's shield.

Just as the sword bounced off, Riven reappeared, slicing downward with a serrated edge of shadows. Shadow claws and spears of water detonated as they met, leaving flashes of violet and blue as the two clashed. Seisora grunted and raised a hand, firing a salvo of spears to leave no room for Riven to escape.

Except he did.

Instead of moving away from the storm, Riven launched a sword at Seisora, leading the spear salvo directly into his shield. Before the Origin could dissolve the spears, Riven turned in the air, using Efrain's floating blade as leverage in order to form a stationary gash where his sword had swung, using the unnatural properties of the ghost type to literally rend space. Translocating away once more, the projectiles exploded once they made contact with the slash, pelting Seisora's water shield with his own explosives.

Riven returned with both blades as Seisora reeled. Shadow claws slammed against pressurized water in a black and purple storm of attacks from unpredictable angles so fast that it seemed like one human opponent had turned into many; every sword thrown was a diversion or an attack, designed to keep his enemy guessing. Streaks of blue and purple light sparked to life with each interaction, appearing like a lightshow of color in the dark.

Retreats became re-engagements in an instant, capitalizing on pursuit at random intervals to keep Seisora from just crushing him in a vicegrip or rip him apart with pressurized currents.

Added to this was Baron's own teleport spam as he teleported Aine between water blasts into close quarters; their trainer kept their opponent occupied, forcing Seisora to abandon his long ranged water attacks and use his sword to deal with them or alternatively rely on more repulses, which couldn't contend with the speed at which he was being attacked. Then Haona joined in with razor winds and slashes from her sickle shaped Megahorn. The combined onslaught made it even easier for them to contest with his defense.

Whereas before they tried to eliminate his resources, Riven's team now worked to further erode his patience while simultaneously wearing down his stamina. With every water repulse wave, gallons of liquid were forcefully ejected outward, ending up several dozen meters away. Calling that water back took seconds, and seconds in a fight meant everything. For every second spent recollecting his resources, Seisora had to fight back nine attacks.

Moving that much water had to be tiring. Gale had been utterly exhausted from slowing two people in the air during their fall. Granted, Gale's experience with her type was dwarfed by Seisora's. The situation, however, made up for that. Not only was he moving large quantities of water, but he was also pressurizing and accelerating it for both attack and defense, while fighting off multiple fast moving targets. Water was also denser than air. Being able to do all that for more than a few seconds spoke volumes of how experienced he was.

The guy was a monster.

That Aberrant Pangoro was a monster too. And I killed that son of a bitch.

Waiting for Haona's icy razor winds to force Seisora to block, Baron and Aine moved in from behind. Blades and limbs gleamed pink and red, tearing into the water shield with fire and psychic slashes. The Blaziken flared flames beneath her feet, increasing their intensity until the flames turned blue, raising a leg into the air to slam against the shield in an explosion of fire and steam.

Flare Blitz didn't dent it at all. That wasn't the point.

Her leg came down, jetting out even more fire. Touching the ground, the flames beneath her feet exploded in a flare blitz so intensely hot that the ground ruptured, sending a cloud of dust and water into the air as earth turned to slag and liquid flash boiled. The water shield stagnated, exposing a large hole as it attempted to reform.

Baron lifted a hand, psychokinetically moving a thick cloud of dust in front of him and blasting it forward through the hole and into the water Origin's eyes. He recoiled back, clutching his eyes.

Riven snorted at the sight.

Sand attack is never to be underestimated, most versatile move confirmed. Now it's my turn, asshole.

Using the target's impaired visibility, Riven moved in, slicing downward in a cross shaped cut of black energy. Unable to focus fully to react properly, Seisora brought up his sword to intercept—a last ditch effort to defend while his vision returned, eyes stinging. The metal seemed to only last a few seconds before the force of the night slashes overcame it. The blade cracked and splintered, shattering without dispelling the attack, forcing Seisora to bring up a hand to form a protective barrier.

Everyone jumped at the chance.

Riven, Aine, and Baron hammered on the shield with psycho cuts, double kicks, and night slashes while Boagrius rained energy ball hell from above. The protective cocoon formed cracks as it held, expending more and more energy to keep stable from the rain of attacks. Seisora grit his teeth from the exertion, knowing that if it broke now, he'd be defeated without a doubt following that, despite awakening.

What good was more power if you couldn't use it? Only… Seisora could. And what he was about to do genuinely scared Riven shitless. The water Origin was beyond caring as anger reached its peak, screaming as he ejected what little liquid he had access to so violently that Riven's team got pushed back several feet by droplets of water that hit like riot slugs.

Far off water flowed back in streams, gathering beneath Seisora's feet and circling him in a ring. Fearing another water blast, Riven and his team stepped back, wary.

"I refuse to believe a mere spy has forced me to use this. If I end you now, I will save myself the burden of the humiliation," Seisora growled, taking out three crystal arrows. Breaking off the tips to leave only the shafts, glowing blue circuits appeared down his arms, traveling into the disconnected pole. It reformed the crystal's shape, expanding and reshaping it until it converted into a slender, serrated blue spear.

Water then rose in waves, propelling themselves past and around Riven's team, blocking their escape with roaring spouts of raging water.

"Guard formation!" Riven called. "Protect on all fronts! He's going for an area of effect attack."

"Is that why he sealed us off?" Haona cried. "What if those walls come at us?"

Aine shivered.

"Like one of those human movies where they slowly get crushed?"

"Yeah… exactly like that. Only with superfast water that can cut us to pieces."

"Focus!" Baron snapped. "If we lose it now, we're dead. Assuming those walls begin to close… I'll try to keep them back as much as I can."

"That'll kill you, Bib."

"Don't care, as long as the rest of you can survive."

"No one's going to die here. Don't talk like that. Listen to Baron, focus."

Riven began to grimace as gallons upon gallons of water burst forth from the ground around Seisora, drawing inwards around the spear he held. With each passing second the spear enveloped within grew a brighter blue, until it shone brightly in the dim light of the crystals. Water cascaded around it, jetting out with so much force that the coattails of the spear tore into the building behind it from the pressure. Blue waves of energy traced along Seisora's body, his eyes glowing with intensity.

As a trainer, Riven recognized those eyes.

"Boagrius! SUNNY DAY!" He bellowed, holding both of Efrain's blades at his sides, stance low. "Efrain, charge everything you got. He's going to throw it, and I don't know how powerful it'll be, but I know this is our chance. It's been long enough. The rest of you… hold out as long as you can. I'll break it, I'm confident I can."

With some help… he thought, slowly removing the beads around his neck.

A geyser lifted Seisora into the air, a shining blue star among the sea of black. Holding the lance up, it was as if sound completely disappeared. A piercing hum a hundred times louder and more powerful than any engine reverberated throughout the entire city, the fury of the Oasis itself manifested.

"EHIAL FORE!"

Upon release, the air around the spear thundered in a ferocious boom, shattering several crystals in the vicinity as the whirling cyclone of water it expelled literally carved through buildings like they were made of powder. It advanced toward the ground, a blue missile spilling hyper pressurized water in its wake.

It struck Baron's Protect like a bomb and still refused to stop. The water around it continued to spiral, literally drilling into the barrier as sparks of blue energy flared and cracked at the point of impact. The ground shattered and splintered, the air shuddering from the violent explosion. Baron was driven to his knees, gritting his teeth as pain overwhelmed his senses. The spear moved too quickly and too energetically for him to psychokinetically stop, and his shield beginning to crack from the strain.

The barrier finally ruptured, forcing the psychic to fall back as blood burst from his arms when just a fraction of the water made it through. White fur then stood over him as Haona stepped in, forming her own barrier.

She held on as long as she could, grunting as her own shield started to falter. The spear broke through once again and in that instant, they thought they'd be ripped apart by currents of water. It lashed and tore at Haona's fur, in the few faint seconds after her shield burst, opening gashes and cuts along her skin as white fur was sheared off.

Red eyes stared wide at the advancing spear as time seemed to slow down. The water cascading around it formed the image of a monster's gaping maw, a giant monstrosity of a beast with fangs made of water. She closed her eyes, waiting for the end.

Only it never came.

Heat washed over them both as another layer of shielding slammed against the Leviathan's jaws—Aine's.

Baron and Haona's eyes widened, begging the Blaziken to leave. If the attack broke through, the three could possibly survive it. Not without grave injuries, but definitely Aine wouldn't. But their complaints fell on deaf ears as the she held, planting her feet on the ground to brace for the impact. Letting loose a fierce cry, her body ignited, her barrier lit aflame as fire pushed back against the spear—boosted further by the shining light of sunny day above.

She held on for but a few spare seconds longer, losing strength in her arms when her Protect cracked and begun to fail. The shield minimized, aiming to maximize defense directly in front of the Blaziken. Whips of water lashed at Aine's legs, cutting deep into flesh as she struggled to stay awake, stay conscious. Each hit caused burning agony but still the Blaziken remained standing, gasping for breath, her muscles tearing against the force. Turning back to see collecting waves of darkness coating Efrain's swords, Aine let go. Raging currents burst, a rain of droplets pelting them when nothing stood between the spear and its power.

Baron moved, reaching for the Blaziken before the water got to her, disappearing in a flash of pink light. Haona had already skidded away, forming a frozen wall to protect her escape. Her fur was stained red with blood.

Behind them, her trainer smiled to see she was retreating. Then, Riven's eyes shut in concentration, feeling the outside world for a mere moment as he delved within, the sounds of water fading away. He could use darkness, but use too much and he'd lose control without someone more experienced guiding it. His power had grown, his control had not. That's what neglecting training did, like teaching a new pokemon hyper beam. Sometimes though, you needed to blow yourself up to learn. Colors bled away, fading into a monochrome nothingness.

Hey a-

Stop, the Nightmare said, cutting him off abruptly. A figure was laying down on a couch made of a black mass, back turned to him. It waved sluggishly with a hand. I already know why you're here you useless piece of shit. See this?

He pointed a bladed finger at Riven chidingly.

This, he furiously waved the finger in the air, needs to stop. I can't keep saving your pathetic ass every time you fight someone more badass than you. I know I'm bloody amazing but carrying your weight is really hurting my back. For the logical half, you're a complete idiot, you know that?

Riven snorted.

Well, look at it this way. This guy's an asshole and his ass needs to get kicked. And I mean now. He's an experienced Origin and I'm not. It's six versus one and he still isn't going down. Making me look bad. Even you're starting to get annoyed. Doesn't that hurt your ego?

Mine? No. You're the one getting your ass kicked, not me. Besides, this wouldn't happen if you used the dark more often. I'd rather give you tough tips than have to step in, get off my couch, and beat his face in myself. And my couch is very comfortable. But no, still stuck to your little Remnant ways, aren't you?

Have you train me? Why? Just so you can get stronger and take over? I'd rather beat my opponents the old way. Unless it's impossible. Then… I'd be willing to compromise. Which is why I'm here. I don't have the control to take him on. Not yet. This is a fight between Origins and pokemon, not regular humans. I need another edge.

Turning on his side to face him, his other half cocked his head to one side, red eyes intrigued.

Oh, is that permission I hear? I get to take control? Am I hearing this correctly? Riven Cerul? This guy right here? This one? Just gave me permission to take over in a fight? Willingly? It's actually capable of intelligent thought? Holy shit! Terms?

I need you to beat him back past that row of buildings. Keep him on the defensive. That's it. I don't care if you kill him. But try not to if you can. Actually, scratch that. Don't kill him at all.

Other Riven smiled, all pointed black teeth and malice. One more thing.

What?

I want full control for the entire session next time Gale comes over.

Get the fuck out, Riven replied blankly. I guess we're going to die after all.

You'd rather die than sit out sexy time?

With more severity than intended, Riven's face was seriousness incarnate.

That's correct. I would never be able to live again.

Nightmare Riven squinted, holding up a stilettoed finger and then putting it down. I can respect that. Seventy-five.

Half.

The black creature seemed to think that over, rubbing its chin. Okay, deal. So… let's get this started.

He sat up from the couch and stretched, yawning. Riven noticed that he had fuzzy slippers made of shadows. Trying not to laugh was harder than it seemed. He crossed his arms when the Nightmare was stretching his hamstrings. Why was he stretching when this was all a mental thing? Was it just him or the Nightmare's habits were getting stranger. And by stranger he meant things that he would do. That Prime would do. Developing a personality? Or maybe Prime was based off the Nightmare. Who knew.

You done yet? There's a couple seconds left before getting completely annihilated and you're stretching?

It's important before vigorous exercise. Hold your fucking Ponytas, I'm doing you a favor. Finishing his stretch, the Nightmare grinned widely. Okay. Reins, gimme gimme.

Riven felt the control over his body leave him as the black and white sky melded, trading places with each other. His skin discolored, turning completely white as the Nightmare's own became humanlike, no longer the black entity from before. A red iris stared back at him, malevolent to the core.

I'll try and kill him gently.

The world returned to a darkness that swallowed the moon and stars.

Water and darkness howled and roared as spear and sword met, creating a collision of energy so violent that the air around them ignited and exploded, obliterating the earth as a torrent of water and dark careened past one another to carve deep scars into the earth. What remained of the buildings and spires surrounding them were leveled and destroyed, cleaved into pieces by water or darkness and then blasted apart from the resulting explosion. Crystal shards rained everywhere, scattering light in dozens of directions.

The whole city saw the collision. Children and families stared out windows towards the sky. Even the guard had stopped, frozen in place from the display of power. Ehial Fore. Someone had used in the middle of the city.

As the explosion ebbed away, a thick cloud of dust blanketed the entire area, obstructing even the light from sunny day. Seisora had been blown off his feet and into a stone slab, cushioning his impact with armor made of liquid.

He squinted, trying to spot any sign of the intruders—or rather, what was left of them. He figured the floating blob in the sky would be easy to kill if the other four on the ground were dead, now he only had to verify. With the power of the spear, Ehial Fore could destroy half a city, slay dragons, and kill even the hardiest of creatures. A shame he had to use it, considering its destructive potential and the untold damage it caused to the city infrastructure. There was no chance that they were still ali-

A shrill, blood curling roar made him freeze for one small second.

A second in which a sword cut through his armor-both metallic and elemental- and into flesh, slicing from shoulder to mid-section in spray of sparks; the wound was too shallow to be fatal, but deep enough to weaken and cause significant bleeding. It burned like fire, and the darkness that coated the blade seemed to further corrupt, turning searing pain into mind numbing agony. His vision blackened, seeing a dark figure standing a few feet away.

It cut through the armor? Where… did he come from…?

Seisora's stunned blue eyes came face to face with mismatched brown and crazed red, a horrifying grin spread across his attacker's face. Hadn't his eyes been blue before? Blood coated the left side of his face from a cut made by flying debris, his hair a mess and his armor discarded. An arm was missing skin almost entirely, the striated muscles exposed completely, yet new skin seemed to be reforming rapidly. Slashes bled all over his body—a sign of the spear's effects—while his clothes were tattered, revealing armor beneath made of interlocking metal rings. Several rings were broken and snapped, some stained red from cuts and slashes Seisora's water blades had made. They were still bleeding. A regular person wouldn't have been standing.

Black glass incompletely covered Riven's exposed skin and hands-including the partially mangled right- who'd begun to resemble claws and lizard like skin. Human teeth appeared sharper, the same black glass spreading along the canines, elongating and sharpening like a beast's. And there was that horrible aura that tainted whatever air it touched. Pure evil.

Seisora reflexively raised a palm, fear momentarily overtaking trained instincts.

A gigantic blast of water hit Riven directly in the abdomen, knocking him over. That kind of pressure would have ruptured anyone's organs or blasted a hole through their midsection. Only to Seisora's horror, he got right back up and snarled, blood trailing out of his mouth.

That fanged grin of blood stained red teeth sent shivers up the water Origin's spine. The skin on Riven's right arm had regrown completely, now growing black scales. Body glowing white, Riven kicked off the ground with a burst of speed.

Seisora breathed heavily, forming blades of water to match the lunatic's. Once they made contact, the strength of the blow nearly drove the Origin to his knees. What tremendous physical strength did he possess, able to drive an awakened Greigas back through sheer brute force?

"You should be dead… or… dying. What are you?!"

Another shrill scream was the response, voice a mix of gravel and sandpaper.

A giant night slash casually launched the wounded Seisora backwards through part of a ruined building and out the other side, finally stopping once he hit the center of the street after rolling twenty feet. The Origin slowly picked himself up, armor and skin covered in dust and dirt. Wounds stung from the dirt and sweat.

Sitting calmly inside the inner world on the arguably very comfy couch, Riven looked outward from the Nightmare's eyes, seeing Spoopy scuttling in a far off spire, moving his mandibles to signal him. Of course, that bloodthirsty idiot he had for his crazy side didn't pay any mind. The Nightmare's hold on his body was too strong at the moment, bloodlust had completely drugged him. He needed to regain control. Somehow. While the Nightmare was powerful, Seisora had too much of an advantage with his element. Sooner that regeneration wouldn't keep up.

Back in the real world, silver strands glinted in the moonlight as water rose again.

Blasted back by a water repulse, the Nightmare refused to relent, shrugging off the attacks almost effortlessly despite how much they really hurt. Rage was one hell of a drug. At one point, Seisora wrapped Riven in a sphere of crushing water, smashing him into the ground while increasing the pressure until bones started to creak and his skull begin to pound from the pressure.

The water Origin grit his teeth, practically gnashing them together, extending both hands and shoving them downward. A giant aquatic hammer slammed down onto Riven's body, bones fracturing in multiple places as pain spread like wildfire.

What followed was an ear piercing roar that could match a dragon's. Seisora had to physically cover his ears to prevent the eardrums from bursting. That lingering hostility and malice in the air surged, scrambling his thoughts into disarray for a moment.

In that momentary lapse of mental capability, a beam of ice, a plume of fire, and a slash of psychic energy tore at the rest of Seisora's focus, and with it, the crushing sphere of pressure.

Emerging from the sphere with a feral snarl that could put a raging dragon to shame, the Nightmare kicked off a wall and launched himself at Seisora. A single dark stake surrounded an arm, which attempted to gore the water Origin through the shoulder. His armor flashed a bright blue, preventing the stake from penetrating. It didn't block the massive amount of kinetic energy carried by the blow, which subsequently nearly shattered his shoulder in turn.

The dark stake came up again, ready to puncture this time.

Not again!

The water shield once more came to Seisora's aid. Riven wailed on the water shield while spitting insults and taunts, spinning, slashing, and stabbing like a blood crazed berserker. A spear of water shot forth from the shield, piercing Riven's body just above the waist. Blood rushed from the wound, enraging the dark animal even further. To Seisora's horror, he was able to physically see the tissues and muscles begin to reform. Dark mist coated the wound and the inside, as if building new tissue from thin air.

Twin blades blackened, a series of diagonal cut and slashes wearing down the cocoon of liquid until he once again roared, muscles rippling when a geyser of dark energy lifted Seisora and his weakened shield into the air. Riven twirled a blade in his hands, launching it past the water Origin.

Bloodied hands readied its twin on the ground, a red and black aura enveloping the sword—just like it's sister in the air. Seisora turned around, predicting a teleporting strike. Panic set in when the sword stopped, but it was Riven that jumped upward.

A trick?

Seisora moved a hand to divert his defenses, seeing the true strike little too late. Above him, Baron had appeared, gripping the suspended blade in the air. A two pronged attack.

Baron and Riven unleashed a howling Night Slash, slicing in two directions at once—one from above, another from below. The force ripped through the water shield, exploding in a burst of dark energy that boomed as both attacks met and converged. Seisora was caught in the middle, his armor taking the brunt of the damage before it splintered and cracked, allowing remnants of the attack to batter his body.

The water Origin fell from the sky with a loud thud despite the water. The liquid clearly darkened in the light as he bled.

Except the monster wasn't done. He was closing in with both blades, each glowing a shade of blackish crimson.

Recognizing the attacker was approaching too quickly, Seisora abandoned the water shield, using Protect to shield himself from the attack. The Nightmare spun both blades, stabbing them into the center of the shield and roaring like a demon as energy swirled into the tips of the blades.

Energy exploded as something rammed into the protective barrier.

Seisora saw black under the cover of his barrier as the dark pulse drove his feet into the ground and made his arms shake in exertion, covering his entire shield in darkness. The howling of it sent chills down the spine, hairs raising on end.

Was he fighting a demon? Was this even a man? What kind of horrible physical strength did the dark ones have?

Once it dissipated, the tip of a broad sword protruded from the center point of the shield. The Nightmare was gone, red eyes replaced by human blue. The serene smile on Riven's face was far from settling, however. His hands trembled, and there was a ferocity in his eyes, as if fighting something back. Why did he stop? Why was that thing gone?

Spiraling columns of water curled around them both, aiming to crush Riven where he stood. At this distance, he couldn't escape.

"Check," Riven said, voice hoarse.

Paling, Siesora knew it was a trick. But he had no idea what kind of trick it was or how to even start preparing for it. Riven nodded to himself slightly, feeling beyond exhausted.

If you were skilled enough, fast enough, powerful enough, it wasn't the strongest of attacks that got you. Or the fastest. The ones that got you were the ones you never saw coming, because your opponent was ten steps ahead of you the whole time, and you didn't even know it.

That had to be learned the hard way.

"And now you will too," Riven whispered, as he sidestepped a lethal liquid spear. "BOAGRIUS! FIRE!"

Still within the cloud of dust, Seisora saw a momentary light in the dark grey cloud. A green light that grew in size until it became brighter than the moon. Color drained from his already paling complexion. He couldn't run, the deep cuts on his body preventing him from moving too quickly, his bruised and battered shoulder adding to the agony. Blood loss was starting to set in and it was taking its toll on his energy. The more he exerted himself, the faster he lost blood. Peering down at himself, the damaged blue armor he wore was slick with it. Haphazardly speaking, he had a few minutes before unconsciousness.

That injury earlier… it meant to kill or incapacitate. The hit he'd sustained in the air served to further weaken him, force him into a corner. He really had been playing him, and Seisora knew it now.

A beam of pure solar energy illuminated the sky and streets in radiant green light. It sailed past Riven by mere centimeters, barely even reacting to it. Impossible, it seemed. How they could trust each other so completely. Alone they were easy kills, together they were near unstoppable.

Creatures and man working together? Is this… really the future?

Seisora's spiraling columns of water coalesced into a giant jet of liquid to attempt to block it, resisting momentarily before breaking apart futilely due to the type disadvantage. His Protect reformed once again, holding against the beam until the crack at the center of the shield began to splinter. His Protect had been sabotaged. The dark pulses from earlier!

Riven's eyes were focused, knowing exactly how Protect functioned. It was the most basic of defensive moves, and every trainer worth their badges knew its limitations, and if possible, how to exploit them.

That attack… He never wanted to get through.

Break the strongest point of any body and the rest will fall away to ruin. Leave the enemy with nothing to protect themselves with. Lead them to their own demise. The strong pride themselves far too much on their strength, and not enough on their brains.

The barrier shattered like glass, the remnants of the solar beam lifting Seisora off the ground and into the wall of a building, the grass attack wreaking havoc on his body. He fell onto the floor, breathing heavily as he spat, almost vomited blood, still conscious but severely weakened. Droplets dripped onto the water surrounding him, coloring it a dark red. Enraged, the ground once again rippled as water lines burst beneath, releasing gallons of water on the street as he'd done before. The circuits along his arms glowed even brighter. Pushing himself past the brink. Was he trying to kill himself? White sclera turned red from vessels in his eyes bursting.

The water quickly reached waist height.

Riven stared at Seisora as more spears curled into shape behind him. He even gave him the time to make another Ehial Fore. Still Riven refused to move, going as far as dropping his guard.

"Sorry, Seisora. You're one tough bastard, but it's over. I'm not going to let you crystallize. Or you'll kill everyone within the proximity."

"I still… draw breath."

Riven shook his head, gesturing around them.

"Oh, right. Pride, I forgot people have that. Look around. Didn't you know downed power lines are dangerous during floods?"

"What?"

"Look closely. You've lost. Can't run, and even you can't purify this much water fast enough. It's mixed with all kinds of dust, dirt, and sand. The water here can channel thousands of volts in a matter of seconds right now. It's not worth it just to kill me. Stop this now."

It was then that the commander finally noticed the silver strands of webbing littering the entire street, each silk thread connected to the ground from the surrounding spires. In the angle of the moon, the street appeared to flash in glints of silver, revealing a funnel of webbing on a massive scale. Electricity sparked weakly around every surface, but enough to establish that an electric type had set up a type of field on top of the veritable death trap.

Seisora let out a slow, incredulous rumble.

He didn't just incapacitate him. No, he led him into a trap this entire time with nowhere to run and no one to help him. Now the reason why the rest of the guard never arrived made a sudden amount of sense. Riven had split his team to distract the guard and placed electrified traps along the streets and rooftops while the main fighters split to fight him and stall for time. He'd cut off his support and cornered him like a rat, turning his greatest asset into his biggest weakness. Toying with him. The realization just further fueled his rage.

Seisora roared.

A slender spear of water tore into Riven's side as he narrowly avoided getting run through, the hit spraying crimson. He pursuited away mere moments before the biggest hydro pump he'd ever seen tore him apart. The blast continued and decimated yet another building beyond repair. Riven stood atop a blade buried in the side of a spire, eyeing Spoopy and Baron, each holding onto a thread of electric webbing. He held up a bloody finger and pointed, looking down at an enraged Seisora.

Spears of water tried to reach him, failing as Riven used Efrain's blades like platforms to escalate himself up the building wall. Each jump agitated the fresh wound, nearly driving Riven to unconsciousness.

Seisora's body began glowing and even brighter blue, and tiny protrusions of crystals began to form on his skin. Water was converging on him again, formulating into another spear, the crystal object held so tightly in his hands that his skin was white from the force. Glossy material spread along his cheekbones, glowing the same deep blue.

And those crystals were growing by the second. If Ehial Fore didn't kill them all at this range, the resulting explosion from overload would. It hurt to breathe from the wound in his side, but Riven shouted with everything he had.

"Baron, Spoopy, Omy. Thunderbolt! Stop him, now!"

Yellow electricity flashed and traveled through the conductive webbing and into the river of water, giving the water Origin several thousand volts of electricity as his own element was turned against him. He screamed in agony until it stopped, leaving him floating in the waters, face down.

Baron shook his head. They knew he wasn't dead. Or unconscious.

So when he tried to throw the spear in a surprise attack, Riven only scoffed. Nice try.

A small orange shock of electricity bolted outward and struck Seisora in the back, whose control over the water died abruptly. The spear bobbed atop the water uselessly beside him. The Origin fell back onto the still waves, conscious but entirely numb from neck down. He could still breathe and talk, but his limbs felt like logs. His pain had also subsided as a result of the paralytic effect.

His blue eyes stared up at the sky, completely baffled. Poison? No… then what?

"I… can't… move?"

Riven sloshed and trudged through the water above him, a grin plastered over his blood stained face. He gave Omy and Spoopy a thumbs up, congratulating them for a job well done. Only once the adrenaline began to fade did his body ache horribly, most notably that shoulder he'd almost dislocated. His side burned horribly and he could feel the blood loss in the lightness in his head. Deep gash, most likely. He grabbed Seisora's arm, making sure that the crystallization hadn't progressed further. The few patches of crystallized skin broke away slowly, regressing back into normal, significantly less blue skin. He sighed in relief, chuckling with pained breaths.

"Paralyze wave, one of the most dickish, cockblockish, anti-fun moves you can ever… encounter. Makes even the mightiest dragons useless. Locks your muscles up so you're… unable to move for up to an hour or more. Stronger electric types can stop," he grunted, "your breathing. Painless but worse than neurotoxin at times. In this state, you'd be lucky to move your baby toe. Trainer staple."

Seisora curled a lip at the infernal electric fowl strapped to that electric spider. To be defeated by an insect and an infant?

"So you have defeated me, humiliated me and taken my dignity as a warrior and protector of my city. What now, then, spy? Will you kill me now and remove my head and show it to your masters? Will that please you?"

Riven rolled his eyes.

"Neither. Look man, I just saved your city from getting blown to pieces because of you. And, I'm not planning on just killing you, even though I should've since you're so fucking stupid. Overload is a terrible way to die that could've absolutely shredded this beautiful place apart with an Origin of your strength. I sincerely hope you weren't looking forward to being stuck in a chamber in that Shrine of yours forever for some ill conceived notion of a noble death. I know it's not worth it, because it won't matter soon if you're all dead."

Aqua blue eyes widened in surprise.

"Soon? Are you planning an attack?"

Riven ignored that.

"Don't think it's out of respect. I'm leaving you alive because I need you for my escape plan, and there aren't many options right now. I can't exactly run either. Nicked me just like I did, good move…" He picked up the crystal spear, watching as it turned the color of an onyx gem in his hands. Grabbing the limp body of Seisora, Riven held the blade of a knife to his throat.

The water around them was almost completely red. In a few minutes they'd probably both be unconscious.

He knew Spoopy's traps wouldn't hold forever, but they lasted long enough to get him some leverage. The fact that only Seisora and his mook squad had shown up then was a good thing by most standards. Fighting more than one Origin of his caliber would be impossible. Seisora wasn't just anybody. He was important, and that meant he could use him as a bargaining chip, as much as he disliked the idea. If it was just any other guard, they wouldn't be so inclined to trade.

Hostage exchange or not, Riven realized that he was more or less completely fucked.

So when the guard and several other important looking soldiers surrounded the rooftops around the flooded street, Riven grinned viciously. Each other them was armed with crystalline bows, each carrying those enhancing arrows that could blow a person to pieces just as easily they did stone buildings. About a hundred pairs of eyes and arms pointed at him, the only thing stopping them was the paralyzed man he was currently threatening.

Where is that fucking Celebi? Riven cursed, acknowledging that his situation became decidedly fucked faster than a Charmander in a rainstorm.

"Let the Protector go, intruder! You have proven your strength!" Demanded an older, bearded soldier. He wore more intricate armor than the standard fare, utilizing heavy plate instead of lighter, less bulky armor. A large crystalline axe held at his side. Riven guessed it was the commander of the guard, a different but nonetheless similar outfit to whatever Seisora's was.

"Try anything and he'll be worse than paralyzed!" Riven shot back. Efrain whirled about, circling above the two protectively.

Tensions rose, the soldiers staring back at Riven as he glared right back, neither moving an inch. Bow strings remained taught, crystal tipped arrows alight with fire, wind, water, and electricity. He purposely covered Seisora's mouth so he wouldn't shout something stupid like, "kill him, don't mind me."

Green light burst atop a building, blasting about several soldiers, their shrieking and yelling alerting the others. Boagrius had begun to fire on them with the unabated fury of a small cloud shouting profanities of the highest order with each ball. His tact made Riven want to stab himself instead.

"WRETCH!"

"FIEND!"

"ORIGIN SCUM!"

"PITIFUL CANNON FODDER!"

"BOW TO YOUR GREAT LORD, FOR I AM THUNDER AND LIGHTNING!"

Arrows littered the skies but Boagrius hid himself among the clouds, rising higher into the air where their projectiles couldn't reach. Green flashes returned from the clouds, briefly coloring them a sickly green as energy balls exploded between clusters of soldiers, throwing them about and disorienting their ranks.

Ice bloomed across the sides of the buildings, forming walls to block their view. Several soldiers and guards were caught in the beam, frozen in place except for those that had a resistance, instantly thawing out or breaking the encroaching frost. Haona had joined in, firing icy beams from below. He could see glowing uniforms topple amidst the chaos as something rammed into them. A beam of dark energy blew several soldiers down into the water. Tai, had to be. Sure, he was welcome for the help. Except for one small predicament.

The guard now realized that Riven had indirectly attacked him and had no reason not to fire. And they did so without question, turning his attention fully to him. Throughout the distraction, Riven had forgotten to keep Seisora's head from moving. He must have signaled them with a nod.

God damn it, Boagrius! Riven swallowed, demanding Efrain put up a shield. Wouldn't do a damn thing against more than a few of those explosive arrows but damn it if he couldn't try.

Beneath the barrier, he waited for the volley of explosions from dozens of enhanced arrows to destroy him, yet nothing came. Water dropped below his feet as it parted. When the shield dissipated, Riven and Efrain couldn't help but freeze.

Hundreds of arrows remained motionless in the air, suspended by a force while flood waters were parted to the side like some kind of magic trick. Rubble and debris from the skirmish lifted, coming together quickly to reshape and reform the structures they composed down to the tiniest detail. Within a few moments, the damage from the battle vanished.

Suspended also in the air was Boagrius, who continued to spit boisterous profanities, Baron, Spoopy, Aine, and Omy. They struggled uselessly.

On the ground fifty feet away, a group of men and women dressed in whitish purple flowing robes stood, hands outstretched. A single insignia of curved, interlocking rings surrounding a flower was embroidered in the their robes, glowing a bright magenta.

The same color of their eyes.

Sagnai, the flower of the Curian clan that signified wisdom, knowledge, and truth. Familiar, but different. The rings were new.

Were they the Curians of the old world, brought to this time like he had so many years into the future? Or were they descendents of those Curians? Either way, this confirmed that some of the bastards had come through a wormhole and ended up somewhere else. Had they founded all this? He didn't know much of their city or culture at all, just that they backed the Rose clan for pretty much everything. Including genocide.

At first Riven couldn't feel a thing, his dark typing preventing their influence from affecting him. Haona and Tai were similarly unaffected. At least until the Curians' eyes changed, their pupils turning into magenta crowns that shone like stars.

Miracle eye.

A wave of oppressive force weighed down on Riven's body as if gravity had tripled instantly, the weight of the knife and his arm suddenly multiplied—he couldn't lift either higher than a few inches. Efrain hit the ground with a clang. Haona was instantly floored, locked in place while Tai was heaved off the rooftop he was on to join the rest of Riven's team in the air above the street.

The group advanced until they were face to face with Riven. One of them took Seisora from beneath, palms lighting up in a warm glow, administering a heal pulse. The bleeding injuries he sustained closed, his face still pale from the blood loss. Although paralyzed, he wasn't in danger of dying anymore. They took his trump card. Another seized the crystal spear, turning the same magenta color in his hands.

"A dark one that defeated the Shield of the Oasis," the eldest psychic said, voice grim as the grave. He had a long white beard and weary eyes. "Not many can say that and still draw breath. Who are you? Your kind should not exist, how do you exist? What kingdom do you hail from? How did they create a dark Greigas?"

Riven managed to squirm, earning him more psychic pressure. Four people were holding him down, he could see the concentration on their faces.

"Do not resist. Why are you not on the ground? For a dark one even this is potent still. A powerful experiment perhaps? Vertas did seek our technology. Did they achieve something we could not? "

A wrinkled hand flexed and brought Riven down to his knees.

"Well?"

Riven growled in response, telling the psychic to go shove a frozen wad of shit into his asshole, regurgitate it and then eat it slowly. Obviously, the old bastard understood none of it. His white brows furrowed at Riven's snarling and cursing. The elder shook his head, disappointed.

"This speech… not Vertan. A code, perhaps?" He speculated. "Since you refuse to speak sense rather than this… garbled language of yours, we are obligated to be invasive. We do not take kindly to intruders breaching our city, assaulting our people, destroying our infrastructure, defeating and humiliating our champions, and worst of all—opening the Shrine of Rebirth. You saw the Creator. What secrets have you? What is your purpose? If you do not tell us, we will uncover it ourselves. Prepare yourself, this may sting."

Riven instantly felt something drive into his skull.

Probing into the dark recesses of the stranger's mind, the elder felt like he had reached something, extending as far as his miracle eye could allow. He saw brief flashes of people and creatures, one of a boy with red eyes, and another, clearer, picture of a beautiful girl with eyes the color of a storm ridden sky. He saw a tiny fowl emerge from an egg, and a green and white creature wearing a dress transform into a hardened fighter.

Feelings of warmth, feelings of love. Beneath that, he saw images of war and death, of sacrifices and friends lost. Of people killed.

Nothing of purpose, only strong feelings. Was this what a dark one felt? No surface thoughts, but only those of the greatest strength? Of hatred and love?

After a moment, the sky shifted, a dual split of black and white joining at the horizon.

"Ah, the subconscious. Perhaps the answers lie here?"

Instead of information, however, something else appeared, crawling out from the subconscious. The shape unfurled, revealing a slender humanoid creature with black claws and teeth, and a pair of blood red eyes. It looked at him and hissed, black spittle coming out of its mouth. Poised low, it blended in with the darkness. Its claws reached out and crossed the distance in a second, slicing him from head to toe as unholy pain seared through him, worse than any cut could achieve. Forcing him out of Riven's mind completely, the elder's miracle eye failed him, the influence tainting his ability to focus.

The elder recoiled, falling backward, eyes going wide. His subordinates caught him, helping him up. He felt for the area where the Nightmare had cut him, still feeling the pain. Black marks in the shape of talons extended down his torso, their taint wreaking havoc on his psychic body.

"W-what is that? What are you?" The psychic demanded. "Not even dark creatures can oppose-"

The Curians, or so Riven thought, finally noticed that Riven began to move despite the collective psychic weighing him down.

Whatever the Nightmare did to scare the elder shitless, it'd worked. Their focus weakened from panic, turning to fear when Riven's dark aura freed Efrain, beginning to shuffle slowly towards them, his resistance strengthening while their power waned.

"Not so tough now, are you? I let Seisora live, but you? I'll gladly cut all of you to pieces for trying to probe me. Let my pokemon go and I'll make it quick. I've always wondered what it'd be like to gut a Curian."

"We do not negotiate with Vertan… abominations! Put him down!"

The younger Curians formed pools of whitish pink light in their hands, no doubt some sort of fairy attack. Riven's hands channeled darkness instead, ominously twirling Efrain's swords. Rage blinded him, overwhelmed by a hatred that he hadn't felt in years. The Nightmare's influence was there, a cloud of darkness lapsing his normal judgment that didn't feel oppressive, but welcome. It should have scared him.

It didn't.

He snarled, swords darkening with black energy.

ENOUGH!

Just as Riven prepared to pounce, the ground rumbled, raising thick vines from beneath that ensnared Riven's body, immobilizing his legs and arms. The Curians were in turn forced into the floor by a veritable slam of psychic power that could actually be visualized. Riven's party fell from the sky, coming to a gentle halt that led them to the floor, yet still remained immobile. The guard and soldiers were in a similar state. Nobody moved an inch, eyes focused above.

A green figure descended from the sky, illuminating the area in a bright sphere of green light, drawing the awe of the Naueilhi.

"The spirit of the forest…" The elder Curian gasped. "You bless us with your presence… in this moment of shame. This Vertan spy threatens to-"

He is no spy, Agneus. Celebi responded, relaying the message to everyone, including Riven and his dark pokemon. They were as bewildered as he had been the first time. This man I have brought with me to this time. Neither I, nor this man, belongs to this era. He belongs to no kingdom or enemy of Naueilh. We did not mean you harm.

Seisora's brows furrowed. "He…mentioned he was a time traveler. I refused to believe him. He…you, are from the future?"

The legendary pokemon nodded.

And the past, it said, looking at Riven. But one has forgotten of the tendency of humans to misunderstand, to mistrust before question, rather than question before mistrust. I have brought this man to learn of the fate of this world. Of why He will pass his judgment a second time, and why-

He paused, gazing at them all. Gazing at the women and children who left their homes to witness the commotion. His telepathy carried to every soul within sight.

-Your people will cease to exist.

---

"Couldn't you have just talked to them in the first place, then? Fucking hell I almost died because of your sleepy old ass!" Riven shrieked, chastising the green Legendary in a private room the not-Curians had given them. Apparently, they had no idea what a Curian even was. Or an Altean, or a Liran, or any of the other clans.

I was exhausted. Traveling through time is taxing for Celebi of even my age.

"I'm just saying, this could've been all avoided if you'd just descended from the sky and said, 'well shit guys, the world is ending and I'm here to figure out why'," Riven reasoned. "But no, instead I have to fight one of the most intense battles in my life against a guy that could beat the snot out of me if I didn't have my full team while starving!"

His pokemon were equally pissed off. Haona was covered in bandages and Aine's legs had been wrapped up so much there was more cloth than feather. She was barely able to walk before a heal pulse had closed up a majority of the damage. Baron's arms were covered in scabs and Riven had even more scars to add to the collection. The memory and pain of getting his right arm reduced to sinews and exposed muscle was horrifying. Then there was that gut wound that had seemed to pour blood like a fountain, until it didn't. The injured shoulder from earlier healed from the awakening, but the gash in his side hadn't. Nightmare regeneration was amazing, although it seemed it didn't exactly apply during his normal state. Also did nothing for fatigue, which was expected.

I am sorry, the Celebi said. Humans are volatile creatures. I was not aware they revered our kind as so.

"Yeah, because legendaries power their spheres? Of course they'd revere you. I'm starting to think legendary pokemon are full of shit. Apart from tending to screw up my life from time to time. But know what? It's dinner time, I'm bleeding, and I'm hungry. This better have been worth all the pain you made me go through. Have a good damn night and I'll only say this once, but thanks for the save. Sleep, and I'll hope I don't die. Don't go anywhere."

Celebi simply floated there and waved him goodbye. Riven wanted to punch the little green bastard, despite that being an unwise survival choice given how that same little thing made all those psychic Origins look like third rate amateurs. Legendary pokemon, even the small ones, were leagues above regular pokemon in strength.

The whole situation was still absurdly stupid, though. Apparently, having a legendary vouch for you meant instant trust around here, considering how fast they went from wanting to put Riven's head on a spike to giving him access to a bath and a private room in the largest building in Naueilh by far, the governmental spire, he guessed. Or elder council, whatever. They even healed his pokemon. Which was strange considering that was an hour ago. The looks the Naueilhi gave him were still-understandably so- mistrusting.

Riven walked towards the dining hall, noting his surroundings with nothing short of fascination. He enthusiastically took pictures.

The housing inside Naueilh was a strange mix of crystal activated housing, with the same fractal patterns lining the interior hallways of the spires. Clear piping brought water up and down the structure, acting like modern plumbing while circuits powered the crystalline lights above. Walking through the hallways felt like being in another world, having gotten used to the simplistic designs of modern architecture and the dullness of electrical lighting. These lights changed colors.

Reaching the dining hall, he stared awkwardly at the various robed elders seated in the gigantic dining table. The psychic elders were at the far end, with the other colors extending down the sides to his seat at the table, surrounded by people in plain white robes and tunics. They were nervous upon seeing him, whispering about dark creatures and eating children.

Rolling his eyes, he saw Seisora standing behind the eldest psychic, fully healed and armored. A longsword replaced the one that shattered in the battle and a crystal spear rested in his hands, knowing fully that he could use that with destructive proficiency.

"Sit," he said simply, gesturing to Riven's seat at the far table. His face was unreadable stone.

Riven sat down slowly, sizing up every threat in the room. Which was too many. Behind him imposingly stood several colored guards in heavy, plated armor. Several other armored guards flanked the respective nobles.

With Seisora here and the rest of these guys, trying to fight his way out would be definitive suicide, even for his Nightmare. His paranoia spiked, but was quickly destroyed by his hunger and the plate of sizzling cuts of meat and sauced vegetables in front of him.

Ripping off a chunk of tender meat with a feral bite drew some disgusted scoffs from the other colored elders, most notably the women. Whispers of savage and dark monsters came again from several mouths, but Riven simply glared at them all, mouth full of food. It tasted too good to care about petty noble—by god what kind of steak was that? That wasn't Miltank or Tauros, was it? Those berries and vegetables were simply bursting with flavor too, sweet and tangy and the same time. Some of them glowed.

Of course, the prissy nobles hadn't begun to eat yet, too entranced by Riven's Mightyena-like table antics.

The eldest psychic at the end of the table quieted them with a hand. "Please, noble house leaders, let him eat. The forest spirit warned us he is starving, and despite his nature, is far less hostile when treated with respect. I propose we withhold judgments or grievances until we have finished satiating our hunger first."

They ate in silence until one of the nobles in grey, an air Origin, set his utensils down, staring Riven down. "I think he's ate enough. We need answers. We have undoubted faith in the Forest Spirit, however, your story is questionable. Are the rest in agreement?"

"Caecili is correct," an elder woman with graying hair in red responded. Her robes were embroidered with flames that burned an iridescent red. "What and who are you, stranger? Seisora has informed us your name is… Nathan? Is it? Peculiar name. A fad of the future?"

Riven sighed, wiping his mouth with his arm. "Listen, lady-"

"She is not lady, stranger. Her name is Madam Vouan, leader of the Felir class. And you will address her with respect," a lightly armored woman in red said, sporting the same cheekbones and burning amber eyes as Vouan. She was stunning, resembling a younger version of the older woman at the table. Her daughter, no doubt.

"Sorry, I don't know your names," Riven shrugged. "I know two now, one of them being Agneus, right?"

The elderly psychic nodded.

"Anyway, that forest spirit's name is Celebi. And I'll gladly answer your questions if you keep snobbiness to a minimum. I'm normally allergic to nobles and their antics. I'd hate to sneeze here. But first, do I have your word that you'll believe what I say, leave me and my team unharmed, and not send assassins or whatever you have to kill me in my sleep?"

Agneus chortled, drawing some smiles from the other elders. "Of course. We do not kill guests or assassinate them. That is beneath us and would betray the forest spirit's trust. That is a graver offense than you can imagine. You remind me of Seisora, he is always jumping to far-fetched conclusions of conspiracy."

The vanguard's eyelid twitched. "Lord!" He pleaded sharply.

Riven smiled.

"Life teaches you things. One of those things being caution when you're around people who could kill you with a single snap of their fingers. I've been in a situation like this before. And I hated it. I'm used to be screwed over. That's why I'm paranoid. Safety measure."

"You have our word," the elders repeated in unison. It was kind of alarming.

There was a long sigh as the outlander crossed his arms.

"Well, since we're in accord…ask away."

"Celebi… The forest spirit. Is that what the people of the future call it?" A beautiful woman in a flowing green tunic asked first. A wreath of flowers sat atop her golden locks and the fabric of her clothes hugged her figure, outlining her ample breasts and slender frame.

Riven almost stared, never having seen a grass Origin before. He wondered if the Noltians looked like that too. He'd heard stories of them from the other Remnants around campfires, about how pristine they always looked, even when coated in mud. The men were particularly vocal about female Noltian's bodies.

She tilted her head, blinking several times. "I am sorry, does my appearance disturb you?"

"More like excites him," another noble in brown quipped. Riven glared at him.

"No, not at all, lady… uh…"

"Aiyum." She gestured to the man next to her. There was a wreath around his head too. "This is my husband, Lord Leilen. We are the leaders of the Unil class. The soldier standing behind you is our son, Crescen."

Riven looked behind him and noted the guy was like a carbon copy of his mother, only male. Their eyes were greener than anything he'd ever seen, and their hair so blonde it looked platinum. Women probably swooned over him the same way his mother attracted men.

"Sorry, I just never met a Noltian before. I guess the stories were true. You are too pretty for this damn earth, even the guys."

He chuckled to himself as Lady Aiyum's cheeks reddened. Even the husband looked shocked. Crescen cleared his throat when a female guard gave him a playful elbow in the side, calling him pretty boy. Good old military rubbing.

"What's a Noltian?" A burly man in the back with bulging muscles and a dirt brown tunic grumbled . The muscle tone on his body was unreal, his muscles appearing more like rock plates than organic tissue. "Never heard of that term before. Sounds weak."

"I distinctly remember my vines breaking those weak muscles of yours, Felc. Or are they just for show?" The beautiful women retorted, smiling serenely. The rock Origin scoffed. "Please continue, Nathan."

"Right. Well, the Noltians were like Lady Aiyum and her family. Lived in a huge forest called the Grand Noltan Forest where their name comes from," Riven explained. "It's just what we called them. Even though I'd never actually seen one before, only heard about them in stories. You're going to have to forgive me if I'm being rude or crass because… I have no idea what the customs here are like. Or the people. All of it is new to me and I already had to deal with adjusting to the future, and that took me five years. It was... unpleasant."

"Aha! So there are Greigas in the future! By then the planet must be full of them, no? This is wonderful news!" A boisterous, steel haired old man with a towering physique exclaimed. He took a long swig of his drink and clapped Felc's back with a beefy hand. "We will succeed! This man has confirmed our future!"

Thin ridges of metal attached to the undersides of his arms, looking like… retractable blades? Aliac didn't have those. So he was a steel Origin, and one with the personality of Boagrius. This was going to be fun.

The whole table began to erupt in whispers, smiles and joy spreading as they hugged each other. It was extremely bizarre. Why were they celebrating? Riven shook his head and waved his hands, trying to get their attention.

"Uhm… not exactly," he started, a bit nervous when they turned their attention to him, still smiling. Felt like he was holding a needle to a bubble. "In fact, there's not many left at all. I can count the number of Origins—er, Greigas—left in the future with my hands. And that's also why I'm here. Or how I got into this mess. Two of my friends got turned into… one of us. They were normal. One of them… she uh, was about to die. Your technology. Your spheres. They saved her. And if this technology of yours were to get into the wrong hands, I'm afraid the future's screwed."

Their laughs died down, sinking into their chairs as they stared. Riven parted his arms, sighing with his hands.

"Celebi wasn't exaggerating. Truth is… in the future—your people are gone. All of them. Without a trace. This place? It's all ruins where I came from. Swallowed by the desert. And here I am sitting here eating food with you. It's… a little off-putting."

I'm dining with ghosts, he realized, smirking wryly that he was technically a ghost himself. Or should've been.

Nobles, elders, and soldiers seemed to process that gravely, exchanging concerned whispers. Some stopped eating entirely.

"Then how did you come to be a dark Greigas?" Seisora asked from across the room, breaking the ominous silence. "As far as I know, none of the power spheres are able to confer a dark alignment. If our people are gone, how did you come to change? Your friends, what element are they?"

"Fire and air," Riven replied.

"I see. But dark? That's impossible. No ancient beast has blessed us with that kind of malevolent energy in the first place. The dark beasts are too dangerous and too secretive to find. And how are you able to control those other beasts of yours? Vertas controls them too. They do not have Greigas, they prefer to rely on less… natural augmentations instead."

Everyone was facing him.

"Come on, are you seriously still suggesting I'm a spy?"

"No, I'm merely wondering how it's possible. Genuine curiosity."

"Uh-huh."

Riven snorted and tossed a pokeball into the middle of the room, clinking against a metallic plate in the center. Madam Vouan's daughter picked up the ball in her hands and examined it, black brows furrowed deeply. She pushed the button in the center, causing her to drop it in fright once its size doubled in her palm. Fire reflexively singed the metallic lining of the ball. She picked it up again, holding it like it was damned.

"A ball?"

The stranger nodded.

"Don't worry, it's not laced with poison or anything. It's called a pokeball, and it's an invention of the future. Allows the capture of those beasts. We call them pokemon. In the future, 'trainers' train these pokemon to fight in contests and displays of strength. I'm a gym leader, which is like a next step up from a trainer. We treat our pokemon like friends. Like our children. That's why they listen to me, not because I have some kind of Vertan technology. I don't control them. They're my family."

Pulling out another pokeball, the nobles and elders flinched as a bright light illuminated the room. The soldiers jumped and drew weapons, confusion spreading on their faces as Omy appeared on the table. She whinnied and scampered beside Riven, jumping off the table and hiding behind his leg as he ruffled the lightning shaped hair on her mane. Seisora's mouth contorted into nothing short of a disdainful scowl.

Still salty about the paralyze wave, not like he could blame him. That move was pure dickery.

"This is Omy, she's called a Blitzle. She's a little shy around strangers."

"Scary water man is staring at me!" She whinnied, hiding once again.

"Scary water man won't hurt you," Riven assured in English. "I should've brought Boagrius out instead. That would have been hilarious. Back you go."

Returning her caused them all to gasp as they watched a three foot tall fowl get sucked into a palm sized ball.

"So these people. These trainers… Can they not fight like Greigas?" Caecili the air Origin asked. "We've no need for these beasts to fight out battles for us. Is it because they are Unpowered?"

Riven noted how the white robed diners beside his seat flinched. White colors must have meant normals, or Unpowered, and it was clearly a sensitive topic. Maybe they treated the Unpowered like serfs? Would explain their reactions.

"Yes, they are. We're the minority in that world. So they make up for it with pokemon. I'm sure I don't have to tell you how fragile normal humans are compared to an evolved human, let alone a pokemon. And that's the catch. Why I'm a Greigas. I didn't need a sphere. Because the only Greigas left in the future are those that rediscovered the remnants of your technology, and those that came from the past, before this time. Long ago. Well into the Primal Era—the time of legendary beasts. My era."

"But you said you come from the future?" One of the nobles pointed out.

The stranger grinned, holding the metaphorical bombshell in his hands. "Yeah, that's because I came from the future after I came from a world in the past. An era much, much older than even Naueilh itself. Back when every person that walked, that breathed, had the power of a Greigas. We were born that way. And there were clans just like your classes, only they didn't like to work together."

"Did Celebi bring you to the future?" Lady Aiyum asked. "We know vaguely that it is able to travel between times, but we have never observed it beyond its blessings to imbue our spheres."

"No, Celebi didn't bring me there. I ended up in the future through pure chance. By legendary pokemon stronger than Celebi. The gods of this world if you will. And they wiped us from existence, only some of us made it through time when the legendary beasts ripped time and space apart. Somehow. Since then, Greigas from my time have been ending up in random eras throughout history."

He stared at Agneus.

"Who founded Naueilh? Because that flower there is a Curian symbol. Sagnai. The symbol of the psychic clan back in my era. You don't know who Curians are, yet you bear a close resemblance to their insignia. Why? Not a coincidence, I gather."

The elder psychic touched the symbol, closing his eyes briefly.

"This flower… was the symbol of our forefathers. The founders of Naueilh, who forged this city from the sands and expanded the kingdom throughout the known world. We know very little of them, for that was three millennia ago. Even for the oldest and strongest of Greigas, that is well over five lifetimes. They were enigmatic, seeking to forget their origins with haste and build something new. They reached out to the humans they saw, the Unpowered, and created a kingdom. They brought order to a world without laws."

Riven eyed the psychics, noting the similarity of their features compared to the others. Some of the other Origins had different traits, whether it was eye color, hair color, or the shape of their faces, each of them showed signs of genetic mixing over generations. But the psychics looked similar.

He pointed a finger.

"Psychics aren't created from the spheres, are they? But the rest of you… early on none of the other types existed. That's why you needed the Legendaries to bless the spheres. You had no way to charge them because of the expenditure of energy required. Energy only the legendaries could supply at the time."

Agneus and the other elders exchanged glances, faces grave.

"You know much of our society, stranger. May I ask how?"

"I'm good at piecing things together. And something's been bothering me. Why were you all happy when you thought the planet was full of people like us?"

"Because a Greigas can only have a child with another Greigas," Madam Vouan answered. "Every Greigan death means less children left for the next generation. The Unpowered must receive our spheres in order to ascend into a class, lest they live short lives fraught with sickness and fragility. The beasts which once gave us blessings have retreated into slumber. This presented a grave issue for our kingdom. Greigas are worth too much to be lost now."

Lady Aiyum looked at Riven, sadness in her eyes.

"And so we must find other ways to create the spheres. Unpowered births are more plentiful than that of Greigas, and the divide between the classes grows within our kingdom. Many Unpowered flock to the Vertan kingdom, where they replace their bodies to become more machine than human. There, they feel less ostracized, deeming Naueilh and its satellite countries an unfair and discriminatory society. In many ways, they are correct. Many Greigas believe them to be useless. This is not true at all."

"The crystals in the Shrine. They don't power the city… you're using your own people to charge the spheres?"

"I see that look in your eyes, stranger. We are not barbarians," Felc growled. "Parents give their lives to charge the spheres for the children of Unpowered, allowing them to grow as potential mates for existing Greigas children. With more natural births, in a few generations, there will be little to no Unpowered left that have not ascended. What few there are can be converted with so many Greigas lending their power."

"I sense a but," Riven pointed out. "I have a feeling this rival kingdom is doing more than just sending spies at you."

Agneus sighed, nodding. "Vertas was founded in much the same way Naueilh was, to the northeast side of the world. The founders were… split. Some wished to keep the power of the Griegas to themselves, while the others, our forefathers, wished to share the gift with the world. If they were these so called Curians, then surely they hailed from this Primal Era, as you say."

Thinking that over, Riven nibbled on his lip. It made sense that the Curians could have arrived several thousand years ago, and with their psychic abilities and who knows what else, established some kind of kingdom while also attempting to revive the old clan system. Except far less regimented and by all means, loose in procreation laws.

The others, though… They definitely sounded like the dickhead Curians he heard about. But mechanical augmentation? Why would psychics go that route if they thought so highly of themselves? And there was a bigger question, how did they manage to develop all this technology? Did they bring back something with them?

Father never said they were that advanced. Nobody was. I think I'd know if bastards were throwing around Ehial Fores all over the place.

"The Creator," Riven started, shifting focus. The air seemed to tense around the room. "Where did you get it? Or should I say… where did the founders get it? It feels like me. Something dark. Ancient. What would a bunch of psychics be doing with the very thing that kills them? Much less something as unstable as that. That's like using a landmine as a footstand. Doesn't make sense."

"It…" Agneus' voice faltered as the other nobles glared at him. Even the beautiful Aiyum and unflappable Vouan eyed him. "Is a source of great shame. This is why we refuse to speak of its intricacies, for we have forgotten the technology through which its energy is harnessed. It is the source of Naueilh's prosperity, the source of our crystal technology. It releases energy and the systems the forefathers built harness it, shaping raw energy into crystalline form. We tried to create a dark Greigas using its power in the same way, but the subject died screaming and was reduced to crystal dust before our eyes. We never tried again."

"You said shame? Why? It's just a power source. Unless… What did they do to get it?"

"Our fathers... Betrayal, sorrow, and shame. You claimed that your world was wiped from existence. If you truly come from the same era… I-" Agneus hesitated, shifting uncomfortably under Riven's gaze. "The founders… they needed it to save their people from a catastrophe. And to do so… they broke their hearts and did something that they could never wipe their hands of."

Riven's heart panged in his chest, throat going dry as the man's story began to sound far too familiar. Tesla's words echoed in his mind from that time on the skyline, when he gave Riven the wind sphere. The Alteans were scientists, and they started the war to wipe them out. To gain control of Altean technology. If Curians were the forefathers of Naueilh, and they manipulated the other clans into war with Altea, then it was safe to say that they were after something like the Creator. If it was that powerful, then why hadn't they stolen it before during the war?

Unless… they hadn't known about its existence. Something that could change the world as they knew it. In times of desperate need, people do things they'd never do normally. Like a world wide total extinction event.

Pieces of the puzzle slammed into place, each coming down with the force of an explosion in his mind.

The truce. Unconditional surrender in a situation where Altea had no upper hand. Except they did. Steven always said that unlimited energy opened up possibilities that scientists didn't think possible. His father, deemed an idealistic fool. And what came next... Riven already knew the answer.

"Agneus… what did they do to get it?"

Frowning, the man removed a bracelet from his wrist, cracking it open to reveal a small pink stone. The prototype sphere Tesla had shown him, only this one belonged to a psychic. It looked worn down, centuries old by the looks of it. Riven stopped breathing. The man tapped a wrinkled finger against the smooth surface, projecting images into the minds of the others in the room. The elders appeared more collected as a result of age, but the younger soldiers… they had no idea.

"I have seen it many times. It is the burden of the eldest of the Xenhil to bear. This is the first I show the others. It… will not be pleasant."

Reality bled away, replaced with the sights and sounds of the past.

Fire swallowed the skies as the sphere showed the carnage of the pyrolancers' attack on Altea. Every scream of anguish crystal clear as grown soldiers skewered and burned men, women, and children. Whoever the man was that recorded it dropped to his knees, wretching onto the ground.

The feed blackened, restarting as the recorder breathed heavily up the steps to what looked like a castle on the outside. Fire engulfed the structure and the recorder gagged from the smoke. Heading inside, they passed the burning remains of Riven's childhood home, coming to the main foyer.

A large spiral staircase descended down the hole, fractal patterns adorning the walls. They were identical the ones found in the Tower of Mastery and everywhere in Naueilh. The recorder and the soldiers descended into the underground chasm, cobbled stone giving away to sleek crystal structures that rippled with power.

Hundreds of Alteans stood inside, black steel in their hands. They wore clothes entirely different from the clothes Riven recognized. Their armor was just like Seisora's, glowing with energy that pulsed black.

Tesla was wrong. The Alteans never abandoned their scientific roots. They simply covered them up. Hid them away from the world. That's why they'd never launched an offensive against Altea. Because there'd be little to strategically gain from a now backward people.

Standing in the back of the room, a woman with piercing blue eyes held a crystal container, tears trailing silently down her cheeks. Inside was the very same lattice Riven had seen in the Shrine. The Creator. However, it appeared stable, blue in color, not the freakish red glob of crystal within the shrine. A man stood beside his mother, with a head full of coal black hair, eyes an even deeper azure than his mother's.

His parents. This is where they died.

Black circuitry spread along his skin, his eyes turning a deep crimson. A tall man stepped beside the recorder, the Sagnai flower displayed proudly on his pauldrons.

"Hand over the Sigil Stone, Cerul. Your pathetic city lays in flames. If only your people made more of an effort to not hide their blessings you might have survived. This structure is magnificent… imagine the spires and palaces we could build with this. Selfish Alteans, never wanting to share. To think you hid this for centuries. Trickery at its finest."

"You are one to talk. Oathbreaker… Figures you broke it," his father chuckled. "We created this Sigil Stone for a reason. Because we thought it might change the world, to make it a better place after war destroyed most of it. To reform us from what we have become!"

"Nonsense!" The psychic snapped. "You created it to bring back that monstrosity that tore our world apart thousands of years ago! And who paid that price? Curia did. We did not forget. This war was your ancestors' faults. Because you saw yourselves above nature. But see, we have no plans to use that unholy thing as a way to ascend. Not after what your kind did. No, your Sigil Stone will save us another way."

Riven's father laughed loudly, the Nightmare transformation changing his voice into deranged cackling. "It will not save you. Arceus saw this coming. He knew what you would do, how your greed consumed you! And now… now he will damn you for it. He will damn all of us."

Darkness blossomed as Riven's father readied his sword. He turned, facing his mother as he thrust the point of the blade through the container, splintering the stone. Stable blue became a volatile crimson, spewing energy in spades.

The psychic's eyes went wide. "What have you done to it?!"

"I made it impossible for you to use it without one of us to fix it. The instability will vaporize anyone who tries to use it. And we're not going to help you. I tried to find a way that would have him spare us. But now, now you have shown him there is no salvation for our despicable race of child killers. You have doomed this world, Lobos."

"Perhaps, but with that… My people will inherit the next. Your little setback means nothing, our engineers will find a way to repair it. That I swear."

Fire flared and the vision ended, cut off by Agneus as he pocketed the stone quickly. The younger soldiers gasped, horrified. The elders dipped their heads in shame, swallowing. They didn't understand their language, the common tongue, but Riven did.

"They killed children…"

"Genocide…"

"How could they…? Those were our forefathers?"

Their expressions turned to Riven, who slumped in his chair, eyes slack. The man looked… broken.

"Stranger!" Lady Aiyum exclaimed. Several other soldiers and elders ran out of their chairs to examine him. They shook him, backing off once they saw the way his knuckles clenched white, and his right iris fluctuated between red and blue. He was desperately trying to hold in his rage, to scream pain to the heavens for its cruelty. Everything was connected.

Energy licked at his fingers, remembering every detail about how empowering the Sigil Stone felt, how it yearned to change him into something more. Something… primal. Powerful beyond measure.

The Sigil Stone wasn't just a power source. It was an evolution stone greater than that of mega evolution. Overloading pokemon created mega evolution stones, humans created keystones… But what of Sigil Stones?

His people hadn't just created the crystal technology that would eventually become Naueilh's. They'd created synthetic Primal Evolution.

The Primal state of a Legendary pokemon.

An evolution so powerful that the energy it produced, its untold potential, could even rip through time and space. They'd tried it on a man. And he turned into a monster. Whatever he did sparked the war, not the stones Tesla originally thought.

They tried to create a legendary pokemon. They tried to cross into the domain of gods.

Now it made sense why the founders of Naueilh wished to forget about the past, why they invented a new language, new customs and start from the beginning. So that no one in Naueilh could know what they did. So that the mistakes of the old world wouldn't catch up to them. Naueilhi didn't speak the common tongue, none of them understood what his father and Lobos had been saying. They buried the secret so far back the founders built their society around it, locking the shrine so only an extinct group of people could ever take their precious, stolen stone.

To create and sustain, but never once able to be touched. The very definition of a deity.

In a way, the founders created their own god. And now something was jeopardizing it, or would, given the outcome of it all.

The question remained… if the Sigil Stone existed, then why was it gone from the machine that contained it? Did Arceus destroy it? Or was it taken somewhere? Why wasn't it there in the future? There was only one way to find out. Singularity had the machine, but he had a time traveling Legendary pokemon at his side.

Riven found his composure, rising to his feet. His mind was addled with questions, his concern trying to piece together three different eras worth of information. The picture wasn't clear yet. He needed more clues.

"Agneus," he demanded. "Looks like I might be staying here longer than I thought."

Seisora's eyebrows climbed higher than they ever had. The others had similar expressions.

"Might we ask why?" Caecili asked.

Riven grinned, laughing at the absurdity of it all. "Because my name's not actually Nathan Ethne. It's Riven Cerul. And that man and woman in the recording? They were my parents." He gestured to Agneus' bracelet. "And ten years to that day, Arceus, the true Creator, brought his judgment down on my world, scattering us in time."

Every single jaw in the room hit the floor. Riven took another cut of meat and chewed it mercilessly, holding back tears in his eyes. The pain of seeing his parents' final stand was a knife that burrowed in his chest and twisted, but he swallowed, focusing on the task at hand.

"Well?" He asked, smiling widely despite his quivering voice. "We don't have all eternity. Show me what your world is like. But first, pick up your jaws off the floor, I'm expecting a grand fucking tour."

---

It has been a god damn while hasn't it?

Almost a year without an update and holy hell was it something. Most of the reason for the delay was because of work. Fifteen hour days every day for months take a toll on your body.

Also have been going back to the gym and with the release of Monster Hunter World, my free time is absolutely shit on.

As for the chapter, well I wanted to make it extra long to make up for the giant span of time it took to write this monster. Originally I wanted Naueilh wrapped up within the chapter but I felt like the pacing would be too fast, so I'm branching it off. Hopefully it answers some of your questions and gives more insight into the old world. Next chapter will build more on the world and tie in with a certain physics defying realm that is very very important.

As for the fight scene, well I had fun with that. I wanted to base Seisora off Ser Arthur Dayne from the Song of Ice and Fire series. And by that I mean his fighting ability and not so much his personality. No doubt if Riven had been by himself, he would have gotten absolutely trashed. Nightmare included. Also might have mixed in a little Fate UBW in there for added flair.

I also wanted to demonstrate just how dangerous a trained Origin actually is, and how destructive Origin vs Origin combat can be. Add pokemon into the mix and you have the stuff of nightmares right there. It's raw. It's brutal. It's bloody. Imagine that but modern day collateral and with insane kids. You could put a mortgage on the amount of bricks that would be flying out of the League's rectum at that point.