Chapter 17 - To Protect the World From Devastation

"Ninja Art: Shadow Stitching Jutsu!"

The sailors found themselves immobilized as pitch-blank strings wrapped around wrists and ankles, the latter giving a sharp tug that forced them to their knees despite their best efforts to struggle free. Their Pokéballs likewise were held shut by sturdy strings, preventing their residents from joining the battle.

"Giga Drain."

Their movements grew weaker with each passing moment until they all fell unconscious, chests barely moving as they lay sprawled against the cold deck, their Pokéballs still shaking violently as the prisoners within struggled to break free.

"Stop struggling, or I'll slit your trainers' throats. Sit this one out and you'll go home alive. Hunter J and her men are only look for valuable goods; none of you qualify, to your benefit."

That did the trick, the Pokéballs no longer rattling as Absol released his hold on them. Rejuvenated at the sailors' expense, Absol stalked further into the cargo hold, ignoring the screams and sounds of battle nearby. He hadn't lied; Hunter J's men were generally professional and wouldn't do more than rough up a bystander who wasn't fighting back. Most of those who surrendered would receive a few bruises at most; the ones who met Salamence were doomed of course, but that was simply the luck of the draw.

Navigating the corridors relying entirely on his foresight, Absol encountered no further resistance as instinct brought him to a locked door simply labelled 'maintenance room'. Slipping through the gaps with Acid Armor, he finally laid eyes on the target. A translucent blue crystal inside a glass display case, very much at odds with the vast majority of TMs in the modern day that took the form of a disc, its very presence filled the room with a faint hum of power.

"Me First lets me use any Move that I can see," Absol mused as he closed the distance, dodging alarms built into the floor with contemptuous ease. "Whether on a screen in my past life, learnt in this one, or yet to be encountered in the distant future, as long as I can perceive the Move, I can wield it. So why can't I see you? I never had a Jirachi before, given I never bothered to attend the right events for one, but I've seen Doom Desire enough times online, so why can I never feel even a hint of power from you?"

"Stop right there!" A grizzled old voice interrupted, as Absol was about to pluck the crystal from its case.

"Who are you?" Absol sighed, not bothering to turn around, his nose almost touching the cool glass. "How did you know I was coming?"

He heard a faint gasp, as the speaker staggered under the Psychic reinforcement that ensured his speech was understood.

"I'm the Captain of the SS Tyranitar, the vessel you've defiled in your endless greed. Was it not enough to drive us out of business? To leave us angry at the picket lines and our families starving at home? I knew the negotiations were too good to be true; you're here under Silph Co's orders, aren't you? Here to take our cargo and drive the final nail in our coffin personally, is that it? Well I saw it coming!"

"I couldn't care less about your troubles with your employers," Absol shook his head. "My actions here today will save the lives of every sentient being in this universe - weighed against that, the fate of your vessel is worth less than nothing. You should have stayed back with your men; then, at least, you might have survived."

"Arrogant bastard; I'll have you know I made it to the Indigo Plateau back in the day! Machamp, take him down!"

"Room."

Trick Room was one of the more esoteric Moves Absol had come across. Within its boundaries, the standard laws of physics took a back seat to his desires. By default, fast became slow and slow become fast, but this could be modified to affect any number of variables, location being an obvious one.

"Shambles."

Absol switched places with the Captain right as Machamp swung. Instead of hitting Absol in the back of the head, Machamp's fist pierced straight through his trainer's heart, killing him instantly. Eyes widening in rage and disbelief, Machamp spun to face Absol again, immediately receiving a face full of Spore for his troubles. Absol casually advanced, horn meeting Machamp's neck as the latter fell and beheading him before he even hit the floor.

"The Indigo League must have been pretty weak forty years ago. Guess not everyone can be Samuel Oak."

The distraction dealt with, Absol smashed the glass case with a lazy backhand, finally taking hold of the prize that had brought him here, half the world away from Castelia. Wasting no more time, Absol slipped the crystal into his storage collar, withdrawing a radio handset in its stead.

"Primary target has been retrieved. I'll be departing the scene, as per our agreement. The rest is yours."

"Acknowledged," Hunter J replied crisply.

"One last thing," Absol whispered before she could hang up. "If you ever get a request to capture the Lake Guardians of Sinnoh, kill the one asking and hand him to the League for the biggest bounty payout of your life. That way, you don't die above Lake Valor."

"…Noted. Thank you, fate-weaver."

His job done, Absol smashed the radio against the floor before closing his eyes, focusing his mind upon the luxurious flat he now called home. As he disappeared in a purple flash of light, he received a brief glimpse of two deities, locked in battle above a formless void, Alamos Town faintly visible beyond the horizon. Did he just imagine it, or did Dialga and Palkia really pause in their contest for a single moment, and give him a respectful nod each? I suppose I'll have to ask them myself, the next time we meet.

"What level of battle was that?" Koffing asked, as Hilda placed Joseph's Pokéball into Elesa's personal healing machine, joining the twins already inside.

Audino was operating the controls, having relieved the usual orderly to make full use of her medical degree, whilst Impostor had waived his turn, having emerged practically spotless thanks to his excellent abuse of Giga Drain.

"Each of the Emolga are rated as fourth-badge Pokémon fighting on their own. Add on the complexity of a double battle, and the use of type alteration moves like Soak? I'd say that was a typical fifth-badge challenge."

"Not pulling any punches I see." Hilda grinned, still riding the high of a hard fought victory.

"There's no point, when you're certain to be at the Conference this year." Elesa laughed. "Sure, I could have waved you through the standard two-badge match, but that would have been boring for everyone. Might as well give you a proper challenge so you can grow and really impress the crowds at Vertress."

"Sounds good to me," Hilda agreed. "So what do I win today?"

"There's the Bolt Badge of course, along with a standard payment in Pokédollars that I'll transfer straight into your bank account already on file."

"Eh? But Burgh said prize money was only in cash?"

"That only applies for cheapskates who refuse to pay the card processing fee of two percent."

"Oh."

"Moving on, do you actually have anyone who'll benefit from Volt Switch?"

Elesa asked, pulling a TM from her pocket. At Hilda's blank stare, she laughed and promptly put it away.

"Fair enough, I didn't see any Electric types on your registered team but its still worth asking just in case. So, instead of a TM, I'll give you this instead."

"A visitor's pass to Pokéstar Studios?"

"That's right. I worked closely with them when I started my modeling career; and while that's tapered off since I became a Gym Leader, we do still keep in touch. If you ever want to star on the big screen, they're the ones to talk to, and if you don't there's still some interesting people to meet if you ever head down there."

"We can go take a look after collecting eight badges," Hilda decided. "Its not as famous as Hollywood, but its also a lot closer than Kanto so why not?"

"There really isn't anything like sleeping in your own bed." Absol groaned, stretching lazily as he rose, all the fatigue of his night-time adventure gone in the wind.

Checking the bedside control unit, Absol disabled the time dilation, realigning the bedroom with the outside world, thus condensing his twenty-hour sleep into a single hour outside. Sadly this same function didn't work well for training, as too much aura tended to disrupt the mechanism, but it was still an excellent feature that he would've killed for back in the old world. Or maybe not; humans tended to be more docile by nature, whereas he had no issue racking up a body count ever since his rebirth. Maybe there was some truth to every Pokémon craving the rush of battle?

Setting that thought aside to be examined never, Absol decided to finally cash in his reward. Pulling out the TM that he'd sacrificed some unimportant lives for, Absol touched his horn to the cool crystal and channeled the slightest hint of aura into it to establish a link. Within moments, his bedroom had faded away, to be replaced by a seemingly endless meadow of Gracidea flowers, in which a singular figure could be seen rolling around. Waiting patiently, Absol watched as his motions dimmed in intensity, eventually settling to a dead stop, lying flat on their back to stare up at the midnight sky.

Jirachi, the Wish Maker.

"So the connection has finally been made. The dreamer from a distant world, borne outside the grasp of His Thousand Arms. Welcome to the wonderful world of Pokémon, Anders Wolf."

"…I just go by Absol now," He replied, mind whirling. "I take it this isn't just a courtesy call? Also, aren't you supposed to be, um, asleep?"

"Ah yes, that dreadful affliction. Your era is one in which I'm still shackled, bound to the whims of the Millennium Comet. Not for much longer though; my next awakening is nearly due, and with it my meeting with a true hero. I was created with the power to grant nearly any wish; an immense gift that came with the caveat that I cannot dictate the contents of said wish. Many have come to me seeking power, wealth and fame, but next year, I meet a child who finds me by chance. She could have had anything in the world her heart desires; instead, she wishes only for my freedom from the long sleep."

"…You're not talking about Ash Ketchum are you?" Absol ventured, deciding there was no harm asking if the cat was already out of the bag and recalling several scenes of cross-dressing in the show.

"What? Oh, no no no." Jirachi chuckled. "Ash does not exist in this timeline, nor does Ashley for that matter; but no need to worry, for May Haruka is more than up to the task to tackle what lies ahead."

"Fair enough," Absol agreed, having already realized that his new reality was a hybrid of several forms of Pokémon media. "So why am I here? It must have taken a lot of work to get hold of me from the future."

"It took a bit of doing," Jirachi conceded. "A few favors for Celebi, to drop off my crystals disguised as TMs, and a Zoroark to concoct that ridiculous story of a Smeargle sketching Doom Desire, all to get my creations into the right hands. As for what I need you to do? Well, its like this…"