Prologue: A Cold World
Long drawn out nights of research weren't the most exciting times of Rissoella's life. Another all nighter spent above her workstation, hunched over in her chair, she found her joints stiff and her eyes heavy.
Standing up, she crossed her lab and used the sink to wash her face, looking into her sunken gray eyes and pallid blue skin. Her hair was a mess.
It was hard knowing how long she'd been awake, but she didn't feel all that tired, her eyes filled with artificial light even now. Rissoella dreaded the walk home with her back as stiff as it was, but grabbed her bag and put it over her shoulder just the same.
Poipole woke from its nap, seeing her moving, and flew to her side, chittering quietly as she gently rested her hand on its head.
Rissoella stepped out of the lab, clutching her coat close as the cold night air stung at her skin. Her eyes didn't need to adjust, as the lights lining the streets and shining down from Megalo Tower were just about as bright as her lab anyways. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be this pleasant for long.
As she walked with Poipole by her side in the opposite direction of Megalo Tower, the city's heaters grew distant. The lights of the tower shone down to cover her path, but as the buildings grew less frequent she felt the icey grip of the wind poke and sting her face, making her pull her hat down further to block its wicked embrace.
As she approached her home on the edge of Ultra Megalopolis, she couldn't help but gaze out at the barren wastes surrounding the city. Distant lights beyond the horizon showed the approximate location of other colonies, but nobody would dare brave that distance on foot.
The snowless winter over hardened dirt and stone sent shivers down her spine, and she turned away from the frozen ocean of sand, ice, and rock.
Rissoella opened the door to her home, finally breathing in warm air and not exhaling clouds of breath in the stinging darkness. Poipole took its place on the kitchen counter as she removed her lab coat and hat, bringing a packet out of the cupboard.
With some heated water and just a little time, she breathed new life into her rations and had a bite, enjoying the warm comfort of it, before heading to her room and laying down as she ate, uncaring for the potential mess she would make.
Staring up at the glass ceiling, she spotted the beams of light from megalo tower. Some chose to dim the lights, but no matter the temperature, Rissoella found no comfort in darkness, as the endless pitch black sky above was more chilling than anything.
Though she could see nothing in the vast expanse of empty space above her, the reflection of her messy golden hair stood out against the black void.
Others held hope, held excitement for a future where the stars return. Rissoella, a woman of science, knew that hope was misplaced. All she could do was figure out how to stretch mankind's resources only a little farther, so that perhaps the Ultra Recon Squad could find a way to save them.
As she fell asleep, there was a gentle pull, and she found herself falling into a deep slumber. Was this exhaustion? Hopelessness? Acceptance? Rissoella didn't care, she just kept her eyes closed as she fell down and down into unconsciousness.
Necrozma ate the stars. Pretty impressive, that's a super strong Pokemon! But what does that mean for Ultra Megalopolis?! Assuming for the sake of storytelling, imagine if it used to be similar to earth. Imagine the impact of that massive universal change! Join me for the tale of a woman dwelling within this doomed reality, and her chance to see the sun for the very first time.
Also, a quick fun fact. Everyone in the Ultra Recon Squad was named after sea grass.
Phyco is based on a synonym of the genus Syringodium, "Phycoschoenus".
Dulse is a name for Palmaria palmata, Soliera is also the name of a genus, and Zossie is named after the genus "Zostera!"
I named Rissoella after "Rissoella verruculosa", a species of bright yellow... red algae? Anyways, I'm no biochiatrist or seagrasstologist, I'm just here to show a Pokemon dimension as terrifying as it really is!
After all, it's all fun and games until the literal heat death of the universe at the hands of a Pokemon who's essentially a black hole!