Chapter 178 – World's History

Owen sat in the back of the room, arms and legs crossed, with his tail curled around. The flame sat ahead of him like a campfire. From it, with some fiery conjurations, Owen created a projection to help illustrate his history. It started with an outline of an island in a vast ocean.

Among those present were Anam, Mhynt, and the rest of Team Alloy, as well as their Trio of Mind counterparts. Zena coiled by Owen's side, listening quietly. Anam also summoned James, and Madeline's mortal half attended—Owen said that'd be useful, as her human history could help near the start. Of course, they also grabbed a Hecto for the Overseer perspective.

It wasn't just the higher-ups present. Sera and Angelo, who had been more closely involved with the gods as of late also came in.

"Before this world existed, there was an island called Quartz, just off the coast of a region known as Orre. Quartz was inhabited by humans and Pokémon, like most of that world. But that place was also home to an organization called Cipher, though at the time it was in its infancy. Somehow, they'd captured Star, back when she was still mingling with mortals there. I was one of those people she happened to help out against another organization over in another region."

"Star… got captured by a bunch of mortals?" Anam asked. "Humans are that strong?"

"They're more clever than strong," Owen admitted. "But Star was also a lot weaker. To be with mortals, she also had to become weaker like them. You know, have a physical body. It's not like Kilo when they remade it."

"I see…" Anam nodded. "What did they do with Star?"

"I don't have the full details," Owen admitted. "But they were doing something to 'close the door to her heart.' They were creating Shadow Pokémon, and Mew was one of the experiments. They must have considered her a prized capture, being Mew, since they could extrapolate what they did to her to any other species."

"Shadows…" Madeline sighed. "I was just part of security there, but more as a spy. I couldn't get close enough for the full details, either. But whatever it was… it was truly the worst of humanity to research that kind of thing just to turn Pokémon into fighting machines."

"And that happened… t-to Star?" Anam asked. "They turned Star into a Shadow Pokémon?"

"Fighting machines…" Demitri looked down, wincing. Mesprit frowned and patted his shoulder.

"No," Owen said. "See… my trainer and I, and others like us, we intervened and managed to free her. Madeline?"

"Your trainer?" Demitri said. "Oh, right—Eon. Or…"

"Tim," Owen finished. "Madeline, what about you?"

The giant Goodra nodded. "Yes. I was one of them. I remember it… vaguely. It was a long time ago. But… with a lot of those seals on our memories gone, I can recall flashes of that life." She clamped her grabbers. "…I miss thumbs sometimes."

"Can't you still grab things?" Gahi piped up. "Ain't that hard. Jus' concentrate yer energy in yer palm. Easy grab."

"It's not the same," Madeline lamented.

Sera squeezed her claws. "I have a few lives where I had hands compared to paws and stuff. Or none of that. It's a really different feel."

"…Um… okay…" Demitri looked at Owen. "You saved Star. What happened next? It was all fine, right? She doesn't seem all that Shadowy now…"

"Arceus happened next," Owen growled. "He got mad that the humans hurt Star. And hurt her so badly, down to her spirit. So he… attacked. Divine wrath on the whole island. Just, gone. Not even their souls left behind in that world."

"Th-their souls?" Demitri looked horrified. "…Wait, then how are you here?"

"Well, two reasons," Owen said. "First, I was protected by Star. And second, when a soul is destroyed in a world, that means the world fails to acknowledge that it exists. The soul… kind of… is still there, or the consciousness of that person. But they have no anchor into the world. As far as the world's concerned, they're just… gone."

"This," Hecto suddenly spoke up, "is where Overseers step in, typically. We round up these wayward souls and give them new sanctuary. While they can never return to their homes again, they can find new homes with time. Overseers believe in stability, order, and compassion for those who suffer most. And the Overworld has no shortage of work… just as this world has Hearts with no shortage of rescues."

"When did the Overseers step in?" Owen asked. "What about this world, you know, needed your help?"

"Any time a god falls victim to their own creations, we step in. That is typically a sign things are about to get worse. And they could have." Hecto paused. "Technically, they still can. They have. And it may continue. Hence why we have not left."

"Along with the fact that you forgot your job for a bit," Demitri said. "Um—not your fault, or anything, just…"

"Yes, due to the Decree. We still do not know the nature of those."

"Oh, I do," Owen said casually.

All heads turned to Owen. The surprise echoed off the walls.

"S-sorry! I guess I should have opened with that…" Owen sighed, looking around. He spotted a black blob—one of Nate's extensions—watching him. "There isn't much harm in bringing it up, but… It all has to do with the Worldcore. And—oh, by the way, don't tell anyone else this, please?"

"All of this will be confidential," James said.

"W-wait, should I be here?" Angelo squeaked.

Now that Owen thought about it, Owen wasn't sure who Angelo was aside from Diyem's blessing. Well, he seemed to be trusted enough by them. "It's alright, let's just go on," Owen said. It might not matter in the future anyway. "The Worldcore is… basically the nexus and interface between this reality and its rules."

The silence that followed was one of confusion. It didn't register.

"As in," Owen went on, "everything to do with the world's rules are… there. A lot of it can't be changed, like how gravity works, but sometimes you can add things. Any time you add or change something… it goes through the Worldcore. All divine power is just the ability to send commands to the Worldcore, and it will listen. It's a part of Nate that he can't 'turn off.' And it doesn't matter who sends the command, just that they do."

"Disturbing," Madeline deadpanned. "And you were in that Worldcore for some time, from what I gather, Owen?"

That accusatory tone made Owen feel small again. "Uh—yes. Like I said, I couldn't change too much… But I was trying to help. A-anyway, we're getting ahead of ourselves. So, the Worldcore. That's what Star and Barky used to put the world together after all those souls were removed from the main world. They made a new one and sort of… linked them so they could watch over both. They also made it so time flowed a lot faster here. That way, they could be done with this world and move back to the main one without anything getting disrupted.

"And they also needed some temporary Legends to manage this place. They didn't know if it was worth the risk of making totally new Legends just for a world that wouldn't last long, so they selected mortals to become them instead as a… patchwork pantheon. That's how a lot of you came around." He nodded at Madeline, who'd become Giratina, and then at the rest of his Team Alloy, who had become the Trio of Mind.

"I see…" Madeline nodded. "That explains the beginning set of circumstances. And I take it, to mask the trauma of being obliterated, our memories of that human world were erased."

"And converted," Owen said. "Trainer Pokémon with a strong bond became more like parent and child, or brother and sister; weaker bonds were more like friends and companions. It wasn't perfect—it was a really complicated thing. But what made it worse was the flaw in the world's creation."

"Dark Matter," James theorized.

"Diyem…" Anam looked down.

Owen nodded. "Nate should have been the total nexus of the world. He was a cosmic being that didn't think or feel the same way we did, so he was the perfect vessel for a temporary world. But what happened instead was he felt the world's positive emotions and defiance to survive, becoming its 'Voice of Life,' but the negative emotions…"

A grave look crossed the group's expressions.

"And since it wasn't intended, and it was such a small flaw at first, nobody noticed until things called 'Blights' started to show up. Dark Matter's influence on Pokémon, and their influence on him, made a feedback loop. Yveltal and Xerneas—Step and Ra, before—usually took care of any Blights, but eventually, Star and Barky figured out one thing about it.

"It couldn't be defeated or removed by anyone inside the system. The negativity one would feel when trying to get rid of it… would revive it all the same. They needed someone outside that system."

"Outside?" Madeline said. "How are you 'outside' the system?"

"They brought in a soul that wasn't from the Pokémon world at all. A human, from a world with no Pokémon."

"World with…" James' feathers puffed out with his bewilderment.

"How does that work?" Sera asked. "Pokémon are, like, everyone…"

"I don't really know," Owen admitted. "But that human… We know them. But I don't know if that person wants that to get out. And it's not important anymore. They weren't able to do it. Dark Matter scared the human into hiding away. He—uh, they failed."

"We won't be mad at the guy," Sera said, shrugging. "I mean, look at us. All of us together struggled. How's a single human gonna do it?"

"I know. I'll maybe… tell that person later. But I don't want to do it right now to you. Is that okay?"

"We want to get all of the information out immediately," Madeline said. "So once this meeting is over, I expect you or Nate to approach this human who has kept this secret. There is still a chance that human may hold a key."

"Right… Long shot. They died kinda young in their old world, and if you spend more time here than there, you sort of 'become' part of this system. So, they don't have that same key anymore."

"Mm." Madeline settled down again. Nobody else seemed to object. "Continue," she said. "I think we all have a good picture of what happened up until the Dark War from here. Blights arose; we quashed them. The world advanced for about a thousand years as intended. You refused godhood, but still lived alongside us with the Reincarnation Machine that Palkia developed, with Xerneas' help, to cheat death. Though, since Yveltal didn't mind, I suppose you had a pass…"

"I guess it's because he saved Star," Anam said. "And he has a good heart. Gods like that, and he was supposed to be a god, or something?"

Madeline suppressed a sneer, but Owen could feel her disapproval. He didn't blame her.

Owen continued. "The world could have lasted only a century or so, but Star and Barky were… hesitant. They had attachments to this place. And I think Star was still afraid of humans. This world, no humans at all? She was more comfortable here. They made a 'timer' for the world. A thousand years. After that, the Worldcore would open up for greater commands, and Necrozma would send a command to end it."

Demitri, Mispy, and Gahi all shifted uncomfortably at that.

"That ain't how it went, though," Gahi concluded.

"You're right. It wasn't," Owen said. "Jirachi compromised that the Worldcore would just make it so no new lives could be born. The last generation would age and die under the direct help of the Legends. But during that time… I found Dark Matter, created a partnership, and then a resistance to fight Necrozma to undo that command and let the world exist indefinitely. Star and Barky weren't sure anymore, either, and the command could only be undone if all three gods—or their power—came together… or if the resisting power was eliminated.

"So, that was my goal. Strip Necrozma of his power and undo it with Star and Barky. Win them over. To be honest… seeing my daughter, Remi, upset about not being able to have kids was what really motivated me. Selfish, I know, but…"

"Well, everyone needs an anchor for big things like this," Anam said gently. "Even if you tied it to her… that was just an example for the real thing you were fighting for, right? There were probably tons of people with the same conflict."

Owen nodded. "Yeah. That's true…"

Sera leaned forward where she sat, elbows on the table. "Haven't changed much, huh?" she said.

The conflicted pang Owen felt upon seeing Sera…

Yes, he'd observed how that all happened through Nate. He'd watched as Enet, Amelia, and Spice returned to a single entity… and not seen Remi come out of it, but someone entirely new. He supposed, after all the time that had passed, it was only natural that she would change.

But it still hurt.

"Yeah," Owen said quietly. "Guess not. Anyway, um…"

He took a few seconds to gather his mental bearings again.

"So, what's next after that…"

"Do you know what happened after you were eliminated?" Madeline asked.

"A little bit. I'd split myself off into the Worldcore before I was betrayed. Actually, I had a feeling something would go wrong. That was my insurance. Though… turns out, part of that was my fault."

"Eh?" Gahi flexed his wings. "We were the ones who betrayed yeh. That ain't…" He eyed Azelf, who had his arms crossed.

"You were," Owen agreed, "but… you were conflicted about it. I was… the one who gave you that push."

Even Mispy looked too confused to comprehend that one. Owen understood. It was inherently self-destructive. "In your dreams," Owen said. "That's where I tried to nudge you. People dream about things that are on their mind a lot, and that's where I was able to give suggestions about those conflicts.

"It… wasn't a lot, to be honest. Only enough that it worked when you were unsure. Not much else. I knew that, if things went the way they did, it was very likely that Wishkeeper—the title I had at the time—would have won and plunged the world into darkness. It wasn't what I wanted but I was blind to it under Diyem's influence."

At that, Anam looked away, pained.

"It's okay, Anam," Owen said gently. "Diyem is different now. Very, very different. It's not the same—I know that for sure. He wants to change. We can still do that."

"Hm. I will be able to provide some extra information on what happened after you were downed," Madeline said. "But first, what were you able to observe?"

"Diyem and the Wraiths were too strong for the Legends. Necrozma must have predicted that being a likely outcome, because he put fragments of his divine power into others, and then made a Promise to distribute his power into those shards afterward. That's what created the Orbs and Guardians. For the next hundred years or so, the world… decayed. We didn't really know how to deal with the way Diyem's power leaked into the real world."

"And for a while," Madeline said, "a few Legends who had escaped began to plan for a counterattack when the time was right. We had to be patient and wait for Necrozma's contingency to take hold—that 'wildcard' Willow had been given—or for us to have no choice but to step in. And that happened about a century later, didn't it?"

"So, you were there after all," Owen whispered. "Yeah. That was my guess. That, somehow, you'd gone to the Reverse World. And when Alexander and Diyem came to attack the Tree of Life… you felt you had to act."

"Correct. And from there… something very strange happened. The wildcard was activated. Just in time for you to do some Worldcore work, I'm guessing?" Madeline crossed her arms. "How interesting… The Fairy Type. Ironic."

"Uh. Ironic?" Owen asked.

"Yes. The one so obsessed with Dragons being the one to make something that defeats them handily."

"I—I was thinking of something scary that dispels darkness!" Owen defended.

"…Wait, you're scared of Fairies?" Sera spoke up. "Isn't Grandma Amia a Fairy?"

"She's scary when she's mad…"

Mispy closed her eyes and shook her head. She didn't need words to convey her thoughts. Uxie unintentionally mimicked Mispy's body language.

"Anyway," Owen hastily moved along, "that's right. That conflict led to most of Dark Matter's influence being sealed away in the Voidlands, which… now that it's all pieced together, is what the Reverse World used to be."

"And the Reverse World itself is simply the Ghost Orb," Madeline clarified. "Which became a gateway into the Voidlands when Dark Matter expanded his domain there."

"Hey, actually," Sera said, speaking up. "There's one thing that's bugging me. What happened to your Fortress of Shadows or whatever?"

"…Did he really call it that?" Angelo piped up as he scribbled his notes. "And you thought you were the good guy?"

"It sounded cool!"

"It did sound cool," Sera defended. "And since the person who actually wanted to destroy the world was a big dragon of light and crystal… Light isn't always friendly, you know."

"I believe it disappeared into the Reverse World," Madeline said. "And from there, Alexander converted it into Cipher Castle after a lot of renovations."

"What?" Owen whispered. "So that place is…"

He wondered if any of its architecture was still similar. Owen hadn't noticed anything, so it must have changed substantially.

"Well, anyway," Owen said, "we had a few centuries of peace after that. I tried looking for Leph and Aster, but…"

"Reverse World for safety," Madeline confirmed with a nod. "Unfortunately, that… didn't turn out well in the end."

"Figured." Owen continued, "Alright. Well, one reason it became centuries of peace was because Alexander made everyone forget many key details related to the Legends. He made a Divine Decree—that is, he tapped into the deepest parts of the Worldcore to make a new rule for reality. And it was that anyone who fell into the Voidlands would be forgotten.

"We thought, for a while, that if a soul was destroyed here, they'd be forgotten by everyone. That wasn't the case. What happened was they fell into the Voidlands and the Decree erased their history from everyone's minds. That was… a big setback. We were only able to figure out a lot of details from the remnants of their actions. Like observing something's shadow because you can't look at it directly…

"During that time, Alexander got to recover and… do his experiments. Wishkeeper was reincarnated into the Owen that was under Eon's care. Nevren did a bunch of experiments to try to get a stronger Charizard, which was the pilot program for the mutants. Along the way, it seems he figured out how to wipe aura ancestry, too."

Mispy whispered something to Demitri.

"Oh," Demitri said. "Right, and we joined that, too. Our Legend halves were lost like the rest, and we didn't have Orbs to stay alive, either. We went to the Reincarnation Machine. We figured it was only fair to be part of the same system we put you in… and we thought it'd be a way to repair things. Mhm…"

Mesprit nodded to confirm. "I think even when we were targeted by the wraiths, we knew that was going to be the plan."

"We weren't the only ones reincarnating," Owen said. "Sera… one of your fragments was a spirit that went through the Worldcore to reincarnate into different lives all the time. Feral lives. We happened to find you when you were 'Enet' and when you became the Electric Guardian."

"Mhm. I'm still sorting through all those lives, but it kind of went similarly for each one. I think Nate helped keep my disposition consistent so when I eventually, you know, became whole again, it wouldn't be too jarring. And my other two fragments…"

"Amelia, who was under Klent's care," Owen said. "She was one of Necrozma's contingencies. She was meant to reawaken when the Worldcore weakened, but she met my mutant half when I was in a frenzy. And because Nevren wiped out my aura ancestry, I don't think there was even a hint of a connection to coax me out of it when we'd met that day…"

"Hey, I know that tone," Sera warned. "Don't go blaming yourself. I'm over it! Not like it was your fault. But if I see Nevren again…"

That earned a small smile, but it didn't ease his guilt. "The last fragment," Owen said, "was one that Alexander had stolen away during the Dark War."

An uncomfortable silence followed. Owen wasn't ready to talk about that.

Sera stood up. "I was brainwashed by him—in two ways. First off, I lost my memories, too. Amnesia seems like a trend for people in power to take advantage of that sort of thing. And then, Alexander had me under his domain in his spirit realm, the Fire Orb. He was trying to replicate what Owen had—the power over Light and Darkness."

"Chaos," Owen clarified. "That's the power it's referred to, when you have a perfect blend of both."

"…Why would 'Chaos' be the name of something that needs balance?" Sera said. "Why don't you call it something cool like, uh… Radiant Darkness, or something? Hmm, too long. Brightshadow? Blacklight?"

"The power itself is chaotic," Owen said. "Even a slight imbalance and it could… backfire. Badly, in a chaotic mess," Owen explained. "And otherwise, utilizing it to its fullest potential can't be done unless you push as far as you can."

"Mhm." Sera nodded, arms crossed. "Alexander was trying to create someone who had a balance of Shadows and Radiance down to their core… by using my light and his darkness. But in the process, he corrupted that fragment to being part Shadow, and so his plan was doomed from the start.

"Eventually, when one of my offspring—you know him as Alex, Owen's dad—rebelled and got Alexander killed and tossed into the Voidlands, I escaped from him during that traversal. I was fading fast, though, and wound up in the Voidlands with barely any memories at all… One thing led to another, and I eventually slipped out in a Dungeon back to the real world.

"I was the only Void Shadow—or, Wraith—who could survive outside of Dungeons. I think it's because my natural light meant I wasn't bound to the realms under Diyem's domain. Slipped into a Salazzle and Sceptile family, just… you know, because I wanted something that I couldn't remember. That's how 'Spice' was born."

Sera winced at the reminder. But then she laughed and scratched the back of her head.

"Stiiiill trying to figure out how to break that one to them. They're still family to me. I'm also 'Spice.' I'm all of them. Just… hard to articulate that."

Angelo paused. "Um. Sorry, point of clarity. Sera, you're Owen and Mhynt's daughter… but your offspring became Owen's stepfather?"

"Yup."

Angelo stared.

"Go on, write that down." Sera gestured for Angelo to move along.

"Right… I'll admit, I've never written about a… circular family tree… even if the context is different…"

Madeline cleared her throat. "And so, for the next five hundred years or so, what happened?"

"Well, Eon continued the mutant project. He started gathering up feral spirits to reincarnate into more mutants. Nevren found Anam, who found Diyem in the Ghost Orb, the last gateway into the Voidlands. Diyem helped Anam turn Quartz Mountain into Kilo Village. And… things stagnated. Everyone was waiting for the next thousand years to pass, when the next scheduled time for the Worldcore to loosen its rules.

"Even if they didn't remember it directly, I think the feeling remained in their spirits. So, once we got closer to that—which was last spring or so, I think? That's when it started moving again. I, in the Worldcore, made the Orb Dungeons glow brighter to attract attention. I was familiar with a lot of you in your dreams, so that helped with you being more amiable in, uh, joining up…"

"And then we reach the point where the Guardians were all gathered up," said Madeline, "and Diyem made his move at the same time, leading to the mess we're in today."

Owen nodded. "That's right… and I think that's the full story of Kilo. Or, back then, Quartz Isle."

They all took it in. Angelo finished writing down as many notes as possible before passing them along to others to read. Several of them added amendments and spoke them aloud. Madeline detailed some aspects of the Reverse World, how distortions were the norm, and how Diyem's presence had stabilized it for a time.

Mispy wrote, and Demitri spoke aloud, about Tim's progression with mutants. Despite not remembering the full context of it, they knew they'd have to fight something as powerful as Barky eventually. The problem with Alexander's Decree was that the way the memory gap was filled pointed their efforts at Barky directly.

Out of everything, Eon pointing the crosshairs at Barky was the world's largest setback. It was all because Alexander happened to be defeated early.

"Hey, I had a question," Sera said as people passed around the notes. "What's up with Void Basin? You know, the one that was sorta across the way from the Tree of Life. That's called a Cursed Dungeon, right? Nothing goes there."

"I have a good guess," Owen said. "That showed up at the same time the Tree of Life went away, but I think that was by coincidence. When Nate created the Chasm, it was to protect the Tree and its power, so it wasn't actually dangerous, even if it looked, uh… Dark. But the Basin was where Alexander was defeated in a huge clash. I think it's where the barrier between the Voidlands and our world is the weakest—where Alexander was pulled in. I also think War's End—that huge fissure we found Valle in… I think that was where Valle had been blasted in the first place. His light must have neutralized the Shadows, but it still left him petrified. Him having the Rock Orb must have also helped…"

"Why'd he keep that for himself, anyway?" Sera asked. "Did he think he was dealing with something he'd need some of his power left?"

"Not sure," Owen said. "but I do know that if Necrozma thought he'd be dealing with someone who combined all elements, Rock won out. Maybe he was thinking Diyem would do something like that?"

"Heh." Gahi shook his head. "Diyem had an idea like that. Jus' turned out it wasn't that simple."

"You talk like you're praising him," Demitri murmured.

"Oi, he's an ally now, ain't he?!"

"Only partly," Demitri reminded. "His other fragments are still just as evil as before!"

"Not… evil," Owen said halfheartedly. "But I know what you mean."

Knock knock.

After a pause, the door into the office opened.

"Um, Anam, Sir?" called a little Cyclizar. "The, um, creator of all things is here for your meeting…"

"Oh, great! Thank you!" Anam grinned and sat up. "Perfect timing!"

"Anyone think it's kinda weird that literally god needs to wait outside?" Sera asked.

"Maybe a little," Owen admitted. "But I think if we're done here, we should head out and, you know, talk it over with them. I hope the other three are there, too…"

Angelo finalized his notes and nodded nervously. "I'll, um, go and make copies of this," he said. "I don't, um, I think I'll yarf if I see Arceus in person again… so…"

The Smeargle quickly shuffled past the others and, upon seeing that Arceus was standing just down the stairs of the Heart HQ ascent, hastily drew wings, attached them to his back, and jumped out the window.

"…What's yarf mean?" Sera asked.

"Yell-barf," called a Charmander near the entrance.

"Mu!" Owen shuffled his wings. "How'd your walk with Diyem go?"

"It went alright," Mu said. "Um… sorry about… stuff. I'm trying to do better. Or, wait, no, I'll try to do better."

"Oh." Wow. Owen was surprised Diyem got through to her after just one walk. "Thank you, Mu. Where's Diyem now?"

"He said he'd die if you thanked him, so I think he lagged behind and took a stop at his place first."

"…Diyem has a place?"

"Yeah, I can give you the address later, but it's, like, right near the hospitals."

"Why the hospitals?" Owen asked.

"I think he needs the negativity for food."

Zena squinted. "I thought he wanted to avoid negativity, or it hurt him."

"Positivity hurts him," Mu said. "Like, if you expressed it. But being near negativity, like, fuels him, I think? Even if he doesn't like it."

Zena seemed confused and bothered.

"Look, his existence is suffering. That's kinda the whole reason we're in this mess," Mu reminded as they walked down the stairs.

Zena nearly lost her pacing as she slithered down, had she not been caught by Owen.

"Sorry, distracted," Zena murmured.

Arceus stood at the base of the stairs. Just behind him was Star, still jumpy and nervous, but much calmer than before. She relaxed when she saw Owen. Leph and Aster rested in a nearby building, emerging once they'd heard talking.

"You wanted to see us?" Barky asked. "And welcome back, Owen. things have been… eventful, but we managed. Have you been caught up?"

"I think so. But before we can do more catching up, I need a favor from all four of you, and also Diyem, maybe. Oh, there he is."

"Where?"

Owen looked at a wall.

Mu sighed. "Eyes, Dad. Eyes."

"Oh, he's… just down the road. He entered my range. That's good. Nate's main body's also coming."

"The startled screams gave that one away," Mu said, gesturing to a few onlookers as Nate stirred from the caldera's edge.

Sensing Barky's impatience, Owen said, "I need you—all of you—to give me some of your power, or, channel it through me, as I do something with Nate. I've been planning this for a while, but it hinges on having enough power to do it: stabilize the world completely and get rid of all the Dungeons at once."

"What? Every single one?" Barky asked with skepticism.

"You can do that?" Star added.

"I think I know how," Leph said, drifting closer before landing gently on all four hooves. "It's the Tree of Life, isn't it? I'm starting to remember that. It's an actual thing, or at least, what represents it is there."

Owen nodded. "That's right."

"Oh, oh!" Aster raised a hand. "So that means, um, so that means… if you had the divine power to power it up, then you could change the rule that's making Dungeons appear!"

"Exactly. And I've had a good few centuries of studying, so I know what I'm going to do will work for almost all Dungeons. The only ones that might not work are the ones powered by other divine things—so, Emily, wherever Necrozma is, Alexander… and maybe Ghrelle. It's Ghrelle, right?" He looked at Barky.

"Regrettably." Barky winced. "I was nearly overtaken by her corruption. I'm afraid I don't know where she went."

"So, you expect five gods to trust you with the keys to the world, and that will solve all of our problems," Diyem said as he walked into physical view. "I suppose it would be stating the obvious if I explained the apprehension I feel from the others."

Barky grunted and looked down at Owen. "…It's as he says. This is a big request, Owen, for someone who has been gone during the recent conflict, and… tainted by humanity for a year."

"This isn't coming from that part of me. This was planned by someone immersed in the core of this world for a thousand years." Owen met Barky's gaze. "It's only for this one moment. I won't be able to take away your power, and Nate will help oversee it. You trust Nate, right?"

Just then, the leviathan loomed over the Heart HQ. One of his five heads wiggled as if to wave.

"I suppose I do," Barky admitted. "If he will be overseeing the process, then I have no objections to this one-time effort."

"I trust Owen," Star finally spoke up.

"Yeah! Grampa Owen will help," Aster said.

Leph nodded silently, eyeing Diyem.

"Hmph. That was easy." Diyem took a step forward. "Explain the process."

To not scare the civilians, Owen took Barky, Star, Leph, Aster, and Diyem—as well as a few other Guardians who had come along to help—to the southern edge of the caldera. Nate was lower than ever to the ground, the palm of his great head looming over them. At the very center was a precious, glowing orb of lights, like staring at a dome of stars. Barky and Star recognized it instantly; Leph and Aster couldn't look away from it. Diyem grumbled something about how he was seeing it 'just like that' after all this time.

"In all the time I spent beneath the Tree," Madeline said, "I never saw this Worldcore before. It must have been very heavily guarded…"

"It was. Are we ready?" Owen looked back at the others.

"For this one act," Barky said firmly. "I'd ask for a Divine Promise on this, but… I recognize that you could simply override it with the Worldcore anyway, can't you?"

Owen smiled nervously. "Huh. I didn't think about that, but maybe. I didn't want to mess with that star."

"Huh?" Star asked.

"Uh—never—nothing. Words. Let's just get this over with."

Owen approached the Worldcore and held his right hand over it. In response, the stars brightened and a few select ones gathered near his palm. He glanced back at the others.

Star was first, hovering over Owen's shoulder. She placed her paws on Owen. Filaments of light rose from her back as they activated.

Barky grunted and approached Owen on the other side, lightly pressing his hoof on Owen's shoulder after brushing some dirt from the gold. It shined well.

Leph and Aster approached next, though, to avoid crowding, they elected to go on either side of Owen and concentrated from afar. They didn't have specific power to channel, so they instead focused on the Worldcore after some trial and error with Owen to get the right resonance.

"Something about this is nostalgic, in a way," Leph said. "I never saw this Worldcore, but… I was near it. That feeling is like when I was growing up with Auntie Madeline."

"And I guess Grampa Owen moved in," Aster said.

"Why am I suddenly grampa?" Owen protested.

"Because you lived an extra thousand years and stuff!"

Owen opened his mouth but couldn't find a counterargument. He grumbled and refocused on the Worldcore. "Try to guide the others," he said. "You have the most experience behind me on interacting with the Worldcore… Your powers are needed to stabilize it. Not to mention… possibly being the true gods of Kilo."

"I understand," Leph said, nodding dutifully.

"Okay!" Aster grinned.

Star gave Barky a knowing look. Barky ignored her.

"And all the others," Owen said, "channel through Barky or Star."

"Like this?" Anam asked, holding both grabbers forward. Pure divine energy—a silver-blue light—pooled between them, connecting to Owen in a beam.

"I c'n do that," Gahi said, vibrating his wings from pent-up energy. They shifted to their cosmic, starry colors as he activated the Psychic aura, then aimed that same energy at Star.

"Yes, perfect," Owen said as more and more Guardians stepped in.

"I think I remember how to do this," Yveltal said, bringing her wings down.

"Trivial." Xerneas' horns brightened with rainbow light, radiating energy all around. The pulse bent as if the wave itself was drawn to Owen.

Sera's ectoplasmic fur suddenly poofed up with electricity as she channeled her energy the same way.

"Perfect, this is more than enough," Owen said. "Alright. Nate, are you ready?"

Everything is in place. Power it up!

First came a low hum. The stars moved in slow, accelerating lines across the sphere, faster and faster until they made laps across the dome in seconds. Each star left a trail behind, aside from a select few that instead formed rapid, tiny circles beneath Owen's palm. What was once a pinprick of light in the center of the dome was now about the size of his head.

That's it! Nate declared. Release it!

Owen clenched his fist as if to crush something. The bubble inside rapidly expanded like a star going supernova, instantly eclipsing the whole group's positions in blinding white. The hum had become a deafening buzz like electricity crackling through his skull.

The ground heaved, knocking half the group to their fronts or sides. Owen kicked off the ground, floating with the wind, and maintained his concentration on the Worldcore, which spun faster and faster. A second, then a third pulse of light removed any hope of sight. The buzzing evolved into thunderous booms like the earth itself would crack open.

Aster screamed, overwhelmed, and Anam tried to comfort him while he himself trembled.

A fourth and final pulse sent the wave of light beyond them, returning vision, but putting them in a surreal perspective of watching a white sky obscure everything more than a stone's throw away from them. But that horizon rapidly grew, revealing more of the mountain, the village, and the faraway forests. The rumbling, too, was distant, and they could all hear again. Distantly, they heard Angelo shriek with fear, the Smeargle halfway to their team by the time the light had swept over him.

They're receding.

"What?" Madeline asked. "No… You mean it actually worked?"

"Ha!" Star puffed out her chest. "See? Barky, you owe me a thousand Poké!"

"You bet on my honesty?!" Owen squeaked.

"It's a compliment!"

Owen paused. He pointed at Barky. "You bet against it?!"

"I did no such thing! This was a one-sided bet!" Barky bristled.

Leph faced Nate. "Dungeons are going away? Just like that?"

Most of them are with that pulse of light, Nate confirmed. Everything is falling into their proper places again… Yes! Owen, it worked! It worked!

Owen had to admit, finally getting something to work after all this time was… relieving. A turning point. But…

"That's where my plan ends," Owen admitted. "We've cleared up the route to all of our enemies. But that means they can get to us, too—but no longer at an advantage. Nate, what Dungeons are left?"

I'm sensing… three remaining ones. One is Fae, Fae Forest. We know that's where Alexander is, and where he might rise again. The second one is, well, Emily herself, so that's no surprise. The third one is near where I'd had my last clash with Necrozma… so, there. Oh, wait, I'm detecting a fourth one high in the sky—right, Destiny Tower's upper half. That makes sense.

"Wait… what about everywhere else?" Anam asked. "Calm Water Lake? Hot Spot?"

Gone. They're normal areas again.

"Th-that's wonderful!" Anam clasped his grabbers together. "Owen! You really did it!"

"No." Owen shook his head. "I needed everyone's help for this. And I needed their trust… I think that's what I did wrong all those years ago." He faced Barky, then Star. "I was so… wrapped up in my own head as Wishkeeper, thinking that not only was I the one to save the world, but that nobody else—not even the gods—would have been capable of doing the same thing. I… I'm sorry for that. And I want to make up for it now."

"Hm." Barky nodded cautiously. "I suppose… I also could have put more confidence in others."

"Yeah…" Star rubbed the back of her head. "A… a lot of it was ego. People who thought they were the ones who should be at the mantle. Even Eon, too, huh? All egos on who's supposed to be in charge… rightful or not."

"It's a talk we can have later," Owen said. "Right now… we at least know someone who shouldn't. Right?"

"My fragments," Diyem stated, looking intensely uncomfortable while sitting on the ground as if catching his breath.

"…You alright there, buddy?" Sera asked, crouching next to him.

"I think Owen's mushy speech about trust wounded him," Anam said with a frown. "Sorry, Mister Matter…"

"I'll… live…"

Nodding to himself, Owen decided to get serious—for Diyem's sake. "Barky, can you start mobilizing everyone to return to Kilo Village?" Owen said. "Finish everything they can, and then get back here for our final assault. I need as many as we can for Emily. I know a way to cure her and turn her into an ally."

Barky looked surprised, but without questioning it, he said, "I'll get them. It may take a day or two, though, to organize everything and recover from the shock of all Dungeons disappearing."

"That'll do." Owen nodded. "Everyone else? Rest up. Because in a few days, we're taking down Dark Matter's fragments for good."