Chapter 122 – The Timekeeper

A little Treecko climbed on Owen's shoulders, grasping at his cheek.

"Yes?" Owen cooed.

She tried to climb onto his head, so Owen bent his neck and let her. She fell quickly, tumbling into Owen's ready hands with a yelp.

"Almost, that time," commented Mhynt, sitting next to him. The Sceptile helped Remi try again, guiding her with a single claw. She was so tiny compared to the two of them.

The sun was bright. Clear skies. It was a great day for Grass Pokémon, and the warmth was nice on Owen's scales, too. He spread his wings and called upon the sun, intensifying its power.

"Aaaah!" Remi fell back, too fascinated by the new light, and landed in Owen's arms again. She reached for Mhynt next.

"Hey, Owen!" someone called.

A Mew flew over with a package in his arms. Owen's stomach growled.

"Got the takeout!" he said, puffing.

Behind him, a Meganium, Haxorus, and battered Flygon followed with their own packages.

"What happened to you?" Owen asked Gahi, smirking. "Marshadow run you into the ground again?"

"Nuh-no," he replied quickly. "I'm, uh, I'm learning. Not a big deal, er whatever…"

"Gods, you're even picking up his accent!" Owen laughed.

"Impressionable," Mispy said with a sigh. She trotted to a sunny spot on the ground and fell on her side, stretching her legs.

Demitri's eyes drifted to Remi. Owen was familiar with his body language by now and sensed envy. Seemed that the couple hadn't been able to get an egg yet. In due time, Owen figured.

Mew set the food down and produced a much smaller package inside. "For Remi, too," he said.

"No junk food, I hope," Mhynt hummed, though her voice lacked hostility.

"Hey," Gahi said. "You have time for, you know."

"I don't know," Owen lied, raising a scaly brow.

Gahi growled.

"He-hey, don't do that with Remi around," Demitri said quietly. "She'll get scared…"

Remi was pointing and laughing at Gahi, who stiffened up and looked away.

"Yeah, well…" He fidgeted. "Fine. We'll spar when she's tired."

Necrozma, if you're throwing memories at me, not now, please! Owen said as he panted, running as fast as his tiny legs would allow. Trying… to not die! Not yet!

No response, of course. He still wasn't sure if Necrozma was responsible, if this was a continued deluge from Dark Matter, or just something else. He didn't have time to process it. He didn't want to think about it in this chaos. Remi. A daughter. He had a daughter, and he'd forgotten about her for countless centuries. Where was she now? Did she wonder what happened to him? How different had they become?

Marshadow had been an ever-looming threat, so it was good that they'd dedicated some time to planning how to mitigate his impact. Unfortunately, he was still hard to stop. Too strong, too evasive, and even if they all focused on him—

Owen glanced at what he thought was a threatening shadow, but nothing came up. He pressed on.

—Marshadow would just sink into the ground. They couldn't spend all their time thwarting Marshadow when there was so much to plan… And yet there Owen was, staggering away from the roads to get away from that unstoppable threat. It was good that Gahi had been ready.

He hoped Gahi would last. Demitri and Mispy would probably be close behind.

Every so often, Owen passed by brawling guards, desperate to avoid combat that he simply couldn't handle. Their shouts were terse orders to get away, to watch their back, and occasionally they cried in surprise when a Void Shadow struck. Their foes were eerily silent, never giving away their location with grunts or roars. The guards were able to defeat several Void Shadows decisively; the problem was how long they had to keep it up. Soon, their energy would wane and fatigue would set in. Owen saw it in some of their battle stances. Unguarded, drooping, panting. Fire Pokémon were sputtering flames; Water Pokémon were drying; even the spectral Pokémon, more common in Null Village, looked faded and hazy as their energies dwindled.

But the Void Shadows, while weak, were infinite. One that fell would just be replaced by another seconds later.

Void Shadows had advanced a fifth of the way into the city; homes were locked up, some well and others ineffectually. Shrieks came from all directions with no pattern. As the Titans drew nearer, standing tall above even the largest buildings, the Void Shadows themselves became thicker and denser in number.

Owen? Can you hear us yet?! It was Amelia.

I can! I can! Owen stopped to catch his breath. His wounds had healed. It was amazing how durable he'd become; last he checked, even little jabs from the stronger members of his team had nearly put him out of commission. Now that he thought about it, the nasty fall he'd taken should have killed him in this state. Maybe it was the Tree's energy.

Are you okay? Klent asked next.

Not really. But I got away. Marshadow's… chasing me. But I have an idea, I don't have time to explain. I need to concentrate. Can you see me from where you are?

Yes!

How about Gahi?

He's still fighting Marshadow.

Then he had time. There was an abandoned building nearby. He quickly slipped inside, only to see a frightened Lillipup trembling in the corner.

"Hi," Owen greeted, taking up residence on the other side of the ruined room.

"H-hi? Wait… you're that Grassmander-thing! You're supposed to be at the big bright tree!"

"Yeah." Owen shut his eyes. "I need to concentrate right now. Hide somewhere."

"That's what I'm doing."

"Oh."

Should have known that. Too scattered. Owen went back to concentrating, looking first at his arms, then toes. The Lillipup was shorter than him. He was definitely bigger. That energy had accelerated his growth somehow; was that it?

He took the reprieve to process his memories, too. He and Mhynt had grown close, somehow. Mhynt was native to Kilo; that, he knew. They'd had a family together. When did Owen learn how to speak the human tongue that former humans had inherited? Must have been over time. Perhaps that happened to all Pokémon who had been with humans, instead of true wilds.

He couldn't get Remi out of his mind. She haunted him. It was a horrible pit in his stomach. A cold ball of dread at what happened to her, where she was, and the fact that she might have been wondering the same thing about him for hundreds of years. Then came anger that bubbled in his chest at the idea of how many must have known the truth.

Eon… No. There was no way he would have kept that from him. If Eon knew he had a 'granddaughter,' he would have fought just as hard to find her as he did Owen. Amia… No. They weren't involved in anything to do with the past before Quartz HQ, where he'd been reincarnated in a mutated body.

Star? Would she have known? Could she have known?

Or was Remi erased from history like the Legends had been?

The cold pit redoubled.

What if she was a Void Shadow? Gone, a dark shell of that bright, smiling face he'd seen in that vision…

Necrozma knew. He had to know the truth. Where Remi was, what happened to her, if she was okay. If she knew the same about him. No, was he okay? Had he ever been okay since his memories were sealed?

"A-are you okay?" Lillipup asked.

"Huh?" Owen broke his trance.

"You're crying…"

Gulping, Owen hastily touched his cheeks, pulling away when his feathery fingers came back wet. He hadn't even realized it.

"I'll be fine," Owen said, but then realized it was getting hard to speak. Now was not the time. He nodded curtly at Lillipup and focused again, trying to clear his mind. He had to save the tears for later.

If Remi was a Void Shadow, then Dark Matter knew. All the more reason to put his plan into action and confront him directly.

Owen had a few more minutes to recover. By the time he heard from Amelia again, he felt like he was back at full strength, perhaps even more.

He's coming, Amelia said. You have maybe half a kilo.

That's enough time. Owen got up again. He stretched his legs, then his tail, then curled his back. That energy had to go somewhere… Time for the next part of his plan.

Owen? Amelia asked. What're you doing?

Getting something over with.

The inside of the building lit up, the source being Owen himself. Hot, white light enveloped him, and he saw everything around him look just a little smaller. His leaves thickened until they were more like the thick foliage of a greater tree, waxy and sleek. The great autumn leaf that flattened out his tail also grew, making tiny wisps of dusty wind any time he swished it. His horn grew, and it was a little more jagged, like a bare branch.

Then, he stopped it, just as his form filled itself out.

"Oh," Owen added, "and if Marshadow comes here and asks where I went… just be honest. For everyone's sake."

The Lillipup gaped, trembling with what Owen hoped was awe. As he left, though, it seemed like there was some light in his eyes. For a fleeting moment, Owen felt like a Heart again.

Owen rushed into the streets and then ran to the right, toward where he'd last seen Marshadow, and then made heavy footsteps that he knew Lillipup's keen hearing would pick up. He went around the house and toward the next street over, still empty, and ran into an abandoned building. He ignored the half-eaten dinner and the overturned seats and instead paced around, holding his hands together to pull at something he'd grabbed several minutes ago. He had been concentrating to keep it in him for a while longer, that lingering power Gahi had granted him before…

Hey, guys? Owen called. Do you think if Marshadow saw me, and I said I wasn't me… he'd leave me alone?

That's probably the dumbest thing you've said all day, Amelia said.

What's your reasoning? Klent asked patiently.

Marshadow phrased his orders really strangely before. That he's searching for a Charmander. If I'm a Charmeleon, say I'm not Owen… What if Marshadow's trying to evade following Dark Matter's orders, by following them exactly as he was told?

Dark Matter will just tell him to chase a Charmeleon next? Or say Owen exactly? You might get Marshadow in trouble if you do that, too. Amelia hummed. Also, that's still the dumbest thing you've—

Fine, fine, different plan… But that might be useful later. We need to learn how Dark Matter controls people… Marshadow behaves differently from the others. Maybe he's still trying to resist?

Just find something else.

I am, I am! Owen grumbled, chittering irritably. It totally would have worked. But maybe it was also too risky, and would endanger too many people. Thankfully—as he felt that Psychic pulse of power still there in his hands—he had a backup.

Owen looked behind him and saw that he'd left a small trail—nearly imperceptible—of leafy feathers. That was perfect. After some searching, Owen opened a cupboard and stuffed himself inside, feet knocking against some containers of a dusty product probably meant to have water added. His tail curled around a pipe.

…This is your plan, Amelia commented. Hiding in a sink.

He can probably track my spirit. I'm going to leave an echo of it behind.

Do you… have the spare spirit to do that?

I'll make it work. I just need to be there for a little while.

Guardian of Grass, wielder of light and shadow, everyone! Amelia declared. Hiding in a sink!

Give me a break! Owen grumbled as he pooled some of his energy into his chest, and then—as his vision blurred—he searched around and shoved the golden orb inside an open bucket of dust. It quickly sprouted into a small daffodil. Okay. That should do, he said, feeling winded, but he had to push a little more. Teleporting now.

Be careful, Owen, Klent said.

In a flash of light, Owen disappeared and went as far as he could, to the top of a roof a few streets down. Then, in another breath, into the main road of another. A headache encroached upon him, so he pushed for one last Teleport before releasing his hold on the Mimicked technique. Now in a deserted side-road far from the current battle lines, only a few streets from the Tree, he had to go the rest of the way on foot.

I just need to hope that Marshadow doesn't catch me in time, and maybe have faith that he'll be slow on purpose.

Faith, huh? From someone like you? Amelia remarked idly.

It's all I have left. Owen grinned, then channeled that hope into more energy for his legs.

It was hard to tell how the battle was going. He was nearly three times his height, but the buildings were still so much taller. The best he could guess was that the Villagers were still losing ground, and he could only hope that not too many were claimed by the Void Shadows to become part of their army. The very thought tightened his chest, and again he could only imagine Remi fighting among them as a mindless puppet.

Wah! A bunch of people just appeared from the sky! Well, not a bunch, I—wait, is that Ra? Nope, there he goes…

Owen craned his neck, seeing several transparent creatures falling from the sky. It wasn't through Nevren's portal, but the one that the Tree had blown open in the sky from before. Most of them seemed to have gone to the east, but he recognized one in particular. Step, riding on a chunk of ice, losing her momentum and falling somewhere to the eastern side of town. Owen skidded to a stop as two smaller Kommo-o spirits, looking more solid as they got closer, flailed helplessly in the air until a Hydreigon came after them, catching both.

And for a split-second, Owen locked eyes with him. He was sure of it. A horrible feeling crawled across his back. Those eyes… this shadowy place… What memory was buried that he couldn't recall?

The Hydreigon twisted, adjusting his falling path, and stretched his spectral wings to slow the fall while carrying the two Kommo-o. It wasn't enough; he was going to crash, and badly!

Owen fell onto all fours and dug his claws into the ground. A pulse of prismatic energy radiated outward. He directed the energy forward, judging where they would fall, and pushed even deeper into the ruined street. Flowers bloomed around him in a small circle, but even more grew in the target ahead. Then, a leafy bush sprouted and flourished in seconds, leaves upon leaves forming what Owen hoped would be a decent cushion. The roots writhed in the ground, loosening the soil, and that was the best he could do.

Hydreigon slammed hard into the bush and one of the passengers yelped. The foliage had been almost completely flattened, but the Pokémon that landed on it were in one piece. Owen rushed toward them. "A-are you three okay?!"

"Never better," grumbled the smaller Kommo-o.

"Gonna feel that one later…" The other yanked herself out of Hydreigon's grip.

Primal fear still strangled Owen, but the tiny rational part of his mind reminded him that this wasn't Alexander. He'd never even seen Alexander before—in his current memories, at least.

And then, in all of his panicked thoughts, it finally dawned on him who this really was.

"D… Dad?"

All six of his eyes were wincing in pain, but he opened the left eye of his main head to stare at Owen. "Oh… Owen! Is that…"

"Yeah, uh, b-been a while, huh?"

Despite the fall and the fatigue, Alex lunged toward Owen and pulled him into a tight hug. Owen yipped and chirped in surprise, trying to pull away, but he'd never realized how strong Alex could be. Perhaps it was the body, his true body.

"I was so worried!" Alex whimpered. "Oh, Owen, Owen, Owen, I'm so glad you're okay! I… I didn't know what to think! Th-that you'd been taken by this horrible demon, that I wouldn't see you again, I… oh, Owen!"

The panic and primal fear slowly left him, enough that he could realize what was happening. Owen tried to wrap his arms around Alex, but he was still too small, even as a Charmeleon. His feet were dangling in the air.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine…" Owen took a steady breath. "I'm… I'm fine. I…"

The panic was gone, now. Alex felt colder than usual, but there was a different kind of warmth that he felt all the same. This was his father. He hadn't even known, after everything that happened, if he was alright. Truly okay. But now, he was here.

The back of his mind found it irresponsible, but he forgot about the battle for a half second. He wanted to cry again. To pull Alex closer and ask for a bedtime story. He was far, far too old for it. But after everything that had happened, it was all he wanted to ask for.

But he couldn't.

Holding back a sniffle, Owen said, "I need to get there." He pointed, and Alex followed his gaze to the Tree. "You two, it's not safe here…"

"Gee, ya think?" The first Kommo-o prodded the second. "Ana, what're we doing?"

"Um… Cent, I dunno if this is… uh, within our… Where's Mom?"

"Look for her," Owen advised. "I don't think you should be straying too far from Step right now."

"Um, I'm technically a spirit of hers, too, for now," Alex said, prodding his smaller heads together. "It's… complicated."

"Well, either way, I think we should get going to the tree, a-and you're the one who can fly! Things are bad right now, dad."

"Then quit talking!" Cent grabbed Owen by the back of his neck and lobbed him onto Alex's back.

"I can climb, you know!" Owen said.

"Fly!" Cent said, prodding Alex with an icy claw in the backside.

He squeaked and took off, wobbly at first, but then found his tempo.

It was a mesmerizing sight from above without all the branches getting in the way. On all sides of Null Village, elemental attacks—mostly fire and lightning for the moment—collided with beams of darkness that absorbed the light around it. Occasionally, the particularly strong blasts had a slightly purple glow to it, like a ghostly aura.

There were four Titans in the air, and Owen realized, to his horror, that one Titan was familiar. The very one he'd taken down at the start of the fight. Dark Matter had recreated it… because of course he could. Even if he killed one, they would reappear nearby, and Dark Matter could claim them, coalesce them, control them all over again. Even at their weakest, if they were numerous enough, they would overwhelm their finite numbers and resources.

It really was a losing battle. Not unless they did something to upset Dark Matter's plans.

Shrieks from below caught their attention. Alex narrowly rolled out of the way of an Ice Beam, and then rolled—with a terrified scream—away from a Moonblast's blinding aura next.

"Alexander!" cried a guard. "Alexander's here!"

"H-how do they know my name?" Alex whimpered. "J-just Alex is fine, thank you! Please stop shooting me!"

"Their ruler is a Hydreigon called Alexander, too," Owen whispered. "But he's a tyrant. And powerful. Extremely powerful, a-and you must remind them of him."

There was a deep horror in Alex's eyes that Owen couldn't fully comprehend. Like he'd realized something.

Owen worriedly looked down. "Dad?"

"It can't be…"

"Watch out!" Owen leapt from Alex's back, tail caught by the clamped jaws of Alex's left head. He swung through the air freely and crossed his arms, narrowly deflecting another Moonblast.

"STOP ATTACKING!" Owen roared as loudly as his voice would allow. He searched desperately for the source, but they hid the moment they fired.

"I—I certainly look like him," Alex said quickly, spinning to get Owen onto his back. "I certainly do. Perhaps e-even my spirit. Owen, he's my father. I thought he was dead. M-maybe he is, and his spirit went here… I can't…"

"You share the same name?"

"Southern tradition," Alex explained.

Owen couldn't imagine how someone as kindhearted as his father could have been born from such a tyrant… He figured this was the case, yet having it confirmed made it so much harder to believe.

"Let's hurry to the Tree," Owen hastened, clutching Alex's shoulders. The wind made it hard to see, but they were only a few seconds away. "I need to let them know you're friendly."

"Can word get out that quickly? It's chaos down there…"

"We can try…"

Fliers were trailing them. Owen recognized one instantly. "GAHI!" Owen almost laughed, waving him down. The Flygon sped up, looking confused.

"Gahi, tell everyone that Hydreigon is my dad, and he's not Alexander. Okay?"

"Yeh evolved."

"Later! Tell everyone that! Okay?"

"Yer welcome fer rescuin' yeh, by the way."

"Y-yes, thank you! Really!" Owen urged him to go, but Gahi smirked at him and nodded. He started to fly, but then Owen shouted, "Wait!"

Gahi stumbled in the air, glaring back.

"How's Demitri and Mispy?"

"Killin' it. I'm gonna go help'm out now."

Owen nodded. "Don't fuse unless you need to," he added. Last thing they needed was a mindless fighter with no direction; Owen couldn't afford to direct them right now. Right?

No… he could.

"GAHI!"

"Whaaat?!"

He disappeared and reappeared next to Owen, keeping pace easily.

"New idea! Get Demitri and Mispy to the Tree. We need to change our strategy."

Gahi made an annoyed grunt and flew off again. Skies, Owen hoped Gahi remembered to deliver both messages. That might have been too much for him.

Owen searched for Zena next, noticing that she wasn't near the Tree. She must have gone after him. Milotic, Milotic—she shined among everything else. It would be easy to find—there! No! She was looking away!

"Dad, hold still for a second, if you can," Owen said as he balled up his fist. From his palm, a sphere of energy formed and solidified, feeling slightly like the outside of a heavy seed. He threw it as far as he could toward Zena, then popped it when it was seconds from hitting the ground.

Zena jumped and spun around. Owen waved frantically. He saw her whole body deflate with relief as she returned.

They got heavy fire from guards that had been placed by the tree, but Alex slowed down and kept his distance long enough for Owen to call it off. They seemed skeptical, but after some shouting, they allowed Alex to land and rest his wings.

"Goodness, this is a bright plant," Alex remarked, nestling against some of the prismatic leaves.

"Yeah, it's great, isn't it?" Owen touched the bark, treasuring the stable seating. "Close your eyes when I do this. I need to channel more energy. I can probably only do this once or twice before Marshadow is ordered to stop me again."

"Who?" Alex asked.

"This town's leader. Except Dark Matter got him. His will isn't his own anymore…"

"That's awful…"

"That's what it's like for everyone fighting us."

The battlefield was even grimmer than before. It was easy, at a glance, to read how the battle was progressing. Void Shadows darkened the battlefield, while Null Villagers were an eclectic arrangement of colors and elemental beams of energy. When the battle had begun, the field was bright from the Tree's radiant energy and the Void Shadows only being at the edges. Buildings stood tall and proud, and the outer walls held strong. Now, Titans knocked over huge portions of that outer wall. Void Shadows darkened the outer perimeters. Many of those buildings had collapsed, and with it the memories treasured inside.

Four Titans were present, one in each cardinal direction. One was Giratina. It still looked weakened; maybe if he fired again, she would be freed? Yes, that was a certainty. They had to endure, and Owen taking down a Titan or two would help the army on the ground handle the rest.

"Dad. Can you go down and ask which of the Titans seems to be the strongest?"

Alex nodded. "What will you be doing?"

"Getting ready to go on the offensive."

Rhys finally found it. Somehow, amid all of that chaos, he'd found the Dungeon Core. It wasn't as deep as he'd expected, or perhaps it had shifted during their time away. But now, it was near where he remembered Amia's home once being. Appropriate, if that was where the Guardian of Hot Spot had once lived.

Dark Matter had left the others alone; perhaps he wanted to get at least one of them, and didn't bother splitting his efforts across Hot Spot. And by luck—good or bad, Rhys wasn't sure anymore—he chose to go after Rhys.

There had been several frustrating times when time had been rewound again. Reliving a moment's time over and over, but at least it gave Rhys some time to try better ways to move ahead. At some point, it seemed like it had stopped, and now Rhys was alone in the back chambers of Hot Spot.

Now that he'd made it to the Core, Rhys only had one thing left to do.

With what little power he had left, he brought his paws together and pointed it at the Core. It was a great, ominous sphere of red light that dripped with heavy-looking, black fog. Anam had used a strange light energy to seal it away; Rhys had to settle for the one Hand he had within him to make up for that. If he could stabilize it, if he could seal it, then Dark Matter wouldn't be able to seep into Kilo. Nevren had found other ways inside the Voidlands; therefore, perhaps that meant he was also finding ways to free them.

He fired. It was agonizingly stressful on his body, but he fired. The Core rumbled and a deafening, almost corrosive wave of energy forced him to one knee. The sky warped and straightened out, like a thin barrier had given way. Was it stabilizing? Was his blast enough to help it?

"Why are you here?"

Rhys rolled, dodging nothing. Dark Matter hadn't even fired that time. He had waited.

Then he fired, and it struck Rhys square in the chest. In a single, devastating blow, Rhys rolled all the way into the corner of the room, where he had a view of the long, long cavern through which he'd traveled. There was a ripple in the air that suggested he'd passed through one of its zones without even realizing it.

Finally finding his breath, he said, "Attacking… the Core."

"That will accomplish nothing. You can't control it."

"I certainly did something…" Rhys smirked weakly. His mouth tasted of rot and metal.

"Not enough."

Dark Matter held a hand out and fired again, but Rhys dodged this one, stumbling. Someone passed through the distortion before Dark Matter could fire his follow-up. He instead turned his hand and fired at the intruder.

It bounced off of a greenish barrier, hitting the wall instead. Flames enveloped the false Goodra in an instant, and then something wreathed in that same fire shoved Dark Matter toward the Core.

Dark Matter fired again, missing completely and vaporizing part of the wall instead.

"Owen—no," Rhys shook his head. "Har…"

"We're getting you out of here, Rhys!" Har shouted, glaring at him. "Why did you go deeper into the Dungeon?"

"He was after me," Rhys snarled. "We wouldn't have been able to escape."

"So you're just gonna die for it?!" Har weaved between two blasts from the demon, then blasted Dark Matter with indigo fire. A second beam struck Dark Matter from the distortion entrance—Ani. Just behind her was Lygo, and then came Ax.

"I don't have time for this," Dark Matter snarled, taking aim at Ani. Har immediately intercepted with another Protect, its cyan shield illuminating the rest of the chamber even more than his flame already was.

Rhys felt something on his side and tried to move, but then bumped into something soft and cold. Wraiths—and they were upon him!

He tried to shout, but Dark Matter had already struck at Lygo, who already looked injured from a previous skirmish. Had he known they were coming? Or was he just too strong?

They looked like they were losing ground. The atmosphere was too oppressive. "You have to get away!" Rhys shouted, pulling away from the wraiths.

Dark Matter lunged at Rhys, finally grasping him by the arm. He gasped.

"Let's go somewhere more private," he growled, and then hurled Rhys toward the Core. He was helpless to stop it. One moment, he was flying, all of his wounds stinging in the rush of air, and in the next—darkness.

"H-help…"

Rayquaza helplessly reached forward. His arms were too small. But Dialga reached out anyway, as well as he could manage, even channeling some psychic power in a feeble attempt to hang on.

Drawing Rayquaza down was a horrid force; half of his body had already descended into a blackish-purple pit. The sky was dark despite being noon.

Then, Rhys felt a light from behind, casting sharp shadows. The heat was unbearable. Rayquaza, in desperation, clamped his jaws onto Dialga's foreleg, and Dialga pulled and tried to cooperate.

Dialga glanced back when the light got even brighter. He saw Necrozma, or the shape of him. And a beam of light…

The burn. He would never forget that burn.

Rhys gasped himself awake, chest tight, head dizzy, eyes blind. No, it was dark. When Rhys channeled aura into his paws, there was a dim glow. Dimmer than it should have been. When he tried to sit up, nausea took over, and he settled for the ground.

His moment of reprieve ended with a stomp. He felt the spike on his chest pierce something, but it powered through and pressed against his lungs. Rhys clawed at it, desperate for a breath, and felt cold fur. He saw… himself, looming over him. An empty expression and dark eyes stared at him. The assailant's foot was bleeding, not that it mattered. The blood itself was corrosive, only adding to the pain, mixing with his own as that same coldness raced through his body like venom.

"Rhys! RHYS!"

"Where'd you take him?!"

Har, Lygo. They were shouting somewhere far away.

"They can't save you," the second Lucario said. Thin strings of darkness wrapped around Rhys' arms and legs, pinning him against the stone. He couldn't move. Could barely breathe. Any resistance was met with lacerations from the thin strings that held him in place. "This is where you'll die. In a cave in the Voidlands, surrounded by nobody you know."

Countless, formless masses stared at Rhys. Each one was a wraith. Some sort of pit of them.

Dark Matter took his foot off of Rhys and he breathed deeply, only to stop midway. The pain was excruciating. He coughed and hacked, raspy breaths all he could manage.

"Owen is losing the war. Anam has given up hope. And soon, all of Kilo will become nothing but an extension of the Voidlands."

"I know… that isn't true," Rhys wheezed, trying again to move, but nothing allowed it.

He couldn't hear Har or the others anymore. That small comfort was gone.

"I'm going to kill you," Dark Matter said, walking even closer. From the false Lucario's paw, a flat rod of shadows emerged, splitting flesh and fur in favor of that wretched blade. "Do you know what happens to those who die in the Voidlands?"

"Enlighten me," Rhys hissed.

Dark Matter's glare somehow became fiercer, like Rhys had spat in his face.

"Their memories are sealed, claimed by me. The more of themselves they lose and the more of them that I gain, the more I control them. The more they are under my rule."

Rhys remained resolute. "Yet you couldn't claim all of us. I know… that we will be freed. Is that right?"

"But you…" Dark Matter's hold on him tightened, the dark strings threatening to meet bone. "You saw it, didn't you? A memory."

It was that memory of Rayquaza. It was through the eyes of Dialga…

"Whose memories were those? It felt… like a very powerful being, trying to save… Rayquaza." He had vague memories of Rayquaza. He remembered knowing one in the distant past, but perhaps only in passing, only in stories. Yet, seeing that Pokémon, it tightened his heart. He wanted to see more of him.

"Yours."

"Mine…" Rhys wasn't sure if he was lying. Yet it felt so true. Dialga? Why was he entertaining this concept at all?

"You fought in the dark war, so long ago. You remember this, but perhaps mixed that memory with the memory of the second dark war only a few centuries ago. You remember none of the details of the first. Faded from your mind, because perhaps it was too terrible. That is only a half-truth. The reality is that your very spirit had been split in two. The mortal half that had been born from the human world, transferred to Kilo by the wrath of a reckless god… and the half that was later repurposed into a god, to preserve the false world on borrowed time."

Rhys said nothing, conserving his energy, trying to buy time. There would be a rescue soon. He needed to have faith.

"And so," Dark Matter said, "when you die, you will not drift across the Aura Sea. You won't even reawaken as a shell in the Voidlands…" The grip tightened. "You will return to Dialga. You will become nothing but a memory. You… will cease."

A cold feeling coursed through his veins that he knew was Dark Matter's corruption. He pressed against it, defiant, refusing to let that plunge him down.

"You're only telling me this… to make me lose hope," Rhys grunted.

"I am only telling you the truth. There is no point in lying to someone about to disappear."

"I won't," Rhys replied, a harsh smile breaking through his previous stony expression. "As you said yourself… I shall persist within Dialga. I will reunite with him… and my memory will live on. I will live on!"

"How much could you possibly think," Dark Matter taunted, "that a mere Lucario's livelihood would last against the sea that is the embodiment of time itself? How long do you think you existed as Dialga, compared to anything else?"

It was getting dark. Rhys only felt pain and only heard Dark Matter's voice. He had given up on moving and struggling long ago. It was easier to focus on breathing. Slow, shallow breaths for that extra iota of air.

"You are nothing. And you will become nothing. I will fill you with so much darkness that it will carry into Dialga, corrupting him from the inside. He will kill everyone."

So that was his plan… and Rhys couldn't stop it. In, out. Breathe. He could only mitigate it. Endure this torture and make sure his other half, his greater half, would endure as well.

"There it is…" Dark Matter was close to him. Rhys could feel the cold touch of death sweeping over his decaying body. "You humans from other worlds. I could never feel that negativity. But now that your spirit is between my fingers… I finally can feel the darkness consuming you. That is the despair I have been waiting for…"

Somehow, it was peaceful. In, out. Breathe.

"Are you listening to me?" He squeezed.

In… out. Breathe.

"Answer." Dark Matter's breath rotted part of Rhys' one remaining ear.

Rhys wasn't sure why, but he complied. Perhaps there was nothing better to do. "Even if I fall, my team… my students… my family… will defeat you. And for that…" Rhys felt lighter. "I am satisfied."

He wasn't sure how much time had passed. He was fading in and out. But Dark Matter didn't answer quickly. Was he walking? Was he preparing the final blow? A small part of Rhys was waiting for it. Anticipating, almost hoping for release. How far he'd fallen.

"I feel your fear," Dark Matter said. "You cannot hide it from me."

"Yet… you cannot feel the rest," Rhys replied. He tried to laugh, but he didn't have the energy. But there was an ember of defiance that kept him going for one last taunt. "Go on. Finish what you started, demon. It will be your final victory."

Rhys smirked. Little images flitted through his mind. Hazy ones. Owen, smiling, holding up the Hearts' badges. Demitri, Mispy, and Gahi turning in yet another outlaw. Elder, in his thoughts, in his dreams, and finally in person. He lingered on the Torkoal for a while, praying that, if any part of him would persist in Dialga, it would be to wish him well. He saw hazy figures of humans… Was that his family, of the world he'd left behind? It had been so long, yet perhaps that was the clearest he'd ever remembered them.

He envisioned his team leaving Hot Spot with all he'd left behind. The power deep underneath Hot Spot, waiting to revitalize whoever would take it. Dark Matter could not feel hope; he would never know the truth of what Rhys felt. He'd lost against Dark Matter, but it would guarantee the victory of his new family in the future.

This, he knew.

Even as Dark Matter pumped him with so much corrosive energy that he could only feel that infinite void closing around him, Rhys clung onto those memories. Dark Matter snarled at him, and Rhys only smiled. He couldn't see very well, but Dark Matter was getting frustrated. His corruption wasn't working. That was truly his goal, wasn't it? And in the end, Rhys would not give it to him. He never would.

Even as he took his last breath, Rhys had won.