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Chapter 96

Part 1

Virizion cast Char a glare of surprise and appalment, but still managed to force the smile back onto his face before he replied. As one of the division's figureheads, Virizion couldn't afford to show any overt weakness – Char knew that from experience.

"Well-well, that is much to presume from a little salamander," he said bluntly, bending down to look Char in the eyes. "Not just anyone can merely ask for an audience with Downfall. But the fact that you're standing before me and saying it, means you likely have the power to back up your assertions."

"I do," Char simply replied, looking him dead in the eyes. "I came this far uninvited into your Black Division, and I can go further if necessary."

Virizion casually glanced at each of Char's companions, as though looking for clues and weaknesses. Then he looked faraway into the forest. "You should know that the last Pokémon to speak in that tone to me, ended up banished," Virizion informed him. "And they were one of my very own team. Trust me, I am not afraid to do what is necessary to uphold peace and order. If you have a card to play, I suggest you play it now, so we can get this over with."

"Look… this isn't… personal," Char tried to say, his tough-dragon persona making him a little sick to his own stomach. "Truth is… I've been gifted an immense sort of power," he admitted, softening his voice. "A power that can… well… fight Enigma, topple the entire empire. Or the resistance. I'm trying to figure out what to do with it, how I want to use it. So… I'm looking for the truth. Or… as much of it as I can uncover, at least. And I think that Downfall has some of the truth I want to hear."

"Truth…?" grunted the legendary stag. "What use have you for the truth? The truth only drives Pokémon crazy. If you are as powerful as you say, the truth is the very last thing in his world that you need."

I was afraid of this sort of answer, Char told himself, quietly gulping. My mind has been drifting in this direction lately. Questions with no answers. Hidden things that are best kept hidden.

It doesn't inspire a lot of confidence to see someone like Virizion arrive to the same conclusions.

"That's going to be for Char to decide!" said Ray, speaking up defiantly. "With all due respect, this goes way above even your head, Virizion! We've had to deal with crazy stuff like prophecies and… and even the creation dragons. We might be saving the world here."

Virizion rolled his eyes, looking bored of this conversation already. "Kids. It's always kids who want to save the world," he snorted. "Why is that, I wonder? Oh… because they're still pure. They haven't gone crazy yet, from the truth. And when you grow into an adult, you realize the world is the way is because it has already been saved, and that everything around you, including the suffering and unfairness, is all by reason and design. Disrupt it, and you'll do nothing but send us back several centuries of development."

Virizion glared down at Char, gleaming malice in his eyes from the starlight above. "There, I've given you your first truth, free of charge. Why not prove to me that you can process it, and perhaps I'll toss another one out to you?"

Then it was Saura who tried to stand up and be supportive of Char. "If you're a good leader," Saura professed, "you should already know that it only takes one Pokémon to make sense of the truth, even when nobody else can. Then they can spread that understanding to everyone around them. Char just wants a chance at being that Pokémon."

Virizion glanced down at him, looking amused. "I like where your heart is at, Bulbasaur," he said a little snidely. "I'm afraid you're still missing a few roots to your vine, but I'll volunteer a little insight for you: there are some truths that nobody can process, even the noblest leaders, or the divinest legendaries. It is how you deal with those truths which define your character, whether you grow evil, or delusional, or remain willfully ignorant."

"I know how it is," Saura said back, with even more conviction. "But even still, if you can look at how awful the world is, all the questions you can't answer… and find just one or two problems you really can deal with? You can help. That's what we're doing here. Char's not going to solve all the problems in the world, but we think there's a way he can use his power to help." Saura cast a final little glare at Char, as if to say he was angry on Char's behalf.

Virizion only shook his head. "I've looked into your eyes, all of you," he said airily, "and I'm sorry, but I don't think any of you are prepared for the kind of hole you're digging yourself into. I simply don't find you trustworthy. Except for you, Pidgeotto," he added rather flippantly. "I can't read your gaze at all. So let me put this, once again, in blunt terms: I am not merely going to grant you an audience with Downfall. Either play the card in your hand, or prepare to be banished from beneath our protection. You have one minute."

Char sighed deep. Sounds like the same thing Cepheus said to me, he thought to himself, strangely wishing Eva was still in telepathy range. Guess I need to work on my negotiation skills, if I don't want this to keep happening.

So Char stood up to the challenge, and once again summoned the power of the Call. Smaller this time, just for Virizion. And he worded his command as nicely as possible – just asking politely for permission to speak with Downfall. Even as small as he made the pulse, Char immediately felt nauseous, reminding him of how recently he'd used the Call just to get into the Division. He dropped to all-fours gracefully and inconspicuously as Virizion tangled with the new command that was rewriting his mind.

Once it was over and done, Virizion blinked a few times, then sent Char one of the most dangerous glares he'd ever seen. "Ahh, so that's what I'm dealing with here," he growled. "You've molded my mind to do your bidding. A little enigma, it seems we've got here. I concede – This is, indeed, a power I cannot fight, at least without the aid of certain Pokémon who've long since left the cause. If you wish to speak with Downfall, there isn't a Pokémon here who could stop you."

I… Huh, Char realized, blinking up at the Black Division leader and trying unsuccessfully to regain his own posture. He's aware of the Call. Maybe I made it too quiet. Or I needed to add more to my command, to rewrite his memories. But it looks like some Pokémon are definitely self-aware that they're being mind-controlled. Scythe was self-aware of it too.

I really have to wonder if Eva would be aware of the Call, especially after centuries of being subjected to Enigma's presence.

On the other claw, I kind of don't want to find out.

The Virizion turned and struck a strangely authoritative pose, as though he meant to trample Char and his companions underfoot. He answered in a powerful growl.

"I do not know how your power works, but it's very apparent that, unlike Enigma, it saps your health and stamina. I cannot imagine that it feels pleasant to have used that power twice in a row, once to get into my base, and the other to disrupt my own mind. Therefore, unless you're willing to exhaust yourself and rewrite my will a second time, I have a stipulation of my own to make: your companions will not accompany you. I hope the reason is quite clear."

Char frowned for a moment, then nodded his head. "That's fair," he replied.

Is it a collateral damage thing? Char wondered, thinking about that "reason." Is it so that if I do something to Downfall, or to the core of the base, he'll have a way of hurting me back?

Or is it more just because I'm the only one who's demonstrated power here? Am I the only one fit to stand before a legendary, immortal Pokémon? And Saura, Ray, and Otto are just considered lowly tagalongs who aren't worthy to stand in his presence?

"You guys gonna be okay?" Char quietly asked to them.

"Sure!" said Ray with renewed enthusiasm. "While you're away, maybe we can even… y'know, have a look around!"

Try to find Hunter and Eva, see what they're up to, was the intended meaning that Char picked up.

Virizion stomped across the road back to the shore, and the waters once again parted to reveal the dark, mysterious staircase. Char realized with some dread how easily Virizion could close the water on him, drowning him and his tail flame at the bottom of the lake with little time to escape or retaliate.

Would be a fast and easy way to deal with the threat I pose, Char told himself ruefully. If I were in his position, I'd seriously consider it.

"Down the stairs," Virizion instructed. "And go straight, straight to the core room. Ignore the other halls so as to not disturb my team from their operations. If any member of my team approaches you, disregard them and continue walking. When you reach the core room, rap on the metal door and demand his presence. Tell him 'the matter is urgent' and he will understand."

Char disappeared down the stairs, only wondering how much this encounter might truly change him – and if it would give him just as many answers as Giratina had apparently promised to give.

It wasn't difficult to find the way to Downfall's chamber. Char was relieved when the suspended water around him gave way to a massive iron hallway. It was dimly lit by small blue pinholes in the walls, as if a great blue fire blazed inside of all the walls of the complex.

He crept forward hesitantly, listening for sounds and reverberations through the walls, of which there were many. He heard several indistinct voices from the other chambers, wondering what kind of Pokémon they came from.

This is it, Char told himself, unable to hold back a little eager smile. I'm finally going to have answers.

Like when I spoke to Celebi at Temporal Tower. Or when I spoke to Jirachi at the Spacial Rift.

They told me a lot of crazy things. But I handled them all well, right? I figured everything out as I go, just like I always do.

So what's so different about Downfall? He'll tell me some of the big secrets of the resistance… about the Master… and I'll take them in stride, and I'll use my power wisely and with the help of my friends. Surely, it can't be any harder than the truths that came from Dialga or Jirachi… right?

But deep inside, Char found himself haunted by that sneering look on Virizion's face in the last moments. As though the strong-standing Black Division leader knew of Char's fate before Char did. There was power and conviction in that sneer.

At last, Char came to a heavy iron double-door with huge windows blazing with the same white-blue light that seemed to be running through all the facility's pipes in the walls. He couldn't look into the windows himself – they were too high up on the door for him to peer into. But he did as he was instructed, clenched his claw, and banged it on the steel door as hard as he could. Pain immediately shot through his knuckles, though it made barely a sound, no louder than the various ambient noises which already surrounded him.

"I REQUIRE YOUR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION!" Char tried shouting through the metal. "THE MATTER IS URGENT!"

That did it. The double-door softly, quietly retracted into the wall, revealing a sight that made Char immediately shield his eyes – a huge underground reactor core, larger than even the gathering hall at the Gold Division, with a blazing ball of blue fire in the center. Char only noticed the silhouette of the Suicune when he tried to avert his gaze.

The great water-hound paced around the brilliant orb, his skin aflame with dazzling blue light. Though Char could barely cast a glance at the spellbound sphere, its radiance greater than the hallucinations which the Call would cast onto his mind's eye, the guardian beast peered onto its surface so intently without even a squint or a wince of pain, as though inspecting for blemishes.

Char didn't even need to ask about the giant ball of fire floating in the center of the room, beneath a wide golden pedestal. From talking to Eva and Medora, he knew this was the power source of the spell which cast the Black Division eternally under the starry sky of a perfect springtime night.

He'd seen one similar to it – the miniature sun in Xatu's room – but this was different. The fire of this star was black, white, and blue – oddly like another certain flame close to Char's heart. But unlike that one, this sphere was majestic, fearsome, constantly shifting and seething its contained fury.

"Your reputation precedes you, Char of the Gold Division," the Suicune stated, calmly stepping around the pedestal's base and staring the Charmeleon in the eyes. "Long have I heard of the Call, this phenomenon which is said to mutate minds, and the Charmander who is said to bring hope for the Call to be used for the greater good of the Resistance… Or, a Charmander no longer, it seems."

He stepped between Char and the great crystal, shielding the Charmeleon's eyes from its blinding rays. Char rubbed his eyes as they adjusted, and gazed upon the magnificent visage of the great storm god, the crystal-blue rays of light still beaming from behind his profile.

This Suicune, indeed, was incredibly massive. Its size nearly reminded Char of a Tyrantrum he met long ago in a mystery dungeon. Even so, the blazing blue-star was twenty, thirty times larger than the immortal Pokémon.

"As you apparently know, my name is Downfall. I am the Black Division's best-kept secret – the mere fact you know of my existence, and of my significance, says much about the significance of your own presence," the storm god said calmly, before a knowing, amused grin crept onto his face. "I have had my theories about the Call and what its causes are, but never had I imagined one such as yourself would succeed in… finding a way to use it at will. Hmm. Hmm-hmm. Given the nature of the Call, makes me wonder… hmm-hmm, if you cheated."

"What do you mean, 'cheated'?" the Charmeleon echoed, almost accusingly.

The Suicune continued to chuckle. "Hnn, well, what else would you call it to requisition the gods to grant your wishes, and give you special abilities that your kin do not share? Of course, I speak as a hypocrite, knowing well enough what it means to 'cheat' the laws of the universe…"

"So…" Char said skeptically, sitting with his back against the wall and crossing his arms, "you really are immortal, huh? Can you feel pain?"

"Pain, yes," the Suicune said with a sigh. "Trust me when I say that I know pain. If there is a type of pain, it is certain that I have experienced it. Enough blood I have spilled upon the amber fields of this land to feed every blade of grass – both mine, and of my foes. But kill me, you cannot; my injuries, no matter how dire, will always heal in due time… because my aura will never run dry, I can regenerate even from a decapitated head. Hnn-hnn, which, if you are so curious to know, is something I only know by experience. I will not disgust you with the details."

Char scratched his chin. "Here's something I've been thinking about, but I don't understand," he replied to the great hound. "If you really are immortal… why are you working for the Resistance like this? I mean, couldn't you just knock down the Master's castle all by yourself and defeat him? Why stay here and feed the dark-star so that everyone else is just doing it for you? What are your motives? What is your endgame?"

In response, the Suicune only chuckled heartily, his laughter deep and gentle as though he hummed a melody with his breaths.

"Hmm-hmm-hmm…! So it is, that you are one with a great power, but without understanding the nature of the war you fight," He spoke, setting himself upon the marble floor of the chamber while making sure to keep the Charmeleon fixed in his shadow. "A sight I have seen before… Hnn-hnn, yes, it is good that you have come to me, and that we might have this talk. There is much you do not know still, and I believe I might teach you. But how should I teach you, this is the question… hnn, where should I begin?"

"I'm listening…" Char replied, almost as a challenge to the giant.

The Suicune sat himself before Char, making himself comfortable. Char followed suit, though mostly to keep himself in the shadow of the blazing, blinding sun.

"Ambera was built upon the will of a single human," began the Suicune. "This human had wrangled the very will of Arceus himself, and forced our universe-god to bend reality to his will. I was there… I was there to see it happen. And though countless memories have long since faded from me, that one continues to persist, an eternal truth to me… the day I stood upon that mountain with him, with all of them, as we beheld the glorious dawnlight of Ambera."