Chapter 12: Kin
The other side was surreal.
Floating in a formless expanse, neither land nor sky greeted them. Instead, miles upon miles of a multicolored void stretched on in every direction, as far as they could see. The colors were ever changing, melding together like watercolors on a canvas. The imperceptible shifting of hues was so subtle, their minds struggled to register that it had happened at all, as one struggled to grasp the fleeting memory of a dream. Where a second ago a calming green drifted along like a cloud below them, soon a dark yellow would bleed over, and so on.
The other side was heavy.
Despite the whimsical nature of the ever shifting colors, a weight draped over their forms that made moving their limbs about as effective as swimming through syrup. The air here was lighter than before, and breaths needed to be shallow lest they inhale the thick traces of Aether present. Through it all, a current of energy pulsed throughout the place that electrified the senses, but it didn't feel like it was safe to stay out for too long.
The other side was silent.
"What the actual hell!?" yelled Clara, still holding on to Lumi. Her shout echoed throughout their location, ringing both far beyond and also right next to them. She clutched his waist, making them both tilt upside down from the force. Not expecting the jolt, Lumi yelped and wriggled his arms as they somersaulted a few times in the lack of gravity. They tumbled forward a bit before they stabilized, and the two took time to simply marvel at wherever it was they ended up.
"Where are we?" she asked, turning her head to look all around them. Lumi tapped her on the shoulder and gestured behind them. In their bafflement of the situation, a large stone in the shape of the Keystone from before went unnoticed, although this one was noticeably lacking in color and floated serenely in the air.
"I, uh, I think that's where we came from?" questioned Lumi. They shared a glance and paddled over to the rock.
"Okay, just, um. Can you do the eye glowy thing and suck us back to the other side, like you did before?" ask Clara. Lumi blinked and looked at her in confusion.
"Is that what happened? The past few minutes kind of feel like a blur..." Coming up to the rock, he placed his paws on it and concentrated for a bit. After a while of nothing happening, he backed away and shrugged apologetically. The Spinda pulled on her ears and exhaled a breath.
"Ooooookay thats..." She placed her head in her paws and groaned. "What is even going on? Your eyes, they were glowing, and the Keystone got all weird, and you were getting sucked in and screaming and-" Lumi gripped her shoulders tight before her tirade could continue.
"Hey, it's okay. We're fine, I think."
"Seriously? How can you say that where you were going all..." she gesticulated at him for a bit, unable to find the words, before blurting out, "freaky a while ago! Uh, I mean..." Lumi merely shook his head in response.
"That wasn't all me. I was trying to say earlier, but when I touched the Keystone before, I felt someone calling out to me. I think they're the ones who kept it from breaking and sucked us in."
"You heard someone call for you? Are they here?"
"Somewhere, yeah. I think they want to meet. At least, that's the impression I got."
"Do you know who they are?"
"Uh, not really. I know they're my... uh," he placed a paw under his chin, eyes squinted in thought. "They're my...well, they feel familiar. And really, really strong."
Clara nodded a few times to digest that information. After a bit of silence, she looked at him and huffed out a laugh.
"You're really calm about this whole thing. I mean, we might just be the first Pokémon to get sucked into this psychedelic woohoo color land, or whatever this place is. This is enough for like, five research papers." That got a chuckle out of him, and he leaned back, letting himself rotate softly in the air.
"Oh, don't get me wrong. This whole day has been insane, and I don't even think I understand what just happened in the past five minutes alone. But, I'm just trying to go with the flow, take things one at a time. Plus, I got a good feeling we'll be in good company soon."
"Well, alright. If you're calm, then I'm calm." she responded, twirling her staff idly as she floated. Lumi nodded, but frowned as he glanced back at the stone.
"I hope we can get back soon though, we still don't know what happened to Van and Damia."
"Then let's hope your mystery friend has a way back. How are we going to find them anyway?"
"Uh, let me try..." He closed his eyes, going silent for a few moments. When he opened them again, they were shining with a bright blue tint. Clara's mouth opened in silent awe as she got a chance to really look at them. The natural yellow of Lumi's pupils glowed fervently from the azure shine. He floated over and offered a paw, which she clasped gently.
"Okay, yeah they're really excited. It's coming from over there." He pointed in a direction slightly below them.
"I don't see anything." Her eyes squinted as she looked over the formless expanse.
"That's fine. Uh, you holding on?" At her nod, he grinned, closing his eyes once more.
"Alright. You can bring us over now."
Slowly, the two drifted forward, before gradually picking up speed until they were coasting through the void. Soon, it felt as if they were soaring through the expanse, although with a lack of wind the only way to tell was the rapidly moving blurs of color that flew past them. Along the way, Clara pointed out drifting specks of solid color in the distance. A closer one zoomed past, and Lumi for a split saw that it looked like another rock as the one before, only this one was shining a more vibrant color rather than the dull stone.
Soon, the world became a mess of swirling colors as they sped past. Their view of the world tunneled, making it look like they were traveling through a tunnel of kaleidoscopic hues. Lumi gripped Clara's paws tighter when a spark of blue light sparkled in the distance. Their speed began to die down as they approached, softly bringing them to a stop in front of a large blue stone. This one shone like crystal, slowly rotating in the air.
The light died down in Lumi's eyes, and he floated forward to place a paw on its surface. With no resistance, it sunk in as if he had merely put it through a pool of water.
"Well, this is it," he remarked. Clara looked upon its surface with an open mouth. When she came forward to mimic Lumi, the fur on the back of her head raised as her paw slipped through. She laughed nervously.
"Geez, uh, you're sure about this, right? Whoever's on the other side feels...well, every bone in my body kind of wants to run and hide. I've never felt anything's Power that felt so, well, much."
"Would you say it feels...menacing?" he lowered his voice and wiggled his arms at her. She squinted at him.
"Yes...? Wait, that's from a comic, isn't it? You're seriously memeing me at a time like this?"
"I have no clue what you're talking about," he remarked, turning his head away with a smirk. She rolled her eyes and laughed.
"You loon. Whatever, let's just go," she said as she held her paw out. Lumi grasped it, and together they were pulled into the large crystal.
It welcomed them with little fanfare. They passed through, its surface draping over them like silk. For a moment, all that could be seen was a bright white, before things settled back in to focus.
They fell into an environment similar to the top of Windy Spire, their feet hitting a stone floor. A golden sky hung above, yellow clouds floating over the circular space they found themselves on. Alabaster bricks symmetrically inlaid a spotless floor with ornate columns sprouted up from the ground. A low railing was all that prevented a sheer drop off the sides, however the landing was wide enough for that to not be a concern.
A dias rested in the center of the pristine arena. Its steps lead to a small platform in front of some kind of a shrine that served as a backdrop to the steps. What looked like gears were inlaid into its widest section in the center, lines of energy flowing from them to the rest of the shrine and downward.
Everything about this place was worthy of a deeper look, but it was the hulking figure resting on the dias that commanded all attention. Clara sucked in a breath and grabbed Lumi's shoulder, body trembling at the sight of it. One word escaped the Meowstic's mouth. A name born from the culmination of a million thoughts and impressions clicking together in his head as he marvelled at the creature.
"Dialga..." he uttered.
The dragon's red eyes pierced through them as it raised its long head up to regard them. Slowly, its dark blue body reared up, unfolding its legs from under it to stand fully, towering a good several meters above them. A metallic sheen could be heard as its limbs moved and small tremors rocked the space as it placed its heavy feet in front of it, coming down the steps. For all its bulk, Dialga moved with a regal grace; its long tail swished behind its form while it made its way with a precision to its steps that spoke to how carefully it used its weight.
It arrived at the bottom of the dias and stood there for a moment, watching them. Clara had calmed from the initial jolt of fear, eyes locked onto the dragon for any sign of movement. Instead of fear, Lumi felt a burning curiosity at the sight of it. As the silence stretched on, it became unbearable, and he stepped forward with wide eyes.
Unsure of what to do, he opted for starting with polite introductions.
"Uh, hey. What's up?" he waved a bit in greeting. Behind him, Clara shot her head to him, swirls in a rapid spin and paws on her forehead. Unaware of this, he continued.
"I'm Lumi, and this is my friend Clara." he gestured back to her, even as she tried her best to hide behind him.
In response, Dialga lowered itself down into a resting position again and tilted its head forward.
"I am aware," Dialga responded simply. Its voice was an interweave of masculine and feminine tones, but the resounding baritone of the masculine came out just a bit more. Before Lumi could ponder any further, the dragon continued.
"Please, come closer. I've waited eagerly for this day."
The request was simple, so Lumi shrugged and gestured for Clara to follow. He walked across the length of the space toward Dialga, Clara sparing the dragon a glance before she followed behind. The metal fixtures on Dialga's head framed its eyes in a way that made their ceaseless stare somewhat disconcerting, doubly so as it never blinked once. Lumi came to a stop directly underneath its head, Clara a few paces away, and subjected himself to that piercing glare. Although he sensed no hostility, he shifted his feet uneasily as it bore down upon him.
"So uh, not to be rude, but your resting face could use a little work," he offered. Dialga stared at him a second longer, before finally blinking. Its eyes lost their soul piercing quality, instead dulling them to a more gentle scrutiny.
"Apologies. I don't have the chance to entertain guests often."
"It's fine. I know a guy with the same problem." Remembering something, Lumi shifted his gaze to try and look past Dialga's massive frame. He caught a glimpse of the beast's tail.
It wagged slowly from one side to the other.
A sound like wheezing bellows could be heard, and he looked back towards the dragon's head. The sound came from its open mouth, and its eyes were creased ever so slightly. It took a second for Lumi to register that it was laughing. It shifted its body forward a bit and slowly brought its head down, its metal ridge grazing his forehead. With gentle strokes, it rubbed its forehead along Lumi's, and the Meowstic leaned into the nuzzle, a content purr making its way out of his throat.
Though the dragon's head was cold, its affection was not uncomfortable, the weight pressing on his head more a reassurance of the sincerity of the gesture than anything. While today had been one mind screw after another, sharing nuzzles with a Legendary might be at the top of the list. A smile bloomed on his face as he enjoyed this strange turn of events.
Clara shuffled over to the side with a paw to her mouth as she watched the two. It was hard to wrap her head around the sight of the imposing Legendary engage in what would normally be a regular show of endearment for friends and family. It did serve to lower her guard however, and she crept closer, not quite as concerned for their lives as before.
Before long, Dialga reared its head back up and Lumi made himself comfortable to sit cross legged on the ground, Clara sitting next to him.
"Thank you for indulging me, my kin. It has been some time since I have been able to share such a sentiment with anyone." It looked down at him fondly. Lumi gave a confused smile in response.
"Uh, kin? I don't think I understand, I don't remember having a legendary uncle or anything." Dialga nodded.
"No, though I suppose you are not far off. Through the circumstances of your birth, you and I share a bond. My blessing courses through you, in order to provide your parents with a reward suitable for their deeds, rather than the grief that would have followed." It continued, voice softer. "In truth, we met the moment your life was bolstered to thrive by my energy. Your soul feels just as calming as when it awoke for the first time."
Throughout Dialga's explanation, Lumi's smile slowly dwindled into a pensive frown, and then opened in full blown shock. His eyes were creased in bewilderment as he looked up at the dragon as if he was wearing a tutu and juggling bananas. Noting Lumi's silence, Clara squeezed his shoulder, also just as confused.
"Circumstances of my...what the fu..." he mumbled, eyes glazed over.
"Hang on, his blessing? Lumi, you've been a part Legendary this whole time!?" asked Clara, excitement growing as she shook him lightly.
"I don't...Have I? That's not even a thing! Th-that's not a thing is it?" He directed the question to Dialga, who was silent for a bit before answering.
"In a way, you could be considered a Legendary, although perhaps a minor one as the expression of my energy is not as pronounced, although..." Its head tilted inquisitively to the side. "If we consider the precedent set by Ho-oh and his three children then...well I suppose in that case it was the full expression of his blessing that resurrected them...is that the defining factor?"
The two watched as Dialga began to mumble, asking questions to itself and coming to conclusions it would then sweep away a second later.
"...We could classify you as a Pseudo Legendary? Although that identifier is morseo associated with strength than any true lineage that can be traced to a-"
"So you don't know?" Lumi's voice cut over its ramblings. It blinked and returned its attention back to him.
"There's not enough data to come to a conclusive identifier, so no. In truth, that specific procedure had never been attempted before, so you may be in a class of your own. I myself am already amazed at the way my blessing has manifested in you." Its eyes gained back their piercing quality and it bent its neck down to observe Lumi up close.
"That you took the form of an Espurr instead of an Eevee is already a fascinating development..."
Lumi didn't mind Dialga's inquisitiveness, mind whirring as he tried to process everything about his life that he had just been told. He put a paw to his forehead and sighed.
"So, that's the reason why..." He crossed his arms and huffed at the ground. "Damn, I really gotta find my parents. They didn't tell me anything about this. About you or, whatever they did that was apparently so great..."
"Do not begrudge their withholding of information. I believe it was their hope to not worry you and live a simple life."
"My life was simple up until like a week ago," he joked with a smile that fell just as fast, eyes glued to the side in thought. Clara rubbed his back to try and reassure him, but stilled when Dialga's attention shifted to her.
"Clara, was it?" at her nod, it continued. "You have my thanks for accompanying my kin to the site of the Distortion upsurge. It was through him that I was able to halt it, and call him here."
"O-oh, no problem! Actually, it wasn't just me, there were more of us sent there to inspect it but we got separa-" She sucked in a breath, swirls spinning. "Oh crap, uh, you wouldn't be able to send us back would you? We really need to get back to them as soon as possible."
"It is no problem for me to return you to your destination, however there is much to discuss."
"But-"
"Do not worry. My tower exists outside of the normal passage of time. I will return you to your destination, and it will be as if you never left."
"Ooooooh right, giant time Legendary. And we're sitting on Temporal Tower." she hugged herself and shook her head, "Geez this is...alot to take in, y'know?"
"I have met a few brave mortals, but never one such as you that has warmed so quickly to my presence. My kin is familiar with me on a spiritual level, but you must be very brave indeed."
A blush rose to Clara's cheeks, her posture loosening slightly.
"Aw, you tell all the girls that? But, dealing with stuff out of the ordinary comes with the job description. I'm a member of Absol's guild, through and through!"
"The guild that researches matters relating to Dungeons?"
"You know about us?"
"I make it a point to stay abreast of current events by any means. It is helpful for my records, although recently I have had to spend more time at my tower. I am aware of the infamy that your guild garners." Its response made her giggle.
"Well, 'infamy' is one way to put it." She turned to Lumi. "Hey, you think they'll believe us when we head back? I don't think anyone expected us to meet the Dialga. This is one of the greatest discoveries ever." He snorted.
"Speak for yourself, apparently my soul is related to Dialga's. I wonder if they'll perform tests on me when I get back?" he mused.
"Maybe keep that part on the down low. And don't tell Willow. Ever."
The two shared a laugh, and Dialga made an inquisitive sound before decisively tapping its foot on the ground twice. A second later, a pair of Porygon appeared from behind the pillars balancing deep blue cushions on their forms. They floated over to the two sitting down and deposited the cushions in front of them, and with a bow to Dialga floated off. At their questioning looks, Dialga nodded its head to the cushions.
"Please, make yourself comfortable. I have not had the opportunity to speak candidly with mortals in some time, especially ones from a guild such as yours. It would also please me to know how your life has been, my kin, before we move on to heavier matters."
"Welp, it's pretty boring, up until when it's not. You sure we have time for this?"
"I can make time." Stated Dialga. Lumi paused and squinted his eyes at it.
"...Nice," he said, a true grin forming.
The smaller Pokémon settled into their cushions and basked in the relief it gave their bodies. Once they straightened up, the next untold amount of time was spent engaging the Temporal Legendary in what could be described as light conversation. Dialga seemed very interested in Lumi's home life, much to the Meowstic's embarrassment as it meant he had to try and make his life in Thistle Town seem interesting. After a while the Legendary's genuine interest in even mundane things such as how it was to attend school or learn how to help run his parent's shop made Lumi more comfortable in sharing.
It was also a surprise to him that Dialga even had an understanding of current comic series and visual novels.
"It's a more recent form of entertainment, you've all only started making them in the past hundred or so years, but they are incredibly engaging. I'm almost caught up on every Iron Mon issue."
"You're officially the best Legendary." uttered Lumi, stars in his eyes.
"I'll remember that."
When topics shifted to the guild, Clara took the lead on explaining what it is they did, given that she had been there longer. It listened patiently while she regaled it with all the projects and things the guild normally got up to, which under any other circumstance would be cause for concern for anyone not familiar with Absol's. It was clear she had more than overcome her intimidation of the Legendary. Lumi thought he saw the hint of a blush on her face when she showed off her Confuse staff and Dialga complimented her on its make and function.
The questions she asked about it after that made Lumi just a bit concerned. Well, more like confusedly interested.
"So, how often do you come topside?"
"You're in great shape! Do you have a legendary workout routine or something?"
"Do you mind if I touch your leg?"
"Just wondering, but hypothetically speaking, what qualities do you find attractive in a Pokémon? Asking for research."
"Can you see the future? Do you think you can see a future with-"
"I restrict my sight to only those times when there are threats to the world and the timeline itself. Besides, it is much more interesting to allow life's surprises to come to you. To see the future has been more of a burden than it is worth, in my experience."
"Ah. Yup. Gotcha. Makes sense." She nodded and looked down in thought. Lumi leaned over and whispered in her ear.
"Are you really hitting on Dialga right now?"
"...I'm gauging interest," she whispered back. His eyes bugged out and he glanced at the Legendary waiting patiently for them to finish.
"I don't think they're...you know what, whatever. Shoot your shot and we'll see what happens."
"All in due time. Heh."
Eventually they arrived at Lumi's first week at the guild, and the events that led to them being branded as criminals. Once they had finished explaining how exactly they ended up at the Keystone, Dialga nodded gravely.
"I have looked forward, and seen an end to this world. It appears the breaking of what you call the Keystones is at the cause of this ruin."
"You mean that terrorist group really is just trying to destroy the world?" asked Clara. Dialga paused before speaking again.
"I cannot speak to their motives, but at the very least they are hastening the process. I have sensed the gradual dissolution of Distortion for about a year, yet by your accounts this group only started destroying Keystones a few days ago."
The two smaller mon paused to let that sink in. A thought occurred to Lumi and he spoke up.
"That's the second time you've said that. Distortion. Are you talking about Aether?"
"I believe we refer to the same thing, that chaotic substance from which the world was made, and a source of rampant creation. That mortals have been able to harness its power for their benefit is quite astounding."
Both Clara and Lumi blinked.
"Wait, say that again," Lumi stated, slowly. "The world was...made from Aether?"
"That would be accurate to say, yes." at their blank stares, it continued. "Yours is a guild of scholars and researchers. Have you been able to figure out the purpose Dungeons serve yet? Or, are at least supposed to?"
"They serve a purpose? We thought they were just random collections of Aether, or something," stated Clara.
"I will let you discover the whole truth on your own, but know that there is intention in their existence. They are a recent measure to ensure proper regulation of Distortion."
"Recent? In what way are Dungeon's recent? They've been around forever," questioned the Spinda, Lumi nodding in agreement. Dialga paused, its placid stare gazing at them for a bit before it hummed to itself in thought.
"Is fifteen hundred years truly so long? Surely you have records of a time before the appearance of Dungeons?"
"I mean, society didn't really become a thing until Pokémon banded together to deal with the Dungeons popping up, according to what we learn in school. I don't even think we had books or anything a thousand years ago."
"And, wait, why does Dist-Aether need to be regulated anyway? If you're saying Dungeons have done it for the past fifteen hundred years, how did that work before?" asked Lumi.
"Distortion is the potential for creation. Properly managed, it allows for beautiful things to come to be, such as the world you live in and creations your kind has chosen to make. Left unchecked, chaos reigns, leading to all established laws of this world tearing at the seams. The original means to achieve this balance is not available to us."
Lumi followed along with its explanation, but his ear flicked at how quickly his second question was answered. Dialga continued before he could ask for clarification.
"You now have a basic understanding of some of the ways of this world, which you can take back and share with your guild. With this knowledge, I would like to charge you with the task for which I called you here, my kin."
Dialga reared its mighty body up once more. Lumi sensed the gravitas with which Dialga wanted to deliver this news, and so likewise stood up straighter.
"With the erosion of the Keystones and Distortion beginning to run rampant, the integrity of my tower is at risk, and so I must stay here and focus my efforts on keeping the flow of time secure. In order to combat this threat, you must fully inherit my blessing and use it to halt the flow of Distortion in any Dungeon you come across. "
It bent its head down to be eye level with the Meowstic. Lumi felt his breath hitch a bit as those fierce red eyes bored into him.
"Lumiere, do you accept?"
"...Finally, you used my name," Lumi grinned and put his hands behind his head. "Yeah, sure, I'll accept. On one condition."
Clara cut her eyes at him, and Dialga paused a bit before slowly inclining its head. The smile dropped from Lumi's face, and he crossed his arms as he gathered his words.
"...I don't think I'm hard to work with. Really, I put up with a lot. Just look at how crazy this last week, no, just today has gone. And don't get me wrong, I've loved every second of it. I'm down for saving the world, it's what we were going to do anyway. But if you want to use me to deal with this problem, then you need to promise to be upfront with me with things from now on."
"I believe I have been very forthcoming with information."
"Sure, you've told us a little about what the problem is and your plan to stop it, but it's obvious there's some stuff you're leaving out. I'm not just talking about how there was a way Distortion was regulated before Dungeons. I think you know more than you're letting on."
Lumi loosened his posture, and held his paws up in a placating manner when Dialga didn't respond for some time.
"Look. In some way, we're family, right? So that means we're supposed to trust each other. I'll trust that you have a good reason for holding onto things, but I need you to trust me, and my friends, to be honest with us about what's going on at some point. Okay?"
"It was never my intention to be misleading."
"I'm sure it wasn't my parent's intention that I'm talking to a Legendary who was somehow involved in my birth, and here I am. Life is weird."
"This is true." Dialga went silent again, and closed its eyes. After a bit, it opened them again. "There are things that are not currently relevant to know for the task at hand, but you have my word I will share them with you when the time is right."
"I'll hold you to that."
"Of course, Lumiere. Now, step closer. It is time to awaken my blessing in you," intoned Dialga.
"I thought I already had it? Apparently my eyes got all glowy and stuff?" he asked, coming closer.
"What lies in you could hardly be enough to be called a fraction of my power. More than enough to bolster a fading life with the vitality of a Legendary, but not nearly enough to awaken access to my domain. My blessing is your birthright, we are simply awakening its true potential."
Using the tip of its head, Dialga gently pushed Lumi until he acquiesced and sat down.
"What does that even mean though? What is your blessing exactly?"
"I shall demonstrate. Those small islands above us, do you see them?"
Lumi blinked, but arched his neck up to where Dialga had motioned with its head. Above them were three large masses of floating earth, each about half the width of the top of the tower they stood on.
"Yeah, what abo-"
With no warning, Dialga built up a ball of power in its mouth, the hum of energy sending vibrations through the air. A second later, the ball lanced out of its mouth in a fantastic beam of azure energy. The mere force of it leaving its mouth jolted Lumi and Clara back, and they watched as the shot of power impacted one of the landmasses as quickly as a bullet.
It shot twice more at the other large rocks, and they exploded into heavy fragments. The smaller Pokémon gasped in amazement at the casual show of power, but it cut off as something became apparent.
The fragments were falling. Towards them.
A hail of miniature meteors rained down, and Lumi looked back towards Dialga. It stared down at him impassively. Smoke from its attack still lingered from its mouth. He glanced back and forth from the Legendary to the fiery storm of heavy rock that hurtled toward them.
"Uh..." Lumi didn't quite have words, but instead got up and made his way to stand closer to Dialga. One of the rocks finally impacted the tower and a loud boom echoed as it crashed into the white bricks.
Clara yelped and rushed to hide behind one of Dialga's legs. Soon, more and more chunks of land crashed into the tower, bricks and marble thrown up as everything shattered. The beautiful pillars crumbled in seconds, rumbles and craters peppering the space from the progressively heavy fall from the falling earth.
"Why is this happening!?" shouted Clara.
"Is this supposed to answer my question?" Lumi was forced to yell over the crashes. The hair on the back of his neck raised, and he looked up. His eyes widened as a particularly large boulder was heading straight for the dias they were next to.
Dialga followed his gaze and looked up at the approaching boulder with all of the urgency of a morning spring breeze. Lumi rushed over to put a paw around Clara's shoulder, and the two closed their eyes and crouched down to brace themselves for the inevitable impact.
It never came.
After a few moments, they realized that the sounds of destruction that had rung out from the many impacts had ceased as well. The only heard their heavy breathing as they huddled next to each other..
"Open your eyes my kin."
"Wh-what?" asked Lumi, still not comprehending the past ten seconds.
"You can trust me." He felt a metal ridge rub him slowly on his neck. He breathed in deep and fluttered open his eyes. He shared a look with Clara and removed his arm from around her, then turned to the side to witness something out of a dream.
If he could describe it, the scene he was looking at was as if someone took a picture from the chaos from moments before and shoved it in front of his face.
Large chunks of earth that hurtled down with such speed before now hung motionless in the air. They didn't float, they were simply stopped altogether. He stepped out from the protection of Dialga and stared in wonder at the sight of bricks and rubble thrown up from great impacts stuck still in the air, at the moment of impact.
A thought entered his head, and he looked up at the large boulder then threatened to crush them, now paused only meters above their head.
"A bit of a simple and crude example, but this should suffice." He looked back to Dialga and motioned to the space around them.
"How...wait. You...halted time?"
"For everything but us three."
"Ah. And, you needed to show off a little bit and jack up your tower just to show us that." he asked with a smirk. It huffed at him.
"As if I'd leave a mess like this. Observe."
Lumi didn't notice before, but the dark blue gem on its chest was now glowing a vibrant blue. Dialga raised its head a tiny bit, and the world around them began to shift.
He watched as pieces of rubble and thrown bricks rewound back into their rightful places, collapsed columns falling upwards and slotting back into place. He followed the large chunks of earth as they reversed their courses and flew upwards into the sky, only to then slot together like puzzle pieces into the unsuspecting islands they were before. Once all was calm again, the glow on Dialga's gem died down to a dark blue.
Clara joined him to inspect the area, pristine and tranquil as it was when they arrived. As one, they turned to each other, and then to Dialga.
They grinned.
"That...was badass!" exclaimed Lumi as he threw his arms out. Clara clapped and laughed to herself.
"I thought we were gonna die! You can just do that!?"
"As I said, this was a simple showing, but I am pleased you enjoyed it regardless."
"So, wait..." asked Lumi, walking forward to stand closer to Dialga. "You're saying that I can control time like you? Thats..."
"To be imbued with my blessing means having access to my domain, which involves the manipulation of time. I assume you will also have access to this power to some extent, enough to halt the flow of Distortion."
"You assume?" Lumi's eyebrow raised as Dialga settled onto its forelegs in front of him, only inches apart from each other.
"This procedure is new to me as well, all I can say is that my Power will fully interweave itself with your own in some fashion. It will be up to you to nurture it into something useful. With that said..."
It nodded to the side, where Clara had whipped out a notepad and furiously scribbled what was going on. She squeaked when its heavy attention shifted to her.
"It is my understanding that you have allied yourself with individuals who might be capable of helping you learn to better harness this. I trust you will assist him with taking control of his birthright?" asked Dialga with intent. Clara stammered a bit before giving a hasty nod.
"R-right, of course! Our whole guild is dedicated to understanding the unknowable! Figuring out Lumi's deal will just be another to add to the list!"
"In that case, let's begin." With a light shove, Dialga nosed Lumi until the cat was lying belly up on the ground.
"Do I need to do anything?" he asked. He shuddered a bit as the cold steel from Dialga's forehead pressed onto his stomach. A small wriggle confirmed that just the light pressure the Legendary applied was enough to keep him pressed firmly on the ground.
"I will meld my energy with yours, and add to it. For this to work, you must focus and latch on to mine, and then simply allow the melding to continue until my blessing is made whole in you. The process might be draining."
"Focus on...alright, I think I have an idea." He nodded. "Let's do it."
With that, Dialga pressed a bit harder into his chest and Lumi closed his eyes. He breathed deeply and allowed his body to relax. After a moment, he felt a warmth, and opened his eyes a bit to see a faint blue light that shone on his chest, a tendril connecting it to a point on Dialga's forehead. Dialga's eyes were focused on his chest, and his heart beat faster at the feeling of the warmth growing stronger.
Dialga had said to focus on its own energy, and so Lumi shut his eyes once more and extended his other senses. The warmth stayed localized on his chest, and he attempted to focus on that area and will it to blossom out somehow, but with little success. He thought about how he was to access the energy Dialga was freely giving, and brought his paws up to place them on its snout on a whim.
In an instant, his mind's eye was thrown wide open with the image of a titanic amount of steel blue. For a moment, he was overwhelmed by the sheer power that this energy possessed, until he realized that it felt familiar; the same energy that had filled the Keystone before him and Clara were pulled inside of it.
There was no time for him to truly consider it before, but as his senses were saturated with the power, he realized that it felt similar to Aether. It took him a while to find himself within the ocean of blue, but he was eventually able to distinguish his own Energy somewhere on the fringes. He pushed with his pink Psychic Energy, unsurprised when nothing happened.
A thought occurred to him. This energy that could pass as Aether. Was all of it Dialga?
"I'm afraid you won't be able to influence me during this process. Remember, latch on to my being, and take what I give," muttered Dialga.
With a grunt of acknowledgment, Lumi ceased the mental and spiritual equivalent of trying to push a mountain, and instead tried pulling.
In his limited experience with crafting orbs, he had only ever tried moving the energies inside, pushing them with his own, instead of letting those energies influence him. He wasn't even sure if it was possible, but with a force attempting to infuse energy into his own being, he considered this might be a good proof of concept.
Taking Dialga's words to heart, Lumi took his Psychic Energy and reached into the sea that was Dialga's as far as it could go. He felt a strange sense of vulnerability as his Energy was submerged, but tried to open himself up to the unending energy that he could feel was waiting to be let in.
His chest started to burn.
He jolted, and with a gasp he opened his eyes to see the blue light on his chest had grown to cover a bit more of his body. Breath heavy, he could immediately sense that there was something off in a way that could not be described in words but was immediately recognizable by the change in the balance of his internal Energy. A power that had before been so small as to go unnoticed had now grown to fill more of him.
"H-holy..." he gasped, still reeling from the sudden pain.
"Lumi, you alright? What are you doing to him!?" called Clara, a few steps away. Dialga let out a low grunt of exertion.
"I am being as...gentle as possible." Lumi glanced up to the sight of Dialga's mouth open, breathing with labored breaths.
"My kin, please. Take while I offer. I am...unused to holding back my essence for so long. I do not wish to discover what would happen if I overwhelm you."
"Couldn't you just look forward?" rasped Lumi. Dialga briefly flicked its eyes to meet his.
"I know there is a possibility of this procedure succeeding. That is all I need to know."
Inhaling a breath, Lumi closed his eyes again. That power from Dialga was more pronounced than before, but he got the sense he wasn't done. He repeated the action of pulling from the Legendary's essence, and cringed as the burning heat spread throughout his body. He let out a few curses as, inch by inch, that pain spread throughout his form, arching through his limbs.
From her perspective, Clara watched as Lumi's whole body glowed with the blue light that only came from his eyes before. Feeling unsure what to do, she knelt by his head and whispered encouraging things, petting his head some when his face scrunched up in pain.
With agonizing slowness, Lumi invited more of Dialga's essence into his body. He could feel himself shake, the foreign-and-familiar energy coursing through his veins. No words left his mouth, nor did he try to open his eyes and gauge how far along he was by the amount of light on his form.
The sensation of fire trying to escape from his paw tips clued him in that he was getting there.
"Just a...bit...more." Dialga's words came out in short gasps. The blue ocean itself seemed to shake in exertion.
With a shout, Lumi siphoned off enough energy to fill his body with as much energy as it could. He heard his heartbeat in his ears, and the shout turned to a pained yowl as, for a brief moment, his body was nothing more than a lump of agony.
Mercifully, the sensation of pain dimmed a bit as his overexerted body gave in to exhaustion. With his eyes already closed, he slipped off into unconsciousness.
Soft.
That was the first thing his mind picked up. A bit later, he realized the sensation came through his paws as they grasped a smooth, plush surface.
Mindlessly, he shifted his body and let out a sigh of relief at the cloud-like surface he rested on, making a declaration in his head to never move again. He snuggled up on his side and postponed his arrival to the waking world once more.
Some time later, the hushed sounds of voices wrenched him from slumber once more, and he made the regrettable, but necessary, decision to flutter open his eyelids. Confusion entered his peaceful state when he saw a deep blue ceiling, and he briefly wondered if he had simply been dreaming up till this point.
He let out a wide yawn and rolled over, surprised at how fatigued his muscles felt, and sat up to wipe the sleep that lingered on his eyelids. He glanced around the space he was in, and his confusion only grew.
With his consciousness having returned, Lumi expected to awake to the golden yellow clouds that hung above Temporal Tower. Instead, he was inside what he had decided was the largest bedroom he had ever seen.
To the left was a collection of extravagant cushions wide enough to fit at least twenty Pokémon across all of them. Light streamed across the pillows through silk blue curtains that draped over a wide view of the outside. As he panned his head across the wide space in wonder, his eyes landed on a gargantuan shelf that housed an uncountable number of books, almost as high as the shelves back at the library in the guild.
The smell of lemon grass tickled his nose, and his nose guided him to a lit censer hung from the ceiling that allowed the pleasing fragrance to emanate throughout the room.
He heard a sharp inhale of breath come from behind him that interrupted his observations, but before he could turn around fully to check, his body was squeezed by something soft and surprisingly strong.
"Ah, Lumi! You're awake!" yelled Clara as she held Lumi close. A pained grunt was his response, and she extracted herself enough to hold him by his shoulders.
"Sorry, didn't catch that."
"Said I'm feeling...a little tender..." he muttered, a strained smile on his face. She 'eeped' and let him go, choosing to sit next to him on the cushion he had apparently been laying on.
"What the hell happened?" he wondered.
"The infusion was a success. You required time to recover afterwards, so I brought you to my chambers," answered a dual toned voice from the side. Lumi turned and watched as, rather than walk in, Dialga simply floated over to the two from the large doorway, toes barely touching the floor. It alightied itself around the cushion and reached down to nuzzle its forehead against Lumi's. He returned it dazedly.
"How long was I out?"
"A few hours. Or at least, whatever passes for hours here..." answered Clara. His eyes widened in surprise.
"Seriously? Damn..." He glanced up at Dialga. "Thanks for letting me, uh, crash at your place then. I really wasn't expecting you to have a whole..." Struggling to find the words, he waved his paw at the general lavish comfort of the room.
"...Bachelor pad."
"Oh you don't even know. While you were out they showed me the library, the indoor pool, there was like a giant screen they called a theater..."
"For real? Damn, I wish I was awake for that," Lumi chuckled to himself. "You really have all that stuff here?" he asked Dialga. It gave a mighty shrug in response.
"I have installed various means of recreation during my time. But that is neither here nor there. Are you able to stand?"
"Uh, hang on." Lumi rolled himself off the cushion onto the carpeted floor, and pushed himself until he was standing, albeit a bit wobbly. Clara came to put an arm around his back to stabilize him, but after a bit he was able to take a few tentative steps.
"Dialga explained that they pumped you full of its own essence, enough to be able to use some of its power on your own. So do you feel like you're able to, I dunno, do some cool time stuff?" inquired Clara. Lumi shrugged and closed his eyes, focusing inward.
Despite his fatigued body, he could sense a change in his throughout his body, subtle though it was. His tails flicked idly as he considered how this new thing alongside his psychic Energy did not feel new so much as more pronounced, as if it was always there but his mind was finally able to register its existence.
He flicked open an ear to ready power in its eye, but was a bit disappointed to find that, besides the glow being a bit stronger, there didn't seem to be any further change.
"That's a negative on the time stuff, I don't feel all that different."
"This is to be expected," intoned Dialga. "Your body needs time to adjust itself to the new influx of Energy. I doubt you will be able to manifest it into a move of some sort for quite some time." At his drooped ears, it continued. "Do not fret my kin, I am confident you will find a means to utilize this power. If it is any consolation, I can already sense a difference in how you feel, you are a much different creature than when you first arrived on my tower."
"I guess that's a good thing?" He got his answer as the Legendary nuzzled him deeper, pushing him onto his back. It let out a deep rumble which somehow managed to sound pleased and...content?
"I must admit I find this change...comforting. To me, you look and feel much closer to us than a mortal."
"You know, I'm gonna go ahead and ignore the hundred questions that just popped into my head when you said that. I think I'm at my limit for how many revelations I can handle in one day." remarked Lumi as his paws rubbed the affectionate Legendary's head. The thought of everything that had happened today made him sigh in exasperation, and he lolled his head to the side.
"Don't take this the wrong way, but I really just want to get our friends and go back to the guild. I have a lot I need to sleep on."
"Ditto," agreed Clara.
"Very well. As discussed, I shall return you to when you departed the Dungeon you came from. Please, help him," it asked, nodding to Clara. Before Lumi could ask, he was lifted and put over Clara's shoulders. The Spinda turned and climbed on top of Dialga's lowered head one handed, effortlessly balancing Lumi on her other shoulder. Once he was deposited in the crook of its neck and she situated herself behind him, Dialga straightened up and floated to the window.
As if by its will, they slid open, and it flew out into the open sky, turning to soar up and around the tower. Along the way, Lumi took in the barren, floating land masses that orbited around the central tower. Outside of the splendor of the tower, it struck him how concernedly empty the rest of the realm was.
He wondered how often Dialga had rained down meteors just because it could. There didn't seem to be much else to do for fun around here.
No wonder it had a pool.
In no time, they had been flown up to the top where they were before, and landed in front of another large crystal, presumably where they had entered from. Unlike before, this one was light grey in color, almost clear.
"Where is it that you two came from?" it asked as it landed and walked toward it.
"Windy Spire. Do you know where that is? Out in the bay next to Rowshore?" answered Lumi. Dialga paused, then brought its snout to the crystal and held it there. The clear crystal suddenly shifted through a spectrum of colors, rapidly going from red to green to purple, until it finally landed on a sky blue. It stared at it once more before it nodded.
"Yes, this is the one." It craned its neck back to stare at the two. "I have opened a passage to your destination only a few seconds after you left it. When you return, you will notice the flow of Aether, as you call it, throughout that place has been halted."
"What does that mean?"
"You will see."
It leaned down and the smaller Pokémon hopped off its back and approached the crystal. Lumi placed his paw on it and let it sink into the rock as before. He turned back and looked up at Dialga.
"Thanks for taking care of us, and for giving us a way to deal with whatever is going on out there." He rubbed the back of his head, "Though I'm not super sure what I'm actually supposed to do with what you've given me."
"The pleasure was all mine, Lumi. And it will come to you in time. This is something I know."
"Are we going to be able to see you again? Ooh! Wait." Clara interrupted the Legendary by holding a paw up and rifling around in her bag. She pulled out a small echo orb and fiddled with it before it turned green, then tottered over to stand under its curious gaze.
"Here, just, uh, say your name and keep this on you, that way I-we! We can call you if we need something." she giggled nervously. Dialga leaned down and observed it from a few different angles. For a split second its eyes widened, before returning to their neutral stare.
"This device fosters communication, yes?"
"Uh-huh! Not sure if it goes beyond dimensions but...I guess we'll figure that out."
Lumi watched as Clara helped Dialga configure its own echo orb. He stifled a laugh at the sight of the huge beast quickly nodding at her instructions.
"Thank you for this gift, Clara. I look forward to keeping in contact."
"You too. Uh, I mean I look forward to you...too. Talking. With, you." The bear petered out and stared at her feet, face on fire. Lumi came forward to place a paw on her back and guide her to the stone.
"I think that's our queue to leave. Talk to you later, Dialga." He waved his paw, and then glanced down. "Huh, that feels weird to say."
"I wish you success in your endeavors, my kin. Until next time." It nodded to their final farewells, and watched as, with a ripple, they walked right through the stone.
Dialga stomped its foot on the ground with such force that it made the whole tower quake, and a second later the clear stone was banished elsewhere. It stood in silent contemplation, idly batting at the small echo orb it was given. It summoned a Porygon servant and gave it instructions to deposit the thing in its chambers, and turned to step towards the dias and rest in front of the slowly churning time gears.
It felt a tug on its power, and its eyes flicked to a point above it as, moments later, a white spark of light appeared. In a burst of light and shining verdant leaves, a small green Pokémon fluttered out. It whipped its head back and forth until its eyes landed on Dialga and it zoomed over with fine fairy-like wings.
"Crap, I'm here! I'm here!" it exclaimed in a young, vaguely feminine voice. She floated near Dialga's head and looked out over the top of the tower. "Where is he!?"
"I'm afraid you're late. As usual," stated Dialga, only sparing Celebi a glance. Said fairy let out a wine and dramatically flopped over onto the larger Legendary's head
"Noooo! I even left a reminder and everything...I wanted to see you be cute for once. Just once!" it moaned. Dialga emitted a sigh mixed with a low growl.
"Your tardiness might have been a blessing. It might have been too much for my kin to handle if he was met with both of us at once. I could also do without your comments regarding how I choose to display my affections." Celebi huffed at it, but it continued.
"Do you have any important news?"
"Oh, same old same old. Chaos reigns and Pokémon continue to find new ways to flip off impending doom. Well, actually about half the world is bathed in water because an aquatic Dungeon had an upsurge for some reason. The Sage figured out a way to make floating land masses though, so that's nice."
"This is encouraging."
"Yeah, well," Celebi floated to be directly in front of its face. "Things could always be worse, I guess. Be honest with me, how confident are you feeling about this plan of yours?"
"I fail to see how I feel is relevant to the task at hand," it responded. She sighed and pinched the bridge in between her eyes.
"Alright, let me try again. Ahem," she straightened up and continued with a more dignified voice. "Lord Dialga. Are you sure you wish to continue with the current course of events, knowing the risks?"
"I would not have proposed it had I not considered the risks. I am well aware of what's at stake."
"Are you? Look, don't act like this doesn't affect you. I'm pretty sure we've all bonded to a mortal at some point to some extent, but never at their inception! If this goes sideways, could you bear the thought of losing him if we need to start over? Frankly, I don't even know how you were able to let him leave so quickly."
"He has his duties and I have mine, it was necessary to part ways," it said in a firm voice. When she just stared at it, it averted its gaze. "I will admit to a...disappointment when he expressed the desire to leave. The urge to keep him here was stronger than I expected."
"Aww," She managed a few strokes on its snout before it flinched away. She cleared her throat before she spoke next. "...did he have the...erm,"
"Yes. It was around his neck."
"Oh, good! That hasn't changed, at least. Okay, this could work, then."
Dialga did not respond for a few moments, head bowed in thought. It nodded almost imperceptibly some time later.
"Yes. Yes it could."
"Scrafty, if you don't stop screaming and start doing something useful right now, I swear I will drop you!" yelled Damia as she beat her wings frantically to dodge the myriad attacks sent their way by winged ferals. Van clenched his teeth and risked a glance back at the birds following them, but ducked his head down further to avoid a Wing Attack.
Van was pretty sure this was the worst day of his life, bar only a few exceptions. He had just exited freefall after Damia was blasted out of the sky, and spent an excruciating few moments shaking her shoulders in a frantic attempt to get her mind clear enough to fly again. In his mind he made coherent statements like "Oh God please wake up!" and "Seriously, we're about to die!"
When Damia finally shook her head in clarity, she was instead greeted by him yelling incoherently in her face. Taking a second to process the situation, she roared in rage and grasped him in her claws to whisk them down the side of a building and over into a side street to dodge the incoming fire. They zoomed throughout the city before she made a hard right and stopped on a dime right above the street.
"Wh-why'd we...why'd you stop?" Van asked in short bursts. He had to take deep breaths as his heart pounded in his lungs, and the only reason he was able to talk was because Damia had gripped him to where he was pressed against her stomach, and so didn't have to look at the ground.
If he was in his right mind, he would have realized this was the closest thing to a hug he'd probably ever get from her.
She didn't respond. Rather, she adjusted her hold on him and placed him on her back, then turned to fly back the way they came. A sharp crackle of electricity hit his ears, and he looked down over her shoulder to see that she had wreathed both her claws in the power of a Thunder Punch.
Van was concerned.
"Aye, shouldn't, uh, shouldn't we be going. Y'know, away from the..." he went silent at the side glare she sent him. She glided forward without another word.
"...Damia?" he ventured. He felt a strange sensation under his hands, and belatedly realized that her body was trembling. Before he could ask what was wrong, she threw her head back and let out an ear splitting roar.
"I am not a coward!" she bellowed into the air. Her shout attracted more ferals who made a beeline for their position. She screamed a war cry in challenge, and launched forward to meet them head on.
All Van could do was tuck his head into the crook between her wings and hold on tight as the world became a frenetic blur of motion.
He was forced to close his eyes to avoid nausea, but the pained squawking of ferals clued him in to what exactly was happening. Sometime throughout the chaos, he inched open one eye and was greeted to the pleasant sight of Damia, who slammed an Altaria feral so hard into a wall that cracks formed. She then grabbed it by the wings to swing it like a bat at an approaching Braiviary.
The Altaria dissolved on impact, but that didn't slow her down. Damia grabbed the Braiviary by its neck and, with a cry, gave a mighty flap of her wings and sent them hurtling down to the street below. She dive bombed the feral so hard the ground quaked and left a crater.
Seeing his chance, Van let himself drop to the ground, sending thanks to Arceus for the very concept of land. On shaky legs he turned his eyes upward and witnessed the carnage Damia had left: buildings marred with scorch marks and chunks of stone ripped out to fall to the street below. Impact craters on their sides and the lingering smell of ozone painted a picture of how the Dragonite had dealt with their assailants.
Damia herself stood crouched in the crater she made, breath heavy, but with a storm brewing in her eyes.
Van had felt intimidated by her before, of course, but the sight of her claws gripping the stone floor so hard it crumbled in her grasp made him legitimately wary. Still, he reached out a hand to try and calm her.
"Hey. You're good, there's no more." He wasn't sure if she heard what he said, but her eyes eventually flicked to his position in acknowledgment.
"...Get on. We're wasting time," she muttered, lumbering to her feet.
"Are you sure you don't want to-"
"We lost track of Clara and Lumi because I was careless. I won't make the same mistake again."
He opened his mouth to protest, but realized by her tone that there would be no debate. Finding the others was a priority, regardless of her behavior, and so he took a step toward her. Movement above caught his eye and he thought it was a feral flying overhead until he caught a glimpse of red.
"Damn, don't look now but we got company." Reacting to his nod, Damia glanced up just enough to spot the red scarfed Dartrix, and growled when they turned to speed off. She flexed her wings and looked down at Van.
"We're just going to have to deal with them, they'll make us waste more time otherwise." She reached a claw down for Van to grasp, but raised a brow when he whipped his head to her.
"Hold up, deal with them? There was like ten guys and their boss back there."
"Yes? It's only ten, and I know how to deal with Charizard. I just need you to do something more useful than hang onto me."
"Why you gotta...damn it hang on," he reached into his bag and pulled out a pair of scarves, an orange Power band and a red Detect band. He held out the former to her, and she quickly wrapped it around her forearm as he did the same with his, not wanting to take up more space on his neck with the guild scarf.
"Alright, maybe that'll make this easier. So, uh, what's the plan?" he asked as he climbed onto her back, cringing at the feeling of weightlessness as she shot into the air once more.
"They expect us to run, so we'll blitz them instead. I won't give them a chance to regroup, and you throw whatever you can to disrupt them. When Charizard engages, I'll deal with him," she vowed as she crested the nearest building. She scanned the city before apparently becoming satisfied with a direction and flew toward the place they were first attacked.
"So, are you sure you're good? You seemed a little, uh..."
"Not now. I'm fine," she asserted.
"I'm just sayin', you're not about to kill anyone, or something, right? Cause we're basically assaulting police right now."
"We were assaulted first, so everything we do from here on is just self defence."
"...That didn't answer my question."
"No, I think it did."
Van sucked in a breath and nodded slowly. They flew a bit longer until Damia landed on a roof and brought herself lower to peer over its edge. Down below was a group of red scarfed Pokémon, with the Dartrix from before explaining something to the rest, including the Charizard. She snarled in contempt.
"He can't beat me one on one, so he wants to organize an ambush with numbers. It won't work." She readied herself to launch down from her perch, but Van motioned for her to stop.
"What?" she asked, impatient. She turned her neck to the side to look at him, and her snarl eased into a light frown instead.
"You, uh, remember these?" he asked with a shaky smile. In his hands were two purple orbs with pom berry emblems on their surfaces. He brought the blast orbs closer.
"Got some blast seeds too, but figured these would do a pretty good job of throwing em' off. I tightened up the formula and everything, you made sure I got that down."
"Damn right I did." Something like a smile graced her features, and her expression lightened for just a second before it turned back to steel.
"Once you toss those down, I'm heading in. You're ready?"
"Hell no, but that don't matter, right?"
"I'd be surprised if you were."
She turned to grip the edge of the building, wings flexed. The group below was unaware of their presence, apparently plotting how they would catch them off guard. She sensed the opportunity and pushed off the roof to soar directly above them.
Van held the orbs out to his sides. He breathed in the cool winds, and activated them. They blinked with a dull beeping sound. His face was set as he counted in his head, and once the beeping got more rapid, he let them fall to the street below. A second later, Damia dove down, following after the beeping orbs as they approached the unsuspecting group below.
One of the hunters, an Electabuzz, paused from their impromptu planning session upon the sound of a strange, rapid beeping noise. He had enough time to turn his head up just as they dropped right on top of them and flashed white, the silhouette of a dragon burned into his retinas as the twin explosions rocked the area.
All hell broke loose.
A blast orb's radius was much larger than that of a seed, and with two of them. the surrounding area lit up like fireworks as powerful impacts from the explosions rocked the space.
Shouts of alarm and surprise turned to grunts of pain as Damia swooped in through the confusion and began to wreak havoc. In the haze of the smoke, the floundering hunters couldn't even see who their assailant was, and had even less time to even consider using a move before they were brutally slammed into the ground or raked with lightning and fire.
A downed Heliosk struggled to get to his feet as the smoke cleared, but was met with a stinging pain in his side as a spike flew in from seemingly nowhere. Van kept his eyes open this time, and in the rush of movement made sure to keep an eye out for any hunters who looked to be about to attack.
Given that he only had one Seeker Spike, he instead chose to hold a round of regular spikes in each hand, which he threw out with remarkable precision. His own thoughts surprised him. In the heat of battle, his thoughts bled away from the initial fear and instead toward how it would be nicer to have spikes that did a bit more than merely sting foes.
From his perspective atop Damia's back and the chaos they wrought in just a few seconds, he came to the startling realization that he could actually be dangerous too.
By the time the smoke had cleared, they hovered over a street of downed Pokémon. A point of light shone on the forms of some of the hunters, and they were whisked away in a pillar of light, their badges extracting them from the Dungeon due to their injuries. Van winced at the ones left, a Herdier, Roserade, and Bronzor, that lay squirming on the ground.
"Sheesh, did we get em?'" he asked with heavy breaths.
"No, keep an eye out for...fu-!" a searing heat came from the side, and Damia jolted to the side just as a blazing red blur rushed where she once was. Van lost his grip, and in the second of chaos flailed his arms to latch onto something. He felt himself be whisked away further ahead, and after a second felt his arms and hands burn from whatever he had grabbed onto.
He glanced ahead to see Damia, teeth bared, which confused him until he slowly inched his head to see who he was riding on.
Angry red eyes glared back at him, and he realized he had curled his entire body around Charizard's head. He chuckled nervously.
"Heh...is there any chance you just uh...set me down gently?"
His response was to brush him off with a thick arm. Charizard didn't spare Van a glance as he yelled on the short way to the ground. Instead, he cracked his neck a few times and leaned forward, claws out.
"It's unprofessional, but once I heard it was you, I was secretly hoping it would come to this. I doubt you've even kept up with your training, playing with all those toys instead of-"
"Shut up and fight!!" Damia burst forward with a powerful flap of her wings and barreled towards Charizard. He met her charge with open claws. The two engaged in a fierce grapple in midair. Damia's arms shook as she tried to overwhelm him, but she overextended her upper body enough for him to heave her upside down. He sent her crashing down to the street with a push of his legs.
Before she could recover, he spewed forth a powerful Flamethrower, lighting the surrounding buildings a shade of red as he bathed the street below in fire. The steady stream soon lost its focus, and it warbled and shook before it was overtaken in fierce localized winds.
With a shout from below, the fire dispersed into embers as visible gusts of wind spiraled upward in a Hurricane. Charizard swerved to the side as the gale billowed upward. Damia shot up from the source of the gale and slammed him into the side of a building.
With her claws around his neck, she dragged him along its side, hard enough to leave a gash where his body went. She raised a claw bathed in lightning to rake his face, but he pushed her off with his legs. As she attempted to right herself in midair, Charizard coated his body in flame and shot out of the building with a Flare Blitz.
Van winced as she took the impact full in her stomach and hurtled down to the street to crash into the sidewalk on her back.
Charizard arched his neck in a victory roar and adjusted the angle of his wings to charge into her from above. Van's feet moved before he could think, and he desperately threw out whatever spikes he could snag from his bag.
The darts hit the side of Charizard's head, and the dragon put a wing up to block them. Once he ran out of normal spikes, he palmed his Seeker Spike as he slid to Damia's side. She was already up from her downed position, a claw on one knee as she stared up in defiance. Some of her scales were darkened from being scorched, and her shoulders rocked up and down as she heaved breaths.
"What are you...doing?" she rasped, not taking her eyes off of Damon. "Get...the..." her tendrils drooped as she sucked in another breath. It occured to Van that she had just taken out a group of hunters, ferals, and had been carrying at least one Pokémon on her back while flying as fast as she could for the past hour. No wonder she looked spent.
A growl from above caught his attention, and he saw the other dragon flap his wings once before transitioning into a dive straight for their position. Damia staggered to her feet and held her claws out, but Van had a different plan. He squinted his eyes and waited for Charizard to get close before he flicked his wrist and threw the Seeker Spike behind Damia.
It shot out for a bit and then made a u-turn in midair. Just as Charizard got close, it jabbed hard into his head, just above his eye. The impact disrupted him and with a pained roar, he slammed face first into the side of the building.
"Okay, uh..." a few ideas popped into his head as Charizard stumbled out of the building, and he huffed as he reached into his bag to grab a seed. "Aw screw it, maybe this'll work?"
He ran forward with an arm up and the spike flew into his hand from the ground, only to throw it back at Charizard's face when he recovered again. The flinch gave him enough time to rush up and deliver a solid punch into the dragon's mouth with the hand carrying the seed.
Damon caught his follow up attack and yanked the Scrafty into the air, clutching the Seeker Spike in his other claw.
"How the hell did you make it this far? Damn ameture," he muttered as he stared Van down. With a derisive glance to the spike, he put pressure on it with his fingers until it snapped in two, right in front of Van's face. The Scrafty's eyes widened as the two pieces of metal clattered uselessly to the ground.
At that moment, Van's hesitance and fear turned into indignant anger.
"Oh, you a bitch for that! That shit took me three weeks to make!" His attempts to strike Damon with flailing punches were thwarted as he was lifted in the air, and promptly slammed down into the ground. With the wind knocked out of him, he moaned and clutched his stomach.
As he lay on his back, he looked up and saw a massive foot right above his form.
"Crap..." he muttered, too sore to move. Before the foot came down fully, he was swept up in orange scales, and a second later rolled far to the side. Damia's arm covered his shoulder as she crouched protectively over him and growled ahead at the Charizard. He had slammed his foot down hard enough to crack the ground, but his body wobbled a bit as he turned to face them. He was hunched over, and took unsteady steps.
Damia kept a claw on Van's shoulder, and waited until he could get to a knee before she spoke.
"I need you to activate the badges on the remaining hunters. Tap once, pause, then hold."
"Wha...the badges?" he was still a bit dazed, but tried to follow along. She rolled her eyes and huffed.
"To teleport them back to their base. Little different from how we do it. I'll keep him busy while you do that?"
"Yeah, alright. I uh, softened him up for you," he joked. Damia looked up at Charizard, who stumbled with his head low and eyes that blinked rapidly.
"I see that. Now hurry up," she urged. Van nodded and hobbled off to the other hunters, arm clutched to his side. Damia reared up and put a hand to her own stomach, but did her best to shake off the pain.
She saw Charizard's mouth ignite with the beginning of a Flamethrower, but she put a quick end to that with a flap of her wings and a swift uppercut into his jaw. His head was knocked back. He fired back with a meaty headbutt. Damia cursed and clutched her head.
"Oh my...Mew damn it," she moaned. Charizard rubbed his jaw.
"Really? That still works? You really haven't changed."
"I'm going to tear your wings off and...break your dumbass...face..." she rasped. Both of the dragons stood across from each other, one fatigued and almost at her limit, and the other fighting to keep a grip on the waking world.
Charizard huffed and swayed on his feet, but stalked closer.
"Yeah, of course you'd say that. Too bad you need to rely on...tricks to beat me."
Damia stomped her foot once and roared in anger. She rushed forward and went for a wild haymaker to his face. He ducked and used his shoulder to throw her out into the middle of the street. She landed with a heavy thud on her back, and he flew over to slam down on top of her.
He bit down hard on her shoulder with a Fire Fang, and she cringed before slugging him in the face with a Thunder Punch. The two exchanged blows, visible lumps and bruises forming on their faces, before Damia curled her legs up and launched him off of her. She reversed the positions, and began to slam his face in repeatedly.
Damon struggled to raise his arms as she held him down and laid into his face, but he was eventually able to grab her arm and hold it there. Despite his bruises and the blood that dripped down his lip, he still stared at Damia with the same angry red eyes as before.
"Damn it...why the hell won't you just...come home." At those words, Damia's eyes widened, before she snarled and yelled in his face.
"You're the one who won't leave me alone!" She raised a fist up.
Slam.
"I told you I'm not coming back!"
Slam.
"I have a new home now, and a new responsibility. All you and fa...Haxorus need to do is stay the hell out of the way!"
Slam.
She held her fist against his cheek and bared her fangs at him. For a bit, all that could be heard was their heavy breath as they stared at each other. Slowly, Damon grasped her fist and moved away. His head lolled a bit to the side.
"...I knew you'd say that." He sucked in a breath, and then released a heavy sigh. "I lost. Get off of me."
Damia growled at him, but acquiesced. Once she stood above him, he rolled over and struggled to his feet. He looked behind him and only saw Van, who looked ready to make a move at a moment's notice.
"When I see you again, it won't end like it did this time, " he stated, returning his attention to Damia.
"We'll see about that," she responded. He narrowed his eyes at her, but his gaze shifted upwards and stayed there.
"What?" she asked.
"Is this what you came here to do?" He pointed a claw up to the clouds. She frowned and turned around, and stepped back at the sight.
The light pinks and purples of the sky above were being overtaken by a wave of grey. The world itself became darker as the wave of darkness swept across the sky. Even the buildings and street ahead slowly lost what little color they had.
Damia had hardly noticed the wind as it picked up, but when she jogged to the side to see around the corner, she found ferals fleeing as the color drained from the area, the slower ones that were caught up in it bursting into light.
Van rushed to her side and put his hands to his head. They stared dumbstruck and with unvoiced questions on their lips, but one thought came to the forefront of both of their heads at the same time.
"Clara!"
"Lumi!"
A sound behind them rang out, and Damia turned to catch the end of the flash that Damon must have used to escape the Dungeon.
"Shit. Damn it. What the hell is this!?" she yelled. She didn't wait for a response before she attempted to rush forward and flap her wings to fly, but she clutched her stomach in pain, and sucked in desperate breaths. Van put a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, yo, I don't think you're gonna be moving too much right now."
"Give me an oran or something, I'll be fine."
"I don't..." A quick once over of her body showed that an oran wouldn't cut it. Gashes raked across her face and arms, and purple bruises were starting to swell where she had been hit hardest. Even her wings twitched erratically, and it was clear she had landed on them in a way that had bent one of them.
Between all of that and her fatigue, it was clear she needed rest. He rubbed his face and audibly groaned, knowing she'd resist, but he still stepped in front of her and made sure she looked down at him.
"Look. I think we uh, I think we need to go," he said. She took a second to process the words before she looked at him like he'd grown a second head.
"Are you serious? They're still out there! Give me an oran so we can go find them!"
"You know that won't work, and besides, we don't know what'll happen when we step into... all of that." He gestured to the quickly approaching wave of grey. She leaned down and bared her teeth at him.
"I can't believe this, and here I was thinking you had grown a spine. Lumi and Clara are still out there and you-"
"Don't!" he yelled in her face, shocking both of them. He squeezed his eyes, but then looked intently at her, teeth clenched. "Don't pull that shit and try to attack me when I'm just trying to help! You think for one second I want to leave? Hell no! But we need to think, you're injured, and I can't fly, and maybe they already escaped? If not, you can bet your ass we'll be right back as soon as we get patched up, but I am not risking you too!"
Damia watched as Van's shoulders heaved up and down after he finished, and she looked ahead. Whatever was causing the color to drain was quickly approaching their position. With a shake of her head, she swore loudly and punched the ground.
"...An escape orb. It'll take us to the front of it. Not our badges."
"Yeah. Yeah, alright."
Van fished out the orb and put a hand on her form. They were gone in a flash, and moments later the wave of mysterious energy swept past where they once were.
They appeared right in front of the swirling entrance to the Dungeon, beneath the looming tower on the small islet. The chill of the night air greeted them as soon as they touched foot on the ground. It was around noon when they entered the Dungeon, but given that the only source of light was the moon high in the sky, it was clear it was well into the evening. This came as no surprise, however. It felt like they had been in the Dungeon for at least a few hours.
Van stared ahead, myriad thoughts running rampant in his head before he shook them off and tugged on Damia's claw.
"Hey, let's head to the beach. Might be a better space to set up camp."
She nodded without looking at him, and together they turned to walk slowly down the short path. Van had his hands in his pockets, head tilted down. He wasn't really sure if he made the right decision, and he'd probably catch hell from her later, but he couldn't stand to watch her keep moving after taking a beating like that, even if she did win in the end.
He turned his head up to try and say something to her, and apparently she already had her mouth open to tell him something, but a shout from the beach ahead drew both their attention.
"There they are!" screamed a female voice. Van looked up and his heart leapt at the sight of Lumi and Clara sat on the beach, a small fire a short ways away. They got up and rushed toward them, and in a second Van had to step back as he caught Lumi who launched himself at him. The Meowstic laughed a bit purred audibly.
"You're okay! You're...oh damn," muttered Lumi as he nuzzled into him. Van chuckled and set him down to hug him properly.
"You really miss me that much?" he joked. Lumi leaned back and nodded in earnest. Despite his smile, his ears were drooped.
"When we got hit and everyone got separated, I could only grab Clara. I'm sorry for, well..."
"Mon, you did what you could, that's all that matters."
"Thanks. But, uh, what happened to you guys?"
"Uh..." He glanced to the side at Damia, who smiled fondly at Clara who sat on her shoulder. It was like her injuries were forgotten.
"We had to deal with those hunters, they might have gotten a few hits in. How about you two? I mean, it's only been like half an hour, but you look fine."
"Half an hour? No it's been like," he cut himself off and glanced up to share a look with Clara, then rubbed the back of his head.
"Ooh boy, do we have a lot to go over."
Sorry for the wait, work happened. I hope you enjoyed. My pace might be a bit slower, but hey, at least it means longer chapters. You guys seem okay with that.
Also, thanks a lot for the favs, follows, and reviews. It means alot.