Dragonspiral Tower was a foreboding sight. The ancient tower stood proudly in the centre of a murky lake, stretching high into the sky so that Colress had to crane his neck to see the top. An eerie fog hung just above the surface of the water and the trees surrounding them cast everything in shadow. A flimsy-looking bridge had been erected to connect the land with a gap in the crumbling stone.
"Delightful. I can only hope there are more bridges inside as safe as this one." Colress said dryly as the planks creaked under their weight.
"I can only hope that you'll complain silently." Ghetsis retorted, stepping off the bridge. "Deino, go ahead."
Ghetsis sent his Deino inside the tower first. Colress followed suit and sent Klink in after it. The inside of the tower was as ruinous as the outside. The lake encroached on the ground floor, creating a well of stagnant water in the centre of the flagstones. A large staircase had fallen long ago, laying on its side covered in moss. The doorway to the next floor stood suspended high above them, with no way of accessing it.
'Thank Arceus, I may walk away from this tower with my life after all.'
"There's no way up." Colress nodded towards the door.
"I'm not blind, Colress." Ghetsis sneered, circling the large room. There was an ominous quietness in the tower, broken only by Ghetsis' pacing footsteps and the whir of Klink's gears.
"We can use those pillars." Ghetsis finally broke the silence, his long fingers brushing over a heap of fallen columns. They could function as makeshift stepping stones, but the final one would require a considerable leap to reach the doorway. Colress remained po-faced as he analysed them.
"After you." he concluded. 'You break your neck first, I insist.'
Ghetsis moved with surprising grace, his long legs carrying him swiftly up and across the pillars, his Deino moving deftly in front of him. With a grunt, he sprung up, catching onto the ledge and pulling himself up into the doorway. He looked gloatingly down at Colress.
"Don't keep me waiting all day."
Colress sighed and pulled himself up onto the first fallen column. He was tall, with long legs, but considerably less muscular than Ghetsis. His exercise regime consisted of little more than walking between classes. Colress realised quickly that the task was not as easy as Ghetsis had made it look. Patches of slippery moss coated the stone and the jumps between platforms were a lot wider up close.
Ghetsis jeered as Colress struggled across to the final leap. The jump seemed impossibly far and Colress adjusted his glasses hesitantly.
"Let's reach the next floor by nightfall, shall we?" Ghetsis rolled his eyes.
"I may be reaching the afterlife before then." Colress grumbled.
"It's not even that far down, just jump."
Colress steeled himself, aimed for the ledge... And jumped. As expected, he fell short. He managed to hold onto the edge of the doorway and his legs dangled beneath him. Ghetsis let out a bellowing laugh as Colress fingers began to lose their purchase one by one.
"Help me, you psychopath!" Colress shouted. Just before his fingers gave way, Ghetsis leant down and yanked him up by the back of his jacket.
"I was going to, no need to get worked up." Ghetsis cackled before turning around and disappearing into the next room. Colress heaved himself up and reluctantly followed him.
Awaiting them past that door were stairs. Thousands of stairs. They spiralled high above them, separated by small platforms leading to yet more stairs. The tower was gloomy, lit only by chinks of light that filtered in through the crumbling mortar. Ghetsis didn't hesitate, he ploughed forward and begun his ascent. Colress trudged behind him, his calves screaming as he climbed one gruelling stair after another.
Colress' chest was on fire by the time they reached the top of Dragonspiral Tower. The slivers of daylight had turned to starlight. Magneton floated beside him, illuminating the tower with a bright Flash that cast long shadows up the stone walls. He dropped onto a pile of rubble, wheezing as he caught his breath.
"I... Never... Want... To... See... Stairs... Again." Colress choked out.
"Shh." Ghetsis shushed him sharply. Colress looked up to see Ghetsis standing very still beside him, his eyes darting back and forth around the room.
The top floor of Dragonspiral Tower was the least ruinous of any part of the tower they'd yet seen. It appeared to be the throne room of an ancient king. Venomoth-eaten tapestries and carvings adorned the room. In the centre stood a colossal statue of a Golurk. As Colress quietly observed, he realised what Ghetsis was looking at.
Standing beside the ancient throne were three people, so still they could be statues themselves, bathed in the moonlight that filtered in through the decrepit ceiling.
Nobody said anything.
The three people looked to be young men, although it was hard to tell past the shroud that covered the lower half of their faces. They had identical long white hair, pulled back into a loose braid behind their necks. They had a sinister, dangerous energy around them.
"Who are you?" Ghetsis finally broke the silence, his voice confident and unwavering.
"We, the Shadow Triad, are beings of shadows... and not easily noticed."
Colress was still sitting on the floor, where he'd dropped on arrival. Now that the tension could be cut with a knife, he didn't want to get up and draw attention to himself.
"I am Ghetsis. This is Colress. We are searching for the legendary dragon, Reshiram."
"You will not find it here." One of the shadows spoke, crouching on the throne. "We have frequented this tower for many years and never seen it."
"Seeing as we've come all this way, you won't mind if we take a look for ourselves?" Ghetsis drawled, taking a step further into the room. His Deino followed suit, trotting nervously behind him.
Colress watched the next few minutes from his rocky seat on the floor. He couldn't find the words amidst his shock to warn Ghetsis that a soft yellow light had begun to emanate from the crack in the front of the Golurk statue. The swirls on its shoulders followed and finally its eyes flickered to life.
"It's not a statue..." Colress breathed, his back pressing against the wall.
'It must have been in stasis. I wonder how long it's been here. It's covered in moss and grime, perhaps it's been here for as long as the tower has? If that's the case, what is it guarding? There could truly be something here!' Colress couldn't help his mind reeling as Ghetsis glared at him.
"What are you talking about, Colress?" he snapped.
Colress didn't have time to reply as a crackling Shadow Ball formed in Golurk's stony hands. The Shadow Triad dived out of the way, narrowly dodging the attack. The Shadow Ball hit the throne and it exploded with a crash that shook the whole tower.
"That! That's what I was talking about!" Colress said as he scrambled to his feet.
Golurk continued firing Shadow Balls, keeping all of them ducking and diving. It was too strong and too fast to counterattack. Deino and Magneton were outgunned, their attacks too weak to make a dent in Golurk's defences. The Shadow Triad had sent out three Pawniard, which seemed to be similarly struggling.
Colress crouched down behind a pillar, catching his breath. Magneton followed, looking weak and tired.
'We can only hold this Pokémon off for so long, we need to escape.'
At that moment, something caught Colress' eye. The throne lay in pieces on the opposite side of the circular room, reduced to shards of rock. Among the wreckage lay a spherical stone, just a little larger than a Poké Ball. It looked different to anything else in the tower. It looked polished, untouched by time, with curious markings carved into its surface.
'Was that inside the throne?'
"Deino, Dragon Breath!" Ghetsis shouted. Deino was visibly limping as it threw itself at Golurk once more, before getting launched back into the wall. "Colress, are you enjoying the show?" Ghetsis snapped, drawing close to where Colress was crouching.
"Ghetsis, look. That sphere, I think it was inside the throne. It could be what Golurk is guarding." Colress pointed at the mysterious object. Ghetsis' ruby eyes lit up, seemingly forgetting the battle raging around them.
"I'll get it, then we leave the Shadow Triad to deal with Golurk." Ghetsis said quietly, before charging across the room.
The three mysterious men were standing directly in Ghetsis' path as he charged for the sphere. With almighty strength, he clattered into the first one, before shoving the other two out of the way, sending them toppling to the floor.
"Ghetsis, look out!" Colress shouted, realising too late that Golurk had been aiming a Shadow Ball right at them.
Colress let out a strangled scream as the ball of dark energy collided with Ghetsis, hitting him directly in the side of the head. He fell to the ground with a thud.
Time stood still as Colress watched Ghetsis' lifeless body with wide eyes. Even Golurk seemed to stop for a moment, looking down at Ghetsis, waiting to see if he'd get back up. He didn't.
The Shadow Triad exchanged a look between themselves before darting forward to grab Ghetsis. They hoisted up his body onto their shoulders and carried him quickly towards the stairs, their footsteps inaudible.
"Where are you taking him?" Colress asked, not sure if he had the strength to stop them if they had something sinister in mind.
"Come." One Shadow said simply before they disappeared down the stairs. Colress glanced back at Golurk, who still seemed to be watching curiously.
Colress walked over to Deino, who lay passed out in the rubble. He picked up the small dragon and cradled it in his arms. He then walked calmly to the throne, his eyes locked on Golurk's the entire time.
'We're not leaving empty handed.' He thought as he picked up the stone sphere and tucked it safely away in his pocket. Golurk didn't seem to object. Now that Ghetsis had been immobilised, the hostility in the ancient Pokémon seemed to have dissipated.
When Colress joined the Shadow Triad, he found them crouched over Ghetsis, who lay motionless on a stone platform. Colress' breath caught in his throat as he lay Deino next to him.
"Is he...?"
"He's alive, but only just." A Shadow responded gravely.
'Thank Arceus.' Colress thought, not sure when he'd come to care if Ghetsis lived or died.
The Shadow Ball seemed to have made direct contact with Ghetsis' right eye, which was bloody and swollen. Darkness crept like tree roots from the wound, spreading down his face and neck. His chest was moving very slightly, his breath coming out in a pained wheeze.
Colress knelt beside him and pulled out a Super Potion. He sprayed it carefully around Ghetsis' eye.
"That is meant for Pokémon." One of the Shadows interjected.
"It will help. On humans, potions work as an antiseptic and a mild repairing agent." Colress said quietly as he worked. "I should know, my mom was the one who developed the formula."
The swelling around Ghetsis' eye reduced slightly, but it only served to highlight the severity of the injury.
"We need to get him out of here, he needs to go to a hospital." Colress concluded as he sprayed the remaining dregs of the potion on Ghetsis' fingers, which were turning black. The darkness must have spread all the way down his arm.
"We will get him out." One of the Shadows nodded. The three men put their hands over their hearts in unison.
"Ghetsis saved our lives. We will never forget this."
"Should he ever need us, we will be there."
Colress looked up at them, lost for words. It was true, Ghetsis had pushed them out of the way of the Shadow Ball, taking the hit himself. Now didn't seem like a good time to tell them he was just trying to grab the artifact that lay nestled in Colress' pocket.