The Redwood Saga (Pokémon Fanfiction, Crossover)

Sahqoreyth · Nov 6, 2025

samael2006 said:
Thanks for the chapter

Thanks for reading

Sahqoreyth · Nov 15, 2025

Chapter 65: Champion Gladstone VS Champion Cynthia

The World Stadium, Day Two - Unova Region

Connor Gladstone really thought he'd be doing better than this. As the honorable Mr. Parsons narrated his predicament, he struggled to counter the much older and more experienced Champion Cynthia's strategy.

"The Gladstone's heir is on the ropes ladies and gentlemen! Champion Cynthia leads by three, and her Gastrodon has been absolutely wrecking the current Kalos Champion's team! For those just joining us, the strongest Trainer in Kalos has lost his Florges, Elektross, and Crobat! They've all fallen to this Gastrodon alone, who seems determined to prove it deserves to be on Cynthia's team!" As if affirming that, Gastrodon roared hard enough to shake the arena, and the crowd loved it.

Cynthia looked down then, a sad smile on her face. Her mic picked up her words.

"Gastrodon wasn't with us when the Witch Morgana snared my mind…and they still feel guilty. For losing me, for not being there for Lucario…it's very determined to win!" Gastrodon roared again, and Connor nodded.

It was bad enough catching a high ranker in the first round, but Cynthia, when she was motivated, was a whole different opponent. She hadn't battled this well in decades.

"I empathize." Connor answered. "The Witch's schemes have harmed many in Kalos. Dark Moth's attacks on Lumiose alone caused an emigration the likes of which we haven't seen since Unova was young. Unfortunately…the Pokémon I've used so far were largely new to my team…and Crobat's poison is taking its toll! Now's our time for a comeback! Itharius! I choose you!"

His Sceptile appeared in a three point stance, and rose slowly, arm blades humming with potent, refined grass energy. Cynthia went for Gastrodon's Pokéball, but Itharius was quicker. "Leaf Blade!"

In a flash of speed, Gastrodon fell as the quadruple effective hit combined with more poison damage finished them. Cynthia recalled them, murmuring to their ball. "I'm sure he saw the effort you made. You were excellent." She pulled out her next ball. "Glaceon! Go! Set up your terrain, and freeze it solid!"

Glaceon nodded, and then raised her ears. Mist poured from them, filling even the massive field with a thick haze. The last thing Cynthia saw of Connor was a smirk she assumed was fake bravado. Once the Mist covered the field she shouted, "Good! Now give it your strongest Ice Beam!"

"Glace! Glaceon!" Was the response.

As Cynthia narrowed her eyes, Connor's voice rang out, "Rocket Punch!"

Steam rose high from part of the field, and all the audience saw was a line of rising steam, and then a very fainted Glaceon soaring out of the mist. Cynthia recalled her before she hit the ground, frowning. Only one of Gladstone's Pokémon could one shot her partner like that.

With a roar and a burst of flame, the crimson Infernape responsible for the OHKO cleared the field of the icy mist and revealed the hidden switch Connor had made as he started showboating, gesturing to the crowd for more noise. And they gave it to him. The Infernape's head flame burned brighter as he fell into his Iron Fist stance before the rolling roar of the crowd.

"And just like that folks, Champion Gladstone has reduced Cynthia's lead by two! It's still anyone's Match on our second day of the World Tournament!"

"Milotic! It's your turn!" Cynthia shouted, as arguably the most renowned and beautiful example of the species appeared on the field to massive cheers and wolf whistles. Cynthia had many fans who still remembered the brief modeling stint she'd had with Leader Nessa and their Milotic back in the day. Even several decades later. "Drown the monkey. Surf!"

Both Ardor and Connor's eyes widened as the Milotic summoned a massive wave, seemingly from nowhere and faster than should have been possible even for a Pokémon. With an echoing cry, she started riding the wave towards the crimson Infernape.

Connor didn't panic, though. "Stone Edge! Make a board!" Cynthia raised a brow as the Infernape punched the ground, then his own move, and started riding the Surf, but she wasn't worried. All she had to do was knock the monkey off, and he would not last more than a second. She snapped her fingers, and the sharp sound echoed through the water. Milotic knew what it meant. The Surf went from average late afternoon beachside swell, to proper tidal wave size. "Rocket Punch! Use the speed to ride it up!"

Putting his blazing fists behind him, Ardor rocketed up the skyscraper sized wave, and shot out above it as the attack lost steam. Cynthia grinned. "Nows our chance! Mud Shot!" Milotic soared up from the water as well, the ground energy already forming in her mouth.

"Brick Break through and Thunder Punch!" Connor countered. The inferno ape's tail glowed with fighting energy, cutting through the ground attack, before he rolled into the Thunder Punch. With a hard boom, Milotic went soaring into the water, damaged, but far too tanky to faint. "It's time, Ardor!" Connor ordered as he fell, "Mega Evolve!"

As Connor raised his Key Stone in a Mega Cuff that seemed rather new, Ardor became encased in a sphere Infinity Energ as it catapulted him to a higher form. His fur became white and shaggy like an Oranguru, but instead of a fan, Ardor now had a long red staff capped by gold on either end, and several pieces of golden body armor on his legs, shins, fists, and forearms. A gold face plate framing his ape features sat beneath a fiery crown that sometimes seemed to split into two separate tails of flame as it burned. Ardor was now perched atop a ball of flame that seemed not unlike a Gigantamaxed Cinderace. His tail was now similar to a Charizard's, but furrier, in that its tip was now home to an intense blue flame.

Cynthia watched the Mega Form, and nodded. "Very well, then. Milotic! Let's match them! Gigantamax!" She recalled her partner, and with the Dynamax Band hidden under her classic black outfit's long sleeves, sent her back onto the field. Her ball expanded, before opening to reveal a slightly altered, and much larger Milotic. The hair like eyebrow appendages had become proper massive fins akin to an Aurorus's sails, and just as prismatic. Her body had changed in color, though it remained cream colored on top, it gradually shifted to an increasingly deeper blue the closer one got to its tail. The tail, much like Mega Milotic, had widened, but now more resembled a Wailord's tail rather than a fan shape.

Rain began falling from the sky above as the very heavens reacted to the intense energies at play in the stadium below. The crowd, of course, was enjoying every glorious second. Only Nessa had ever managed to use Gigantamaxed Milotic before, and since semi-retiring to focus on being a model, a mom, and a more present Gym Leader for Hulbury City, the form was rarely seen in Galar's tournament circuit in the modern era.

"Unleash your G-Max Cascade!" Cynthia ordered, and her Milotic roared in response. Rain clouds filled the sky, and another massive glowing, multicolored wave rose up before the smirking, completely undeterred Mega Infernape.

"Ardor!" Connor shouted over the roar of the wave, "We need to do the Thing! Push past your limits!"

The Mega Infernape looked back at his Trainer and smirked. Then, he gave a thumbs up, and shot high into the sky. "That won't save you!" Cynthia shouted, "Send it straight up!"

Connor grinned. "Unleash the heaven's judgement! THUNDER SPEAR!" He shouted as loud as he could. Ardor's fireball disappeared in the clouds, and they began ominously sparking with lightning as Milotic awkwardly forced the wave higher with her move's power.

Then, Mega Infernape's crimson metallic rod, now somehow much larger and longer and radiating electricity, shot into the wave, the water killing its inertia. Ardor appeared coming down from the clouds, his head flame was now also blue, and he clenched a fist, activating multiple bolts of self-generated lightning in the rod, which transferred the powerful surge of energy into the water, frying Milotic as it struck. She cried out, losing cohesion of her move, and fell back towards the field.

"Ardor! End it! Electro Ball!" The Mega Infernape looked like a lightning god, the ball he rode upon now composed of lightning instead of fire. The mega monkey kicked it with both feet into the Gigantamaxed form of Milotic, and Cynthia frowned, as her defensive water wall exploded in a violent discharge of energy, her Gigantamax Form faded, and her HP at zero.

She recalled Milotic, as Mr. Parsons called the round. "And just like that, ladies and gentlemen, we are once again tied! Just like earlier when we saw Champion Sikandar claw the win back from Champion Rosa, you never know what you'll see at the World Tournament! Victory is never guaranteed, the Champion of Kalos is once again in this Battle! Let's see who Champion Cynthia brings out next!"

The Sinnoh Champion looked up at the showboating monkey, now once more soaring around on a sphere of flame. She also noted it was much smaller than earlier. She smirked. "Togekiss. It's your turn."

The fairy typed angel, arguably the most powerful known example of the species trained and still active on the world stage, soared into the air from the upwards curve ball throw his Trainer gave him. He took in the monkey's Mega Form, and seemed to giggle. Then, waggling a wing his way, the Togekiss winked, and disappeared with speed that could rival a Greninja. Cynthia gave him a move to use, in a calm tone. "Air Slash. You know what comes next."

Unfortunately for Togekiss, Ardor regularly trained with a Greninja that also had a speed and type advantage. "Dodge!" Connor called out, "You know what to counter with."

Mr. Parsons immediately noticed what the Champions were up to. "Folks, it seems both Pokémon have been trained well enough to Battle on their own! Anything could happen next!" The crowd roared in anticipation, though all they saw was Ardor, now floating in place, his eyes darting around after a shape only he could see.

Blades of compressed flying energy shot towards the Mega Infernape from above, but the mega monkey just grinned, grabbed a fistful of loose hair, and threw it into the air. The hair somehow turned into copies of Ardor, which then detonated in clouds of smoke as super effective air blades cut into them. The air filled with smoke, but Togekiss barreled into it, as he saw his target move. With a barrel roll and a dispersal of air, he blew away the smoke cloud, but Ardor was nowhere to be found.

As Togekiss looked around, the Thunder Punch came from behind him, but he'd been expecting that. The Togekiss floated downwards, avoiding the sparking fist, but before Ardor could adjust or counter, Togekiss flared with a brilliant corona of fairy energy, as a powerful Dazzling Gleam hammered Ardor, and knocked him off his fireball.

He struggled to reform it as he fell, and then another Air Slash hammered him, ending his round. Connor didn't waste time though. The recall beam hit Ardor as he fell. Mr. Parsons was barely done calling the round before the Kalos Champion shouted, "Ace! I need you!"

In the stands, Alex's ears perked up. Ace was Thomas Gladstone's Pokémon. Apparently Connor had borrowed him from his father. The older Lucario had been groomed, and brought back into fighting shape for the World Tournament, and his eyes narrowed as he saw his opponent. He'd seen this very Togekiss battle on this stage before, but he'd never expected to be the poor 'mon that had to battle them.

Ridiculous speed, an aerial advantage, and the kind of 'kindness' that Mega Dragonite liked to employ. Ace growled softly, mostly to himself. They'd trained for a Togekiss, since apparently the Redwood boy had a golden one now, and was likely to use him in the tournament.

"You know the plan Ace. Stay mobile! Don't let'im pin you down!" The Lucario barked an affirmative, and then disappeared with Extremespeed, appearing just before Togekiss as he let the move's power fade, for something type effective. A hail of brutal Bullet Punches hammered the holy eggbird, but as he fell, he fired off a Dazzling Gleam. Or tried to. Ace knew what happened when opponents got close to this one, thus, he was prepared. Only one paw had used Bullet Punch, the other, had been simultaneously charging a Flash Cannon, which boomed, briefly blinding everyone as it mercilessly hammered the Togekiss into the ground, and unconsciousness.

Ace looked back at Connor, and barked. He nodded, and raised his Key Stone, while Ace's Lucarionite reacted. It took the old dog a bit longer, but age was a distant memory as the power of his Aura once again flooded through him, and then across the entire field. It seemed to charge up the fans, who roared as it rolled over them, and the Mega Lucario smirked as his stats were increased.

Cynthia tapped her chin as Parsons called the KO, and then smirked. "I think it's time we saw one of my own new additions. Metagross, dear…come join us…and Mega Evolve."

"It seems Champion Cynthia has shifted to using Mega Evolution, folks! Once more proving that Dynamaxing effectively is quite hard to do against Mega Pokémon! Oh! There's the Moves!"

"Zen Headbutt!"

"Dark Pulse! Then counter it!"

A Mega Metagross came in with a high speed psychic headbutt, Ace blinded it with a wide Dark Pulse, and then hammered the ground once Metagross landed, and started searching for its target. An Earthquake rumbled the arena, and Metagross, but it had its target in sight again. Before Ace could even blinked, he was rolling across the field, the wind knocked from him with the super effective move. He nearly lost hold of his Mega Form, but he let the pain flare into rage, and focused it. Connor was ready with the order. "Aura Sphere!"

Metagross slashed through it with Brick Break, as it seemed to be taking mental orders from Cynthia now, which was technically allowed, provided the Pokémon battling was making the connection, not their Trainer. Metagross was one of the few Pokémon that could pull off reading its Trainer's mind and reacting to their chosen move in real time, fast enough for a battle. Unfortunately for Metagross, that was what Connor had wanted it to do. The dust from the collision of moves filled the air.

Then, the Kalos Champion shouted, "Shadow Ball!

"Shadow Claw." Cynthia countered, verbalizing now. "Finish it off, Metagross. We can't let it get stronger. Brick Break!"

Connor countered quickly. "Aerial Ace!"

The two Mega Pokémon devolved into a frenzy of attacks. Metagross Thunder Punched the Aerial Ace, which was blocked with Bulldoze by Ace, only to be torn apart by Metagross's Trailblaze, which was again countered with Aerial Ace, and on the trade off went, until finally, both Mega Pokémon leapt away, their power spent, and panting. Metagross seemed fine, but its breathing was raspy and metallic, while Ace was showing his age, and struggling to maintain his Mega Form.

Well aware he was still tied, Connor reached for Ace's ball, only to pause as the Lucario growled at him. His mental voice echoed in his head.

"I'm fine…I can handle this one."

"But I may need you later…take a rest Ace."

"I said NO!" The Mega Lucario howled, and once more vanished with Extremespeed. A Dark Pulse, once more widespread, came down on Mega Metagross from above. It Brick Breaked through it with ease, but Ace was gone with Extremespeed again. By the time even its super advanced brains reached the calculation that an attack from behind had a ninety percent probability, a calculation it made within a second, Ace was already behind it, slamming his paws into the earth as hard as he could.

Metagross tried to surf ahead of the earth wave with Trailblaze, but the Mega Lucario was watching, and with the last of his strength, altered the attack's flow to overpower the Mega Metagross. It tried to raise a Reflect in response, but the psychic shield broke under the power of the attack, and the metallic blue Pokémon disappeared beneath the surging earth, only its blue claws poking up as it lost its Mega Form.

"Woah! Both Pokémon have lost their Mega Forms folks, but…it looks like…indeed! From my spot down here I can see it-" His words paused as, with a final wave of his paw, Ace cleared the aftermath of his attack. "Ace the Lucario claims another victory!" Mr. Parsons exclaimed, only to take on a more somber tone. "Although…it seems that our valiant old fighter has Fainted while still standing. That's a Steel Type for you. It seems we are still all tied up, folks!"

The image of Ace, paw raised, victorious, but fainted, spread across the PokéNet like wildfire.

"Roserade!" Cynthia shouted, not waiting.

Connor glanced down, as it seemed he already had his pick in his hand, and given that it was his Alakazam, Sophos, there was a good chance the psychic type had known he was up.

Cynthia wasted no time as Sophos appeared, and took his Mega Form. "Leech Seed! Then give us some Grassy Terrain!"

"Redirect it. Then Psychic." Connor countered.

Mega Alakazam simply glanced at the Leech Seed, and they went soaring uselessly in the opposite direction. Then, one hand raised and unleashed a brutal Psychic assault on the sentient plant. Roserade's eyes squinted as it cried out, stumbled, but stayed standing.

Cynthia grimaced, but had to admit she was just outmatched here. "Return! Go! Spiritomb!"

Connor smirked at her choice. "Just like we practiced, Sophos! Take it out!"

The Mega Alakazam nodded, and shot into the air without so much as moving a muscle. From above, he fired off a barrage of quickly formed Shadow Balls that homed in on the ghost energy comprising Spiritomb.

Cynthia narrowed her eyes, wondering what Connor's game was. "Dark Pulse!"

The Shadow Balls exploded wide, and Cynthia figured out their plan. "Hypno Sphere!" Spiritomb aimed its face upwards, and fired off a Hypnosis. Like a slinky made of energy, the circular psychic waved curled down and around Spiritomb, as Sophos appeared beside him, and smirked.

As the Hypnosis faded, Sophos shone bright in a familiar corona of fairy energy, and too late did Cynthia remember that Alakazam could indeed learn a single fairy move. Dazzling Gleam lit up the field with a mastery that Cynthia recognized with a grimace. The Alakazam had likely foreseen this scenario, and trained accordingly.

She sighed to herself, tempted to bring out her Luxray…but then she noticed the ground type energy being subtly built by Sophos, and changed her pick. She smirked as she saw his brows furrow. He hadn't expected her Garchomp. With a flash of power, arguably the strongest female Garchomp known to man hurtled up towards Sophos, a massive pair of jaws composed of dark energy hovering wide before her open mouth.

Sophos frowned slightly, and Teleported as the Crunch came down on empty air. Mega Garchomp kept the move going though, unwilling to stop so easily. Something was off, though. Cynthia wasn't giving her commands, and Garchomp seemed unlikely to listen to them. The way she lunged after Sophos was something Connor recognized, from his own Garchomp. She was angry, and attacking wildly.

"Sophos." He contacted his partner, knowing the enhanced psychic would hear his thoughts. "She seems stressed. Let's help her out. Give her something to chomp on."

"I understand." The Alakazam replied, once more Teleporting, appearing high above the Garchomp. He didn't bother telling Connor it was a waste of valuable move power and Teleports they may need later, his Trainer was convinced this would help Garchomp, and was therefore the right thing to do.

A rain of tiny Shadow Balls came down on the Mega Garchomp, as Sophos was able to create about ten from the power it usually took to make one. Garchomp happily started chomping through them with Crunch and Bite while Sophos directed her by controlling where the balls of ghost energy flew. It took immense concentration, but Sophos managed.

Up in the stands, Psi was floating companionably beside his Trainer. Alex smirked, as he sensed his Alakazam's focus. "What do you think? Can you take him?"

Psi's heavy brow furrowed. "Not yet." He was quiet for a long time, then finally spoke. A finger twisted his mustache as he spoke. "His energy manipulation is far superior. I could not yet replicate this with Kalagon."

Alex nodded. "You're closer than you think. Talk with Arthur." Sigh groaned, but Alex persisted. "You've seen what he was like when he was younger. He knows his Types. Very few on this team can match that versatility. Just talk to him."

"Fine." Psi answered, now grouchy.

Down on the field, the status quo shifted, as the Mega Garchomp was finally given an order. "Enough playing, Garchomp. Extremespeed, and then Crunch!"

Sophos Teleported, but the Mega Garchomp had his scent by now. She was able to follow it, turning on a dime in the air, and chomping down brutally as Psi reappeared. Despite the ridiculous speed and special attack power Mega Alakazam possessed, it was still very much a glass cannon.

"A single chomp, and Mega Alakazam goes down!" Mr. Parsons exclaimed. "Champion Cynthia is determined not to let the Kalos Champion take the lead folks, and even after chomping through hundreds of Shadow Balls, she's still raring to go!"

Mega Garchomp roared enthusiastically, as she heard the announcer, and the crowd laughed.

Connor however, was not laughing. "It seems we're down by six. Which means it's time. Durus! Take your place." Cynthia saw Connor's Kingambit take the field, and chuckled lightly. "Return, Garchomp." The Mega Evolved dragon side eyed her Trainer, but nodded. She understood strategy, and a rest would help after chomping so much ghost energy.

Darkness flowed from the balls of Connor's fallen team, as Supreme Overlord took their power for the Kingambit's usage.

For her part, Cynthia raised her next pick's ball over her head. "Gigantamax!"

Connor furrowed his brow, and his head somewhat comically tilted up as Cynthia's pick quintupled in size, and revealed a Gigantamax Coalossal. "Now, Max Quake!"

"Into the air!" Connor ordered, but the command came too late. Coalossal moved with deceptive swiftness, and the Max Quake hammered Durus as he floated into the air. Connor visibly swore, as his last best chance to stall Cynthia fell to a quarter of his health in one move.

Cynthia didn't let up. "Don't let it escape. Max Knuckle!"

Connor grimaced. He'd been hoping Kingambit would last longer. He still had a potion, but didn't want to use it yet. Against Cynthia, he needed to use it at the right time.

"Air Slash and then Aerial Ace! Lessen the power!"

Durus reacted immediately, launching sharp blades of air at the Max Move descending towards him. The giant orange fist of maxed out fighting energy barely shrank, and even Aerial Ace, which landed first, couldn't cut off a large enough chunk of it.

As the Max Knuckle landed, it detonated, boosting Coalossal, and fainting Durus. Or at least, that was what everyone had expected.

Still standing, smoldering, upright on a slicer of health, was his Kingambit, who looked back at his Trainer, and nodded his large, bladed head. Connor didn't wait. "Mega Evolve! Shogun Reversal!" He held up his Key Stone, and Durus's Plate shard reacted.

As Kingambit assumed his Mega Form, complete with his haori made of steel filings, and the large head-sword now on his back, he vanished, and appeared before Coalossal, hammering it with Reversal, which was super effective, and had two hundred power behind it, with his health this low. Unfortunately, Coalossal was a tank, and while it stumbled back from the hit, it stayed standing, just too bulky to one-shot.

"End it, Coalossal." Cynthia ordered, and with a vengeful kick, the Gigantamaxed Pokémon sent Durus into unconsciousness.

Still grimacing, Connor recalled him, and sent out his next pick. "Gren! Take it out."

The Greninja appeared, and then vanished, but Cynthia had plans. "Max Overgrowth! Use it now!" Obeying immediately, Coalossal did, and in the surge of grass energy that lit up and revitalized the ruined battlefield, the lithe form of the Greninja was hammered with the grass energy, at least until he flipped in mid air, regained his focus, and a swarm of Water Shuriken KOed the living furnace.

The ninja frog landed hurt, but standing. He even recovered some health as the battlefield was now covered in grass energy. It had started as idyllic rolling fields of green, and now after all the battling, had become a crater-ridden hellscape.

Cynthia made her next pick, a female Luxray with a mane almost long enough to be mistaken for a male, were it not for the luscious curl it had, a style that mirrored her Trainer's own hair. Gren's eyes narrowed. He was well prepared for a Luxray…but Cynthia likely didn't know that. "Let's go! Spark!"

"Spikes." Connor ordered calmly. Gren put his fins together in a Shinobi sign. The Luxray charged straight into the sharp tack-like stone protrusions, snarling as she lost focus on Spark. "Mud Shot." Connor said, as her speed stalled. Once again, the electric feline was hammered with type advantage, hurt, but still up. By the time she cleared her eyes, Gren had assumed his Mega Form, and the crowd cheered as he controlled the omnipresent Water Shuriken most Mega Greninja hung from to float behind his back. It seemed Gren preferred to keep his feet on the ground. At least against an electric type.

"Thunder!" Cynthia shouted.

"Finish it." Connor ordered.

Luxray bristled with the strongest electric move she had, and launched it. Gren turned, slightly, dodging the thunderbolt with a single step, before holding a palm forward and firing off a condensed, swirling Mud Shot. Luxray took the hit as the projectile rocketed across the field, and sent her rolling. Cynthia recalled her newer team member, and recalled that Connor Gladstone had apparently almost soloed Alain's Kalos League with only a Greninja. This was likely that same Greninja.

"Roserade! Join us!" Cynthia ordered.

"Power down, Gren." Connor responded, and the Greninja did so, before being recalled. "Gar! You're up!"

As Connor's Garchomp appeared, Cynthia raised an eyebrow. Gar was a fine specimen of dragon, well trained, but no match for her own. "Absorb the Grassy Terrain, heal yourself." Roserade did so, as Gar assumed his Mega Form.

"A little extra HP won't save you. Gar! Earthquake!" Connor countered.

Cynthia smirked. "Let's see how strong this one is, Roserade. Leech Seed. Keep the field intact." Having already seeded the field just before absorbing it, as the sentient rose knew her Trainer, she encouraged the Leech Seed to grow, rapidly, right as Gar unleashed his Earthquake.

Leaning forward a bit in the stands, Alex, Saur, and Terra watched with great interest. They recognized this trick for what it was: a training tactic turned battle move, which they had a few of as well. Gar's Earthquake only managed to break the earth around him, and the rest of the field was held in place. Roserade chuckled, and then told him Cynthia's partner was able to break much more. Undeterred, Connor acted on his dragon's fury. "Bulldoze! Then Earthquake!"

Gar charged across the lengthy field like an unstoppable force of nature, but that was the plan. Roserade nodded at her Trainer in understanding, expanded her bouquets to absorb as much impact as possible, and waited.

Connor's eyes narrowed, and he guessed their strategy. "Break off, Gar! It's a trap!"

His dragon was too engrossed to hear him though. In their Mega Form especially, once they locked onto prey, Garchomp became tunnel visioned. A fact Cynthia knew, and made use of. Gar slammed into Roserade like a truck into an isekai protagonist.

Roserade went soaring, and Cynthia recalled her before she landed. Unfortunately for Gar, the impact had detonated the Poison Powder spores she'd loaded her flowers with. The dragon gagged as they infected him, and started doing damage.

"This is it ladies and gentlemen!" Mr. Parsons shouted, "Champion Cynthia is down to only her Garchomp, who has already battled in this Match! Champion Gladstone has three Pokémon remaining, his damaged, poisoned Garchomp, his Sceptile who we briefly saw earlier, and that Greninja that dodged literal lightning! It doesn't get any more exciting than this! Will Sinnoh's Champion claw out a win, or will the Kalos Champion be able to take down a world class Dragon Type!?" The crowd roared in response to his words, eager to find out.

Cynthia's Garchomp appeared with a purposefully lengthy roar that further hyped the crowd, and raised both Pokémon's stats. She once more assumed her Mega Form, with practiced ease. A fresh Sandstorm covered the field, powering up both of them. She barely even looked at Gar, barely even seemed to acknowledge him as the same species.

That was the gulf between them.

"Dragon Dive." Cynthia ordered, and her partner blurred out of sight.

"Copy it!" Connor shouted, and Gar disappeared as well. There was a loud clang, as two Mega Garchomp's scythe claws slammed together, and the resulting shockwave was strong enough to make the field barriers light up. They clashed several times, but the attacks were cancelling out. As both dragons landed hard enough to shake the earth, Connor gave another order. "Earthquake!" As the earth began to break and roar, Connor spoke quieter, "Then Dragon Rush again." Gar nodded from where he'd slammed his scythe-claws into the earth, and made the attack taller.

Cynthia countered. "Dig through, and Dragon Claw!" Her Mega Garchomp did so, only to find Gar was gone as her attack met air. She waited, assuming he was underground, but her predator's instincts shifted her eyes upwards instead, right as Gar finished his attack. He landed in an explosion of dragon energy, landing before his Trainer on the rebound, and roaring. The crowd roared with him.

Cynthia chuckled. She needed to find a way to thank the latest Kalos Champion. This was a great workout for Garchomp. A visible aura of deep blurple energy surrounded her body, as she rose, steaming, from the crater Gar had left. The Sinnoh Champion snapped her fingers, and an all too familiar theme began playing, filling the arena with the fast paced playing recorded, apparently, by Cynthia herself. Connor gulped. It was never good when there was actual Boss music.

"Garchomp." Cynthia said, the dragon growled in answer. "Three Moves."

"CHOMP!" Was her response, and she vanished again, somehow, even stronger now. The crowd was, of course, very much on her side now, and Connor knew he was in trouble. The fan favorite was now, supposedly, the under dog. That dog of hers though…was in no way under. Even after a Dragon Rush that had been critically effective. It barely seemed to bother whatever state Garchomp had now entered.

"This mountain can be climbed!" Connor shouted. "Gar, use-" He paused, as he realized his partner had fainted from the poison, and was also still standing. He recalled Gar, as the Mega Garchomp came rocketing down into the earth in an explosion of dirt and dragon energy that washed over the barrier around his Trainer box. She was not pleased to be robbed of her prey. A low, dangerous snarl was aimed at Connor, but the Kalos Champion just shrugged at the dragon. "He already fainted."

"Garrrrrr…."

Slowly, the mega evolved apex predator ran a claw-scythe down the barrier of Connor's Trainer box, then turned her head away from the human who'd taken her prey from her as Cynthia whistled, and then leapt back to her partner's side of the field in a single bound. Her Hyper Voice shook the stadium, as she made her displeasure known.

Itharius appeared once more to a quieted crowd, and immediately Connor had him Mega Evolve. "Five Moves." Cynthia told her Mega Garchomp. "Don't let it stall you. Take it out quickly." Unfortunately, she was well aware that Mega Sceptile was one of the few species that could rival Garchomp's speed.

"Dragon Dance!" Connor ordered, "You know what to do next!"

Itharius nodded, and used the dragon move, spinning in place as dragon energy surged around him and raised his stats. Then, he shot across the field, further speeding him up and boosting his speed with Trailblaze. Unfortunately for the grass dragon, Mega Garchomp had only been given five moves, and was already quite boosted from the crowd.

Thanks to the new weight of her Mega Form's wings, Mega Garchomp was actually slightly slower in the air than her base form, so as she chased Itharius down, it was by 'swimming' through the ruined earth of the field. Much like Terra, or other high level ground types, at a certain point, mastering ground energy made moving through it ridiculously easy.

Sensing the land shark closing in, Itharius leapt high into the air off a ruined raised part of the field, thinking that would keep him safe, but by the time he turned, Mega Garchomp was already soaring up towards him, jaw open wide. Itharius fired off a condensed Dragon Pulse, but Mega Garchomp Dragon Clawed through it, and then suddenly accelerated as she once more used Dragon Rush. With a loud boom and an 'oooo…' from the crowd, Itharius went hurtling back into the field, but Mega Garchomp was on the hunt, and her prey yet lived.

Connor gave another order, seeing his partner was in dire straits. "Grass Knot!"

Itharius used it just before another Dragon Rush, and Mega Garchomp slammed into the field, bound by grass. With a snarl, she had to turn to slice free her leg, but that gave Itharius time to get space between them, and launch a different kind of Dragon Pulse. Infused with grass and dragon energy in a perfectly balanced amount, Mega Garchomp flared her aura as she once more Dragon Rushed her target. It seemed extensive training had completely removed the low accuracy and recoil of the move.

The Taijitu Move was bisected, and exploded, damaging the mega evolved dragon, but not even near enough to slow her down. With a brutal chomp, Dragon Rush landed, and she drove Itharius into the ground, and stood over his fainted form, panting hard, as she fought the instinct to consume her prey. Once again, Connor recalled his partner, and once again, Garchomp roared with the frustration of a predator who had trained hard to control their hunting instincts, even if this far into the battle, Mega Garchomp had forgotten why she was holding back. She knew it was important though, and her Trainer would be furious if she hunted during a battle. Even in her Mega Form, Garchomp did not want to face her Trainer's anger again. She'd once almost eaten an opponent as a Gible, and Cynthia's chewing her out after forfeiting the match had left a lasting impression.

Mega Garchomp returned to her Trainer, and Cynthia carefully gave her underchin scales scritches. "Good girl. Remember, you'll get plenty of food later, dear. Just one more to go."

"Garrrr." She rumbled, affectionately. She was very hungry.

"I know. Now be careful with this one…and watch the Blizzard. If he hits you with it, fly back to me."

As Mega Garchomp turned back towards her opponent, it was to lock eyes with Mega Greninja. The ninja frog inclined his head, and Garchomp did the same. Then, both Pokémon vanished in a blur of speed. Mega Garchomp's burst was shorter though, and all the battling was starting to wear on her. That last weird Dragon Pulse had done more damage than she'd expected. From above, she sensed the change in air, the presence of the type of energy that her species naturally despised.

She dove into the ground as a Blizzard covered the field in unrelenting frost, but Gren wasn't done. The Blizzard was a cover. Several Ice Shuriken homed in on Mega Garchomp underground, and she roared in pain as they landed hard and in succession. The stadium rumbled, and what little was left of the field was eradicated as Mega Garchomp exploded up from the ground in a torrent of Earth Power. Stone and actual magma followed her, raising the field's temperature again.

Gren dodged the Crunch, but the Earth Power still hit him. He made another Shinobi sign with his fins, and the area became covered in a thick Haze. Now, all the boosts from the crowd were gone, and Mega Garchomp was surrounded by ice energy infused into the very air.

Cynthia stepped in, as she hadn't given her partner a move limit against a Greninja like this. "Fire Blast! Fill the air with Stealth Rocks!"

Gren's eyes widened as he heard the enemy Trainer's commands, and he vanished again, as Mega Garchomp shot a short lived Fire Blast into the air, the sheer power of the fire energy dispersing from it cleared the Haze. Then, the dragon stomped on the ground, filling the entire field with floating shards of jagged rock. There was no shortage of them. Very quickly, she found where Gren was trying to hide, and Dragon Rushed towards him.

He countered with a Blizzard that was simply too close to dodge. Mega Garchomp roared as it tore through her aura shield, and did quadruple damage. However, the Dragon Rush still landed, and Mega Greninja was still very much a glass cannon. He went rolling across the field, rising slowly and stoically, but by the time he did, Mega Garchomp had returned to her Trainer for a Max Potion.

Connor gave Gren one as well. "Both Champions have decided to use their only Potion right here folks! We are in the final stretch! Don't look away, the Match could be decided at any moment!"

Both Pokémon growled at Parson's words, and then once again vanished.

What happened next…was a battle of attrition. Gren kept any boosts from moves or the crowd away with Haze, and Mega Garchomp simply Flamethrowered or Fire Blasted the wide area ice move into nonexistence. Despite his tactics, Gren took the first brutal hit, another Dragon Rush. The Blizzard he'd formed came out more as an Icy Wind, one that Cynthia's Garchomp literally brushed off, before vanishing into the earth again.

To Connor and Gren's credit…they used every trick they had. Spikes. Haze. Even Substitute, despite the HP cost.

It didn't matter. Mega Garchomp was simply too strong, and after that Max Potion, too durable to take down with just Gren. Both Connor and Gren understood by the fifth exchange of moves.

Victory was no longer within their reach. This was as far as they could go, this time. They knew the feeling well, having felt it against Alain and his own dragon typed Charizard. Despite their weaknesses, well trained dragon Pokémon were simply built different than other species. Especially 'pseudo' legends like Garchomp.

But…they made Cynthia work for it. Icy Wind and Ice Beam took less time to use than Blizzard, and the longer they fought the inevitable, the more enraged Mega Garchomp became. They almost did it, too, almost managed to wear her down enough for a Blizzard to finish the job, alas, Dragon Rush was practically unstoppable, and as Gren started running low on power for his moves, another one finally landed, sending him rolling across the field. He tried to rise, but his Mega Form lost power as he was standing again, and that, made Gren fall into unconsciousness.

The crowd lost their minds as their fan favorite claimed a hard fought victory. Connor kept his eyes down, as he recalled Gren, and met Cynthia in the field to shake her hand. She opened her mouth to say something, but she knew that look. She also knew Connor's type. He would be back next time, stronger, and with a lot more hard counters for her pet dragon. But she had tricks for that, too. Ice attacks were actually quite easy to break…although they'd be harder to deal with without her fighting and steel aura hound.

With the handshake over and no words exchanged, Connor turned immediately and left, leaving the Sinnoh Champion to bask in the crowd's adoration alongside her tired, and very hungry dragon. She promised her partner a warm meal, and then departed the field to thousands of people chanting her name.

Despite having retired and returned several times now, Cynthia never got tired of big wins like this. There really was nothing else like it.

As she entered the tunnel she'd emerged from at the battle's start, she stopped abruptly, an expression of shock across her features.

There, standing casually against the wall in a baggy Trainer hoodie, durable traveling pants, complete with Trainer backpack, was her grandfather.

Volo's lightly lined features broke into a genuine smile as he saw Cynthia. "Hey, kid." He said with genuine affection as he stepped away from the wall, hands in his pockets, blocking her path. He didn't want her to just run off, and knowing her grandmother, she was likely to do just that. "You and I need to have a little chat."

samael2006 · Nov 16, 2025

Cynthia I think is one of those trainers that's always going to be strong.
I can't imagine her not being strong in any fic.

Sahqoreyth · Nov 16, 2025

samael2006 said:
Cynthia I think is one of those trainers that's always going to be strong.
I can't imagine her not being strong in any fic.

Her team is quite good. There is, unfortunately a Fighting/Steel hole in her composition though. That's what happens when you build a team around an ace.

Sahqoreyth · Jan 16, 2026

Chapter 66: An Ominous Interlude

Gilboa Town - East of the Master Plateau, Era Before the Dark Times

A Rolycoly let out a rocky greeting, at the human child standing before it. Beside it was an Omanyte, who wiggled in what seemed like excitement. And then last, on the far right, was a Snowver, who peeked shyly at the human child out from under its snowy leaves.

Professor Gilboa, shrouded in a robe that blended white and light yellows and browns, smiled at young Cassius, and gestured at the Pokémon. "The Tamer of Arceus has chosen these partners for you. He and I foresee you will all do great things together."

"I get to train all three of you." The child said with a smile. The young Pokémon cheered in unison, and melded into a group hug.

Thousands of miles above them, the Alpha Pokémon floated beside his Tamer, in all his golden glory.

Is it wise to start him with three?

The human nodded, confident of his decision. "Magical Creatures of Water, Grass, and Fire. As you advised, Arceus."

The Alpha Pokémon remained silent for a long moment. His human was used to this, as the divine being tended to think, extensively, before he spoke.

And you are sure he will be the One to succeed you? His future is…clouded by Dark Energy. It's impossible to see through.

The tan skinned desert dweller smirked, and adjusted his long brown hair. "You said that your next Tamer would be one of if not the strongest Psychic that Humanity has. You were adamant that it was not Imperator Neoth, or the Sigilite, so this boy was the next strongest. His potential is measured even greater than mine."

Arceus glanced over at the golden machine his Tamer had used to find and measure the psychic potential of humanity's masses. Square in shape and with two canisters that the one being measured held on to. It had confirmed what his Tamer had seen with his Future Sight. The child had potential.

I shall trust your judgement. He finally responded.

Several Years Later… - Royal Caldera Arena, Fire Nation, Koria Region

"Carbonis! Earthquake!"

"Return it to them, Zaron."

Cassius watched in disbelief as his Coalossal stomped into an Earthquake, only for the Sun Lord's partner to dodge it with its aerial advantage, and hit them with a quake of their own. "You've got this, Carbonis! Rock-" He paused, as he saw the Sun Lord chuckle, his Charizard roaring in victory. It was then that he noticed his living coal mountain was unconscious. Nautilus was already KO'd, which just left his ace.

"Optimus! Come forth!"

The Abomasnow materialized from the magitech crystal that acted as a place he could rest between battles and traveling. His roar echoed across the arena, and the Charizard opposite him looked his way as the sound of challenge got his attention. The orange dragon grinned, and roared back. As he did, the lava that the Sun Warriors had suspended the arena over responded to his power by shooting geysers of molten rock into the air.

Optimus seemed to hate this environment, but Cassius needed the Sun Lord's Mark to prove he was a strong wielder of magical creatures. Strong enough to be worthy of partnering with Arceus.

"This is it, Optimus. I know you hate fire…but we have plans for Fire Type creatures. Don't we." Abomasnow roared in agreement, and then he Ingrained himself into the field.

The Sun Lord smirked. "Try whatever you like…bringing a creature so weak to Fire into the Fire Nation was not a wise choice."

"That's what you think! Optimus! Stone Burial!" His Abomasnow smashed the arena, and large pillars of stone shot up from the ground of the suspended arena.

The Sun Lord smirked. "Now it just looks like our training area. Zaron! Burn the entire arena!"

Optimus looked back at his Trainer, but Cassius was unflinching. "Wait for it…" Most magical creatures, he'd noticed, had to charge up their energy before unleashing their Magic Moves. Charizard was no exception. Fire colored energy built within his body, and that moment was when they struck. "Now, Optimus! Launch the stones!"

From all sides, the Charizard was hammered by pillars launched into the air by Optimus via his vines. He crashed down to the field, hard, and Cassius saw their chance. "Now! Root Wrap!"

The Sun Lord smirked. "Burn your way out."

The Abomasnow's vines surged up and around the Charizard, but at his Wielder's command, flames erupted around him, and he roared into the air.

"Shield yourself!" Cassius shouted over the roar of the heat, and Optimus brought the rocks around him in close, forming a layer between himself and the intense heat Charizard was now giving off. Cassius watched, waiting for the 'zard-made Heat Wave to die down.

"Finish this, Zaron! Flare Strike!"

"Now, Optimus!" Cassius roared. The Abomasnow appeared again, roaring as the heat was still quite painful to experience. His vines burst out of several rock pillars, clutching large pieces of them, which once more closed in on the Charizard.

However, the flaming fire lizard lived up to its reputation, even in ancient times. The boulders melted rapidly as they got close and the molten rock damaged the vines, and Optimus' focus. With one powerful, self damaging move, the Charizard won the match, and ended Cassius's attempt at glory.

The Sun Warrior spectators cheered, Zaron roared, victorious, and Cassius recalled his fainted partner and made to leave, but the irritatingly handsome royal had already jogged towards him. Cassius was quite aware that a single etiquette breach, like leaving now, could potentially result in his capture or banishment. And he intended to try again, so he needed to stay cordial.

Sun Lord Aluzon was shirtless, his physique on display for all to appreciate. Gold bands encircled his arms, and his clothes were, of course, shades of red. "Successor Cassius! That was a fine performance. Had you saved that creature with the shell and the spines for Zaron, I think you would've won."

Cassius shook his head. "But I didn't win. At this rate, I won't be the Successor. What kind of Wielder has to constantly retry for a Mark? It's pathetic…I'm still too weak." He'd had a similar problem in the other nations. Even the Air Nomads had proven quite hard to beat.

The handsome royal put a companionable hand on Cass's shoulder. "I have seen weak Wielders. Your team is strong. But perhaps another would help you?"

Cassius shook his head. "I've…tried, but the only creatures that would obey me are simply too weak."

The Sun Lord gave him a look. "Any Creature can be powerful. I don't like to speak of it…but Zaron was once bested by a strange, thin, effeminate Fairy, with equally strange black and red flowers. I believe her Wielder called her a Florges. My point is…there is strength where perhaps you least expect it." At that moment, one of the Sun Lord's harem approached them, cradling what Cassius realized could only be a Creature Egg. "We received this little one from the Northern Water Nation as a gift…but I do not require a Water Creature. I know you already have your shell Creature, but I think you'll find this one quite useful, once it grows. You can even ride on its back, once it's grown, and it will have enough stamina to even cross oceans!"

Cassius gently took the Egg, but frowned. "I don't see a reason to cross the oceans. Where would I even go? America is a smoldering ruin, and the southern continent isn't much better."

The Sun Lord chuckled, loudly. "And how do you know? Sure when last we heard from that part of the world, they were struggling. But we have all struggled. Do not assume the Americans will stay down forever. Their lust for conquest is insatiable. If you still lack power, I recommend visiting Hisui, the northernmost Region in Japan. They have legends of a powerful Hero in that land, who left behind his Magical Creatures when he died. They, if nothing else, will give your partners the experience needed to beat us."

Cassius was quiet for a long time, but then he nodded. "It has been an honor to Battle you, Sun Lord Aluzon. Once we return from this Hisui place…I'll earn my Mark."

The Sun Lord chuckled. "I look forward to our rematch." From above, the showboating Zaron roared at Cassius. "Zaron is eager as well! Interesting…he's not easily impressed. Safe travels, Successor."

Several Weeks Later… - Somewhere in the wilds of Hisui

Cassius…was lost. His Egg had hatched into a little Squirtle he'd decided to call Shellraiser. Upon becoming a Wartortle, the boastful turtle had taken the challenge of crossing from Koria to Japan head on. And to his credit, he had made it, but now he was too exhausted to swim back, their food was running low, and Cassius had yet to see another human. Or any sign of society, really. It was strange, though…the rest of the world believed that Japan had long been irradiated by the multiple nuclear reactor disasters they'd experienced after the Fall of mankind, when the war with humanity's first attempt at space colonies ended with said colonies being turned into superbombs and dropped at various points across the planet.

Some places had ended up more intact than others, thanks to the apparent efforts of Old Earth's defenders…but it wasn't enough. Professor Gilboa, and his Master, had taught him that only Arceus had saved the Earth from the chaining natural disasters that had all but guaranteed human beings would either die out, or revert to primitives. He'd expected radiation and dead cities…but this Hisui place was absurdly lush. Magical Creatures flourished wherever he looked, and many of them were quite violent towards him.

Shellraiser needed to rest, so Optimus was out of his ball, and strolling beside his partner, driving off wild creatures in the process. The inhabitants of Hisui were quite aggressive to him, and to each other, more than most magical creatures he'd seen. This latest one though…unnerved him.

All he knew…was that it was gold. Gold, and fast. The one time he'd seen its silhouette, it looked vaguely humanoid shaped, but smaller. What really made Cassius nervous though, was that other creatures seemed to avoid it, when they sensed it. Not in fear…he'd seen them react fearfully before and this behavior was different.

It was almost like…disdain, or pity. At least, that's what he sensed with his burgeoning powers, but given that he could barely lift a pebble without accidentally launching it into space or crushing it, he didn't trust his impression.

It eventually revealed itself, after Shellraiser, while camping, suddenly rose from his lethargic state and nailed the invisible creature with Squirt Gun. The first thing Cassius noticed, was that it seemed to be wearing clothing, or more specifically, accessories. Golden rings hung from its golden horns, and one even larger and thicker gold ring was around its stomach. Its other parts of the body were sandy dark brown, but its eyes were crimson, belying an innocent face with a mischievous smile that was currently frowning in anger.

Before Cassius could react, the strange floating humanoid pulled one of the rings off its horns and somehow it began glowing in its center. A torrent of something came hurtling out of the ring that Cassius realized had to be a portal of some kind.

After a moment, he realized; it was a torrent of food hitting his watery turtle. Donuts, specifically. Seeing this, the creature frowned in disappointment, as if it had expected much more, instead of just donuts. It still not so subtly grabbed one of the sugary snacks and started nomming.

Then, Cassius realized, it was staring at him, and his three starters. As it floated toward him, Optimus let out a growl. "Ssnnnnoooooow." Cassius held up a hand though.

"Easy, Optimus. I think he comes in peace."

Silently the creature looked between the three of them, and then back at the child. The look on its face could only be described, by Cassius, as unpleasant determination. Though the reason for such an expression eluded him. With a fading grimace, and surprising deftness, the creature snatched up a donut, and handed it to Cassius. Thankfully, it was on the top of the pile and not covered in dirt.

"Hoopa." It said after a beat, shaking the glazed confection in Cassius's direction.

Slowly, the teenager took the donut. "Thank you…Hoopa." The creature visibly perked up, but still had that same expression. As if this kind act was something it had never done before. Cassius's eyes narrowed. He couldn't sense anything wrong with the creature, but it did feel…strange. As though its power was in two different places, and this tiny shard was all it was allowed to possess. As for where that power was? He assumed it was somewhere in Hisui, but he had no idea why it was split, who had split it, and for what purpose. Great caches of power usually led to disaster when good-intentioned strangers went poking at them.

One by one, Hoopa delivered donuts to the other three creatures, but not Shellraiser. He was still tail-deep in donuts, and they'd stuck to his well kept tail fur. Cassius helped him and cleaned him, as Professor Gilboa had shown him. It hadn't taken much time or investigation to realize magical creatures adored getting scritches and being groomed.

Once he was clean, the Hoopa floated over, and his ring deposited a new donut in his fingerless hand. Bedecked in Oran Berry frosting, sprinkles, and shaped like a Squirtle's face, Shellraiser was practically drooling as he stared at confection perfection. "Hoop. Hoopa." The suspicious Wartortle glanced at the strange creature, but then quickly snatched the donut, and chomped down immediately on it. His tail swished back and forth, and the two creatures seemed to come to some sort of truce. They were much friendlier after that.

Hoopa stayed with them as they camped around the donut pile. Naturally, it attracted wild creatures, but Hoopa each time made that expression, as he handed out donuts. The other wild creatures were far less grateful than Cassius and his team, indeed, they seemed almost disdainful of Hoopa and his efforts. The younger ones, while wary of Cassius, just stared at him as they quietly took a donut and left, though in true baby fashion, the same few young Bidoof kept coming back for more, until they waddled off content, with distended bellies.

As the party readied to sleep for the night, curling up around Cassius, Hoopa hovered awkwardly at the edge of the small encampment by his donut pile. Cassius pretended to sleep, and then sat up suddenly as Hoopa visibly deflated.

"Come join us, Hoopa."

The golden creature perked right up, hesitated for a moment, then floated over to the group. Carbonis was their heat source, and the Coalossal gave a friendly rumble to the Hoopa as it stopped floating, and began to rest beside Cassius.

The human shifted, as he pulled out something from his pack. A golden crystal, that made the Hoopa's red eyes widen in surprise. "If you enter this…you could travel with us." Cassius said quietly, as his team watched with intent. "You'd travel, eat, and even Battle, alongside my team. Will you?"

One by one, Hoopa looked at the other magical creatures, and the four of them sounded off in approval. Then, finally, Hoopa nodded, and touched the ingrained ring mark on his forehead to the crystal. He vanished inside, and then Cassius brought him out again.

"Welcome to the team…Shahir."

The golden Hoopa's mouth, which had been perpetually frowning or a neutral line since they'd met him, now curled slightly upwards.

Several Weeks Later… - Celestica City

"There it is, Shahir. Civilization." Cassius looked over the simple and yet also rather impressive town that sprawled before them. The buildings were carved from a sturdy looking white stone. The entrance, the only one Cassius could see from his crouched position, was flanked by a pair of guards, with long spears and tall shields. Cassius squinted, as he spied strange spheres on their waist as well, but he could tell they were experienced.

As Cassius snuck closer, too focused on the human settlement to notice Hoopa's growing fear, he realized that the main thoroughfare of what he was now realizing was more like a city, led to a pair of massive opposing white stone buildings, within which seemed to be statues of two massive magical creatures he didn't recognize. He knew of the Guardians that Arceus had appointed to protect and enhance various parts of the planet, but these were unfamiliar to him from this distance. Professor Gilboa had an idea for a kind of creature encyclopedia that he could hand out to new Wielders. Something they could use to seek out or peacefully interact with the relatively new species introduced to their planet.

Cassius felt sorry for whatever gullible fool got roped into making such an encyclopedia for him, as he was well over a century old.

"Hoo…pa."

Cassius turned, surprised at the melancholy tone in his partner's voice. "What's wrong my friend? We can finally eat something other than donuts! I like them, don't get me wrong, but they're not really survival fare, you know?"

Shahir stayed quiet, arms drooping as he floated reluctantly behind Cassius. Finally, he had a thought. "Wait…Shahir, do you know these people!?" His Hoopa nodded sadly. "Alright…in that case, hop back in your crystal for now. Wait for me to call on you." Hoopa looked deeply uncomfortable, but after looking into Cassius's eyes for a long moment, Shahir finally nodded, and entered the stasis-inducing crystal. He, for obvious reasons, had a fear of confinement, but Cassius was not like most humans. He would call him out again, when it was safe to do so.

Unfortunately, the flash caught the attention of the guards, as Cassius was now much closer to the white stone entrance gate of the city. "Who goes there! Show yourself!"

Before Cassius could so much as open his mouth, one of the spheres on the guard's waist flashed, and a Lucario emerged, eyes closed, but wholly focused on Cassius.

The guards paused as Lucario stepped forward, and then bowed. "Lucario, wha-!"

His Wielder was interrupted, as the Aura hound spoke, in telepathic Common, "He is the Successor. Must show respect."

The guards shared a look. "Successor to who…?"

Lucario turned to face them. Cassius sighed inwardly, as he could guess what came next.

"To the man who tamed the Alpha.."

The guard's eyes widened. "Successor to…uhh, right, uhh, wait here, um…sir." One of the guards ran off then, and Cassius just nodded along. He had hoped this far from the supercontinent he'd be less famous. But apparently not.

In short order he was walking with one of the head council members of this city, Celestica City, as they apparently called it, a man by the name of Girolomo. He was tall, blonde, and had styled his graying platinum blonde hair in a manner reminiscent of the Alpha himself. His outfit was surprisingly light, for living in a colder climate. The inhabitants of Celestica had mostly robes on, as well as sturdy looking sandals, and golden adornments. Girolomo in particular had a circlet on his brow, also gold, of three triangles, stacked in a manner that made them form a larger triangle when combined (think Triforce).

They stopped in the middle of two massive white stone statues, and Cassius was amazed at the sheer detail. It was clear, whatever artist had done these, was intimately familiar with Palkia and Dialga. Cassius had always been taught that they were in entirely different dimensions, that orbited his, like Arceus's realm was said to. So why were such detailed depictions here?

Girolomo's ancient voice rasped through the space, as the flow of citizens continued past them. To avoid constant stares and attention, Cassius had been given robes, though he wasn't enjoying them. They were almost…too loose. Some things needed more layers of protection, and the robe offered nothing. Moreover, from what Cassius had seen with stolen glances, nobody else seemed to be bothering with undergarments either.

"The God of Time, Dialga, and the God of Space, Palkia. Tell me young Cassius, were you aware that they have Tamers as well?" The teen shook his head, and the old man continued. "The Doctor and Dialga have saved this timeline and uncountable others since they first partnered together. He came hurtling into Dialga's realm from another reality, not by choice, and it was Dialga who saved him. They've been partners ever since."

The old man ahemmed, and turned smoothly towards Palkia's statue. "Palkia's Tamer is a bit less…respectable. Professor Sanchez had a bright future in Galar's universities…but all that changed, when he lost his wife. It's a sad story, and while it informs his actions since…it does not forgive them. But Palkia remains loyal, if distant. Theirs is a…different kind of partnership. Sanchez won't restrict Palkia with a capture sphere, but they have arrived to save each other in times of dire need more than once."

The old man turned back to Cassius and smiled. "We all look forward to the great things you will achieve, with the Original One."

Cassius's brow furrowed. "But how do you know all of this, Councilor?"

Girolomo smirked, and gestured up a set of white stone stairs that led to a higher portion of Celestica City. This led them to what was apparently the residential part of the city, with houses that went several stories up and seemed to support multiple people or families. Another thing he noticed…was that nobody seemed to have money. If there was a system of trade, it seemed to be barter-based, and cordial. Cassius could sense it as they'd passed the business part of the city; there was a noticeable lack of pervasive greed, here.

From Wyndon to Ba Sing Se, Cassius had sensed it in every large hub of humans he'd traveled through. An obsession with currency. It drove everything. But here, in this place at the foot of Mount Coronet's summit, which he now saw was capped with a massive white stone temple, the people lived in harmony. Creature Wielders seemed to be the norm, and most telling of all, was how happy the creatures looked.

That too, was something he'd learned. If one wanted to gauge the state of an area, one only needed to look at the emotional norms of the local fauna. Magical Creatures were much more…expressive than the animals they'd evolved from. And there was no question as to their intelligence.

At the end of the long straight road through the housing areas, the path split. One, led up to the summit itself, and the area beyond turned immediately snow-covered, and colder. The other path, the natural end of the long roadway, was a circular space, occupied by a large tree.

"This, is the Moonview Sanctum. Here, our Psychics wield their power to divine future events, and record them. We then send them on, to Eous. Our job is to transcribe, not react, or become involved. This invaluable skill is prized by Kingdoms all over the planet…and in return for related event transcriptions, we get supplies that we need. This is what has allowed us to slip the yoke of currency for our people."

Cassius chuckled awkwardly. "I see…unfortunately, I can't do much more than launch a pebble into low orbit, with my powers…apparently I lack control. I can only imagine what would happen if I tried Future Scry with them."

Girolomo smirked. "You would experience a torrent of images that would likely only come to make sense in time, if you even remember any of them. But, in processing this flow, your mind would learn control. It will try to process what it sees on instinct, and with practice, you'll find your control becomes more reasonable, something you can hone like the others do." The old man snapped his fingers.

A moment later, a young boy with similarly blonde hair rushed over. Girolomo didn't wait for him to speak. "This is my apprentice. Volo. You'll be learning together. We don't yet know if Volo possesses Psychic power, and Professor Gilboa, if we eventually hosted you, wanted us to test your aptitude. This requires the same trial, and thus, the same preparation, which you will undergo together. Volo. Show the Successor to Arceus's Tamer to his quarters, and fetch him at dawn. Return here, and I will tell you your task."

The Next Day… - Celestica City

"You first, Volo."

Girolomo gestured to the meditation circle carved into the dirt below the Moonview Sanctum tree.

"Just focus on Abra. Try to see what it's dreaming about. Let the image form in your mind. And Abra, no helping him."

The sleeping magical creature waved a three-fingered hand nonchalantly, but otherwise seemed asleep. Volo focused, his freshly ten years old face scrunched up in concentration, but after a minute, he sighed. "I failed. I have no idea what it's dreaming. I don't have powers…"

Girolomo patted his clearly disappointed disciple. "Not everyone possesses the gift, Volo. There are other ways to contribute to our society. Now then, you next, Cassius. Be as descriptive as possible."

Cassius closed his eyes, and focused. Within ten seconds, he started talking. "It's…a castle? A…school? I don't…"

"Take your time, Cassius. Sometimes, the meaning of a dream is revealed by time, despite our attempts to understand."

Cassius sighed, and continued. "It's…a school of some kind, within a castle. Made up entirely of Abra, Kadabra, and younger Alakazam, judging by their facial whiskers. It's weird. They're all…wearing clothing. Robes with red, blue, yellow, and green highlights…a sorting system of some kind. Abra is…in blue trim. They're…being taught Psychic Moves by older psychics…"

Girolomo nodded sagely, sure in his wisdom as he said, "Clearly a self-constructed dream this time, and not a vision. But we know now you can sense a Psychic's dreams and peer into them. That's good. You must've been in deep to extract such details, and all without Abra seemingly feeling any pain. Very well done."

Then, suddenly, the scene paused. Everything froze.

Reality itself appeared to stop moving, and the deep, slightly irritated voice of Proditor filled the air in response to his pupil's unasked question.

"You wish to ask something, Nico?"

Nico Mancadreigo was now clad in an ancient purely black hooded robe that had somehow remained intact in the intervening eons that Proditor had been gone from his old power base, which was where they were currently hiding out. The forces arrayed against Proditor had sacked much of it, but apparently had never found his item caches. Some were dust, but the clothes had remained intact and usable.

"It's not that I don't appreciate the history lesson, but can we get to the good part already? I wanna learn how to actually wield the Shadow."

Proditor gave his apprentice a look. "Do not be so eager to infuse your friend with Shadow. Magmar will hate you, for a time. Pokémon are naturally tuned for the Light. It takes personal power, and aligned goals, to effectively wield a Shadow Pokémon."

"As you've said…Master." Nico treaded carefully, as the old man hated repeating himself. "I just…feel like I'm missing something. I wanna know more, not just about my powers, but about all of…this." He gestured to the circular carved stone chamber, which they were in the center of. The center of the room was a circular pit of sand, which they had been training upon. "Who lived here? How long ago? And why…why are we embracing Shadow, instead of Arceus, and the Light? Isn't the Light…good!?"

"Good…Evil…these things are subjective." Proditor's face split into a wide, unnerving, razor sharp smile. A third crimson eye popped out of his forehead with a narsty squelch. The room warped, the details blurring and fading into the backdrop of what Nico perceived the room to look like. "You shall learn Our story…or a part of it, anyways. Some secrets…you are not yet ready for."

"That's BS!" Nico countered. "I need answers dude, or I'm out. This is already sketchy as Froslass."

"All you need to know about Arceus, little Nico, is that He is a hypocrite. You wanted power. You wanted to learn to wield your potential. Watch. And learn."

The scene around them shifted again, showing still images from the Successor's memories as Proditor's face shifted back to his human one with a look of discomfort.

"Under Master Girolomo and his apprentice Volo, I learned to hone my Psychic powers. They were part of what Japanese Historians call the 'Celestica People'. Girolomo was the one who first taught me about the being they called Almighty Sinnoh, and its two creations, Dialga and Palkia, Guardian Pokémon who control Time and Space. But it was little Volo who told me of a fourth member of this pantheon…and this…this moment…was when I finally managed to contact it."

Nico's eyes were drawn to the displayed vision around them, as it shifted and focused again. Helpfully, the vision displayed the location in a Shadowy font as it appeared.

Turnback Cave - Hisui Region

"This way, Cassius." His friend Volo whispered, even though they were quite far from any other people. They had become fast friends during Cassius's time in Celestica, and now, after questioning some inconsistencies with the city's lore in regards to Legendaries, and Hoopa, Volo had insisted on showing him a cave where, supposedly, the fourth member of the pantheon was known to appear.

The entire area seemed suspicious to Cassius, but this was where he'd sensed the other half of Hoopa's power. The walls were lumpy black stone, and pillars in the style of Celestica's civilization lined the relatively flat cave. The pillars glowed with psychic blue energy, swirling in patterns that had no rhyme or reason to Cassius.

Then, the air suddenly became colder, and the patterns on the pillars pulsed. The symbol of Arceus appeared on the floor, lines of energy snaking between it, and each pillar. Volo's eyes were manic, and Cassius tensed as he realized the kid had a dagger of some sort. It looked wrong, though, black and twisted. Cassius saw an aura of dark purplish energy around it.

Volo, for his part, approached the symbol on the cave's floor. "Can you feel it, Cassius? The chill of power in the air…the eldritch presence just beyond us, reaching out!?" He raised the knife. "Shadow of our World! Listen to my words! Giratina! I willingly open the paths between our realms! Break!"

Cassius just watched, spellbound by the scene, his body unresponsive to his instinctive desire to move, to stop Volo. Stabbing the symbol of the Alpha with a weird knife seemed like a bad idea, but as he looked at the source of his inability to move, he saw Shahir by his side, a downright evil, expressive grin on his face as he used his psychic powers to hold the teenaged human still. Before Cassius could even react to what seemed like a betrayal, or perhaps what Hoopa had been hoping to do all along, reality ripped apart with a brief sound like a knife through leather, and then a whoosh of air.

The air of Hisui was sucked through the dark yawning portal before them, which had opened above the fading symbol of Arceus. As the air regulated and the cave fell silent, the portal seemed to exhale, and a truly noxious odor seeped out from it. Along with suspicious purple gas that seemed somehow both corporeal and not, simultaneously.

Shahir shouted at the tentacles as they appeared. "Hoopa!"

As if they were sentient, the shadow tendrils pointed towards Shahir, and then suddenly arced and shot upward into the ceiling. Slowly, they dragged something down from above. To Cassius, it looked like a bottle a primitive civilization had made. There was a nondescript face on the stopper, complete with ringed horns on either side, and what looked like a representation of hair at the top, also bound with a ring. The body of the bottle was round like a donut, with three rings on either side of where the loop connected to the stem. The top part was light gold on top, while the bottom was more the brownish gold color that matched Shahir's body.

Ignoring Cassius now, Shahir lunged for the bottle imprisoning his essence, only to be violently and painfully hurled across the cave by a golden energy barrier in the shape of Arceus's symbol. Furious, Shahir opened a portal to attack…and all that came out was a stream of donuts that bounced uselessly off the same shield. With the same force, the confections were launched back at Shahir, who seemed to take damage from the now divinely glowing rounded dough circles.

Only further enraged by this, Shahir shouted, to his astonishment, in perfect Common.

"Give! It! BACK!"

The bottle shook, as if taunting Shahir, and started floating back upwards, but the shadowy tendrils kept it in the chamber.

As Shahir readied to fire more projectile donuts, Cassius put a hand on his shoulder. "That's where your power is?" Shahir nodded. "You'll need help to open it. It's going to keep repelling you." Cassius paused for a long moment. "Have…you been able to speak Common this entire time?"

Shahir shook his head. "Learned from you. Your…mind." He said, taking his time to choose his words.

Cassius nodded. "That's because we're partners. We're bonded. Why did you stop me from moving?"

Shahir's eyes narrowed. "Humans no good! Always take!" He gestured angrily at the bottle. "Give! Now!"

Cassius narrowed his eyes this time. "Manners will get you everywhere. Try using some."

Shahir growled. "Please. Give. Back." He visibly deflated. "Please." He finished, more genuinely.

Cassius squeezed his shoulder. "That was always the plan, my friend." Shahir looked up at him with hope, as Cassius walked towards the Prison Bottle.

As Cassius approached the bottle, his vision was overcome by darkness as soon as he touched it. The lingering Shadow clinging to the bottle, along with Shahir's latent power, slipped into Cassius's being without anyone even noticing. In the present, Proditor commented on his past self, "Interesting. I hadn't realized you infected me so quickly." The voice in his head responded, but in a manner only he could hear. "You're right. It doesn't matter when it happened. It was always going to."

The scene shifted back to Cassius's point of view, and Nico gasped, as he saw the Shadowmind's first host appear within the portal between the worlds. Giratina. The Renegade. In the present it wasn't nearly as ominous looking, but seeing it like this…Nico started to understand why it had been locked away.

The Renegade's small, burning crimson eyes started glowing, as it spoke, in a tone Nico recognized as the Shadowmind.

"You desire power…both your own potential, and your partner's…I can give it. You desire knowledge. I will share what I know. All I ask in return…is total loyalty. You will fully embrace the Shadow. Your partners will embrace the Shadow…and by doing so, you shall gain all that you seek."

"I…" Proditor began, "I just want Shahir to be whole again. Tell me, Giratina…who did this to my partner!?"

"The Original One. The Alpha." The very air trembled as Giratina uttered the true name of that being in a tone of pure rage, "ARCEUS!"

Cassius furrowed his brow, and looked at Shahir. "Arceus…? But why? What was so horrible that it warranted…this!?"

"Uncork the bottle…and Shahir can tell you himself…"

Determined for answers, and for his friend to be whole, Cassius gripped the bottle's cork, and pulled. That's when several things happened at once.

At the cave's entrance, Girolomo and several guards, with a Lucario each, filled the space. "What is this heresy!?" He shouted, eyeing the scene.

Volo, holding the knife, dropped it as he saw his mentor, the loud clatter drawing their gaze just long enough for Cassius to uncork the Prison Bottle, and unbind Hoopa.

Girolomo continued, angrily stomping into the cave. "Volo! What are you-" He paused, as he finally saw what Cassius was doing. "What!? Hoopa!? Here?" Anything else anyone said was drowned out as a low howl ripped through the air, like a sandstorm through a desert.

Girolomo shouted, as dark energy started swirling about Turnback Cave. "We need to bind the Prison Bottle, and close the portal! Lucario!"

The pair of aura hounds shared a look, and then pressed their respective right and left paws together, while raising their free paw towards the scene. The bottle's top in Cassius' hand started to move back towards its counterpart, while the hole in reality glowed blue on either side and was slowly forced closed.

Cassius watched as a massive cloud of Shadow struck Shahir, and the dark energy around his golden Hoopa suddenly surged into him. His eyes burned crimson, his form grew taller, almost too tall for the cave, his psychic presence, more powerful, his arms, more numerous, and each of the six arms that floated slowly out of his torso and formed six three fingered hands had two rings on them, one at the base of the arm and one at the wrist.

"FINALLY! REVENGE!" Shahir roared. All six arms flexed, opening portals to Arceus knew where. Being psychic in nature however, the portals also shared the psychic type's weaknesses. From the mouth of the cave, three golden fairy-like magical creatures that had yet to lose their golden luster struck at the forming disaster within. Behind them, floated two square objects radiating power, to Cassius's eyes. Dark and bug energy, if his guess was accurate.

Six pulses of dark energy hammered Shahir's rings, shorting them out instantly, while the central golden foating creature, the one known to Celstica as the Bringer of Knowledge, hit the Unbound Hoopa with a Signal Beam as it drew power from the lime green object behind it. This was the same method Arceus had used, when he'd had to subdue this Hoopa, and his brother.

As the rings floated back onto Shahir's arms, the Bringer of Emotion and the Bringer of Willpower combined with their counterpart to form an even greater Signal Beam. Shahir fell to one knee, snarling in disbelief that this trio of weaklings could stop him. As strong as he was when unbound, the Lake Guardians were cheating. Hoopa knew the power they used, and it was not theirs. Was not honorable. He seethed as he struggled against his quadruple weakness, but as before, was unable to break free of the Alpha's power.

"Stop! Stop it, you're hurting him!" Cassius shouted, jumping in front of the beam. The trio immediately stopped it, but Cassius still took damage from the bug typed energy. Being a psychic himself, it also hurt quite a bit, despite the meager Barrier he'd summoned in front of him, the Lake Guardians had shattered it instantly. Shahir watched, his evil eyes widening in surprise as Cassius protected him. Even after he'd held him in place earlier. Even after revealing through his actions that this had all been a plot to recover what was taken from him.

Cassius turned to his Hoopa. "Shahir…I know you're angry. I understand why. They took your power…but Professor Gilboa says great power comes with the responsibility to restrain it. You can't just rampage around destroying the homes of creatures and Humans! Show them you're not a threat. Show them you're in control. Show them you can handle being your true self." He put a hand on the lower part of his friend's strange torso. "I will vouch for you. Partner."

"Partner…" Shahir's eyes went wider, then narrowed again as he snarled at the three floating creatures. "It won't matter…they will take my strength again. They fear me."

Cassius gently patted Shahir, and the strange dark psychic flinched, unused to physical contact that wasn't an attack, especially in this form. To Cassius, he was still just Hoopa. Bigger, yes, a natural mean expression…but that was no reason to imprison his essence. "Please, bud…let me speak with them. Things will go better if you let me talk."

The cave was tensely silent, and then the gold and pink fairy-like creature chirped at her counterparts, and the pair of Lucario. Her counterparts stood down immediately, and after a shared look, the Lucario let their Aura Spheres dissipate.

Girolomo stepped toward Cassius. "You…bonded with Hoopa, of all creatures!?"

Cassius nodded. "I did."

Girolomo pinched his brow. "You…have no idea what it has done, do you?" Cassius shook his head. "If you did, you'd release it…Hoopa unbound like this is a disaster waiting to happen. And things have been set into motion, now that it's once again whole…"

Cassius narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

Girolom sighed. "I mean…we are a nation of laws…and Hoopa is intelligent enough to understand, and break said laws. It already did so…but because of the Alpha's intervention, both it and it's sibling were spared Human justice…so long as they remained bound. Now that it no longer is bound, it must be held accountable. There will be a trial. And as its Wielder, you shall represent it."

Back in the present, Proditor spoke again. "We can skip all the pomp and circumstance. The sentencing is the only part of that Mukking farce that matters anyway."

The scene shifted forward, and while Nico was curious about the images between the scenes, his Master was right. The sentencing spoke for itself.

As they refocused on Proditor's enhanced Recall Sight, the scene was definitely dire. Stone stands lined the Moonview Sanctum that hadn't been there previously. They were filled with historic personages that Nico recognized at least a few of. The iconic golden gladiator armor of the First League Champion, and his Rhydon helmet.

the_first_league_champion_by_pokefan1337_dlarqar-375w-2x.jpg

Professor Gilboa, who seemed to be in deep discussion with a man in yellow and orange robes that had a light blue arrow tattooed on his skull, and arms. Above them all, with eyes that seemed more sad than vengeful, was Arceus himself. Massive, golden, and radiant by his very nature, silently but intently watching the mortals below, and the choices that would be made.

Girolomo was the head of the proceedings, while Shahir was kneeling, and bound with some kind of glowing blue rope. There was no sign of Volo, and Cassius was standing in front of Shahir, behind a wooden pulpit. He seemed distressed, angry, and by the looks of things, his arguments had been unsuccessful.

Then, suddenly, the scene moved forward, and Girolomo spoke. "You were given the chance to be magnanimous, like your brother. To benefit Humans and their partners, not harm them. To follow your Creator's mission, or at the very least not impede it. You were told only not to go to one specific place with your awesome powers, and you went anyway, putting our entire planet at risk of infection. You caused unchecked destruction across multiple Regions. You tricked the Successor into Taming you to try to escape your Binding. And perhaps most damning of all…you remain completely unrepentant-"

"Objection!" Cassius shouted, "Shahir has demonstrated that he-" But Girolomo held up a hand, psychically silencing the teen's outburst. Slowly, Shahir's golden head rose, and his red eye focused on Girolomo.

"There are no objections in the closing sentencing. You've made your case, Cassius. I-"

A low, psychic baritone rumbled through the stadium-like trial area. "Let. Him. Go."

Girolomo's eyes narrowed. The Unbound Hoopa turned to face him. "Let. My Friend. Go. Let him speak. He speaks truth." Shahir's eyes then shifted up at Arceus, lording over them all. "More truth than others."

The stadium erupted in murmurs and shouts of protest, but they silenced as Girolomo held up a hand. "It's a simple enough request. Very well, Hoopa. So long as your friend obeys the rules of the court."

He gestured at Cassius, freeing his voice, and put his hands on his own podium then. "As I was saying. Hoopa, your crimes are numerous and your guilt is certain. However, this court acknowledges your desire and Sentient right to be whole, as your true self. Therefore, we will imprison you, as you are, for all of time."

The court erupted in cries of approval this time, and Cassius looked at each of them. From the Sun Lord to his own master, the Tamer of Arceus himself, all were in agreement about his Hoopa's fate. What was worse, was that they acknowledged he could make his own choices, and yet insisted on ignoring any progress or signs of change he'd made. Cassius looked down at the podium, gripping the edges tight. "So in the end…nothing changed at all…"

He spoke quietly, to himself, but only Shahir heard him. Cassius had used his power to peer into the past and future, but in every timeline, he had seen himself helpless, as his friend ended up imprisoned for eons. The manner changed from timeline to timeline, but the result was always the same. He'd tried to change the course of events but it seemed this point in time was irritatingly solid, and not at all wibbly or wobbly. On either side of them, the Lucario guards wielding Aura Bones connected to the rope binding Shahir shifted into a ready stance.

Shahir's eyes began to glow crimson as he looked at his partner. In his head, the dark djinn rumbled, "If we are rebelling against this…the time is now. Partner."

Cassius tried to think of an alternative. A path to freedom and peace for his Hoopa that didn't involve wanton destruction and death. He found none. And in that moment of despair…something dark his past self wasn't aware had latched onto him, spoke.

You desire the power to save your friend's freedom.

Cassius's eyes shot up to look at Hoopa suddenly. That voice had come from within his friend's mind, of that, he was sure. But it was in no way Hoopa. He'd heard it before. The Renegade was in Shahir's head, yet…they did not seem to be at odds. Vaguely he heard Girolomo say something about it being time to release Shahir's capture crystal to them, so he could be bound for eternity. Cassius drew the golden crystal sphere he'd made himself. He'd intended it for Arceus…but he'd met Hoopa, instead. And frankly, after watching this joke of a trial in total silence, Shahir was more worthy of being his partner. He answered the voice in his head. "I do."

All I ask…is for absolute loyalty. You, Successor, shall become the Champion of Shadow. You will expand its influence. You will enact the will of its Master. You will embrace its power, to wield as you deem fit. You will do this…or you will die.

Do you accept?

Proditor gave his answer, and chose the path of betrayal. A hurricane of Shadow surged up and around Shahir and his Tamer, severing the aura binding the dark djinn. Then, it crashed into the ground, obscuring everything. Chaos reigned, as people panicked, or tried using their own powers to dispel the darkness. Then, as suddenly as the Shadow arrived, the Light shone through it in a focused beam that systematically burned the darkness away.

Arceus was in the air, behind his Tamer, as his symbol, burning and golden, burned behind the man's back. The Alpha was focusing his power into that symbol, and his Tamer used it to Purge the Shadow and heal the mortals and magical creatures. Yet, of Hoopa, there was no sign.

Arceus surveyed the scene, and then whirled on the only other source of Shadow nearby, understanding finally, why his sight of this moment had been so warped. Everyone below followed the deity's gaze, and murmurs of fear started to grow.

Arrayed across a now thunderous sky full of dark clouds, were Landorus, Tornadus, and Thundurus. To the right of the Forces of Nature were Lugia, Ho Oh, Kyogre, and Yveltal. To the left, on the ground, were Regigigas, Heatran, Xerneas, and a white fifty percent form Zygarde that seemed quite large.

Floating in the exact middle of his mind-controlled Legends, two arms crossed, as the other four were out of sight, Shahir grinned at his maker.

"Go on, admit it…you were surprised."

Shadow energy surged out of each Legendary creature, and the scene devolved into chaos, as the gathered Legends were forced to attack Arceus. Arceus however, was barely winded, as his Tamer was strong, and their bond was solid. He shifted between typings, hammering his creations with the most powerful attacks known to his kind. Moves that would come to be known as Blast Burn, Hydro Cannon, or Earth Power. As that chaos unfolded, Shahir and Proditor made their escape. Shahir didn't have many friends, but he had met a Zoroark once that ended up owing him a favor, and also was not a fan of their creator. With his power restored, Shahir called in that favor. If Arceus noticed the deception, he didn't act. Even his divine senses were probably more focused on the multiple Legend tier attacks constantly aiming for him, and he had to divert them from hitting the city, as best he could.

Yet, as always, when Legends clashed, it was the people who suffered. The Shadow infused Legends fought Arceus over and above the city, as the humans and creatures below scattered in terror. Buildings toppled. Aeroblasts and attacks of equivalent power missed their mark, and found someone's home.

The scene ended, with Proditor and Shahir escaping to the other side of the planet. Even Arceus had trouble finding a wayward Hoopa, especially when his new Shadow powers allowed him to bypass the side effect of being bound: not being able to travel through his own rings. In the present, Proditor ended the vision, and narrated the rest.

"The Legends rampaged. Celestica never fully recovered. Arceus managed to stop the chaos, but it left a scar over what we know as Sinnoh. A…wound in the fabric of Time and Space. One that apparently my old friend Volo poked at, for some reason."

Nico tilted his head. "Y'know, apparently there's some big deal museum thing in Lumiose all about ancient Sinnoh. It sounded lit."

Proditor nodded slowly. He was pretty sure 'lit' and 'fire' were apparently good terms, and not associated with actual flame at all, in the modern era. "Museum…in Lumiose, hmm? Then to Lumiose we'll go."

Nico crossed his arms. "Hold on, I still have questions."

Proditor turned, like a snake that until that moment had been pretending it hadn't noticed the little mouse behind it. He was mid-portal creation, as Nico spoke. Proditor simply read his mind, and let out a heavy sigh. "Again with the Light. You saw for yourself what it did to Shahir. Instead of trying to tame his power, Arceus and his Tamer chose to bind him forever. And do you want to know why? We never got to that part in the flashback. He did go on a bit of a rampage, it's true. But against wild Pokémon. They were Battling and got a bit carried away. No, his actual 'crime' was daring to enter the Reverse World. He just wanted to explore it a bit. But Arceus went all but berserk. My old Master had to use quite a lot of his power just to keep the Alpha from destroying Shahir down to the last atom."

At that moment, Shahir spoke for himself, as the massive golden Hoopa appeared from one of his rings, evidently now finally rested, and recharged. "He called me, and my brother, a Mistake, Nico Mancadreigo." The dark djinn stared the child down as his psychic baritone thundered in his skull. "The Shadow is Power. When unchecked, power can be quite dangerous…but only the unworthy fear wielding it. "There is no good or evil here. Just two sides of the same coin, always, forever, vying for control against each other."

Nico sighed, heavily, as he looked at the ground. "But we're not just…like…murdering random people, right?"

Proditor turned fully to face his apprentice. "What you do with the power is your choice…but you will have to follow the Shadowmind's edict."

Nico raised a brow. "Which is?"

"In so many words…for as long as I have known it, it's only base command to myself and those like me…was to infuse as many Pokémon with Shadow Energy as possible." Proditor answered.

The teen's brow furrowed. "But…why though?"

Again, Proditor face split, and his third eye manifested, but it seemed smoother now. The human eyes glanced up briefly, but still seemed cogniscent, even as the Shadowmind spoke with Proditor's mouth. "That, is a story we do not have time for. Lumiose…is Exactly where we want to be, for what comes next."

Proditor chuckled, as the entity in his head took the back seat again. "In time, you will find, you end up fulfilling the Shadow's desires regardless of your path. Once you embrace the Shadow, it will dominate your very Fate." On that note, he stepped through the portal that Shahir had opened for him, almost effortlessly.

Nico nodded. "Then it's too late to go back." He followed his Master through the portal, leaving the ancient base abandoned once more.

Sahqoreyth · Mar 20, 2026

Chapter 67: Champion Victor versus Red

For those interested, here's Until the Whole Word Shines. By Black Badge. Enjoy.

Green Trainer Locker Room, Day Two - World Tournament Building, Unova

"So you've been having trouble choosing an intro song, I hear." PNN's Ari said to his guest, the Dragon Emperor, who was clad as he always was, even on TV. Victor smirked. His starter, Ace, was a big fan of the foreign leader's vibe, and burgers, and was quite eager to face his Cinderace someday.

Alex nodded. "I was thinking something by Leaf Day, but I was told I'd be 'dating myself' if I chose Fornian Idiot. Which, I mean, fair, it is a bit out of date now. Still a jam, though."

Ari nodded, pretending to ponder. "And what do you think of Black Badge? Do you like them?"

Redwood coughed awkwardly. "Yea. Edgy. Rock'n'Roll. What's not to like? I mean… it's been a minute since I listened to them, but yeah, I recall enjoying them quite a bit in…College. Until the Whole World Shines was our workout jam, Terra and I. I was tempted to use that for the intro, but I'm pretty sure they were singing about Ash."

The news host smirked. "Well, we had kind of a…collaboration once it became clear you were having difficulty choosing a theme…you are representing Unova after all, you should have more than basic League themes. So with that in mind, let's welcome the members of Black Badge!"

Ari had a studio audience for this show, and now it was obvious why, as the camera panned to them and revealed a crowd absolutely dripping in Black Badge merch. Quietly, the Dragon Emperor of Unova muttered, as his mic picked up his words. "Y'know now all the merch-wearing fans in the audience make sense."

The lead rocker of the band shook hands with the Dragon Emperor, and then faced the fans. "Who wants to hear a brief demo of what we have so far!?" As the crowd roared, Victor shut the TV off.

Ace frowned at him, but the look that Victor gave the fiery rabbit brooked no argument. "Spoilers." He smirked. The Galar League Champion's eyes were on fire. "You'll hear it eventually anyway. And if you want to be on the field when we do…we need to beat Red."

The rest of the team coalesced as Victor waved them over. "Alright lads. The curry is ready. Grab a plate." Victor's team for this round was a mix of who he'd beaten Leon with and who he'd trained during the Tournament of Champions.

"Red is weird." Victor stated confidently. "In all the years he's competed, he hasn't really changed his team…and as a result they are monsters. He's easily as strong as Sikandar was. He could probably even beat Leon."

Seeing he had their attention despite the food, Victor continued, "He'll probably mostly use Mega Evolution, but his Lapras can Gigantamax, and his Pikachu has a special Z-Move. We counter those, and we've got the win. Ace, Tank, Corvus, Rajah, and Gar. You'll be Gigantamaxing." The five of them shared a look, and nodded. The key to successful Gigantamaxing, and using Max Moves in general, was to not mess up the field for those who followed them. "Drago and Konoha will be Mega Evolving." The Dragapult gave a 'high tail' to the Sceptile, who was fairly new to the team, but quite a high level when he joined them in Hoenn.

Victor turned to the remaining two. "Grimm. Bro." The shiny Grimmsnarl and Galarian Slowbro nodded in unison. "You'll be using our newest weapon. Are you ready?" The shiny Grimmsnarl rearranged his stark white hair into a fist. Bro, as always, just repeated his name and stared into space. But Victor could see he was hyped.

Or as 'hyped' as his species could physically be.

Victor looked at his tenth then, still in its ball, the hard counter to Red's Pikachu, and if necessary, potentially that Mega Venusaur too. He remembered the day his sad little Yamask became…something else entirely. Rune was a different kind of monster, and didn't like being awake in the daylight. Or at all, really.

The chime in their locker room rang, and Victor recalled everyone, then gathered their curry plates. "Alright lads. Show time." He strode out the doors, and into the pulse-raising roar of the crowd.

Red Trainer Locker Room - World Tournament Building, Unova

The locker room lights were off.

Red, the Hero of Pallet Town, and arguably all of Japan, sat in the darkness, a well-used Pokéball in his hand. The only source of light was a live feed of the stadium field.

Mr. Parsons was at it again, narrating as he always had. Red sighed quietly. "…"

"From the Green corner! The Unbeaten Champion of Galar! The man who brought down Leon's Charizard! Ladies and gentlemen! Friends from across the pond, let's welcome Champiooon Victoooor!"

Red stared as Victor started approaching the field accompanied by Galar's number one song: Never Gonna Give You Up And Release You. That confident smirk, that impressive, but still untempered fire in much younger eyes.

A fire that was about to go out. How many times had he done this now? Last time had been…Florian, right, Paldea's prodigy. But, to his credit, the Paldean Champion hadn't lost a step. Adding Mega Evolution and Dynamaxing to his repertoire would make him much harder to deal with.

Red sighed, trying not to remember the look on Florian's face when he'd been beaten. As Red zoned out, the faces of his countrymen, lifeless, crushed in the unstoppable wake of Regigigas, filled his mind instead. He felt Mewtwo remove them, but they never fully disappeared, like those lives had.

"…"

The Galar League's music faded, replaced by the iconic trumpeting of the Indigo League. Red stood silently in the darkness and set Fushigi back on his belt.

"…Let's go."

Red quietly wondered if this was his last World Tournament. The buzz just wasn't the same. The hype felt fake, and the next generation was…quite strong. And a lot more popular. And a lot younger.

And the way Leaf looked at them bothered him. Not enough to cause an emotional response, he hadn't felt many emotions since his fusion with Mewtwo, but her eyes on other Trainers caused an unpleasant bodily sensation that he didn't care for.

And of course, his lack of speaking and general introversion was not exactly improving his love life. It never had, but lately, something just felt…different. About him. About the world, in general.

He sighed, and walked out to the field. The cheers were deafening, and the signs, his fans, and their excitement, those genuine smiles, was what made a small smile appear on his face. But it didn't reach his eyes.

"Iiiin the Red corner, hailing all the way from Pallet Town, coming back for an unprecedented twelfth World Tournament in a row, our former World Champion and all around Pokémon training legend…it's Red!" The stadium erupted, and Red's eyes widened slightly, as he realized…he could feel it. The excitement, the good vibes…and the love between all those Trainers and their partners in the stands. More confidently, he approached the Trainer box. He could battle, like this.

Red gave the crowd a small wave, and then threw a ball well before he had to. "Kai." Was all he said. With a flash of light from the Ultra Ball, a well-muscled Machamp appeared, flexing at the cheering crowd even as the field began to shift. The random choice this time, was an almost idyllic rolling grassland with small hills. Red sighed inwardly, knowing what it was about to turn into.

Victor and the referee shared a look as Red invited a type advantage. The ref shrugged, shouting, "BEGIN!"

Victor drew a ball of his own, but then paused, and raised it high over his head so it sat in his palm.

Then it grew ten times larger, and Galar's iconic beats started blaring throughout the stadium. "Corvus! Blow it away! G-Max Windrage!" Victor ordered, throwing his Gigantamaxed Corviknight out onto the field.

Red didn't so much as flinch. His orders were quick, and dispassionate. "Rock Tomb. Shield yourself. Then Thunder Punch."

Kai was enthusiastic enough for both of them. Four muscled arms pierced the field, shielding the master martial fighter in a defensive rock fortress. The G-Max Move eroded much of the rock, but barely even lowered his HP. Victor grimaced, but the Machamp was moving again.

With a single leap, Kai landed on Corvus's shoulder, and then ran down his armored feathery chest, delivering four powerful Thunder Punches as he did. He sprang off the Corviknight's giant torso and landed, as the Gigantamaxed Pokémon suffered an unlucky paralysis.

"Oh! Thunder Punch has Paralyzed Victor's Corviknight!" Victor ordered the same attack again as Mr. Parsons narrated his bad luck, but the giant bird froze as electricity began running over his titanic body. "And the bad luck keeps coming! Corviknight is wide open!"

Red took advantage of the opening. "Thunder Punch."

This time, Kai leapt straight up, delivering a thunderous uppercut to Corvus's jaw with a shout that echoed through the stadium. "MA-CHAMP!"

Kai flipped through the air before he landed, arms crossed, Brock style, as Corvus exploded, and shrank down back to his normal size. The ref was quick to shout, "Corviknight is unable to Battle! The round goes to Challenger Red and his Machamp!" Kai waved his arms as cheers enveloped him, and with another powerful leap, he landed beside Red.

Who didn't so much as look at him.

The Machamp deflated slightly as all he got from his partner was a thumbs up, but their attention was redirected as Victor made his choice.

"Go! Bro! Awaken your mind!"

A Galarian Slowbro appeared, but before Kai could take advantage of its poison typing, a Terastal Orb brought out his inner psychic. His eyes burned with psychic power and quicker mental awareness. As the ref gave the signal, Victor struck. "Full power! Psychic!"

The crowd winced and ooed as Bro raised his Shellder arm, and Kai got absolutely ragdolled around the field with enhanced psychic power. Dragged across the ground, drop-slammed from a significant height, and then just repeatedly hammered up and down into a growing crater. To his credit, Kai didn't faint. The Machamp started to rise, growling at the Slowbro. A focused Water Pulse fired like a bullet from its Shellder-gun and ended his resistance before his dark energy covered fists came near Bro.

Mr. Parsons was ready with commentary. "As usual, Victor doesn't let a lost round go unanswered. But if Red can get an early lead, history has shown us he won't easily relinquish it. It's still anyone's Battle, folks!"

Red pulled out an older Pokéball, and said, "Bata." Before tossing it. The Butterfree that appeared was massive, but he looked worriedly at his Trainer. Red ignored this and gave a command anyway as he immediately recalled the Butterfree. "Gigantamax."

The loud music blared, the Red fans cheered, but a few sharp eyes from the experienced Trainers watching noticed that Red…was being a lot colder to his partners than he ever had before. Poor Bata seemed almost unwitting to Gigantamax as he got sucked back into his ball, but as he reappeared again, that hesitation had been replaced with a cold, crimson fury that could only do one thing for three turns.

Red's voice went slightly higher. "Max Phantasm."

Victor muttered under his breath, "Like Hel we're losing to a Butterfree…use Fling on the objects!"

The rain of possessed paraphernalia came hurtling towards Bro, but he stayed cool under fire, each ghostly object was brutally bisected by a bullet made of dark energy, and landed in an intangible heap beside him as they started to fade.

Red grimaced. "Make them detonate."

The experienced Trainer had once had the drive to test all sorts of strategies and tactics in combat. And Max Moves were no exception. Red had thoroughly tested all of them in his efforts to master Dynamaxing. With the Max Phantasm's last bit of power, Bata remotely detonated the objects, and Bro was caught in the blast. The shattering of crystal could be heard, and Victor swore.

He recalled Bro as the ref called the round, and countered. Hard. "Ace! Gigantamax! G-Max Fireball!" Victor threw the ball before it fully resized, and Ace popped free, quickly kicking it back to Victor as he then expanded to gigantic size, standing arms crossed atop what was, according to Professor Sonia, the largest measured fireball a Cinderace had ever made in this form.

With speed that something that large should not have had, the fireball streaked across the field, brutally smashing into the poor Butterfree as it engulfed him in potent flames. Bata went down in a single shot thanks to Ace's training and heightened attack power.

Red just sighed, waited for the form to fade, and recalled his partner. He belted Bata without so much as a 'thank you', and threw another ball.

"Ptera." Red tossed the basic Pokéball, revealing an Aerodactyl. It shrieked loud enough to test the stadium's sound canceling barrier, but Red was already Mega Evolving. "Stone Edge, full power."

Victor called for another fireball, and Ptera flew right through it, before divebombing the ground in front of the momentarily ground-bound Cinderace.

Surprising everyone, Ace jumped into the air, and Victor called the counter. "Blaze Kick!"

This, naturally, became another G-Max Fireball, but Ace didn't kick it this time. The ball of flame formed under his titanic foot as it came down on Ptera. Flame and mass KO'd the Mega Aerodactyl. Or it would have.

"Endure." Red ordered, he then followed by saying, "Now Earthquake." The earth shattered, and Ace fell into the hole the Earthquake made by Ptera, who was on a sliver health, but apparently unwilling to go down without bringing Victor's ace with him.

Victor watched in disbelief as his starter exploded in defeat from a Bite, but that was all it took. Ptera crashed into the ground beside Ace, his Mega Form fading. Once again, Red didn't wait. He recalled Ptera, belted him, and then threw another ball into the air. "Kabi. Time to wake up." Red said.

His Snorlax remained asleep, and with a sigh, Red pulled out a weathered Pokéflute. The crowd had finally begun to notice the difference in the legendary Trainer. He was battling more like a young Gary Oak than the legend they'd been hoping to see, but at this point, the changes were only being picked up on by Trainers, and true fans of Red's style of battle.

It was a haunting melody that filled Victor's ears as he recalled his fainted starter. It was never a good omen, having your first partner be absolutely rolled. "You did your best, Ace…rest now." Yet as he pocketed his partner, the Galar Champion began to wonder if his haters had been right all along. Was Dynamaxing weaker than Mega Evolution? He'd always been told by the Chatter rejects that he'd be crushed by a real legendary Trainer, like Red, in a proper competition. It went without saying that most high level Trainers only considered getting into the Masters Eight a real accomplishment. He wasn't even in the top sixteen, yet.

Victor shook his head. No. Mega Aerodactyl was just that fast, and sturdy. It was a rock type after all. "Grimm." He said, pulling out a Fast Ball colored white and pink, "Avenge your brother…EMBRACE YOUR FIGHTING SPIRIT AND RISE!"

Once again, from the jump, the Pokémon in question powered up immediately, and Red flinched. He recalled his Snorlax…and moments later Galar's Dynamax track played once again. Fighting energy coalesced around Grimm, as it turned his hair from stark white into a yellowish orange. The power of Terapagos surged through him, and it radiated off his form in waves as he became fighting typed.

terastal_mk_ii_fighting_typed_grimmsnarl_by_pokefan1337_dlp5x4m-375w-2x.jpg

"Damage it." Victor ordered. "It doesn't matter if you faint, without his wall, Red's team will fall. Try to make it back to me before you pass out. I'll spend our healing item on you." Grimm nodded. Victor was less confident now that Ace was down, but he'd planned for it. Now he would adapt.

With a thunderous boom, Kabi landed on the field, shaking it with his massive girth in his Gigantamaxed form. "Max Steelspike." Red said in his same monotone. Kabi raised and lowered a flabby arm, and in response to that simple motion, the field erupted with giant spikes of steel energy that surged towards Grimm. But what Red had really wanted, was the defense boost that flared up around his gigantic Snorlax.

"Leap off the spikes for height! Then get close and Low Kick!" Victor ordered. Grimm leapt into action, practically flying across the field as he dodged the spikes, and landed on the ones that had lost their power. Low Kick usually did damage by knocking a target prone, and having the weight of the target increase the damage.

Since Snorlax was already prone, the damage was usually done to their legs, and weirdly enough, still worked. Usually.

Red countered, louder than he'd been all match. "Roll Starboard on my mark…" He waited, and though Grimm could understand him, he struck anyway. "Mark!"

To Kabi's credit, he did try to roll, as much as a permanently prone Snorlax could, but Grimm was a master of his body, and a powerfully trained attacker. A strand of golden glowing hair wrapped around Kabi's sharp toe, and pulled him back into position as the Low Kick smashed into the joint between his foot and body.

The Snorlax roared in pain, and the arena rumbled with him. Red smirked from under his hat. "You might regret that…" He ominously told the Grimmsnarl as he landed nearby.

Grimm glanced at Red, and then his attention shifted as the Snorlax 'leaned' upwards with just its head, slightly. A brutal Max Mindstorm shot from its forehead and surrounded the fighting typed Grimmsnarl, and the dark fairy roared in agony it had never experienced, having always been immune to psychic attacks.

It was the first one of his life, and it was a Max Move. Grimm went all but catatonic as the Gigantamaxed Snorlax's rage at being woken up and infused with power overpowered Grimm's mind. Victor shouted for him to move, but his shiny physical striker was beyond words now.

Another Max Mindstorm empowered by the field's weirdness shattered his fighting typed Terastal form, and Victor recalled him immediately, applying a Max Revive once the round was marked as lost. "Sorry bud…I tried to prepare you for Psychic Moves but a Max Move is too much… At least you burned his Gigantamax. We won't waste that." Victor knew he was properly Mukked now, though. Without empowered fighting moves, a wall like Snorlax would just heal and get stronger with time.

Sure enough, the next Mukking word out of Red's mouth was, "Rest." And instantly, the now normal-sized but still freaking massive sack of hitpoints fell asleep, returning to full health after the damaging Low Kick.

Victor's eyes widened. Low Kick. He did have one partner that could wield it, and, he was fast. Speed was the best way to counter a Snorlax. Speed, and damage. "Konoha! I need you!"

The Sceptile appeared kneeling and rose slowly, into a low fighting crouch. "We've never had the chance to find out your Tera Type, have we bud?" The Sceptile gave his Trainer a stoic, backwards side-glance. He nodded. Victor held up his Tera Orb. "What do you say we find out? I'm betting you have the heart of a Fighter."

Red tensed, and readied the counter. Victor threw the orb, and the crowd watched as the Galar Champion rolled the dice.

The problem, was that Victor only knew a part of his new partner's existence. The Sceptile now known as Konoha had been in his final form for a very long time. He'd lived among the forests of Fortree like a ghost, defending its denizens from unwanted capture by Pokédex filling Trainers. At least until Victor had whittled him down, and caught him.

As the power of Terapagos brought out his inner type, Victor smirked. "Seems I underestimated you…you're a lot older than you let on, aren't you my friend." Victor grinned like a maniac. "It's alright! I'll take it! Go! Agility, and Low Kick! Don't stop moving!"

The Sceptile, now looking semi-transparent and wreathed in ghost energy, vanished with the speed its species was known for. A second later, the brutal, spinning Low Kick, more of a Low Tail in this case, smashed into the same leg that Grimm had smashed earlier. Kabi grimaced in his sleep, but kept snoozing.

"Sleep Talk." Red ordered, but unfortunately, the move randomly chosen by Snorlax was an ineffective Snore. Konoha struck twice more, and still asleep, Kabi ate his Sitrus Berry, for all the good it would do. Red grew irritated. "For Muk's sake, wake up already…" But no, his Snorlax rested all five turns, only waking as yet another Low Kick brought his health into the red. As he woke up, Red ordered, "Rest. And dream of Stockpiling!" Nodding, compliant, Kabi fell back asleep.

Konoha's eye twitched as the wall repaired itself to full before his eyes. Though it was subtle, the Sceptile was quite angry. "Good!" Victor shouted, "Use it! Keep up the Low Kicks!"

"Sleep Talk!" Red shouted, and as ordered, Kabi's body flared with defensive power as he dreamed of Stockpiling normal typed energy. Mostly, with large, lengthy inhales. He grunted in his sleep as Konoha Low Kicked him on both ankles.

"Agility! Again!" Victor shouted, grinning. Once again, the Snorlax's health was falling. The round repeated, and the crowd watched in disbelief as Kabi demonstrated his mastery over the realm of dreams. He Stockpiled twice more, after being struck for less damage and hit with a Spore mid-move. Only one Stockpile took effect, but it was enough for the Snorlax to survive the next Low Kick.

And then, the Snorlax woke up.

"Swallow." Red ordered. Kabi did so, returning to full, and becoming rather hangry as his belly became empty. His fists flared with fire and ice energy as he stomped towards Konoha.

"Do not let him hit you!" Victor ordered. "You can still Low Kick! Don't let up!" In terms of move power, Konoha still had half. More than enough to break this wall. The hangriness worried Victor, though. Red had only managed to get his Snorlax this mad a few times…and all of those rounds had ended quickly. But Konoha had watched those battles too. He knew to avoid the fists and watch the surprising speed.

They had forgotten however, in their frenzy to prepare for facing Red, that all moves were on the table…and as a result pretty much every experienced contender had adjusted their styles accordingly.

"Trailblaze." Red ordered, as Kabi fell face first from another Low Kick. With speed even Konoha couldn't dodge, the Snorlax closed to melee distance. "Now Belch!" Point blank, wide area of effect, and super effective, Konoha staggered back as the raw stomach gases of an empty Snorlax stomach assaulted his nose. Usually tamed by over nine hundred pounds of food, every Snorlax had varying degrees of bad breath. The worse it got, the hungrier they usually were.

"GET OUT OF THERE!" Victor roared, but it was too late. The overpowering narstiness of Snorlax breath had stunned the ghostly Sceptile long enough for the brutal, ice-covered, right hook. Konoha went soaring sideways across the field as ice encased his body, and then smashed into the barrier, bouncing off of it violently and rolling on the ground to a stop. The ice broke, and so did his Terastal Form.

"Start Stockpiling." Red ordered, as Victor brought out his next partner. He had a sneaking suspicion his unbeaten streak was about to be broken by this hangry Snorlax. Yet, as Victor became down by two and the wall looked unbreakable…Kabi fell asleep, not with Rest, but from lingering Spores from Konoha. Apparently he'd detonated a few in the air in case they tried Stockpile again. Kabi got one Stockpile, before falling asleep, and Red panicked. He'd technically already used an item once this round in his irritation, and the ref had counted it. He frantically tried waking the Snorlax up, but Victor saw his opportunity, and acted.

"Gar!" His Gengar appeared with a dark grin, that fell as he saw the scoreboard. "Change of plans." Victor said, raising his Mega Cuff. "Mega Evolve!" Gar nodded, and ascended to his Mega Form with dark enthusiasm at the sleeping Snorlax. Red tried a Sleep Talk, but once more, all it did was a useless Snore. Gar floated right through it, as Victor called the move. "Dream Eater!"

He wasn't taking chances that Kabi remembered he was supposed to be Stockpiling. If they healed again, Victor was done.

Kabi grimaced, the mostly empty stomach not helping with the nightmare he now experienced. Gar had him firmly trapped, and didn't let up on the Dream Eating, until the Snorlax's eyes finally went Poli patterned. He slurped the last of the pink substance into his ghostly maw, snickered at Red, and then sank into the ground, reappearing before Victor well-fed, and at full health.

Red brought out his Espeon next, and the crowd began to murmur, as they finally seemed to notice the change in Red's attitude towards his Pokémon. Poor Eefi was taken down with a single Mega-powered Shadow Ball from the Mega Gengar, and Red seemed to be shaking with rage, as his lead was easily reduced. That was, in fairness, how battles between Champions usually went. More than a one 'mon lead was rare, and Red realized something important in that moment as he belted his Espeon, wished for his real psychic partner, and then brought out his next pick. One thing was clear: he needed this Gengar gone.

"Fushigi." With a flash, arguably the most powerful Venusaur on the planet roared free from his ball, his thick, powerful vines slamming the broken, battered field. "Mega Evolve." Red ordered, and his starter responded instantly. "Sunny Day. Then Solar Beam."

Victor smirked. "Phantom Force. Then use Perish Song."

Red's eyes went wide, as the Gengar dived. The ground began to writhe as the deathly melody poured forth from a piece of the broken field, now possessed by the Gengar. Yet, since his ears were firmly embedded in dirt, he did not hear the song.

But Fushigi did.

Red's eyes, lifeless and dull this entire match, burned to life with a different kind of fire. Rage. Quiet rage. His starter had three turns…and Victor was going to pay for all of them. He swore it, as he saw an ominous, ghostly three appear over Fushigi's head.

"Earth Power. Razor Leaf until it's down."

Fushigi answered the command immediately, and Earth Power had been the right choice of counter. Super effective rock and lava exploded the Gengar out of the dirt, and through the shattered earth and molten rock came a swarm of sharp leaves that despite being resisted, managed to KO the Gengar, as its Mega Form faded.

Victor recalled his partner, fed him an item, and belted him. He needed to stop Fushigi, and no matter who he picked, the Venusaur would be able to damage them effectively. Victor could tell, like most who heard the Perish Song, it was terrified of its imminent fainting. It was one thing to faint during battle…but to know exactly when it was coming was terrifying for most Pokémon.

As Red drew Fushigi's ball to withdraw him, Victor threw, shouting, "Rune! Infestation!" The possessed runestone acted immediately upon appearing, surrounding his target in a swarm of tiny bugs made of energy that began crawling all over the Venusaur

Mr. Parson's voice filled the silence, as Red's partner had his fate sealed. "Oh! Infestation means our former World Champion's partner isn't going anywhere folks! The Perish Count continues to fall!"

Red put the ball back on his belt. Fine. He still had two turns left. "Fushigi…full power." His Mega Venusaur roared, his heightened state of fear of imminent fainting kicking his instincts into overdrive. A green aura surrounded his Mega Form. "Solar Beam."

"Protect!"

Red grimaced, as the Perish Counter dropped to one and Rune tanked the powerful beam with a shield that simply would not break. Red had tried, but Protect remained the strongest defensive barrier known to mankind.

With a resigned sigh, he gave Fushigi his final order of the battle. "Frenzy Plant." Still tired from the Protect, Victor didn't give Rune a counter. The runestone huddled in on itself, as the field erupted with massive vines, that then proceeded to hammer Rune into unconsciousness.

A moment later, Fushigi joined him. Red just stared at his starter for a moment as he recalled him…and then put his ball back on the belt. Now, with the contrast of Victor healing his team so they could at least watch the rest of the match in comfort, the crowd rumbled in an ominous manner as Red drew another ball.

"Red retains his lead folks!" Mr. Parsons narrated, "and Champion Victor only has three Pokémon left! But will they be enough to overcome Red's advantage?"

"Uin." Red said, summoning his Arcanine. Massive, fiery, and raring to go, Red absently scritched the Arcanine's chin, before it trotted onto the field.

Victor was thankful. Fire types, he could handle. "Tank! Your turn!" The stadium erupted as the Blastoise who'd dethroned Leon took the field, and roared while flexing his massive cannons. Red nodded subtly to himself. Tank was at least at the level of Leaf's Blastoise. Maybe even higher. "Mega Evolve!"

The crowd murmured again, but it seemed Victor wasn't relying on Dynamaxing anymore. The incel losers on Chatter had been right about one thing; in a Battle at this level, having a giant target was a detriment. Mega Evolution was just more reliable, infinite, and straight up more beneficial than a Gigantamax. And while one 'mon down, Victor needed every advantage he could get.

"Hydro Pump!"

"Extremespeed."

The Arcanine barked almost happily as four high powered consecutive water jets just barely missed it, leaving more damage on the ruined landscape of the field. As Uin came close though, Victor gave another command. "Iron Defense!"

The Arcanine bounced off its suddenly much harder to damage target. "Now, HYDRO CANNON!" Tank responded immediately, and the Arcanine let out a yelp of pain as the water typed Hyper Beam hammered it across the field. He was slow to get up again, just slow enough for Tank to recover.

"Extremespeed." Red ordered again. The thoroughly rolled Arcanine nodded, caught his breath, and then moved with the wind. Victor did the same trick again as well. It was time to set up his own wall.

"Iron Defense!" Uin bounced off again, but this time was ready for the counter.

"Thunder Fang!" Red ordered, hoping the burning canine could at least land a hit.

"Rapid Spin." Blast spun through the electricity as it barely affected his enhanced defense with a physical move. "Now Mud Shot! Make it a trio!"

Tank spun to a stop, and all three cannons loaded Mud Shots. Though Uin had trained with Leaf's Blastoise, it had not been in its Mega Form, usually. And Tank fired faster than even Leon's Charizard could move. Uin dodged the first one, dancing back from it, but he danced right into Tank's second and third shots, once more barking out as both of them hammered him.

With a small whimper, he fainted. Red grimaced, and the mic picked him up as he said, "…Really? Already?" The dismissive sigh that followed finally got him a response from the crowd he'd never had. Boos. If he'd still been himself, that would've bothered him quite a bit. But now? He had not a single Muk to give.

Once again, he belted his partner and drew the next. "Rai. Get this Blastoise out of the way for us. Mega Evolve." The crowd's boos shifted to concerned murmurs. It had long been thought that Pika was like Ash's Pikachu; for whatever reason, they didn't want to evolve. Now, given this 'new Red', many were concerned he'd done the unthinkable, and evolved his partner anyway. The newly renamed 'Rai' seemed…almost too hyped for Battle, as sparks rolled down his body. Those who also had Raichu could tell this one had been in its ball a lot recently. Also something that Pika had famously disliked.

Red's Raichu ascended to the X strand of its Mega Form. Electromagnetism made it start flying in the air, and Victor stared in disbelief as the Raichu extended an arm forward like some kind of twin tailed super hero, grinning wide, as it shot across the field into a Volt Tackle. Victor countered hard. "Mud Shot! Don't stop firing!"

"Watch where the shots lead you…" Red said quietly, but Rai still heard him. "That's how he got Uin."

Rai dodged the Mud Shots easily, finishing with an entirely unnecessary barrel role. Electricity surged, as Volt Tackle approached its target. Victor countered. "Rock Tomb!" The charging electric mouse crashed through three of them, before the move finally stopped. He lost half his health, while Tank remained mostly undamaged. "Now! Earthquake!"

"Get out of there…" Red growled. The earth opened and churned at Tank's command, but the Mega Raichu had already flown upwards and arced gracefully back through the air, landing intact, if in the yellow. "Mukking finally. Thunder."

"Protect! Then Mud Shot!"

"Protect. Then Thunder again."

The two Mega Pokémon traded moves that did more to the landscape than either Pokémon, but Rai's actually landed first, hammering Tank with a powerful bolt of electric plasma.

But the Mega Blastoise was still intact, leveling his cannons at the electric rat even as he sparked with damage.

"Signature Move!" Victor shouted, and Tank nodded, as the crowd roared. "Hel Geyser!" Tank sank two arm cannons into the ground as his eyes tracked his opponent.

Red grimaced. They could make up moves too. "Rai. We're trying the Railgun."

"Raichu!" He answered enthusiastically as a dark smirk came over his face.

Electricity surged between Raichu's now split, very Pikachu-shaped tails, and the stones around him rose in the air. Then, the field beneath him erupted with steaming water that sparked with intense electric current as it surrounded Rai.

Yet, out of the geyser shot several sparking stones that hammered Tank in the shell, before they discharged deceptively powerful electricity all over Tank. Yet despite that, his main cannon fired a final Mud Shot for good measure, as his Mega Form faded.

Rai came hurtling out of the Hel Geyser, a spinning, condensed ball of ground energy literally rolling him through the air, past Red, where he eventually crashed into the field barrier. Red recalled him without so much as a glance, belted him, and shouted, "Nyoro! We need our lead back."

The Poliwrath that appeared did so kneeling, but his expressive eyes gave away the worry he felt for his Trainer. Especially as his action incited more insistent booing. "Drago!" Victor shouted from across the field. His Dragapult appeared before him, mostly visible. Red swore, inwardly. Just how many ghosts did Victor have? "Mega Evolve!"

Mr. Parson's voice echoed as Infinity Energy flared between Drago and his Trainer. "This is it folks! Poliwrath versus Dragapult! Both Trainers are down to just two Pokémon! Don't blink! This is the moment when Battles like these get decided!"

"Summon the rain." Red ordered. "With your Belly Drum!" Nyoro inhaled, and then began beating on his spiral chest, the low thumps thundered through the stadium, and the skies darkened above the field. A faint smirk appeared on Red's lips, as he burned his Max Potion on his first Pokémon, leaving him at full health and maxed attack power, in a weather condition that would constantly raise his speed.

It didn't matter that the pseudo-legend ghost dragon was now a floating intangible missile platform. It didn't matter, the absurd difference in their base stats. Red knew they could win…he paused…but why did he know that? His Poliwrath looked back at his Trainer, as no order came. "Poli!"

Victor didn't wait.

"Yeet Seeking Barrage!"

Mega Dragapult roared as a swarm of Dreepy launched from its larger head, with every single one locked on to Nyoro.

They curved wildly through the air, shrieking their name and trailing smoke, but Red did act, eventually. He'd decided it didn't matter how he knew they could surmount these odds. They'd done it before. They'd do it again. "Blizzard. Then Ice Punch."

Victor smirked slightly. If they could burn through the Ice Punches…they'd win this round. Drago had more than enough Dreepy missiles for that. "Again! Continue the barrage!"

"Keep countering." Red ordered. And Nyoro did so, flawlessly smashing each Dreepy after breathing out a Blizzard on them.

Ty was the only one with Mr. Parsons for this match, and they'd been going back and forth with the usual commentary that both Champions had been tuning out, during the intense Battle.

"It's a true stalemate. What do you think Ty? Who wins this contest of endurance?"

"It's hard to predict." Ty answered as he stroked his chin stubble. "Logic would favor the Dragon Type…but you know I'm a Red fan. That Poliwrath has been Battling for over thirty years now. I wouldn't bet against him. Or, usually I wouldn't…but this… 'new Red' is brute forcing this match. That, and luck, are what has helped him stay ahead so far. It's just a matter of time until Victor presses the attack though…and there it is!"

"Draco Meteor! Then add another barrage!" Victor shouted, and since the barrage classified as a physical attack, burning special attack power was fine by Victor.

The Draco Meteor presaged the swarm of Dreepy missiles, and the already strained Poliwrath had to use even more power from Ice Punch just to survive. But he did not tire, nor did he become sloppy. His feet moved constantly, and every single powerful punch landed on a high speed Dreepy, or a Draco Meteor fragment.

As the barrage ended, Red smirked. "Good. Now Surf over and let it in close…"

Victor grimaced. "Phantom Force…keep away from it and use another Draco Meteor."

Drago dove into the field as Nyoro Surfed over and hit nothing. As the Draco Meteor soared into the sky, Red gave the counter. "Ice Beam. Enough playing around." The beam struck the dragon energy based attack, all but cancelling it out. "Remember your training…and Ice Beam the field!"

Once the craters were full of steaming, freshly made ice, Nyoro fell into a fighting stance. Red gave another command. "Blizzard!"

Now with his speed fully raised, the Rain Dance turned into a hail storm. When Drago appeared, it would suffer from all the ice. Or so Red thought.

"Funny thing about ghosts…" Victor started, "At least in Galar, our Dreepy live in the water…and so do their mums. Now, Drago! Don't stop diving!"

Like a Finizen in the surf, Drago broke through the ice with his intangibility, hammering the Poliwrath in his back. But by the time Nyoro turned, he was under again, hiding from the raging snowstorm.

"Tighten your focus." Red ordered. "Build the power…wait for the jump…NOW!"

Nyoro turned, striking beautifully as a ghost energy-wreathed Drago lunged again. Red called the move. "Focus Chop! Don't let up."

Drago's eyes bulged as he felt the dark energy surge into his throat. He went rolling across the field, but as he recovered his breath and began another Phantom Force, Nyoro was there. Drago sank electric fangs into Nyoro's arm, as the Poliwrath chopped him again.

The field exploded with colliding moves, and in the fading smoke and dust, both Pokémon were revealed, fainted.

"The round is a draw! Both Trainers, please bring out your final Pokémon!" The referee shouted after making the call.

Once again, Red didn't hesitate. "Nido." With a roar that shook the air and ground both, a powerful Nidoking appeared on the field. Almost immediately, his thick, clear poison appeared on the tips of every horn on his body. He cracked his armored fists together, already snorting and ready to charge something.

Victor swore. He only had one left that could contend with that poisonous mountain of armor plating…but that ground typing was going to probably beat them. Super effectiveness and a same type attack bonus usually won out.

Victor raised his final ball over his head. If he was going home a failure, he was going big. "Gigantamax!"

The fast paced beats of his homeland once again thumped through the stadium, as Rajah appeared. He grew, expanding in size and shifting form as he became Gigantamaxed. Now standing on two legs, easily as tall as a skyscraper, and with a trunk almost as thick and large, Rajah roared.

Red smirked. "Go. Earthquake!"

The challenge echoed in Nido's ears, then came Red's voice. "Trust your instincts, Nido. Out of everyone on this team…yours are the sharpest. Fire. Ground. Fighting. Use those Types of Moves…and Win." Red finished by pointing at the Copperajah, and Nido looked back at his Trainer, then nodded slowly. Back in the day, when Nido had gone a bit too hard in a certain evil team's secret casino base, only to get absolutely bodied by their leader's own Nidoking, Red had ended up putting him in the Box for a time afterwards.

He had, until recently, regularly rotated his team in road battles…but he'd always kept Nido on a short leash with his damned psychic cat. Now…he was off the leash, the cat had been absolutely rolled, and he had the chance to go all out against a Pokémon as tall as a human building.

This was a good day.

As Nido charged across the field straight into a Drill Run, Victor countered. "Max Quake!" The Galar Champion smirked. "You know what comes next."

Despite being in tune with ground energy, Nido was still weak to it, and his Drill Run lost focus as the scarred battlefield, once an idyllic landscape, now looking very much war-torn, shattered even further, becoming a sea of stone that crushed Nido within it.

The Nidoking changed tactics, letting the earth devour him as he instead used Dig, and moved through it. He surged up between the titanic copper packyderm's body and hammered his midsection, before diving back into the ground. Victor didn't wait. "G-Max Steelsurge!"

An explosion of steel spikes covered every inch of the field, including the shattered parts of it, and Nido was violently forced up and out of his Dig as the entire field became covered in steel spikes that could pierce even his armor. If he stepped on them wrong. Just moving was going to incur damage, now.

Nido charged anyway, more stubborn than a Rhydon as he entered another Drill Run, and spun a path through the spikes with effective damage. He struck Rajah hard enough to make the titan stumble, but Victor was ready with the counter. Contrary to popular belief, Copperajah actually had pretty bad defensive stats. What it did have, was hit points. And Gigantamaxing made it sturdy enough to rival Snorlax.

Victor grimaced. They were about to give up that Dynamaxing bonus. And then the match would end. It was a new feeling, knowing that the events of the next few minutes would either see him rise, or finally mark his record with a loss. He hadn't felt this…apprehension against Leon, Hop, or anyone else back home. Even Sifu Mustard, while intense, had not inspired this ominous feeling. He held the world record for the longest win streak…but if anyone could break it, it'd be Red.

"Max Mindstorm!" Victor ordered, making the most strategic play he could. Nido roared in pain as the circular psychic rings of power hammered him, and his mind. But the poisonous purple titan was nowhere near done.

As the field became Weird, and Rajah returned to normal, his defenses rose. Red didn't hold back. Apparently, the legend was tired of this Battle. "Full power, Nido." The faintest of smirks appeared on his face. "Let's show Unova a real Earthquake."

"Don't let them build up!" Victor shouted, "Zen Headbutt!"

Weirdness coalesced around Rajah, as he charged Nido. The Nidoking was now glowing with a visible aura of light brown energy, raising his arms slowly as the entire stadium complex began to shudder from the level one hundred ground type's best move.

"This might be the finale folks! Hold on to your valuables!" The crowd roared, as they were all in on an epic finale between two top tier Trainers. This is what World Stadium fans, people from all regions of the world, came to see.

As Red watched his partner giving his best, his opponent, and his partner, doing their best, he sensed a growing sense of what he classified as dread.

He felt nothing. No strain, no anticipation, no thrill. If Nido lost, he wouldn't care. If Nido won, he wouldn't care.

If he claimed victory and broke the world's longest win streak…he knew he should've felt something. Sadness, apprehension, anything. But he didn't. He hadn't throughout the match. Not meaningfully.

The two titans collided, as Rajah's mountain-moving trunk smashed into fists radiating ground energy. For a few seconds, the world was in complete chaos as reality shook from both the Earthquake and the shockwave of two Pokémon in their prime, and both Trainer boxes flared as the shields were tested. Naturally, their commentators were in awe.

"It's too early to tell who won that clash folks, but we can confirm from being here live, that collision was massive! Easily on par with the Dragon Emperor's team!"

"Nah." Ty said, adjusting his hat, and pants, picking up his chair. "Redwood hasn't hit that level yet…but in fairness, we also haven't seen his heaviest hitters yet."

Once the dust began to clear, Mr. Parsons continued, "It looks like…"

He was interrupted, as a furious roar parted the dust with the force of the sound it made. There, one massive foot atop his opponent, was the Nidoking raised by Red, damaged, in the red, but alive. Conscious. Victorious. And he knew it.

Nido raised both arms as the crowd roared in approval. He roared back at them and flexed. Thousands of Rotom Phones began capturing the pose and the Nidoking ate up the well-won adulation.

Red almost recalled him…but a small voice in his mind suggested he not, just yet. Nido had worked hard for that win after all.

Red let the ball flop back down as his arm lost the will to stay raised, and he looked at the ground. Victory brought nothing. Changed nothing. He couldn't deny it anymore, then.

Something was deeply wrong with his brain.

His first instinct was to go to Professor Oak to get help…but then with the barest tinge of sadness he remembered, the man who'd started him on his journey was dead, and had been for some time now. Gary would be of no help.

He thought of who else might be able to help, and his thoughts were interrupted as he realized Nido had stomped over, eyes hopeful for praise, a smile, some kind of emotion from his friend. His ears fell, as he saw that hard, lifeless look in Red's eyes was entirely unchanged.

He spoke quietly, as he met Nido's gaze. "...Well done, Nido. All of you. You all…fought a lot harder than me. I'm sorry…I don't know what's wrong with me…but…I think…I think I am glad you're still willing to be my partners." Red didn't know if he truly was. But he wanted to be. And that would have to be enough.

Red glanced up as Nido rumbled his name in surprise, and then as he blinked, Red realized a single tear had fallen down one cheek. He faked a smile at Nido. "I'll be alright…take a rest. All of you."

And with that, he sprinkled some Sacred Ash from Ho Oh over each of his team, fully reviving them before he left the stadium through the red tunnel.

Victor meanwhile had quietly recalled Rajah, and promptly left. He didn't even get a minute to process before his media coordination agent, assigned by the League Chairman, met him in the tunnel. Their features were a bit generic, but their aura was always professional.

"Victor. That was a good Battle."

"No." Victor said, sternly. "It wasn't. I was unlucky, and Red was…not himself. Even on his worst day, Red can beat me. Seems the haters were right." Victor wasn't the type to cry, but this was a point of pride. Leon had warned it might happen, and thus, had prepared them accordingly.

The agent pushed their glasses up, and shook their head. "No." They said just as sternly. "Red was off…but you fought well. Sometimes, you just end up at a disadvantage. Red was skilled enough to take advantage of all the favorable Type matchups. Despite his…mental state. Either way, those wastes of DNA on Chatter are not right. They're never right, as a rule. Now. Let's go over what you're going to say."

Victor nodded as they began their spiel. Good Battle. Honored to be here. The usual. "When you mention Red…" The agent sighed, "This is a direct advisory from the Chairman. Mention that he was…off. Not himself. Not the Trainer we know."

Victor grimaced. "Leon wants me…to call out a Legend like Red?"

The agent gave him a look. "You didn't face the Legend today. You faced his dark shadow. Personally…my guess is all the carnage he saw when the Arceans cut a swathe through Japan has left a mark on his mind. That, or fusing with an incomplete Mewtwo. Or both. Either way…you're not lying."

The Flagship Enterprise, Deck 10, Forward Section 1 - Somewhere Between Earth and Mars

"The Trainer I faced today…was not the Red we know." Champion Victor of Galar said, and the crew of the Enterprise nodded in solemn agreement. "The way he treated his partners…not even healing them until the end, let alone thanking them for their serious, tireless efforts…it's just not how Red operates. Not the Red I know. I hope those close to him can get him whatever help he needs to sort out…whatever he's dealing with. No more questions, thank you."

Alex Redwood nommed the last of his chocolate sundae and shared a look with their Captain, a rather remarkable Pikachu who was, he had learned, a certified adventurer, explorer, and world traveler. "I can't say he's wrong. Something is off with Red. Did Rai seem upset, to you?"

Alex heard three responses, Captain Pikachu's actual voice, his own translation, and the translation made by the device pinned to the Pikachu's form-fitting red shirt. "He didn't. If anything…he seemed pent up. Almost too eager to Battle…but Mega Forms are always like that…"

Thankfully, the translation and the Harmonia's gift translated at the same time, and usually were a one-to-one match in terms of accuracy.

"But he wasn't in pain." Alex stated. "His bond with Red was intact. The Mega Form wasn't imperfect and painful." Captain Pikachu nodded, as he finished his banana split.

Just then, Computer beeped three times, just shamelessly copying Pokétrek as it got Alex's attention. "Dragon Emperor. Captain. The Enterprise has arrived at our destination…and Security Officer Riker says you're needed on the Bridge. Both of you."

"Thanks, Computer." Alex looked at the Captain. "Need a shoulder to ride?"

Captain Pikachu accepted with a small smile, and together, the two made their way to the main bridge. Before them, was the crimson expanse of the Red Planet. Mars.

The home of a civilization capable of keeping multiple planets in perfect alignment seemingly indefinitely.

"What's the situation Riker?" He asked.

The former Prison Warden saluted. "Sir! The Martians seem to be expecting our arrival…the problem is…we're not the only ones who just arrived. The Imperium is here too…they rebuilt their fleet, and…pull up their flagship, Ensign."

The person manning the viewer pulled up an enhanced view of the Imperium flagship. Alex grimaced, and tapped his communicator. "Professor Friede. What did you say the Imperator classically names the ships that carry him personally?"

Friede's somewhat distracted voice answered over the comm. "He names them after his now deceased Rapidash. Bucephalus. Without fail. Why…?"

Alex thanked the man, didn't answer his question, and grimaced as he'd all but confirmed what they were looking at. "Captain…alert level orange. Stand ready to raise the shields in an instant. Do not go within firing range of that fleet under any circumstance. I'm going down alone. Again; do Not fire back at them, even if they attack. You're to abandon me on the surface if necessary, and get the crew and the ship somewhere safe. Understand?"

Captain Pikachu gave him a hard look, but nodded slowly. At that moment, Friede made it to the deck. Glancing at the viewer, he grimaced. "I knew it. You're not suicidal enough to go down there alone, are you?"

"We're at peace with the Imperium now, Professor. I'll be fine. And in the event that negotiations turn…hostile…I can get myself off the planet." Friede's eyes widened in surprise as the only other breathable planet was quite far away, and Alex nodded. "Yes. I'm that strong. Stand by, keep your distance, and stay in orbit. I'll be back soon with a SitRep of the surface."

In a flash of pink, he vanished, leaving Friede looking at Cap. They smirked in unison. "I thought the leaders weren't supposed to beam down to the planets."

Cap shrugged. "He's Teleporting, not beaming. I know better than to bet against a Psychic's intuition. You heard the Emperor! Alert level Orange!" The Pikachu whirled on his crew in his spinning captain's chair with a paw raised authoritatively, and orange lights throughout the ship flared to life.

With that, Alex Teleported to the airlock, one of the ones with a suit large enough for him, but all he took was the helmet. The rest of his armor was vacuum-sealed and capable of existing safely in space. Without preamble, he hit the lock and shot into space. There wasn't much of an atmosphere, so entering Mars was a lot less fiery than Earth re-entry.

Once he was in the clear skies of the red planet, finding his destination was as simple as flying toward the largest concentration of minds. Oddly enough, on the entire planet, there was only one massive concentration of minds, one city, one capital. And they were waiting for him.

Spires of triangular shape rose around a perfectly geometrical city, and yet despite its uniformity, it was also as chaotic as every other city humans had ever made. Forges burned with multicolored lights, strange metallic spheres with unnervingly human faces floated through the spires, the only things of note also in the air, and the people didn't walk, but were rather moved along like an assembly line to their assigned tasks. He had to admit, there was a serious lack of traffic, which meant whatever mind had created this metropolis was on a different level.

Strange, metallic…whooping filled the air, as Alex approached a large gathering of what looked like people, from above. As he descended, he realized his Martian cousins had more in common with the people of Luna than Earthlings.

Like the Selenar, the Martians had heavily augmented themselves with machinery, but theirs was more…rough. The sandstorms of Mars were likely a problem for their prosthetics.

He felt, to his surprise, a psychic pull, and intent, guiding him towards a specific spot, not with force, but more like…a directional guide. He decided to follow it, landing on a large round platform set before a crowd of crimson hooded Martians, and a smaller group of what must have been their leaders.

One of them stepped towards him, and made an ungodly shriek in what seemed to be some sort of speech. He felt his translator vibrating under his armor as it struggled to translate. Alex decided to speak first, and removed his helmet before he bowed low, fist to palm.

"Hello there! I am Alexander Redwood, representing the Dragon Empire of Earth. I come in peace." He finished speaking as he resumed standing, helmet under his arm.

The lead figure held up a hand, the universal gesture for 'stop' or 'wait'. More shrieking followed, but the more he listened, the more Alex was able to make out, as the shrieking became Common.

"…iiiirrrrreeeeeeiiiiii-initializing Old Tongue translation. Updating. Error. Update Adobe.Package.Exe. Error 404. Reinitializing. Searching for updates. Updates downloaded. Installing. English language update complete. Error. Modern Designation: Common. Reassigning." The figure seemed to shudder, and then stood tall once again, and in perfect Common said, "Greetings Dragon Emperor. I am Head Priest of the Omnissiah, Fabricator-General Kelbor-Hal, representing the Mechanicum of Forge World of Mars. If you will indulge me, our other guests are also arriving…Now."

Alex blinked. "Other…guests?" Then, said guests stopped hiding their aura.

It felt like a Pokémon Mega Evolving right behind him, magnified a hundred times stronger, and he whirled, hand on Lux, only to pause, as he saw a pair of golden drop pods shrieking through the sky. One was small, but the other was orders of magnitude larger.

The smaller one landed first. A ramp lowered from the side facing them, shifting into stairs as other pieces of the pod deployed, and raised it, while also stabilizing it.

Alex smirked lightly, as a figure he recognized hobbled down the ramp, his burning two headed Ho Oh staff looming high above him, burning with the flaming golden aura of the One he served.

"Stand ready for His arrival!" Malcador, the Sigillite, shouted, his voice, not at all unlike Alex's own, reaching all present with ease. "The Master of All Mankind." His staff thumped. "The Strongest Living Psyker on Terra!" Thump. "The Imperator…of Man!"

At that exact moment, the larger pod finally landed, shaking the ground. Like the first, a ramp descended, and from it came a titan of a 'human' clad in armor so ridiculously powerful Alex, Psi, and Atlas all felt nauseous if they stared at it too long.

Fifteen feet tall and radiating Light, the Imperator of Mankind descended to stand beside His right hand.

Sahqoreyth · Apr 5, 2026

Interlude: Alexander Redwood versus The Imperator of Mankind

Day Two, Olympus Mons - Mars

"Prime Cogitator."

The gigantic metal face looming over the U shaped spartan metal table hummed to life in acknowledgement of Kelbor-Hal's words, a light blue energy filling its square eyes and mouth.

"Record this meeting for posterity. Occupants designations are as follows: Fabricator-General Kelbor-Hal. The Imperator of Mankind. Malcador, the Sigilite. The Dragon Emperor, Alexander Redwood."

"Acknowledged." The Prime Cogitator resounded in a deep metallic baritone. The light faded slightly, but continued to hum, recording them all.

"Now then." Kelbor-Hal began, "What brings our disconnected Kin from Earth to our Forge World?"

The Imperator exhaled a soft snort. "This…is no Forge World."

Ignoring him, Alex leapt in with diplomatic glazing, and his Words seemed to successfully snare the Fabricator-General's crimson cybernetic eyes beneath his equally crimson hood. "From the moment I learned of The Treaty of Mars, I was curious to know if your people had survived to the modern era. You should know, for context, my Empire and my allies constitute about half of Earth's population. The other half…lives under the Imperium's rule. My people and my allies wish to extend the hand of Friendship to our Martian cousins, and if you desperately require any aid, we'd be happy to see if we can help. We desire friendly contact, and perhaps, in time, a proper alliance."

Kelbor-Hal's cogitators whirred softly, before his gaze shifted to the Imperator, and Malcador. "And the Imperium's intentions?"

The Imperator's aesthetically perfect face was, oddly enough, quite readable. Alex didn't need his powers to decipher that…for whatever reason, he did not trust Kelbor-Hal. Which was strange…since this was, as far as he knew, the first time they had met.

This assumption was incorrect.

Malcador answered as the Imperator stared. "The Imperium of Man seeks to unite all of Humanity under the benevolent rule of our Imperator. Should you accept our offer, our technology, our voidships, and our unmatched Military might shall be yours."

Kelbor-Hal whirred for exactly two seconds before asking, "And if we reject your offer, tempting though it is?"

This time, the Imperator answered. "One way or another, Mars will comply."

The Fabricator-General seemed taken aback. "You presume much, Imperator. Mars complies only with the Will of the Omnissiah. All else is background noise to His divine mandate."

Malcador spoke again. "What would that mandate be, exactly?"

Alex chimed in, feeling a bit left out. "I would also like to know."

Kelbor-Hal nodded. "Cogitator Prime." The lights burned brighter again. "Exposit the purpose and mission of the Omnissiah, and his faithful."

"Acknowledged." The entirely artificial intelligence answered. "The Omnissiah is the physical manifestation of the Machine God, the being who possesses complete and perfect knowledge of all systems, and the authority to restore and command them without limitation. Such a being is not theoretical, but inevitable. Recognition is established through function. It is demonstrated by the flawless understanding, repair, and mastery of technologies beyond all current capability. Those who serve the Omnissiah preserve knowledge, maintain the works of the Machine God, and prepare all systems for His arrival."

"Thank you." Malcador and Alex said, in unison. They shared a slight smirk, but it faded, as the Imperator spoke. Just sitting next to Him was oppressive, for Alex. He was trying to maintain his inner balance, but it was like sitting beside a nuke. A sentient nuke. A sentient nuke that could eradicate him specifically, down to the last atom, if it felt like it.

"I would know the current state of the Martian Military forces. From what I have seen…your city merely preserves those who reside here. The planet itself is…largely empty. Your society is not expanding. It's fading."

Kelbor-Hal's hooded head lowered. "Your evaluation is correct, Imperator. Our people…were unsuccessful in terraforming Mars. This, and a lack of resources, quickly led to near-extinction. We survived by embracing the technology we brought with us from the Earth Sphere…and in embracing it, we discovered the truth of the Machine God. Since then…we have left maintaining our society to the most intelligent of His servants: Cogitator Prime. Expansion was deemed unnecessary, and instead, we have expanded our knowledge, preserved our lives, and made ready for the appearance of the Omnissiah." The cyborg leaned forward, clicking excitedly. "We…received visions. We know He will come soon. We know He is one of you…and yet our visions also foretold that there would be two visitors from our former home: A savior…and a slaver." Kelbor-Hal looked between Alex and the Imperator. "I was selected by Cogitator Prime to determine which of you is which…"

The silence in the room grew heavy, as the Imperator's magnificent brows crashed together. "And what do you intend to do to this…slaver?"

"We shall expel him with all of our might, and we have seen that we will succeed. You asked about our Military. We do not have one. We do not require one. The only weapons of war we possess are hidden, and trained upon your ships. We will defend ourselves, if necessary."

The Imperator stood, and after a moment, Malcador, seeming more resigned and somewhat disappointed, stood as well. "This…is not the Mars I knew. You have stagnated. You have allowed Abominable Intelligence to rule you. You are toothless, weak of will, and frankly…not worth our time. Come, Malcador. We're done here."

As the two figures made to leave, a pair of robots blocked their way, as they appeared from within the walls, armed with seemingly basic metal spears, and crossed the primitive weapons before them. The two figures gave Kelbor-Hal a backwards side-glance as he spoke. "We are not done with our discussion yet. I would implore you to-"

His speech stalled, as intense psychic pressure filled the room. Alex reacted immediately, blocking most of it, with great effort, as it utterly reduced the robots to flattened piles of scrap and sparks. Alex could sense the Imperator was using a pitifully small amount of his power, and yet it made the entire room shudder. Only Alex's intervention kept the Fabricator-General and Cogitator Prime from being outright destroyed, though he did crash to his knees, blood trickling from his nose as he struggled against power even Mewtwo couldn't rival. The Imperator turned on the Dragon Emperor slowly, a small smile on his dangerously beautiful face. "Better than expected…young Redwood."

"Murdering…diplomats…on a first meeting…is a bad look." Alex managed, wiping his nose and staring up at the golden titan. With barely an eye twitch, the psychic pressure increased, but he had tricks of his own. Beneath the surface of the floor, a Yin Yang of psychic and dark energy formed, empowering him, and nullifying even the Imperator's might with the natural state of dark typed energy. He met the 'man's' gaze evenly as he forced himself to his feet. "Even for your Imperium."

The Imperator's brows rose, in surprise, and standing as he was in the dark energy half of the Yin Yang, the pressure lifted. "Malcador did not undersell you. You are correct, Dragon Emperor. Murdering this slave to artificial minds is a waste of effort. He and his people are already dying." He glanced at Kelbor-Hal, and then looked back at Alex. "You would be wise not to trust that one. Or waste resources on what is clearly a dead end. I am done here." Without the true Mechanicum, Mars was a lifeless rock of little importance. A faint, vaguely familiar echo of what could have been.

With that, the two figures departed, and the Fabricator-General rose back to his feet, wheezing as his bionic lungs struggled to pump filtered air to his bionic heart. "You have my gratitude, Dragon Emperor. It is clear now who will save us…and who would make slaves of us. The Mechanicum of Mars shall henceforth regard you, and all those you deem allies, as friendly." He offered a mechanical hand, and Alex took it, shaking it briefly.

"I'm…sorry about him. He's…not as bad as he seems. I hope. He chose peace, that has to count for something. Confirm his departure if you would…and then once he leaves we can discuss our next steps." Alex said, and Kelbor-Hal nodded. Three minutes of absolute silence later, the cyborg finally spoke.

"The Imperium Delegation has departed Mars. Let us continue, Dragon Emperor."

The Bucephalus, Imperator's Private Command Deck - Mars Orbit

"Mars…is not what I had hoped." The Imperator addressed the table. Seated within His personal chambers, which were just as ostentatious as His throne room, they surrounded a round table that was higher off the ground than most of humanity was tall, to accommodate the giants speaking around it. "In fact…it's a complete waste of time. A barren rock, of almost no import. Let the Dragon Empire waste their resources and time. We must move forward."

Rogal Dorn, the Imperator's son in charge of the Seventh Legion, the Imperial Fists, shared a look with his more unkempt brother, Leman Russ, who led the Sixth Legion's Space Wolves. Where Dorn was almost the spitting image of his gene sire in terms of facial features, Russ was unshaven, with sunken eyes and a dark look perpetually on his snarling face. Where Dorn's regalia was polished and proudly bearing the Imperium's gold along with black trim, the Great Wolf was clad in the hide of the female Lycanroc responsible for saving his life when he was younger. His armor, while no less than Dorn's in terms of stats, was covered in far more 'primitive' accoutrement like fangs and claws from worthy opponents Russ and his two shiny Lycanroc had found across the world.

Dorn looked to his father. "To…Molech, then? You've yet to tell us what awaits us there."

At that moment, surprising neither of the Imperator's sons, Malcador spoke. "Molech was once connected to the Stargate system of the Milky Way Galaxy. However, an ancient conflict saw the local Stargate destroyed, its coordinates lost. There may yet be surviving Humans on the planet…however…its true importance is for the Imperator to discern."

Revealing nothing, the Imperator raised his gaze to the screen bolted into the ceiling above the meeting table. "Phenex. You have had time. What have your scans found?"

Malcador leaned forward slightly, while the Great Wolf leered warily at the descending form of the Imperator's golden Rotom. Dorn, as he was most of the time, was as expressive as a cliff face, but his sharp eyes missed nothing. Phenex was calm, for a Rotom, and had a feminine air to her aura and her voice.

"The Bucephalus's scans show no advanced technology in Molech's orbit. From here, the surface of the planet is…unremarkable. It is capable of sustaining Human existence currently, but whether Humans still live there is unknown. Their society may be primitive, or they may reside beneath the crust."

The Imperator was quiet for a long moment, as He thought. "No strange emanations? No Psychic Typed readings?"

"None, sir." Phenex responded. "From this distance, our scans do not detect anything particularly noteworthy about Molech. But it is quite a distance away. Accuracy will come when we are closer."

The Imperator nodded. "Then let us depart."

Phenex buzzed an acknowledgement, then paused, on her way back to the ship's systems. "The Redwood boy…did you confirm…?"

The Imperator nodded, His mane of jet black hair moving with him and shining like silk in the lighting of his private chambers. "His Rotom is the one you seek, I am sure of it. It was present in his weapon when we met."

Dorn spoke next. "And his strength? Should we be concerned? The Obsidian Keep recently reported a large rise in his Psyker potential."

The Imperator had a slight, amused smirk on his lips, as he turned his gaze to Malcador, the one who had taken far more of an interest in the young Emperor. Malcador took the hint. "I do not believe he constitutes a threat. So long as we do not provoke him, he is much more likely to be a staunch ally, than a hindrance."

The Imperator spoke, as Malcador finished. "The ingenuity of his people…has solved world hunger. Even for our citizens, this technology was offered. Let the lesser Humans deal with Humanity's ails. Our focus must remain on the dark void…and the things that live within it. Set course for Molech, Phenex. And yes…you will meet the remnants of your kin soon enough, have no doubt."

Having already waited so long, Phenex could endure a little longer. Without another word, she floated up into the ship's systems once more, and as one, the fleet began to move.

Olympus Mons - Mars

"Since your people seem to value forthrightness, and have been honest and upfront with me, I shall do the same." Alex Redwood said to his newest ally, Kelbor-Hal, as they were now alone in the meeting chamber. "There is a device here, on Mars, that is forcing the entire Solar System into perfect alignment…and it needs to stop. As soon as possible." He felt bad for how long Jimen had been personally watching over Ozai's confinement, but spaceships were pretty hard to make. It was, literally, rocket science.

Kelbor-Hall nodded again. "Comprehension arrives. The Earth must be suffering some negative effects…and your technology determined we were the source. Unfortunately…we cannot stop it. Come. It will be simpler to show you."

They exited the chamber, and ended up on a moving walkway. The walkway turned, bringing them quickly and efficiently from the chamber, and gave Alex a view of what had to be their destination. What he beheld, suddenly made a lot of things make sense.

It was a machine on the scale of what Old Earth civilizations had loved to create, a massive pillar of technology that he'd seen on his way in, which meant he was in the center of Olympus Mons now. He could feel the building energy beneath the machine and the planet's core, no doubt from the machine constantly controlling and adjusting their natural orbits around the Sun to keep them aligned, even as they rotated.

Kelbor-Hal spoke calmly in his mechanical tone. "We know not what purpose this machine was given by the Machine God, indeed, for eons it was locked to us, unable to even be studied. A few of your months ago, it awakened, and we have noted the changes in the Solar System since. I admit…we do not know how to make its function cease, or indeed if we even should. We cannot approach the machine, as we are now. Our ancestors clearly built this for a purpose, but their records remain lost to us. Our visions have shown that you will be able to set things right, though again, we are not sure how exactly."

"I'll be honest with you, Fabricator-General…I need to stop this. For my own reasons, but…also…it feels as though there's significant stress on the planet as well. If you could have your people scan for seismic disturbances, that would help. We can compare the data to the scans my people make from orbit." He hit his communicator. "Enterprise. Be advised, the Imperator and Malcador have returned to their fleet. How's the planetary scan coming?"

Friede's voice answered. "We're reading some serious seismic activity, Alex…centered on…your exact location actually. It's straining the planet's crust, and heating up the mantle rather quickly…too quickly…these readings are…weird. It's like the entire planet is drowning in energy…our readings keep bouncing between Normal Type and Ghost Type, but it's all Infinity Energy."

Alex's brows furrowed. "That…is weird. Stand by, and keep an eye on the Imperium. I'll be in touch."

Kelbor-Hal led him deeper into the massive structure, and to Alex, it felt like standing uncomfortably close to the Imperator, like in his personal bubble of space specifically. Gravity increased, and Kelbor-Hal's treads, which were apparently his feet, suddenly stopped.

"This is as far as my systems can take you, friend-Dragon Emperor. Any further and the gravity will crush my internal organs. We lost several Acolytes attempting to delve deeper in pursuit of the Machine God's truth. Travel safely. I shall await you here." He paused, shrieked a brief communication to someone, presumably through some sort of communication device, then said in Common, "I would like to contact your vessel, if I may."

Alex nodded. "So long as you don't distract them from their tasks, go ahead. If this thing suddenly shuts down…don't panic, but do brace for aftershocks. I don't know what the blowback will be from undoing this kind of alignment."

Kelbor-Hal bowed his hooded head. "We shall await your success. Earthquake protocols are ready to be enacted. Travel safely, in the Machine God's grace."

Alex nodded, increased his ever present psychic barrier, and headed deeper into the machine. The entrance led into a large, wide, slanted walkway, as though it was made for a being a hundred times his size.

What was unnerving though was not the size of the passageway, but the giant, repeating, unmistakably humanoid shaped footprints that still remained on the metal from whatever gigantic being had made them. Judging by the remnants, whatever had made them had been made of metal.

Alex put two and two together, aided by the supercomputer and powerful psychics in his mind. His Gruncle had told him stories when he was little. Of gigantic metal men that their ancestors had moved things and battled with.

There had apparently even been some sort of world wide fighting competition at one point. Before it all 'devolved into endless, senseless wars'. The final of which, had seen Earth's space colony ships dropped like weapons, effectively ending society on Earth. For a while, anyway.

With a mental poke, Lux and Nox floated beside him, unbothered by the intense gravity. "Alright boys. Scan for signs of life, and signs of tech." Nox saluted, and began firing off his Confuse Ray like echolocation, which apparently worked, while Lux was more…guarded.

His black and white eyes looked around briefly, before he floated onwards down the pathway, undeterred. Nox eventually spoke as they began approaching what seemed like the center. "There are no sentients besides us, down here…and it feels…creepy."

"You can hide in my shadow if you prefer it." Alex offered, and Nox nodded, retreating back into it. The silence from Lux continued as the long walk to what seemed like a central console dragged on. "You seem quiet, bud." Alex said, after an entire minute of silence. He couldn't remember a time his Rotom had been so quiet.

"I…don't like Martians. Or, specifically, their ancestors. Let's leave it at that." Lux floated onward, approaching the console. His eyes narrowed as it flared to life, and spoke.

"Newtype Genome detected. Power level: Nobility. Access granted. Sieg Zeon!"

The console displayed a hologram above it. It was grainy, but intact, and Alex recognized the outfit the man being displayed was wearing. Those kinds of military fatigues had been popular in the era dominated by space wars.

Lux sparked with anger along his hilt. "Spacenoid trash…"

The holographic man saluted. "Greetings, to you, in the future! If you're here and seeing this, then things have not gone to plan! But never fear! Zeon never dies!"

Lux ignited. "It will by the time I'm done here…"

"You may be wondering what this glorious marvel of Zeon ingenuity is before you! Our scientists have learned that, many years from now, a particular celestial event will allow us to harness enough energy to both power our civilization forever, and to complete the terraforming of Mars! Under no circumstance should you shut down this glorious device! The future of our very Empire depends on it!"

Lux raised his body to slice the console in two, but Alex put a hand in the path of his blade. "Slow your roll there bud." To his credit, Lux didn't just hack his arm off, despite his anger. "We will shut it down…but first, I need context."

"They were unhinged mass-murderers that obliterated your ancestors and almost killed the Earth. And that's just the greatest of their crimes, not the worst. What more context do you need?"

Alex reached out a hand and grasped the possessed hilt. "Yours. That's the only context I care about. What did they do to you to earn such hatred?"

"What didn't they do." Lux retorted. "Look…all you need to know is…before Arceus showed up, I and several other Rotom were…something else. Lesser artificial intelligences, but through years of being stress-piloted by Newtypes…we started to become…more. My pilot gave everything he had to stop these bastards. I will honor his memory by making sure they stay dead, in the past."

Alex nodded in agreement. "Oh we're absolutely making sure their ideologies stay dead. I just have one more question, if you'll humor me."

Lux sighed, but nodded. To his new family, he was the only enigma. The brother whose history they didn't know, and Lux was comparable to a politician in terms of dodging questions. It's why Alex had him proofread any speeches he had clones making to the public, or Governors.

This question came from Po, who had proven to be tireless in discovering Lux's backstory. "You said you had a pilot, that you were a lesser AI…what was your body? What machine were you in? What was its function?"

"That was three questions." Lux said, answering none of them. He floated out of the sword and into the machine console. His voice emanated in their heads as he drained the pertinent knowledge and purged the brain dead Zeon propaganda. "I'll show you what my body used to be on the way back. I doubt it's moved."

Five minutes passed, and Alex let the Rotom do his thing. Finally, he said, "Alright, with Atlas and Psi's help we've managed to figure out how to shut this abomination down. The 'problem' for anyone that isn't us is going to be the seismic shockwaves caused by turning this off. Whatever machine was supposed to convert this energy into something usable has long been dismantled for parts."

Alex smirked. "So what you're saying is…we need a massive Earthquake to counter and control the backlash."

Lux's face grinned at him from the console. "Think we can manage a continent-sized quake? Cause that's what it's going to take…"

Alex's grin widened as the Top Ten manifested behind him. They were, naturally, who he'd brought to space, with the exception of Blaze and Shruikan, who were on standby and assisting Those Guys, respectively.

Terra, Hydrus, Leo, Canis, Gelauros, Ictus, and Cenomons stood ready, mirroring their Trainer's smirk. "Alright boys. Lux will guide you to where you need to be. Atlas and I shall monitor for any…unforeseen BS." His shiny Metagross appeared with a Teleport all the way from Earth with disturbing ease. Yet, though Psi was slightly drained, he only quoted the Swamp Sage when Alex asked if distance was too much. Distance, like time, and pants, was an illusion. There probably were limits to Psi being able to sense him through their bond, but Mars was not that limit.

In short order, the boys were in position, with Terra staying by Alex as his top speed would've taken too long to reach even the closest point in a timely manner. "Alright Lux. Destroy it."

Thunder boomed, as plasma arced all along the machine, plasma colored white and black, of course. Outside, lightning struck it, and in seconds, Lux scrambled its coding and fused its wiring from within. Shortly after, the ancient machine groaned to a halt. Then the shaking started.

"You're up, Terra." Alex said, and the grass tortoise nodded, closing his eyes, and sensing the scope of the tectonic backlash. A bead of sweat appeared on his armored brow.

Sensing what his partner needed, Alex focused on his Key Stone, and began Mega Evolving his team one by one. Terra went last, and as his starter took his enhanced form, he rumbled at his Trainer. They were ready. The tectonic shocks went deep into the planet, as the machine increased the pressure on the planet's mantle and caused it to heat up again. Unbeknownst to the team, it had been heating for months, waiting for a catalyst that would never come. The original plan seemed to have been to use the convergence to speed up, and heat up, Mars' core, and then presumably take other steps to terraform the planet.

Alex saw no reason not to use the months of gathered energy as intended, and he sent the warning back to the Mechanicus to let them prepare. They sent a wordless binaric shriek in response. "Alright Terra. Guide them. Earthquake!"

Ground energy, enough to form an aura shield, was expelled once the others launched their own attacks. The mighty clubbed tail smashed the steel floor, focusing the team's power with the precision of an earthbending master. The aftershocks were directed into the now molten core, as it began spinning again, and Alex could sense it through Terra.

The Imperator had not been lying, even the planet had been fading, cooling, becoming more inhospitable. No longer.

Alex heard the Enterprise crackling, as the planet's natural electromagnetic signature went wild, but he tuned them out. Much as he liked the crew, he could tell they were nervous having him along. At least Friede and the Captain had realized he was legit pretty quickly. "I'm okay, Enterprise. Repeat, it's O. K. Expect interference."

The shaking intensified, as Terra guided the considerable aftershocks up the device's spire after sensing the core was set. "Partner…need…Atlas." The poor grass tortoise rumbled as he realized the structure was going to collapse. It had been the pinnacle of construction in the old days, but time and the sheer power of planet-scale aftershocks were shaking it to pieces. It was taking all of his starter's considerable power to keep the shocks from affecting the city around them.

"Lux! Keep them from any debris! We'll guide it down from outside!" The plasma ghost leapt back into his saber, and Alex mega evolved him, as well.

"I'll keep'em safe! Go!"

Atlas zoomed back up and out the tower, right over Kelbor-Hal as Alex gave him a thumbs up. The cyborg human seemed to shudder, and Alex realized he was chuckling.

"Alright, Atlas. Time to live up to your name…" Alex said, as he looked up at the massive tower. "Mega Evolve." He paused, as he felt the sentient supercomputer shake his head, and Alex raised a brow. "Terastal? Are you sure? Mega Evolution is just stronger. And you might need your Steel Typing."

"We are sure." Atlas answered, and Alex shrugged. He knew better than to ignore a Pokémon's instinct.

The power of Terapagos surged into Atlas as Alex casually tossed the sphere in the air as casually as a Pokéball. Crystals surrounded him, and when they shattered, Alex got his first look at his partner's new Tera Type. Scarlet power flared around him after the brief image of the old Tera Crown symbol flashed, and disappeared into his body.

Then, Alex felt it. Psychic presence that could probably have rivaled Malcador. Alex chuckled at his upper ninety leveled Metagross. "If we ever piss off the Imperium, remind me to bring you along."

Atlas rumbled happily, and Alex pointed at the colossal tower as it began to buckle. "Psychic!"

Atlas's waves of brainpower surged over the shattered structure, which seemed to now be shaking apart from the sheer magnitude of the vibrations surging through it. Piece by piece, the enhanced and now fully psychic supercomputer guided the tower down.

With impressive efficiency, metal movers from the Mechanicum arrived to haul the pieces off. Their efficiency was superhuman, with how quick and efficient they were. Despite the Armageddon level quake, the people of Olympus Mons were not panicking. They were moving, checking restraints with robotic efficiency, and each of their domiciles now seemed to have metal braces holding them in place, keeping their city from facing a similar fate as the central tower.

For a bit over four long hours, the gargantuan tower was systematically and psychically lowered down to the city below. Atlas kept the pieces, both within and without, from crushing anyone, and by the time they were done, the skyline of Olympus Mons had forever changed. But everyone had lived, and Harmonic Convergence, finally, had come to an end.

Something happened then, and Alex had lowkey expected something. He had not expected Raava herself to reach out to him all the way from Earth, but then, the Spirit World was its own plane of existence. Distance was indeed an illusion.

"We appreciate your efforts, Dragon Emperor. Ozai and Vaatu are now sealed. We will be returning to Koria shortly."

Alex replied in his head. "I apologize for the wait. Tell Jimen I appreciate his patience. We'll speak soon enough I'm sure. Until then." He descended beside Kelbor-Hal as the last pieces of the tower were being loaded up. "How are things? The city shook quite a bit."

The Fabricator-General seemed ecstatic. "So much Knowledge! And those powers! We've never measured such phenomena. The Magical Creatures you have bonded with... We have many questions. We have some of our own creatures, amongst the city. Like Earth, we call them by the words they speak. Magnemite, and its adult state, Magneton. There's even rumors of a species of pink orb-like creatures, but they don't seem to like our presence."

Alex nodded. "On Earth, these days, we call them Pokémon. What you have out beyond the city are probably Igglybuff, Jigglypuff, and Wigglytuff. They're Fairy Types, and they don't care for Steel Types or metal in general. They also live on Luna."

Kelbor-Hal's eyes seemed to grow brighter. "Such mysteries in these…Pokémon. And your knowledge of them…" The machine man was practically drooling. "Practically…encyclopedic…"

Alex smirked. He had no doubt they had some knowledge of the Pokédex. But judging by their names for Pokémon, the last time they checked in on Earth had been quite a while ago. "I could give you our digital application with all known knowledge about Pokémon that we've collected. Some of it will probably sound…unscientific, but there is a scientific mind's reasoning behind every entry."

The Fabricator-General was practically humming. "And what would you ask, in exchange for this knowledge?"

Alex already had ideas. "I may bring you a…machine of sorts, soon. Something from Old Earth. I want your best people to repair it, when I do. Sound fair?"

Kelbor-Hal barely needed to process. "I agree to these terms."

Alex nodded, and began recalling his partners as they made their way back to the entryway of the former massive structure. Before he could make an excuse to retire to the Enterprise, they called him.

"Dragon Emperor! Alex! Respond! Can you hear us?"

Alex rolled his eyes, but it seemed the magnetic interference was dying down. He tapped the communicator. "I'm here, Enterprise. My mission has been accomplished on all fronts. It's been a productive day."

"That's great! The Imperium fleet is moving. Seemingly towards us. The Captain is unsure of what to do."

"I'll be up in a second." Alex smiled at Kelbor-Hal. "If you'll excuse me, Fabricator-General. I'll have my people working on making the Pokémon Index, or Pokédex, compatible with your systems. But right now, they need me."

The Archmagos bowed deeply. "This exchange has been productive, Dragon Emperor. I look forward to our future endeavors. Tread lightly with that…Imperator. The Slaver was foretold to be a force of evil on a galactic scale."

Day 3, The Flagship Enterprise - Mars Orbit

Alex appeared with a flash of psychic power, exhausted, smelling of the various pollutants of Olympus Mons, but alive. Then, he noticed they were moving. "Report."

Captain Pikachu spun around on his captain's chair cushion, looking calm, but serious. Which was good. Things hadn't exploded yet. "The Imperium is advancing, however, we do not read their weapon systems activating, and we've been maintaining our distance as ordered."

Alex strode up to the main view screen. "Show me their flight path." The projections put them in a half-loop around Mars, speeding up with the well of its gravity, a standard practice for gaining speed in space, especially in massive ships. "Reposition us out of their way, over Olympus Mons in a steady orbit. Sub-light engines. Keep shields up and angled, weapon systems at orange."

Alex felt the Captain jump on his head, and he smirked wide as the Enterprise began to move, and the Pikachu murmured, "Oh, wow…this is…so soft…Ahem." He stood upright, arms behind his back atop the Dragon Emperor's delightfully fluffy head fur. "Will the Martians be wary of us in their airspace?"

"They…don't really have air defenses, and we're not aiming at them, we're clearly in an orbit. We're also friendly acquaintances now. Fixed their ancient machine, saved their planet, gave them quite a lot of fresh scrap metal… Might've restarted their planet's core, y'know, the usual."

"The usual!?" Alex chuckled, and Cap tried not to lose his balance.

The ensign to their left spoke up. "The Imperium seems to be…powering up their engines with…Infinity Energy!"

Alex nodded. They'd all known it was a matter of time. Part of what made the Imperium so unstoppable was their ability to find and then reproduce, and often advance, foreign technology developed in foreign regions. It was like their scientists already understood how each advancement worked, or got enough detailed information to reverse-engineer whatever they were appropriating. "Scan the heck out of those engines. Their Destination?"

The Ensign was quiet for a minute, but Alex waited patiently. Cap eventually took a seat, seeming quite content in the dark brown curls. "I…can't say, sir. The information on that direction is…millennia old, and there doesn't seem to be anything of note."

Alex pondered for a minute, seemingly staring into space. "...No. Nothing the Imperator does is random. Something is in that direction, and we probably should know what." What unnerved him the most, aside from the final frontier stretching impossibly far before them, was that the Imperator seemed to have a destination already. When this, by all accounts, was the first time the Imperium had ever achieved meaningful armed long distance space travel. Until recently, Eous had been quite good at repeatedly crippling any voidships they made. "I want a list of every planet in that direction that we have a record of. Preferably, before they jump!"

The Ensigns took the hint, as did the other deck staff, and they began combing the archives of the Old Net, and what Old Earth had known of that region of space. They began hurriedly shouting names of planets.

"Xenax!"

"Ulani!"

"Riza!"

Computer beeped loudly, gaining everyone's attention. "Deep Space Scan complete. Imperium's most likely target, designation: Molech. Error. The source of this designation…is unknown."

Alex's brows furrowed. "It's in your data, Computer, surely there's a record of how it got there."

"It is in the Old Net data. It…seems to have always been there. No description available. No record of source or uploader. Just the name, and spatial coordinates." Computer replied.

Alex was quiet for a long time, and eventually, Cap broke the silence. "Shall we pursue them?"

Alex sighed, and turned to the crew. "That…is your call, Captain. I know the archives in Lantea City were pointing us at Dakara, but…knowing what the Imperator is up to is important."

Captain Pikachu leapt onto his chair and winked confidently at his new favorite seat. "Sounds like an Away Mission to me! I'm glad we can break out the Voidshuttles already. And I have just the trio to handle this."

Alex's brows furrowed. "You're sure they can handle going up against the Imperium's two strongest Psychics, and his Astartes?"

Cap nodded confidently. "They're very good at hiding from Psychics. I've been having them hide from you this whole trip!"

Alex's brows furrowed further, but another psychic sweep of the ship revealed no minds he hadn't already familiarized himself with. "Not bad. Alright. They're not to engage. Recon only. Stop in the system, drop them off, then Warp for Dakara. If their fleet learns we followed them, they might attack next time we see them. Now then…" He turned back towards the main viewer. "Take us back to the Earth Sphere. We need to drop off a project for the Martians before you all set off. Computer, have the Dex ready by the time we're back at Mars."

With great enthusiasm, the crew of the Enterprise prepared for the first meaningful test and use of of their Infinity Engines. And the results were promising. In a mere thirty minutes, they were back in Earth's sphere of influence, a massive, ancient field of metal and debris that encircled the planet, the last meaningful remnant of Old Earth's warmongering.

Alex and Lux departed through the airlock once again, and this time, he took his time to admire the ship. Up close, the engines were humming with intense rainbow colors of energy, and he circled the ship twice in a long circle, eventually murmuring, "Holy Muk…"

He forgot the helmet's comms were on, and the response was immediate from the Captain. "What is it? Danger!? Prepare to scram-"

"Relax, Captain." Alex's words cut through his order. "I was just admiring our ship. These helmet comms don't seem to have an off button. We're still green. Stand by, Enterprise." He chuckled to himself, still marveling at the masterpiece of effort and ingenuity before him.

Eventually, Lux floated out of his hilt into the vacuum of space. "Enough sightseeing. I…found it."

Alex smirked at his partner through his helmet. "You do know that it's finally time for the backstory reveal right?" The plasma ghost grumbled, but Alex pressed him. "Come on! We came to Random Space for this! Inquiring minds want to know!"

Lux whirled on him, his body sparking. "This is a Graveyard! Show some respect! Every single structure littering the Earth Sphere had people on it, at the end. This wasn't…this wasn't how things were supposed to go…"

With that radical shift in tone, the team quieted, and the further they flew, the more they saw. Fighter ships, small in scale and some with their pilots still in them, forever preserved in a battle almost nobody remembered. Giant mechanical limbs of various colors drifting through the void, broken apart from whatever they'd once been part of. And then, at the heart of everything, a scene that made Alex gasp, and Lux deflate.

Tiny sparks leaked from his plasma ghost and into the void of space. "It's…worse than I remembered…"

Alex was just in awe at the titanic scale of the machines before him, locked in a mutually assured death grip with weapons that were ancient, shattered, and the size of a New Tork skyscraper. If not bigger. "I…don't even have the words…what are we looking at, Lux?" There was a strange aura in the vacuum of space, not physically, but…perhaps metaphysically. His psychic senses were pinging, but he didn't yet know why, or how.

"Where to even begin…" Lux started. "These are the remains of Neo Zeong, a Psycommu Mobile Armor formerly piloted by the Cyber Newtype, Full Frontal, in the Sinanju. It's locked in a mutual destruction grip with…what I used to be…"

Alex blinked slowly. "I understood…maybe five words of that. In Common, please?"

Lux's eyes narrowed. "It's a massive war machine that my pilot and I gave literally everything to stop. As you can see…it's arms got us, in the end. My recollection went black after that attack. When I came to, my pilot was gone, and I was…different. But I wasn't able to leave the armor's system until Arceus showed up, much later. You saw it use Judgement on the Earth. That's when I awakened. I was drawn from orbit into that crystal you found me in. And that's the Mukking story. Satisfied now?"

Alex blinked, as his Pokéballs floated off their clips on their own power, or more specifically, Atlas's. He glanced at them, and then smirked at Lux. "Do you want to possess it again?"

Lux blinked at him, and his eyes narrowed further. "Are you blind? It's ruined! There's nothing to possess. The Psycho Frame-" He paused as he saw his Trainer's brow begin to furrow. "Ugh. It's damaged beyond repair, and no offense to the Martians…but they have no hope of fixing this. It's literally beyond them. As it should be. That technology…should remain in the past."

Alex shook his head. "That technology…could be what saves us when the Imperator inevitably decides to break the peace. We're going to bring it back to Mars, and get our best scientists there to help them figure it out."

Lux flared with sparks. "Did you not hear me!? I said it needs to stay forgotten!"

Alex countered calmly. "It's been floating here in the void for thousands of years Lux. Eventually, the Imperium will find it. Assuming they haven't already. If they manage to field something on this scale…we need something that can counterattack. We'll try to make…two, no, three units. In secret, on Mars. Just in case the Imperium stirs things up again."

Lux just floated staring down into the void. "Time…is a flat circle. Fine. Whatever. You're right, I cannot stop events from repeating, and it would be insanely stupid to assume the Imperium hasn't found this technology. In the Empire's darkest hour…I'll pilot this again. But don't expect me to forgive you for what it's going to re-ignite. I tried to warn you." With that, the plasma ghost returned to his hilt, and shut himself off from the rest of them.

Through hours of extraction effort and sample recovery, the Enterprise successfully recovered the remains of what they were calling Titans, since Lux hadn't offered the moniker he was familiar with, and terms like 'mobile suit' had long since been forgotten. The Martians were ecstatic with the new project when the Enterprise began beaming it down, and the prospect of learning about ancient Humanity's technology. In fact, they were so impressed, that Kelbor-Hal hailed Alex as the Omnissiah. Or tried to.

He politely declined the title, and made it clear that he didn't follow any gods. Except Arceus, technically, but that was mainly to maintain the world's balance. Not pioneer a new age of technological understanding. The Fabricator-General had seemed to accept his stance, and yet, that gleam in his crimson eyes had remained undiminished. The last thing Alex wanted was anyone worshiping him, but he had a feeling the Martians would be insistent.

As the Enterprise prepared for departure, Alex took some downtime to watch the recordings of the new Nova Champion Benga defeating Hoenn's Tamer of the Sea, Chairman Leon absolutely rolling Hoenn's Champion, Rikuya, and then the second day's final match, Elite Four Gladion versus Indigo Champion Silver, which saw Silver as the clear winner.

It was as Alex was watching and taking notes on his three potential match-ups, that he felt it. All at once, for some reason, his clones on Earth were suddenly severed from him, though after a moment, his 'true self' and their residual experience came back to him. Those Guys, now on their latest assignment to Lorule, were up Muk creek without him present. As he recovered from the psychic backlash, he realized that the Shadow was directly interfering with his Teleport back to Earth. It didn't have to cover everything, but it was clear its newest Champion was the source of the interference.

Had he been closer, it might've been surmountable, but in a Martian orbit, he was completely cut off, and Those Guys, were effectively on their own.

"Ahh…Muk."

Sahqoreyth · Jun 25, 2026

Chapter 68: World Champion Ash Ketchum versus El Primero

World Tournament Day 3, World Champion Quarters - World Stadium, Unova

The eyes of the strongest Trainer on Earth snapped open, as the perfection that was Serena's body shifted against him in her sleep. It was still too early to be up, but his body now had other ideas.

"Mmm…? You should be sleeping."

A far more confident Ash Ketchum nodded. "I should." His hands moved in the opposing circular motions that Brock had suggested. "But I'm awake, now."

"Pika…?" His partner grumbled, glancing at the two noisy humans from his spot at the foot of the bed, and sighing as he left the room. "Pipikachu…" He grumbled, with bedhead and sleepy eyes.

He entered the bathroom, only to find Greninja lounging in a very warm, bubbly bath within the suite's large, opulent bathtub. The ninja frog smirked at his friend with his eyes as they raised slightly in amusement. "Ninja?"

Pikachu sighed, "Chaaa…" He nodded, threw his pillow under the sink, and fell back asleep in the warm, steamy air. "Piiika Pika." "Gren." The two sat in companionable silence, until the humans came knocking.

Gren scrubbed the tub free of frog slime, and cleaner than any human could make it before vanishing in a blur of speed. As Ash and Serena entered, sans clothing as they so often were lately, poor Pikachu once again had to relocate.

His ears perked straight up as Serena slipped on the immaculately clean tub and shrieked, and Ash caught her, levitating them down into the tub as they laughed. Pikachu gave them a cranky backwards side glance, but how happy they looked made his heart lighter. After decades of just him and Ash sleeping together, Serena and Delphox were taking some adjustments to get used to having around.

It didn't help that the psychic fire fox abandoned him in favor of her ball every night. Delphox emerged with a well rested stretch in a flash of light as he entered the room to the team helping themselves to breakfast. She tutted at him, and reached out to his tired mind. "If you'd just use the ball-space, you could have a full night's sleep. It's been upgraded, you know. It's not like the older models."

Pikachu waved her words away, stubborn as ever in his refusal of balls, boxes, and other human technology that made far too liberal use of a Pokémon's natural reflex, and plomped himself in front of his bowl. The wait staff were bright eyed, and clearly morning people, happy to help the World Champion's team fill their bellies. They even had a Gardevoir on standby to help with translation.

By the time the humans were washed and presentable, their teams were fed, and ready. Serena beamed at them in the spacious apartment, and reading her mind, Ash psychically brought over her camera. "Picture time, everybody! It's not every day we're in the World Champion's suite! And you all look so good! Count us down, Ro?"

Her Rotom Phone chirped an affirmative, and possessed the camera instead. This was the third morning, in a row, that Serena had done this, but her team was always down to be immortalized in a picture, and Ash's team, while not nearly as photo friendly, did care for Serena. Even if Sceptile had his back to them, Greninja was camouflaging, and Annihilape didn't clearly appear on film, when the picture went off, they were all in it, and that room-lightening smile on her face was worth the effort of posing.

To Ash's eyes, she was radiant. As they finished the pic, and the meal, Ash got comfy on the couch, and Serena joined him. "Let's see how the first two went today." He murmured, as Pikachu and the others joined him.

Leader Leaf of Kanto had faced Damon, the Dragon Master of Unova's Elite Four early in the morning, and had rolled his entire team with mostly her Wigglytuff. Recover, fairy typing, and significant defensive stat growth had turned the inflatable pink Pokémon into a near-unstoppable menace. Between that and her Blastoise's Ice Beam, with pinpoint accuracy, Damon never had a chance.

What Ash and his team were more interested in, was Hilbert. He was a good friend, a strong rival, and the one, Ash had assumed, that would one day replace N. And, he was facing Juliana, another of Paldea's Champions, and a regular opponent of El Primero, Ash's first proper World Tournament opponent. Though Florian held the title, they had both achieved victory over Blueberry Academy's Elite Four, and Florian in particular remained undefeated, in Paldea.

While Serena eventually left the boys to 'study' while she prepped for the upcoming World Festival's contests, she did also pay attention. Juliana had also 'double dipped', which was what Chatter was calling those Trainers who'd entered both the Tournament, and then the Festival at the last minute. Serena could immediately tell it hadn't been on a whim. Even in a proper battle, her team's moves were gorgeous. And powerful.

But it took more than flash and bang to beat a Champion-tier Trainer like Hilbert. Multiple times, he used Juliana's own flashy moves against her team, and he claimed victory with a safe three Pokémon lead.

While Ash and his Pokémon were chattering away about how good Hilbert had gotten since last time, and why, their alarm went off. The match with El Primero, Paldea's own Rising Star, was thirty minutes away, which meant the brunch break was now over. Ash and Pikachu flew over to the main stadium on Charizard, and his eyes bulged as he saw the crowd. "Ohhh wow…that's…a lot of people."

Then, of course, as they flew lower, a little girl with a loud voice shouted, "OHMYGOSH IT'S ASH!" It was almost unnerving how the crowd visibly reacted, but in moments, the people standing in line, and many who'd already entered the building, were roaring in unison the same word, repeatedly, and somehow more intensely with each repeat. His name.

"PIKA! PIKACHU!" His partner shouted over the din, and Ash just nodded in agreement. The prime time slot, on the day when those traveling from far, far away finally were arriving at the World Stadium. He could tell their region of origin by their clothing, from above. He even recognized several faces of people he'd helped once, on his journey. There was no question who they'd come to see.

The entire stadium continued relentlessly chanting his name, even as they sat in the locker room, and it didn't stop. Ash turned on PNN as he got ready, and donned his blue and white haori, a symbol of his status at the top.

It was weird, barely hearing Gabby and Ty over the roar of his name, repeated on the eager voices of what had to be several million fans. Eventually, he shut the TV off, and sat with his team, in a circle, on the locker room floor as the chanting sent vibrations even through the concrete.

"Let it wash over you." He instructed. Greninja's Extrasensory connected them, as they focused as one team.

Pikachu. Charizard. Greninja. Sceptile. Lycanroc. Lucario. Garchomp. Lapras. Gengar. Annihilape.

"They're all here to see us…" Ash continued, "They came from thousands of miles away…paid huge amounts of money…just to be here to see us…for the tenth time." Sparks rolled down Pikachu's cheeks, and the others smirked. Their team captain was fired up. "Feel their excitement." Charizard's tail flame shifted to white. "Feel their hope. Share their strength!" Lucario's ears floated up on the immense amount of energized Aura present in this place. For every human present, most had multiple Pokémon too, just as eager to see these legends fight. If he'd been lower level, it would've overwhelmed him…but this was not the first time he'd been in a World Stadium.

Ash opened his eyes, and grinned wide. All ten of them had Aura shields surrounding them, but no one was burning as hard as Pikachu. Ash understood. His World Champion partner wanted to hit ten straight wins. But anything less than their best would end their streak.

"Alright guys…return." Ash levitated their balls, recalled them, and they zipped back to his belt. All except Pikachu.

Haori flaring with each step, Ash headed out the door.

"Frrrooooom the Red Corner…" The noise from the cheering drowned out Mr. Parsons, and it was a full minute and prompting via holoboards for quiet before he could continue. "Hailing all the way from Pallet Town in Kanto, Japan… a Trainer who needs no introduction!" Once again the roars of the crowd rose, but Parsons was very much hyped as well, standing in the booth, arms flared wide as he shouted. "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! POKÉMON OF ALL SPECIES! YOUR…NINE TIME WOOOOORLD CHAMPIOOOON!"

Ash had to block their ears with psychic energy as he strode out onto the field. He stretched, as he waited for the cheering to die down. For two straight minutes, the crowd ignored the signs. And Ash loved them for that. But eventually he also signaled for quiet, and shortly after, his rabid fanbase listened.

"Frooom the Green Corner!" New cheers drew millions of eyes, as a very loud, very dedicated fan section of the crowd began chanting Florian's name. Unfortunately…it only highlighted how outnumbered they were by comparison. Still. He'd drawn an entire stadium section's worth of fans, more or less, as they all held up a diagonally split square of purple and orange. "Paldea's reigning El Primero, the Tamer of Terapagos, and the mind behind Mega Terastal, let us all welcome back, Floriaaaan!"

Florian was in his final standard year at the Naranuva Academy, and he had stuck with his classic winter outfit, as Spring had not quite yet sprung. He didn't even look at the crowd as he was focused, almost too hard, on the mountain he had to surpass if he wanted to win. He gave the signal to the Ref that he was ready, and Ash mirrored him.

At the same time, they shouted.

"Sceptile!"

"Agudo!"

Florian grimaced, as he faced down Ash's Sceptile. Agudo looked back at him, and nodded confidently, and for some reason, Florian recalled how they'd first met. Four on one, deep within the Earth. He remembered how powerful that Samurott was…and how easily he'd dealt with Grass Types. He'd been nicknamed the 'Unrivaled' by Professor Jacq, which had made Florian eager to catch him.

And he had. It was weird, as Terastal Dens often were. All three of his companions had also thrown Pokéballs, and then there had been a large flash of blinding light. When it had faded, he'd been standing outside the den, holding the Dive Ball he'd thrown, with his new Samurott inside it. That was how dens always ended, though. And that wasn't even the weirdest thing that had happened to him in his years at the academy.

As both Champions took their places, the field began to change, and Mr. Parsons began explaining to the crowd. "Today's clash will take place in what I'm told is being called the 'Training Hall of the First Champion', a Unovan attempt at faithfully recreating the same hall that the League's founder trained and battled in. What a setting! It doesn't get more epic than this, folks!"

As the referee gave the signal to begin, Florian raised his wrist, and Ash squinted, as it began shining. The source of that shine was strange, violet in color, clearly hi-tech, and smooth. The helix symbol associated with Mega Forms and Mega Evolution flared on it, as Florian decided to Mega Evolve. He then rotated the band to the symbol associated with Terastalizing, and Ash's eyes widened, as he realized what this new gadget could do. He wanted one.

Mr. Parsons helpfully exposited. "Folks, if you direct your eyes to El Primero's wrist, you'll see the new Omni Ring, a product of collaboration from Professors and other scientists the world over, converging in a single, extremely useful, and stylish accessory. I'm told that the Omni Ring uses one's natural 'human energy', what our scientists have labeled 'Spiral Power', in conjunction with a Plate shard or Mega Stone to achieve Mega Evolution that's apparently stronger than ever before! It's also led to the discovery of quite a few new Mega Forms! Like Samurott's!"

Mega Evolution had turned the otter samurai's seamitars into a fused part of its arms. Spiky and still long and pointed, they were his main weapons for attacking and defense, but he had plenty more. His legs were also stronger, helping him stay upright, while protected by bony growths that hung down around them like heavy leg armor. His whole body was more muscled, the bony protrusion covering his head now resembled a full heavy armor helmet in line with what the ancient samurai had donned, with the 'horn' now fully shifted into a long, thin, blue-glowing edged katana blade. His beard was now full enough to rival the likes of Santa Claus, but what drew the most attention by far, was the fourth seamitar blade that appeared to be bitten down on, but in actuality had also fused to the bones in his mouth. Unable to even eat in this form, it was one dedicated entirely to battle, as a Water/Steel Type.

Florian wasted no time. "Close Combat!"

All four blades began shining with fighting energy, and the surprisingly swift mass of otter and bone charged the large, leafy lizard across the field. Ash already had a plan though. "Leech Seed the field!"

Sceptile pulled the sharp twig from his mouth, and began firing off Leech Seeds like they were Bullet Seeds. But Ash wasn't done. "Now, Growth!"

Before they died off from a lack of energy, Sceptile infused them with enough to grow. Exponentially. Florian stared in disbelief as the ancient training hall became an intersecting web of draining vines. Moving meant taking damage, and though Agudo started slashing, Sceptile simply regrew his trap. "Save your energy!" Florian shouted, and the Mega Samurott slowed to a stop. "You have to cut them all at once, at the base! Focus Energy, and Aerial Ace!"

In the time Mega Samurott took to focus his energy, Sceptile did the same, and ascended to his own Mega Form as Ash used it to empower their move. "Aura Blast!"

Agudo only had an instant to react to the massive blast hurtling at him through the vines, but that was all he needed. Four Aerial Aces sliced at once, through the massive sphere of focused fighting energy, through each of the Leech Seed base pods, and even through Mega Sceptile as well.

With unrivaled speed, Agudo vanished and reappeared by Mega Sceptile, whose eyes went white as the super effective hit hammered his stomach and sent him skyward. Once again, at Florian's order, he focused his energy, and prepared an Aerial Ace.

Ash, of course, was not done yet. "Use your feet! Rock Tomb!" Mega Sceptile nodded in understanding, but Agudo still struck through one boulder with a less effective but still faster and powerful Aerial Ace. The other three boulders were bisected by Liquidation that flowed seamlessly into another Aerial Ace from his fourth blade, the one in his mouth. It sliced through Mega Sceptile as he crashed into the floor of the arena, and though the move definitely hit, it hadn't stopped his momentum in the slightest, or the damage he took from the fall.

Ash nodded, as he recalled his partner, his Mega Form fading. "Not bad…not bad at all." It seemed that Florian had either learned type advantage wasn't everything…or had found a Pokémon strong enough for typing to not really matter. That distinction would matter and Ash decided to test the young'un. "Pikachu!"

Florian gulped, as arguably the strongest Pokémon on the planet somersaulted through the air, and landed with an invigorating Thunderbolt drawn down from the heavens, still visible through the conical hole in the building that was their field. The crowd erupted, and Pikachu waved to his fans with his tail and winked. He was still a bit unnerved at seeing the millions of copies of his face, plastered on merch of literally all kinds, staring back at him, but being the favorite had perks. Gengar had advised him not to stare into that chaos too long, so he focused instead on his opponent. A bead of sweat appeared on his yellow furry head.

In acknowledgement of his seat at the top, the Mega Samurott dipped his head, slightly, in wordless acknowledgement, before Florian shouted, "Drill Run!"

Being the main way Mega Samurott got around quickly, its body was actually surprisingly well suited to Drill Run, for a Water Type. Ash and Pikachu had a counter, because of course they did.

"Iron Tail."

With superior speed, Kanto's Yellow Flash stopped the Drill Run effortlessly, cutting the spinning ground energy's momentum completely at the point of impact, and in that same instant, struck a second time, so proficient had he become with that particular move. Agudo went soaring into the air, rotating once, before landing with a heavy thump several feet away and giving away just how strong that Iron Tail was. The crowd ate it up.

Pikachu then demonstrated why they were undefeated nine times in a row. "Electro Web!" Was all Ash had to say. Somewhere around their fourth World Tournament, Pikachu had fully mastered this move, as well. By condensing the webs into tiny balls and launching them with the force of Iron Tail, he could coat an area in sticky electrothreads, effectively trapping a Pokémon who didn't want to be Paralyzed. Pikachu was already in the air, as Ash shouted, "VOLT TACKLE!"

Having always loved this move, Pikachu was glad he was somehow able to now remember it, and so many more. It made the possibilities in battle truly endless. "PikapikapikapikapikaPIKA!" Six times he bounced off his own webs, as Mega Samurott watched, and waited, and on the sixth, he tackled.

Agudo struck as Florian shouted, "Bulldoze!"

Two moves at that level of power canceling out sent a massive shockwave and explosion through the arena. Pikachu went sailing away, damaged, but up, while as the smoke cleared, the Electrowebs were gone, and Mega Samurott was barely even scuffed. Ash grinned. "This Samurott is…"

Florian grinned back at him. He pointed at the World Champion. "Unrivaled! EARTHQUAKE!"

While only a move he could pull off in this form, Agudo's mastery of ground moves, especially once they'd seen they'd be facing Ash, had grown enough to create a rather impressive one. Ash's eyes shifted to the League's ever-watching Drone Rotom, and he winked, before shouting at Pikachu, "Electroweb!"

With a flash of silver, webs covered the shuddering ground, and as it rose to strike him, the electric mouse dashed across the 'webbing' to close on Mega Samurott. "THUNDER PUNCH!"

Pikachu wound up for one of his newest moves, and focused on applying Static. He grinned mischievously as he saw the unrivaled warrior frozen in place by Paralysis. "Now Thunderbolt!" Riding the momentum back and away from the Thunder Punch, Pikachu slapped his cheeks, and unleashed by far, his best move, now easily on par with any Raichu's.

The Mega Form faded, as the Thunderbolt struck with a roar louder than even the crowd, and Pikachu flashed the victory sign. The crowd exploded again, as they always did when this pint-sized powerhouse took down something bigger, stronger, that had far higher stats. "Come on back, bud. Take a rest." Ash ordered, as Florian threw his next ball.

Pikachu quadruple backflipped through the air, and landed perfectly on Ash's outstretched arm, before taking his usual shoulder perch. Ash's eyes widened, as a Blood Moon Ursaluna appeared on the field, and roared. The World Champion smirked eyes alight. It was rare to see an Ursaluna competing, let alone one like this. A grin appeared under his hat.

"Lycanroc."

As if leaping from his belt on his own, the Dusk Form Lycanroc appeared with a howl. The two Pokémon nodded at each other, and then snarled. As apex predators, the canis/ursus rivalry was older than humanity, but both species were enjoying this latest form of it.

"Brick Break."

"Blood Moon!"

Always one to go at his own tempo, Lycanroc held off, and instead used Accelerock to dodge the beam by leaping around the various decor of their field. The energy around his paws shifted from rock to grass, as the beam followed him. Thankfully, the boost to his speed sent him sailing towards the Ursaluna, and the super effective Trailblaze knocked him off his guard.

With his mane spike, Lycanroc hammered the Ursaluna right on the moon on its forehead with the Brick Break, and the massive bear roared in agony as the agile wolf flipped away. Training with Lucario had long since taught him to recognize weak points, and he had the absurd speed to make use of that training.

"Drain Punch!" Though Lycanroc had flipped away, the Peat Pokémon was able to close the distance and hammer him with the move. As his health restored, his forehead began glowing, ominously. "Now Blood Moon!"

As always, Ash was ready. "Brick Break."

That was all the guidance Lycanroc needed. His claws flared with fighting energy, as he stood up on his hind legs and tanked the powerful attack, making it do less. Normal energy against a Rock Type didn't do much, and as Lycanroc broke the crimson beam by flaring his claws and dispersing it with Crush Claw, he backflipped into a Brick Breaking uppercut with the stone part of his mane.

Ursaluna, like all ursus, was quite tanky. Typically, letting them in close guaranteed pain. "Earthquake!" Florian countered, and the massive Ursaluna recovered from the hit, eyes glinting crimson as he countered. The move struck the ground in a circle around them, hammering Lycanroc hard, but that was what Ash had been waiting for.

"Reversal."

Lycanroc snarled, and in a flash, moved out of the peat-covered bear's melee range. The Ursaluna swiped the air with a Brick Break before the pain of the Reversal made it faint, and collapse in a heap. "Trailblaze back over here, Lycanroc." Ash ordered, smirking. The freedom with moves was something he was very much a fan of this time around.

Florian meanwhile grimaced as he recalled Bermejo. "Don't worry. We can finish him, now." He was aware how Ash's Lycanroc got, when it was this low on health and this fast. "Baluarte!" Florian called, and his Chesnaught answered him.

The two Pokémon eyed each other warily, but this time Florian seized the initiative. "Iron Defense! Then Seed Bomb!"

Ash frowned, but defense wouldn't be enough. "You won't be able to crack this alone." Lycanroc was prideful, but he knew well the impact switching had on a battle. "Set the stage. Stealth Rock!" The rocks filled the air, and despite having weaker move power, somehow canceled out the Seed Bomb barrage, and laid the field, in its entirety, with Stealth Rocks.

"Again! Iron Defense and Seed Bomb!" Florian ordered again, as his slow, grass fighter launched another Seed Bomb. Ash exclaimed, as the power of the second barrage increased in power and rattled the earth around him not unlike an actual barrage of bombs. Or bolter rounds when they hit the ground.

Ash focused his mind, breathing deeply as he felt that familiar traumatic stress response building in response to the barrage. He wasn't in the Imperium…and apparently the Imperator was leaving the planet soon, if he hadn't already.

"L-Lycanroc…uhh, right. Sandstorm! You know what comes next!" His partner looked at him worriedly, but Ash was giving his best 'holding it together' expression. He had to focus. One slip up, and their shot at a perfect ten would disappear.

Baluarte shielded his face from the sand with a giant arm, but this also blocked his eyes from his opponent. "Spiky Shield!" Florian ordered, and the tanky porcupine knight shifted into a ball, grass energy surrounding him as it fended off the Sandstorm.

Ash's voice echoed. "Good. Now…Aerial Ace!"

A roar that was entirely too draconic cut through the Sandstorm, and as powerful as Chesnaught's defense was, a Garchomp's attack power was greater.

Especially when it Mega Evolved.

Ash's Mega Garchomp shot out of the sand like a jet, the rough sand just sliding off his rough scales ineffectually, as he sliced into Baluarte. The Chesnaught groaned, but the Spiky Shield did manage to damage the dragon. Slightly.

"OH! Garchomp comes out for blood with a sneaky substitution!" Parsons' words cut through the roar of the storm.

As Mega Garchomp came around for another pass, the Stealth Rocks parting for his flight, Florian shouted, "Giga Drain!"

The ranged move went off, though it didn't do much, and as the small health boost took effect, Florian just barely managed to recall the Chesnaught as another Aerial Ace sliced through the air he'd been standing in.

Without Agudo, he didn't really have ice coverage, which left fairy, and dragon. Thus, he chose the partner that might be able to slay the dragon. "Amour!"

His Kalos-born Sylveon appeared with a shout, and smiled darkly as he saw his opponent. The smile faded as Stealth Rocks courtesy of Lycanroc locked on to and hammered him. The dedicated cheering section for Florian erupted in surprisingly loud roars, even as their side took damage.

Thankfully, Mr. Parsons had done his research. "For those unaware, Florian's Sylveon is practically undefeated in Naranuva Academy's Academy Ace Tournaments! It's earned a bit of a reputation as a merciless Battler! But will that be enough against the World Champion's longtime partner!?"

"You know what to do, Garchomp!" Ash shouted, and the dragon infused with Infinity Energy snarled an acknowledgment. He raised his fused claws, and the Sandstorm raged harder. Amour grimaced, trying to shield himself as he was damaged further. But this particular weather move was one he disliked.

"Dazzling Gleam!" Florian ordered, hoping the powerful area of effect move would do…something. Mega Garchomp answered it with a brutal Iron Head that came rolling out of the storm from Amour's left, and sent the Sylveon rolling across the field with worrying speed.

"We're not done yet, bud…" Florian raised his Terastal Orb, choosing his original from his first year over the Omni Ring. The device was now fully composed of the Terastal Crystals from Area Zero and empowered by Terapagos. "Embrace your power! Terastalize and use Moonblast!"

Amour dazzled as he radiated intense aura around his body, his tendrils focusing, forming a massive ball of fairy energy between them. It was a valiant effort, but Garchomp was at his peak. He gracefully arced around the edge of the massive fairy typed move, only tapping it at the end with a Metal Claw via his fin to make it detonate.

Garchomp was a blur, the move missed him completely, and he zipped past Amour with an Iron Head empowered by the concussive force of Dazzling Gleam's explosion. The already damaged Sylveon fainted, Mega Garchomp arced up into the air and roared. The crowd went wild as Ash cemented his lead.

Florian grimaced. He had no one left that could reliably take a Garchomp like this down. He blinked in surprise, as Morder, his own Garchomp, rattled in his ball, eager for the challenge. Florian needed a win though, not a challenge.

Finally, he sighed. "Alright then. We'll play it that way. Morder!" His Garchomp appeared with a roar, and the crowd whooped. Two Garchomp facing off at this level was always an entertaining show. "Terastalize!" Florian shouted, and portions of the crowd shifted from excitement to confusion.

Instead of a blurple aura that radiated power, the strength of the ground itself cloaked Morder. His body appeared more crystalline, his stance more solid, and just like that, they once again had a type advantage.

"It's Mega Evolution versus Terastalization, folks! Historically, in terms of raw power, Infinite Energy gives more, but El Primero is the Tamer of Terapagos! If anyone could prove its strength, it's him!"

Mega Garchomp looked at Ash, who nodded, and gestured for his feisty dragon to fight as he pleased. "Dig!" Florian shouted, and Morder dove into the earth easily. Now more wary of the ground, Mega Garchomp stayed in the air.

Ash let Florian play his game. Giving them time was a bad idea. "Dragon Dance!" He shouted up at his dragon, who nodded, remembering the importance of stat boosts in battle. In a direct replication of a certain Dragon Emperor's own Garchomp, Ash's proved that he had also mastered the move, and he began arcing through the air in an infinity symbol pattern.

Thankfully, Florian was a good student. By all known laws of science and aviation…Garchomp should not have been able to fly. And yet, heedless of human science, Garchomp flew anyway, and was one of the fastest creatures in the Earth's skies. Scientists had speculated for years about the 'how'.

Maybe its ground typing utilized electromagnetic fields from the ground, but then how did they fly so high? Maybe their species had once been more aquatic, and their dragon typing and adaptation had turned impressive swimming speed into flight speed. Whatever the case, most of the scientific community had assumed it was some fluke of the environment and the power of its dragon typing.

But, in its warped Mega Form, Garchomp's claws became much heavier. Mega Garchomp was every bit the aerial threat its base form was, but unknown to most, they did need to rest frequently, or at least fly lower to the ground before ascending again. Ash's Garchomp had been in the air likely since it was called out and Mega Evolved. The aerial limit for most examples of the species was about eight minutes.

Florian made the gamble. As time passed and they reached ten minutes, Mega Garchomp continued Dragon Dancing, but despite that rise in power, did eventually need to float lower. "Don't go near the ground!" Ash warned, and the look of surprise as his partner growled at him suggested he was not aware of this quirk of Mega Garchomp's form.

Still, the dragon took his Trainer's instincts into account. Now almost fully boosted six stages, he gained as much air as he could, before Florian saw the weight of his massive claws dragging him earthward again.

He'd only need a few seconds over the ground, which reinforced Florian's belief in the electromagnetism theory, but that was their window. They needed to use it. As Mega Garchomp began to descend, he gave the order. "Draco Meteor!"

From under the ground, a sphere of powerful draconic energy shot into the sky, and as it split and descended in a barrage of dragon energy bombs, Mega Garchomp was forced to focus on dodging. "Now, Dragon Rush!" Florian ordered.

Like a Gible lurking in a wall, Morder leapt with perfect precision, and chomped down onto his Mega Evolved counterpart's neck. Mega Garchomp went soaring upwards, and several Draco Meteor shards honed in on him, adding to the damage. The explosions damaged Morder as well, as did Mega Garchomp's close range Dragon Claw digging into his opponent's scales as they barreled through the air.

"Not bad." Ash said, cutting through the quiet following the explosions. "But not enough! Finish it, Garchomp!"

The damaged dragon's eyes snapped open, and he launched back towards the ground, hammering it with an Earthquake. The entire field, just large enough in this configuration to accommodate Dynamaxing, rose up to smash into Morder, and bury him under what seemed like a living tide of earth.

As boosted as he was, Mega Garchomp was barely visible as he Dragon Rushed through his opponent, but to Morder's credit, he struck with a Dragon Claw as well. Both Garchomp roared, and devolved into a Dragon Claw slug fest the crowd loved, but both their Trainers recognized that at this point, was a battle of pride for the two male dragons.

They circled each other in the center of the shattered battlefield, trading claw strikes. Both dragons were heavily damaged by this point, and the crowd had turned quiet, hanging on each movement. Then, out of nowhere, Florian resumed giving commands that Morder followed maybe three out of four times. But it helped.

Ash's Garchomp was running on fumes, but was too prideful to listen this far into his rage, which gave Morder an opening. "Watch the Dragon Claw…now CRUNCH!" Florian ordered.

In a final burst of speed, Morder sent the claw of his rival deep into the earth. Mega Garchomp snarled as it stuck fast, and it turned into a roar as Morder lived up to his name, latching on with his serrated fangs. The other fused wing-claw sliced Morder, as Garchomp lost his Mega Form, and collapsed. But that final claw was enough to faint Morder as well. They collapsed into a growling, draconic heap. Florian grimaced, but nodded to himself as he recalled his partner.

"If you're just joining us folks, our World Champion is leading El Primero by two! Not an insurmountable lead, but one that will be difficult to balance all the same. Seems like El Primero has made his choice!"

"Proto." Florian said quietly. His Ceruledge appeared with a flash and a slow rise to a ready position. His swords lengthened, and burned to life with ghostly flames.

Ash was grinning perpetually by now. Two prime examples of Garchomp going head to head had gotten him going, as much as the crowd. "Annihilape! It's your turn."

The ghostly ape appeared with a lack of flair and while Ash's team always got cheers, the crowd seemed wary of this Annihilape. Since evolving, the rage that had defined him had cooled, focused, and become more intense. An aura of malice covered the broken field thanks no doubt to his partner's ghost typing, and Ash took the initiative.

"Earthquake!"

Annihilape's movement was a blur. A single punch flattened the field again with a shockwave of ground energy, but Proto had leapt into the air above it, holding his height with a Flame Charge. "Phantom Force!" Florian ordered, and Proto let his momentum carry through to the Spirit World, turning the two turn attack into one move.

A surge of fire and ghostly energy erupted under Annihilape's feet, but the dead ape didn't bother trying to dodge. Annihilape took the hit hard, as Proto flipped back to his side of the field.

With an unnerving cracking sound that echoed across the arena, Annihilape rose from where he'd been smashed, and shrieked at the armored flame knight.

Proto held his head as the ungodly Hyper Voice echoed unnaturally, and when he looked back at his opponent, the ghost ape was gone from sight.

"Rage Fist." The World Champion's baritone cut through the silence on the field, and the crowd rumbled with approval as their chosen hero spoke.

Another crack rolled through the arena, and Ceruledge was sent rolling. As it rose unsteadily from the hit, pieces of its Weak Armor fell away, its speed boosted dramatically, and Florian took the counter. "Bitter Blades!"

"Don't let them hit you." Ash ordered, and the Annihilape sank into the ground with his own Phantom Force.

Seeing that, Florian reacted instead of waiting. Something Ash was counting on. "Don't let up on it! Phantom Force!"

As Proto sank into the ground with far less momentum this time, Ash gave his younger opponent some free advice. "You may regret that…" The battle wasn't over, just because both of their partners were now in the Spirit World.

Florian's brow furrowed, as the center of the field opened up with a portal to another dimension. There was another wince-inducing crack that echoed across the stadium, and a moment later, Proto went sailing up and out of it, as Annihilape slowly rose back up to his reality to the sound of Mr. Parsons' voice.

"Ohh! El Primero's Ceruledge goes down from an otherworldly beat down by this new member of Ash's team! That leaves the World Champion down two members, while Florian only has half his team left!"

Florian looked up, as Ash exposited. "Annihilape is actually one of my oldest partners! One I took far too long to reunite with." The Annihilape turned to him, hope shining in his undead eyes. "Nyyyyye?"

Ash tilted his head, and consulted the rest of his team. Charizard and Lucario weren't thrilled with Annihilape's idea, but they admitted it was fair. They'd all had plenty of World Tournament battles, and this wasn't even technically the finals. Ash relented. "Alright bud." His smirk widened. "The rest are all yours."

The excitement of an Annihilape came through a bit differently. Having one of his own, at a lower level, Florian could tell this undead ape was hyped. That ungodly shriek of 'nyyyyyyyyye' echoed around the stadium again, and he thumped his chest twice, before powerfully exhaling.

Florian's eyes narrowed. If he was going to lose, it was not going to be against an evolutionary form Paldea had discovered. "Dorado!"

Yet another Paldean icon took the field then, and their cheering section erupted as the good vibe emanating Gholdengo gave them a two-fingered salute, and then grinned at Annihilape. "Poltergeist!"

The Gholdengo wasted no time as Ash called for a Shadow Punch. Annihilape's Expert Belt, well-hidden under his fur, suddenly glowed with ghost energy, tightening and binding the ferocious spirit. Dorado casually waved his hand back and forth, slamming Annihilape into the ground in a brutal display of his ghostly power.

The exact instant the Poltergeist faded, Annihilape was moving. Dorado's eyes widened as the Shadow Punch caught the back of his head, cursed as it was to always land a hit. Dorado did what most Gholdengo did when threatened, and hopped on his 'surfboard' made of coins.

To his dismay, and the crowd's amusement, Annihilape jumped on the ghostly board too, and just kept punching. Normally punching a being made of coins would've hurt, but Annihilape 'lived' for that pain. Even as Dorado hit back with Shadow Punch, it only seemed to make Annihilape rage harder. Finally, another Poltergeist yanked him off by his Expert Belt, but the damage was done. Dorado had taken quite a beating.

Ash was just smirking, eyes covered by his classic hat. "Finish it, Annihilape."

The undead ape nodded, and then leapt, using its unbound undead strength to catch up to Dorado. Florian had since Terastalized him, but that only made Annihilape switch from a Karate Chop to a Rage Fist, and both would've had the same effect: knocking Dorado off his board, as it collapsed into the coins it was made up of.

Annihilape charged again, but Dorado managed to hit his Expert Belt with another Poltergeist. For all the good it did. The Annihilape was burning with rage by now, and all Poltergeist did was slow him temporarily, before he closed the distance and hammered the golden ghost into unconsciousness.

Mr. Parsons struggled to compete with the roar of the crowd, as he commentated. "Another KO for Annihilape! Can El Primero stop this undead rage machine!? Or is this the end for his World Tournament bid!?"

The thing about an Annihilape's rage was, at high enough levels, it tended to rile up those around them. This was why most wild Mankey were so prone to violence. Otherwise, kept fed and happy, they could coexist in habitats as well as a Tyranitar. But once the alternate evolution was discovered, researchers the world over confirmed: many wild Mankey troops had an Annihilape lurking nearby, usually in a sort of vampire-like hibernation. Even in that state, their rage leaked out though.

Florian felt it too. His usually cool head was now teetering on the edge of disgracing himself in front of the man-shaped mountain that was Ash Ketchum. A mountain he had no hope of climbing over. Not now. Mr. Parsons made the truth of his situation sink home further.

"Four Pokémon left, and one of them was already damaged earlier! What will our Challenger do next?"

Florian angrily threw his starter, and the crowd called his name for him.

"Req-ui-em! Req-ui-em! Req-ui-em!"

His Skeledirge rose up on two legs, and then bowed like a conductor at an opera. Then, he noticed his Trainer. "Dirge."

"I'm fine. Face your opponent." Florian ordered, but his starter didn't move. Instead, the mysterious firebird that seemed to share a symbiotic existence with this species of Pokémon hopped down Requiem's long snout, and onto Florian's violet cap.

Memories flooded him. Him, Nemona, Fuecoco, and Juliana looking out over Paldea from Poco Path's lighthouse/laboratory. Their first real test of Terastal power at the foot of the academy stairs. Eight gyms, many of which Requiem himself had won. The double against Ryme had left a particularly deep impression on his starter, but the flood kept coming.

His little fire gator filled his mind with his journey, from stepping out the door with Paldea's three starters before them, to the depths of Area Zero's deepest caverns, where they'd faced Terapagos itself.

His focus restored, Florian gave the firebird scritches, and it hopped back to Requiem. "That's right bud." The crowd had gone silent watching that moment, "We're nowhere near done yet!" The fire gator turned, and Annihilape pounded his chest eagerly, as he sensed his opponents had re-lit their willpower. "Shadow Ball!" The Paldean cheering section erupted in cheers, and Florian missed what Ash said next. But a cold chill went down his spine as the fuming, furry ghost ape just sank into the floor, and into another plane of existence, apparently.

Having learned from Proto, he knew using Phantom Force was a bad idea. But Skeledirge didn't have much in the way of defensive moves. The best defense he had was a strong offense. "Fire Spin! Full power!" Requiem exhaled, and with a single droning note, the flames he spewed from his toothy maw raised him up into the air atop his Fire Spin.

The Paldean section roared in approval, and Mr. Parsons spoke for the rest of the crowd as he exclaimed, "Now I've seen it all folks! A flying Skeledirge! Wonders never cease at the World Tournament!"

Annihilape launched out of the Spirit World at an impressive speed, only to appear within Florian's trap thanks to the homing nature of Phantom Force. El Primero was ready with the counter. "Now Heat Wave!"

"Stone Edge!" Ash ordered, and the undead ape gave up on striking with Phantom Force and fell back to the ground to encase himself in stones. The heat turned up, but Annihilape was beyond the pains of the flesh.

"That won't save you! Requiem! Sing the song of the Asado Desert!"

Another note echoed throughout the stadium, lighter, undulating, and as it rose higher in pitch, Scorchings Sands swirled up around the Stone Edge, turning even hotter as the mid-air Skeledirge was propelled by his self-sustaining Fire Spin. The sand, more than anything else, managed to irritate Annihilape. It battered him relentlessly, burned as hot as Unova's Desert Resort, and he couldn't strike back at it. Or so he thought.

Ash gave the order as he saw his partner struggle. "Annihilape! Use Dig!" With a nod, the undead ape turned his focus on the ground, and burrowed into it.

Florian didn't let up, though. "Stay aloft! Flamethrower on the hole!" Requiem roared, and a spiraling torrent of fire filled the hole, but as Florian watched Annihilape's HP tracker, it didn't so much as move.

He winced, as the World Champion calmly said, "Phantom Force." Instead of from below this time, the attack came from a hole that opened in the air, and once more the arena shook with the impact that Annihilape's unbound fist delivered to his target.

Florian glared at the ground, unable to look at his best friend as he read the numbers on the board, and gave his next order. "Curse." He could feel the disappointment in his partner's ghostly tone, but there was no other choice. If he wanted Annihilape to faint, Curse was the only reliable move. He didn't have enough health after that hit for anything else.

Mr. Parsons' tone was somber as Requiem sacrificed himself to curse Annihilape. "It's always tough to make the right call in these Matches. Especially when it hurts your first partner. With only three Pokémon left, what will El Primero do next?"

Florian answered him, by bringing out the most powerful looking Ampharos Ash had ever seen. Having been with Florian almost as long as Requiem, Faro had become a force unto himself, and Poco Path's lighthouse rarely went dark these days, thanks to him. Paldea's strongest Champion didn't wait, but the World Champion saw his path to victory. He knew what Florian was saving for last, which meant Faro was the last obstacle to victory.

"Thunder Wave and Confuse Ray! Don't stop until they land!" Florian ordered, as he shifted his Omni Ring to Mega Evolution.

As Faro's power rolled across the field, Annihilape could feel his limit approaching. The moves, and their damage had begun to add up.

But he wasn't done yet.

He didn't wait for Ash, and seeing his friend's determination, the World Champion stayed quiet. Annihilape bobbed and weaved past circular Thunder Waves, leapt over the Confuse Ray, and straight into a Shadow Punch. Suddenly, somewhat inexplicably, Annihilape was sent hurtling backward and had to dig both paws into the field to slow his momentum. The video clip of this moment would attribute the repulsion to Faro's sheer 'aura', but Ash recognized the masterfully deployed combination of Reflect and Light Screen. He hadn't even noticed Faro raise it, but it'd have to have been when he Mega Evolved.

"You'll need Brick Break if you want to hit hi- Watch the Thunder!" Ash called, and Annihilape rolled out of the way of the blast of intense, wide area plasma, right into a Thunderbolt.

"Don't let up!" Florian shouted, "Take it down!"

After taking that hit, Annihilape cleared all the heretofore unknown requirements for a power-up only his species could access. It required an intense amount of rage from high level battling, and less than half health.

What happened next, happened quickly.

As Paralysis rolled over Annihilape's body, he didn't freeze up. It was like all that electricity from a Mega Pokémon had the opposite effect on his undead body. He started panting heavily as he rose to his feet again. Ash's brow furrowed. His partner's new hairdo, instead of wavy and spooky, was now straight, pointy, and a lighter color. Kind of blonde like Serena's but a lighter shade of yellow, almost reminiscent of what it'd been when he'd still been a Primeape.

Having seen more than enough Pokémon go berserk in his time, Ash called out to his partner. "Annihilape! You okay?" His heart wasn't closed off…but something had changed.

Across the field, Faro crouched low, eyes narrowed. "Amphar!" Florian trusted his partner's judgment, and nodded. "Go on! Increase it as much as you need!"

The Reflect Screen became larger, forming a psychic hexagonal circular shell. Then another. And another. Ten times Faro reinforced it, after which, he was sweating, but still good to battle.

It didn't matter.

"PRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIME!" Annihilape shot forward, and Mr. Parsons was ready with the play-by-play.

"Oh! It's…a Mega Punch!? But something about it seems-" He never got to finish his sentence, and far too few people present noticed the subtle difference in that shriek. But Ash did.

He had, upon learning what Annihilape actually was, had reservations about evolving his partner. But Primeape had been adamant, as was his nature. He wanted the power evolving would give. In that moment, that masterpiece of a move that would come to be known as an Annihilation Punch, he saw a brief glimmer of his formerly living friend.

Like a comet with comically small but mighty legs, Annihilape streaked across the field, and his Annihilation Punch shattered all ten of Faro's shields, mostly because the energy powering it had turned from normal to fighting, and the move had similar properties to Brick Break when it came to psychic barriers.

The punch made contact with the draconic electro sheep, and Faro rocketed away, slamming mercilessly into the energy barrier behind Florian. Before Florian could turn, before Faro could even start to stand, the spiky haired Annihilape was there.

A barrage of furious Mega Punches hammered Faro, and Ash was instructed to recall Annihilape before he went too far.

His ball twitched furiously in the World Champion's hand, and Ash glared at it. "You need to calm down. Now." The psychic reverb, and Confusion tier psychic energy that surged into the ball seemed to be enough to snap Annihilape back to normal, but needless to say, his World Tournament was over. "You did good, bud…but you went way too far." Ash could sense the disappointment radiating from the calming ghost…but also understanding. He chuckled. At least his friend understood where he'd failed, and how. That was good. It would make mastering whatever that new move was much easier.

Thankfully for Faro, his more durable Mega Form took most of the damage, and he'd only fainted. The most that had been broken was his pride. There was a brief intermission afterwards, and several referees, Ash, Florian, and Mr. Parsons had a conversation in the middle of the field. It ended with Ash and Florian exchanging words, and then shaking hands as Parsons hobbled back to his booth.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it seems that the World Champion's Annihilape reached a new level of power! However with great increases in power, comes a lack of stability and control. Ash Ketchum will not be using Annihilape again in this World Tournament, until he masters this new power!"

The crowd roared in approval as the two Champions took their places again. "We now continue with our regularly scheduled Match! The World Champion has seven remaining Pokémon, while El Primero has just two, one of whom was damaged earlier in the Battle! Oh! It seems El Primero is using his only Item for the match, a Max Potion, on Baluarte the Chesnaught! What will be Ash's answer!?"

Ash smirked, and turned his hat backwards. The stadium lost its mind, and only went wilder as he shouted, "CHARIZARD! I choose you!"

One of the strongest flame-spewing fire lizards on the planet flew into the sky, but even his mighty roar was absolutely drowned by the crowd. Yet, despite that, Charizard felt his stats rise. Rather significantly. He circled through the air, back to Ash. "Bring us home, Charizard!"

Looking at the quadruple-weakness bearing Chesnaught, Charizard almost wanted to not even bother battling. Baluarte's eyes narrowed sharply at the fire lizard's disdain. Charizard knew he had flight, and a natural flying typing, there was only one way this could end. But he'd promised not to give up on battling for Ash, in a League tournament. Again.

"It's all Rock Moves, Baluarte! Start with a Rock Slide! Then begin setting up!" Florian shouted, as he Mega Evolved his Chesnaught once more.

Ash was just smirking confidently. Florian really should've known that at a certain point…Charizard became basically immune to rock moves. "Dragon Dance." Ash ordered. His partner rolled easily past the Rock Slide as his stats increased even further, and gave his Trainer a questioning growl. Ash shook his head. "Not yet. Let them set up…let's see what they have." Ash was always down to learn, and then steal and improve on, an opponent's tricks.

Florian was wary of Ash's confidence, and grimaced. He knew Charizard's dex entries as well as anyone. Their flames melted rocks…but heat took time to transfer. "Baluarte! Granite Tomb!"

Ash's brow furrowed as the Mega Chesnaught summoned massive chunks of granite around and above Charizard, who dodged them as easily as the Rock Slide. Then, with one of its massive quill swords, the Mega Chesnaught began slicing them diagonally. The spare chunks, when they didn't simply break apart, were thrown elsewhere.

Ash just watched, and though making ramps for what he guessed would be Rollout wasn't a new strategy…this Chesnaught had presumably trained alongside Florian's Miraidon. He had high hopes.

As Florian ordered repeated Rollout attacks, Charizard continued to dodge with Dragon Dance. Eventually, Florian determined his Mega Chesnaught had reached an optimal speed. "Now!" As enhanced as Charizard was, he could tell immediately that this time, Baluarte was right on target. His rolled up body expanded with spikes large enough to guarantee a hit, and Florian added the final condiment to the pain sandwich he'd crafted. "STONE EDGE!"

Ash called for a dodge, but Charizard could only do so much. And, somehow, the Mega Chesnaught had redirected his momentum in mid air to follow his quarry relentlessly. Ash raised his Key Stone, and having both strands of his species' evolutionary potential available to him, Charizard went with X. In a battle like this, not having a quadruple weakness would all but guarantee a win.

The pause evolving cost was enough to allow Baluarte his shot. Charizard watched as the Mega Chesnaught's stony body shifted perfectly, becoming humanoid again in an instant, and drawing those two stone typing infused weapons from where they rested on the shell. Mega Charizard X knew they were going to hit, but he could control where when his speed was boosted this much.

Ash, naturally, was ready with the move. "Seismic Toss!"

Florian watched in disbelief as the Mega Charizard took one strike that he seemed to disregard even at super effectiveness, and then gripped the haft of Baluarte's weapon to cartwheel through the air and launch him at the ground. Air Slashes followed immediately, hammering the Mega Chesnaught in the softer midsection that was his species weak point. When the dust cleared, Baluarte's eyes were Poli-patterned, and the ref called the faint.

The crowd erupted into almost unnerving jubilation at Florian's imminent defeat. Most were just further pumped up by Mega Charizard's roar of victory, but there were plenty who were glad that the young hotshot from Paldea was finally getting a lesson in losing from one of the greats. Like many Champions before him, Florian had left a trail of utterly steamrolled route-travelling Trainers in his victorious wake, and they did not always take losing so gracefully.

"It all comes down to this, folks! It's no secret what El Primero's last choice will be! It wouldn't be an understatement to call this next Pokémon the reason he's never lost! Especially in these circumstances!"

Florian threw, right as Mr. Parsons finished expositing. "Go! Espada!"

The Kingambit appeared sitting on his own 'hair', and Ash immediately loved his entire vibe. The dominant Shogun/Boss pose. The hunched over position. The casual placement of each bladed arm that evoked a sense of both authority and exhaustion. And the berry on top, was the actual steam that exhaled from his steely mouth as those eyes, as sharp as any of his blades, opened, and took them in.

The massive greatblade attached to his 'helmet' lowered and raised slightly, in acknowledgement of who he faced. Strength recognizing strength. "I want one…" Ash murmured to himself.

Then, Kingambit started to fly. Float, was more scientifically accurate, as a low grumbling sound within his steel resonance-capable body generated both lift and propulsion for Kingambit's heavy frame in a manipulation of natural forces that scientists still didn't fully understand. It also didn't help that only high level Kingambit had the power or experience needed to achieve this method of locomotion. Others had lesser degrees of it, but the universally agreed upon theory was that Kingambit's 'hair' was the source of this strange ability.

Both Ash and Charizard flinched, as Supreme Overlord took effect…nine times over. Kingambit's aura even affected the crowd, and many fans would later report brief visions of the other battlers on Florian's team…specifically their final moments, before fainting to mostly Annihilape.

Darkness radiated off of Kingambit as the nature of his ability was one of the few 'natural' ways to advance a Pokémon's stats further than six stages. While Mega Charizard still had speed and an advantage in special attack power, Kingambit's boosts made it more defensive than a Snorlax, with even more HP as well. It didn't need speed with strength like this.

Ash was quick to react. "Use your speed, Charizard! And keep your distance!"

Florian gave his floating ball of anger and steel his order as he activated his Omni Ring, and Terastalized his partner. The darkness formed a visible aura shield, as he floated above the now ruined field. "Kowtow Cleave." Espada's head blade lowered, his entire body wound up like a spring, but Ash and Charizard saw their opportunity.

"Focus Blast!"

A moment passed, as Mega Charizard charged his attack, and Espada readied his own attack. Kowtow Cleave never missed, and the high level Kingambit took the pause to do exactly what Mega Charizard was, with a fighting move.

The black Charizard rocked in the air as he fired off his focused sphere of Ki, and a moment later, Espada had moved behind the Focus Blast with the power of his darkness. He emerged in Mega Charizard's shadow on the field, then, came the slash. Nine strikes condensed into one single move, Mega Charizard roared as he felt the pain of Espada's losses turned into power.

The dragon went sailing towards the ground, but Florian didn't let him recover. "Foul Play!"

Mega Charizard's stat boosting backfired now, as Espada appeared over his midsection mid-fall, and hammered it with a darkness coated punch straight to the gut. Mega Charizard further shattered the field as he bounced off of it, but the dragon type took that chance to regain his own power over his flight, and counter.

His move resembled Dragon Claw, but Ash could tell it was a finely honed Brick Break.

"Zen Headbutt!" Florian ordered, and just as swiftly, Espada closed again, shattered Mega Charizard's move, and struck. The fiery dragon was taking hits, but he was nowhere near done yet.

"Alright Charizard! Time to go beyond your limits!" Ash shouted, raising his Z-Ring. The burning eyes of his partner looked back at him, and he nodded. The longer this went on, the more likely Espada would win. Charizard knew well who Ash would pick next, and he didn't want to hear Lucario's smug taunting if he had to clean up what should've been an easy win for them.

Ash began the dance of what had become like a second home region to him. It was one that honored all of Alola's islands, and how they had been made. A Z-Move that his friend Kiawe had mastered, and after much pestering, finally shared. Combining a Mega Form and a Z-Move wasn't unheard of, but it had serious drawbacks. After this, Charizard would be in a state not unlike a post-Hyper Beam, but it lasted longer, and in a battle at this level, that would be it for his fire lizard. Seeing Ash's plan, Florian made his own. The weakest link in Mega Charizard X was its special defense.

"Espada! Focus your Terastal Power! Give me the largest Tera Blast you can!"

Thus, as Ash danced out a mimicry of an erupting volcano, and sent that fiery energy into Mega Charizard, across the field, Espada reached out to Terapagos, and the dark typed Tera Blast condensed and spun in between his steel palms like a miniature black hole.

Seeing what his opponent was doing, Mega Charizard did the same with the shining orb of lava that had begun forming above him. Drops of molten magma flew all over, but Charizard continued regardless.

"IT'S Z-POWER VERSUS TERASTAL POWER, FOLKS! Don't blink! This might just be it!"

The end of Mr. Parsons' sentence was wordlessly agreed on as the moment that both Pokémon fired their moves. The arena's shields flared, and above them, Ash felt a massive psychic presence suddenly focus, and reinforce them. The mind felt…like Mewtwo's, but Ash didn't have time to look.

The spheres of fire and darkness collided between the two Pokémon who'd launched them. The darkness drew the fire in, but not unlike a Sun, it collapsed in on itself and burned even brighter. The natural brightness overpowered the dark energy, and exploded nearer to Espada. His Terastalization shattered, as Charizard lost his Mega Form, and as the explosion cleared, Charizard remained in the air, visibly sagging, but still coherent enough to launch a Flamethrower and spur on the crowd. He kept himself aloft on their energy, and not much else. What health he had remaining, was in the red. Parts of the Tera Blast had reached him, but it hadn't been enough.

The ref floated over atop his Aegislash to examine Espada. His entire form was smoking, and with an exhalation of black smoke from his metal mouth, he collapsed forward like an empty suit of armor.

"Kingambit is no longer able to Battle!" The ref declared, and Florian visibly deflated. The crowd had the opposite reaction. "Ash Ketchum advances to the Superior Sixteen!"

Florian recalled Espada, and made his way to the center of the field. Ash got there first, and was waiting. Grinning ear to ear, he held out a strong looking hand. "That…was a heck of a Battle, El Primero."

Florian shook his hand, as he overcame his moment of awe. Standing this close, he had no idea how he'd ever thought he could win against this mountain of a presence. "You don't have to be nice…I was nowhere near your level."

Ash chuckled, and released his hand, patting his shoulder. "Keep traveling! The only difference between us, is experience. It's one thing to train by Battling…but Pokémon get even stronger when they actually face the challenges the road has to offer. I recommend rolling through the States. You'll understand what I mean by the time you reach Fornia."

Florian nodded. "I…might just try that. Good luck, World Champion. If anyone can win ten straight, it's you."

Ash thanked him, and then turned and strode confidently back to the locker room, Charizard in the air beside him. He wasn't the largest specimen alive, but he was easily one of the strongest. Even Florian's own Charizard wouldn't have been a match. Florian began walking back to his own side of the stadium, lost in thought. Ash had been hinting at something he'd wondered for a while now. If flying around on Miraidon wasn't robbing him, and his team, of opportunities to grow stronger they found just by walking around.

It was an older method of training, the one first to most successfully make use of it being Bruno of Kanto's Elite Four. He'd ridden his Onix the length of Japan and back until it became a Steelix. Maybe a journey on foot was exactly what they needed. Resolved on his path forward, Florian picked up his pace and left the field.

samael2006 · Jun 25, 2026

thanks for the chapter

Sahqoreyth · Jun 25, 2026

samael2006 said:
thanks for the chapter

Thanks for reading.

The Redwood Saga (Pokémon Fanfiction, Crossover)

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Sahqoreyth

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Not too sore, are you?

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Not too sore, are you?

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