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 · Friday at 8:23 PM

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.

The Redwood Saga (Pokémon Fanfiction, Crossover)

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