Destiny Village ~ Central Crossroads

[Chibi Pika]

Starr let out a snort. "Yeah, doesn't every kid wanna train a buncha dragons, win the league, beat the champion, that sorta deal?" She hadn't really cared too much about getting strong when she'd first started out. Getting strong had just been... a necessity.

"But yeah, alright the rest of 'em. There's Rapidash--he was the first one to join the team. Pretty chill, but he and Feraligatr couldn't stand each other at first. Then Arcanine--she can be real moody, took a long time for her to trust me. Flareon, he was total pushover at first, had to teach him to stand up to the others." She paused, grinning. "And as of a few months before I got here, Feraligatr's new best bud, Gyarados." Alright, Starr had to admit, it felt pretty good to brag about her team. Would've felt too weird to do it to anyone who wasn't a trainer. It was a nice bit of familiarity in the midst of all the bullshit they had to deal with lately.

"You pretty tight with your team? Which one was your starter anyway?"

 

[Negrek]

Nate tilted his head as he listened listened to Starr going on about her team, each one of them in turn. It was always great to hear people talk about their pokémon, the details they shared, the way they smiled when they talked about them, with their eyes going all distant. If they were good trainers, anyhow. Whatever her background was, Starr obviously cared about her pokémon. And Jesus, feraligatr, gyarados, arcanine, all of them, that was a pretty fucking fearsome bunch. She would have had to work hard to keep that lot occupied.

"Yeah. Pretty tight." Nate wished that didn't feel so close to a lie, but it was true. Was true and would be true. Everything they'd argued about seemed so far away now, and honestly pretty damn trivial when compared to the end of the fucking world. If he ever did get to see them again he wasn't ever going to argue with them about anything ever again. "Didn't really have a proper starter, but poochyena was my first. Not my choice, neither. I wanted a fucking eevee. She ain't never gonna let me live that down. But damn, that's quite a team you got there. How the hell do you manage all of them when they're so different? Like, feraligatr and gyarados are gonna need water, gyarados especially, and then rapidash and arcanine need all that room to run... Well. Probably shouldn't have asked about all that. Now I feel like we gotta battle sometime, you know? Bet that'd be something to see."

He was already sketching out strategy in his head, almost automatically. Graveler would be the most important; the trick would be getting rid of the water-types so she could take on the rest. That gyarados, though. That would be a pain in the ass...

 

[Chibi Pika]

"Yeah, not gonna pretend like they don't keep me busy, that's for damn sure. My friends and I travel around a lot." More than the average trainer really. "We don't usually spend much time in one place." Because they couldn't risk the Rockets finding them. "So there's plenty of chances to let our teams hang out outside. And, yeah, usually near the ocean. Feraligatr and me are usually on the page so she helps keep everyone in line--couldn't do it without her."

Man, if talking about teams wasn't nostalgic, then a battle invite really was. Sure, between Owen, Brisa, and Cabot, Starr got invited to spar at least daily. But it just hit different in a trainer context. "Our training's been a lot more chill ever since leaving Rocket, but I know they'd be up for a battle," she said with a grin. "They're always bugging me for new opponents. One of my friends is into competitive, so we usually get thrashed when we face her. My squad's tougher but she's always pulling galaxy brain shit," Starr added with a snort.

 

[Negrek]

Traveling around a lot, never spending much time in one place... Made sense if you were defecting from Rocket, especially if you were someone as high-profile as Starr. Nate probably had the same deal to look forward to if he ever got back home. At least it sounded like she and her team were taking it well. Sleeping in the woods for possibly the rest of his fucking life wasn't exactly Nate's favorite prospect.

"Ah, that's good. Keeping it chill makes sense, I guess... Pretty hard to do the league and shit if you gotta worry about somebody from the team recognizing you at a tournament or whatever." It was kinda funny, though. In Nate's world, Silver was a top-tier battler, somebody who'd given Gold a run for his money in the League. It sounded like Starr really didn't match up with him in that respect. Fucking weird how similar their worlds sounded except for, well, Starr herself. "Talking competitive, though, you know who's Champion in Johto right now? I'm kinda curious, because if Silver ain't in your world... What about Gold? And in my world Red's the Champion over in Kanto. And I guess it's the same for the world Silver's from, because Red's here, too. That Charizard who attacked Destiny Tower a little while ago is him, and Buffet says Red's one of those people who keeps showing up on different worlds. Does yours have him?"

"Don't talk about that, he's never going to shut up now," Rocky groaned.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Gold, Silver, Red... what was with all the color names? Some kinda translation quirk like Cibus's food theme? Then again, 'Giovanni' didn't really follow the theme. Neither did 'Nate' for that matter. "Huh... sorry, not ringing any bells. I'd heard rumors the Charizard that night was a human from Silver's world--didn't realize he was the League Champion. Where I'm from, the Champion's a guy named Lance. Famous dragon trainer, even before he got the position. Pretty sure he'd get turned into a Dragonite if he showed up here."

The League Champion from Silver's world had been pulled into Cibus too? What the hell did it mean? Hard to imagine he'd been brought here by Giovanni.

 

[Negrek]

"Oh, Lance! Yeah, he was Champion before Red and Blue. Not that long ago, like ten years ago or so." Nate rubbed pensively at his gills. "Actually, huh. Giovanni's still head of Team Rocket in your world, Lance is still Kanto champion... maybe your world is, like, just a little behind mine, time-wise. Like, maybe there's a kid out there who ain't even a trainer yet who's gonna be the Red for your world." He paused. "Guess that doesn't really explain Silver existing, though."

"That's right! Silver! The person we were just on our way to help?" Rocky said pointedly. "We don't have all day, you know."

"Calm your tits. We can take like five fucking minutes to have a conversation, Jesus," Nate said. Now that he was thinking along these lines, it seemed like a solid idea. "And at least in my world, Red was the one who knocked Giovanni for a loop, too. I dunno if that's, like, satisfying, since I bet you'd rather do it yourself. But at least the bastard might have it coming in your world, too, one way or another?"

"And we have to save Arceus!" Rocky insisted. "We're running out of time! You can talk later. We need to go."

"Rocky, piss off."

 

[Chibi Pika]

A faint smirk crossed Starr's face. "That'd be something, wouldn't it? I'll have to keep an eye out when I get back." It was a nice thought, anyhow, even if it seemed like Giovanni was pretty fucking untouchable back home. Of course, that just reminded her that she had more Rocket bullshit waiting for her back home, courtesy of her friends refusing to stay out of it. Delightful.

Rocky looked borderline ready to drag Nate away. Starr chuckled and said, "Alright, I'll quit holding you up if you got places to be. Hope Silver's doing alright." She had a couple more errands to run anyway. And she'd been planning to meet up with Owen later too...

"Anyway, I'll see ya around," Starr said, waving a paw.

Wild that one of the teammates she'd seen the least of here turned out to be the one she had the most in common with.

 

[Negrek]

"Oh, that's fine, we ain't in no ru--"

"Thanks, Starr! Good to see you, bye!" Rocky said loudly, making an exaggerated show of walking away. Nate was perfectly happy to let the dipshit go on his way, but a psychic tug behind his temples made him start with alarm. What the fuck, the guy wasn't even far away yet! "Right, catch you around, I guess," he said, more hurriedly than he'd like. But apparently he only had a few seconds before he started getting fucking dragged behind his familiar, so that was all he dared stick around for.

"You asshole," he snarled at Rocky when he caught up to the infernape. "We gotta go off on whatever stupid adventures you want to do, but I want to have one fucking conversation and suddenly we just don't got the time?"

"You can talk to Starr anytime you want," Rocky said primly. "We have more important things to do right now, and not a lot of time left."

"We got like two more days! And Silver ain't going fucking nowhere!"

"I'm more worried about Arceus," Rocky said, ears drooping. "He looked really tired, and if we're going to do anything about it, two days is barely enough!"

Yeah. The whole thing with Arceus. Nate grimaced. At this point, what the fuck could they even do? Coordinating anything at this point was going to be rough.

"It was pretty funny, though," Rocky said. "You looked so cute when you were talking about your pokémon. You tail wagged!"

"What?" Nate twisted around, staring at the stupid fin jutting up from his ass. "No, it fucking didn't!"

"Did too," Rocky said with a giggle. "And you're only going to get cuter, remember?" He pulled out one of the stupid bowties again, with that same huge shit-eating grin.

"Oh, I remember," Nate said darkly, but he was trying to forget again already. Arceus. That's what he needed to be thinking about now, and any way out from under the burning ball of destruction hanging over everybody's heads.

<><><><>​

 

[Namohysip]

It wasn't a standard meeting place, that was for sure. Rather than the Guild lobby, Maple had messaged everyone to show up in the very center of town. There, Maple, all of God Squad, and of course Arceus himself were standing there, waiting. With him was the Creation Trio, still fused as a single, three-headed hydra, along with most of the Legends that had lived there. Lugia, Ho-Oh, Reshiram, Zekrom, Kyurem, Yveltal, among several others.

"I suppose it goes without saying that this is the most important battle we've had yet," Maple said, addressing the team. "Arceus, myself, and a select few others know about the plan on our end to mitigate and perhaps even neutralize the attack Joule has fired. Dialga is not going to be able to preform another time bubble for a while, and we cannot rely on him to pause things for us again. Giratina has the energy to send us and Joule to the Reverse World. Palkia can disrupt Joule's attempts to teleport or warp away. We will have Lugia, Ho-Oh, and several others trying to support from the back, but our powers will be limited in the presence of Joule and that aura about him..."

"But we will do our best," Lugia said, nodding. "For all of all of Cibus, we must."

 

[Ambyssin]

“Aww, man! I didn’t buy enough sunglasses for the big scary god monsters!” Esper was busy handing out sunglasses and snow globes to Team Spectrum. “Whatever, I’m sure they’re smart enough to know not to look directly at Joule.”

“... let’s just get this over with.” Bahamut clenched and unclenched his fists.

 

[Adamhuarts]

"I guess we're really doing this now," Cynthian said, taking deep breaths and shuffling awkwardly. She was incredibly nervous, yet a little bit excited all the same. Perhaps the latter was just her pokemon instincts?

 

[Namohysip]

Maple looked at Dialga next. "Will you tell us when you'll drop the barrier?"

"Yeah. On three, when I start counting. But we have some final preparation, don't we?"

"Just a little."

"Good luck, everyone," Buffet said, still looking extremely transparent after his encounter with Giovanni. "I'm sorry I can't be of any help. I'm barely tangible..."

"But I will be," Karat said, holding his hand forward. "I'll be leading the Psychics in giving you platforms to fight. You're going to have to be airborne for this battle, especially while hopping islands in the Reverse World. Your jumps will go much further than you think, and we'll make sure the ground you walk on glows so you don't get disoriented."

"This is beyond my pay grade," Breaker said with a growl, "but perhaps I am paid with my life."

"We need every Psychic available," Wheat added. The Xatu's eyes glowed a little. "I may not be strong, but I can help."

"We'll be watching from the outside and relaying as much information as we can," Bean added. Three other canine Zygarde were standing next to him--as many as were stationed at Destiny Village.

"As a reminder, this is the plan in its broad strokes," Maple started. "First, Karat and his team will move everyone into position. Arceus will go ahead for the incoming blast and attempt to draw it away. Arceus has his plans, which others will assist in. Team Spectrum, your job will be to barrage Joule with as much as you can to subdue him. All of the others who believe they can withstand Joule's blasts with Team Spectrum will do what they can to assist if at any point Joule's power and energy nullification wanes.

"Are we all clear?"

 

[Ambyssin]

“And what about you?” Bahamut stared Maple down. “Are you going to be calling out to him. I think this lot want to see this resolved with purification.”

 

[Namohysip]

"I intend to," Maple said. "With any luck, maybe Joule would be able to hear from me... But... If that fails, I expect you to not hold back." Maple held her breath, then added, "He's stronger than that."

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut snorted. "Don't look at me. I'm the healer."

 

[Namohysip]

A ripple of cyan light washed over the sky. Heads turned toward it, then at Dialga, who nodded gravely.

"Positions, everybody!" Maple announced. "This is it. Do not falter. All of Cibus is on the line!"

Psychic energy formed under the feet of Team Spectrum. Karat with the other Psychics rose into the air; Arceus seemed to be adding extra power to help them get lifted off. They all ascended, higher and higher, until Destiny Village's entire grand perimeter was visible to them at once with a single glance down. They saw a little orange dot at the entrance to Poppin' Arms--a Charmander, standing as tall as he could, staring at them wordlessly.

Good luck.

Another ripple crossed the sky, then a crack. "Ready," Dialga said, looking strained. "...One... two... three!"

The barrier shattered, and the Blacklight That Burned the Sky continued its descent toward Cibus. They had forgotten how quick it was, despite its size.

 

[windskull]

The palpable tension was almost suffocating as Nip was raised into the air. He refused to look down. They couldn't afford for distractions or fear. Not now.

Tempest stood at his side, his tail-tips twitching nervously as he looked at the sky. "I hope you're ready," he mumbled.

"As ready as I can be," Nip replied. "Remember, keep close to me. And watch my back."

The bubble cracked. He waited for Tempest to confirm his understanding, then called back to the rest of the team. "Ready yourselves!"

 

[Namohysip]

What happened next came in a sudden swarm of activity. The blast flew toward Destiny Village with only seconds to spare, and at first, several on the team genuinely thought that Arceus wasn't strong enough to draw it away, let alone slow it down. But then, a wave of spectral energy made the light of the sky bend, and suddenly up and down had no meaning. Destiny Village disappeared around them, and the very light of Joule's attack seemed a little weaker and odder. Purple haze and skies overtook them, and...

<><><>​

 

[Namohysip]

"...You think the broadcast we made did anything to help?" Puff asked, kicking his feet on the nearby bench. "They've been fighting for a while..." He looked at the twilight sky. The moon was out, even though the sun hadn't yet set. "I know that Rocky guy said hopes and dreams would be able to power Pop up, and, well, it makes some sense, but..." The Cinderace shrugged. "I just don't see it."

"I don't know..." Luxray Cream looked at the sky. "They said that they might reappear above Destiny Village if they tried to get the jump of Joule, right?" She hummed. "It seems like they might have run into trouble before they even had the chance to do that..."

High above, a Flygon did her usual rounds, notebook in hand.

"Even Pansit is doing her rounds. She must be confident." Cream sighed, looking at her paws. They were shaking. She was still so nervous... "Puff... do you--"

The air snapped. A portal appeared, a Necrozma falling through, riddled with rounds and Blacklight corruption. Two great prisms were lodged in his body, one bright and the other twisted and corrupt. From another portal, Maple, the Legends, and some of Team Spectrum rapidly emerged next, even as Joule formed another ball of Blacklight above him.

"Joule!" Maple shouted. "Joule, stop this! Think about what you're doing!"

"Krrrrrgh... I... am...!"

Maple flinched. "Joule?" she asked breathlessly.

 

[Cresselia92]

From a portal emerged Icetales, his fur still tinted black and the cosmic aura of his combined Radiance and Shadow surrounding him. He was shaking and taking deep breaths, barely able to control his energy anymore. From behind him emerged Petram, who looked worriedly at the Ninetales.

“Daddy, maybe you should stop with that thing,” cried out the Shade, motioning toward the black hole. “It’s hurting you!”

Icetales hissed and shook his head, trying to clear his mind from his cacophony of thoughts. “No, I cannot stop now. I must persevere until I am confident we are truly safe…”

The Ninetales shot a cautious glance at Joule, who seemed equally struggling with whatever energy he had inside his body. He felt his fur standing on end, but it wasn’t out of anger anymore — it was out of fear. If something took the wrong turn now and Joule relapsed into his berserk state… how many lives would be torn?

“Myriads of Solarian ‘mons…” he murmured, thinking back about his home. With narrowed eyes, he carried his ball of darkness and glowing gusts in front of Joule and stood there, immobile. If another beam was shot, it would have to go through him first.