Mystery Continent ~ Northern Pines

[Ambyssin]

"Practice battle?" Bahamut shook his head. "That's an oxymoron. Battling isn't for practice. Battling is for survival." He looked up as another burst of icy wind smacked against his face. Hail plinked against his head. "If I can't withstand the elements in their purest form, how can I withstand enemy attacks when it matters most?"

 

[Virgil134]

"Er..." Pleo gave Bahamut a puzzled look. How was enduring this weather supposed to make any Pokémon stronger? When fighting you had to use attacks while other Pokémon attacked you at the same time, so standing still like this was nothing like that at all!

"... If you say so," he murmured. "Though how is this supposed to help you learn new moves and stuff?"

 

[Ambyssin]

"It's not about learning new moves. It's about trying to remember old ones." The black spikes protruding from Bahamut's forepaws flickered with specs of light. "I had dozens of techniques at my disposal in my real body and lost pretty much all of them while getting transferred to Cibus. I'm trying to remember some of those techniques. Striking at training dummies or sparring will do me no good. But recreating the conditions I had to use the moves under? That should help. I believe people refer to it as 'muscle memory.'"

 

[Virgil134]

"... What sort of move did you learn when standing still in cold weather?" Pleo asked.

 

[Ambyssin]

"It was a variation of Psycho Cut, but using light instead of psychic energy." Bahamut forepaws flickered again. "And I wasn't just standing in a storm. I was trying to stop one from causing an avalanche. But I'm not about to try and make something like that happen here."

 

[Virgil134]

Pleo tilted his head in confusion. He'd certainly never heard of an attack like that... maybe it was some sort of Radiant move? Regardless, if that's how Bahamut learned it last time...

"Isn't that all the more reason to have a practice battle with someone?" Pleo murmured. "I mean, you learned it last time because you wanted to protect others from that avalanche, right? But, even if there's a storm here, you're doing the exact opposite right now. You're out here all alone trying to stay away from everyone... just standing still."

 

[Ambyssin]

"Well, I was meditating before you showed up." Bahamut's tail lashed at the air. "And I was hardly close to anyone the last time. Miles away. Proactively trying to stop it." This shadowy bird was clearly young. He didn't understand. "I'm away from everyone to avoid causing any problems with this storm. If the rest of the team wants to beat one another senseless, they're welcome to do that. I will not partake in it."

 

[Virgil134]

"But, you were trying to protect others, right? Even if they were far away?" Pleo asked. "Are you sure you didn't learn that move because of that, and not because you had to endure the weather?"

 

[Ambyssin]

"I can't be sure. That'd be a foolish claim to make." Bahamut's eyes and core darkened. "But the 'thanks' I received came in the form of being blamed for the storm and fleeing the planet when the town's militia attacked me."

 

[Virgil134]

Pleo shifted uncomfortably and gave Bahamut a look of sympathy.

"I'm sorry to hear those Pokémon attacked you after you tried to save them, that must have been really awful, but... that doesn't change anything about how you learned that move," the Lugia said. "You didn't know that would happen when you tried to stop that avalanche, did you? If all you wanted was to protect others then isn't that what matters?"

 

[Ambyssin]

This time a growl escaped Bahamut's lips. He was vaguely aware that this bird was linked to Cabot, but he didn't think that would mean he'd share the cranidos obnoxious unremitting optimism. At this point, Bahamut was starting to doubt this navy Cabot worked for was really anything worth writing home about. If these two could be so hopelessly optimistic while the rest of the team was constantly on the verge of some sort of breakdown probably meant they came from a world of sunshine and rainbows. Nothing like Bahamut's dimension.

"I cannot uncouple that experience from the mistreatment that follows," Bahamut whispered through gritted teeth. The more he thought about the bird's unnecessary prodding, the more faint blue lines appeared to distort the air around him. They even seemed to part the winds of the storm around him.

That was it. The piece he was missing. The thing that had percolated his youth and made him such a ruthless fighter he went out of his way to avoid battling.

... anger. Sheer anger.

If he was going to attack instead of defend, he needed to grasp that anger. Clutch it tight. He just had to remember. Remember all the worlds that rebuffed him. The people who tried to capture him. To steal his power. Whose selfishness attracted Eternatus to their planets.

The lines surrounding him grew brighter and more numerous.

 

[Virgil134]

Pleo looked in awe as Bahamut began to glow brighter and brighter.

"A-Ah! I think you're doing it!"

 

[Ambyssin]

Was that praise? Eh, it didn’t matter. He was the team outcast. The loner. The one people consciously avoided.

But that was fine. He’d been lonely for aeons. Bahamut simply had to focus on it.

Anger. Hatred. Despair.

That was what the Blacklight was trying to drown his teammates in. But Bahamut refused to cede to it. His life was one of despair. It was time to weaponize it.

The distorted lines sharpened, then exploded in bursts of golden light. A tree was stripped bare of its branches. Wood chips and splinters showered Pleo.

Bahamut stomped out of the storm, steam rising off his body. “Say what you will about protecting. That doesn’t work for someone as broken as me.” His eyes reddened. “This is about killing our enemies before they kill us.”

 

[Virgil134]

Pleo jumped back with a startled squawk and shielded himself from the tree splinters with his wings. He looked up at Bahamut with a shocked expression as he tried to fumble for words. 'Killing our enemies before they kill us'?!

"That's not- I..."

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut walked past Pleo until his back was to the shaded lugia. "It's not that it really matters, since the team goes out of their way to avoid me, but on my planet, battling is not something pokémon do to grow stronger or understand one another or whatever drivel that god stuck inside a fence went on about." He raised his right hand and balled his claws into a fist. "Battling was about one thing and one thing only: survival... at any cost.

"Are peaceful resolutions preferable? Of course. But I have been in far too many cases where such blind idealism has led to heartbreak to believe in such philosophies anymore." Bahamut's tail rhythmically curled and uncurled. "If things truly worked out for the best, I'd still have my friends. My wife." His arms stiffened. "My son."

He shook his head. "It's fortunate the team has been able to free our enemies from their corruption despite their attempts to kill us. If I were fighting on my own, I would not have offered such mercy, because so long as the source of this corruption is still out there, there is still the possibility that they can fall to the Blacklight once again." Bahamut flicked some snow off his forepaw. "Nevertheless, if we keep on this path we will eventually find the source of this corruption. And when that happens, I do not believe mercy will be an option.

"So tell me, Lugia." He turned and made eye contact. "If it means Cibus will know complete peace from corruptive forces, will you or Cabot be willing to kill the Blacklight's source if it turns out to be a living creature?"

 

[Virgil134]

For a moment Pleo stared at Bahamut at a loss for words. Bahamut had lost all of his friends and his family? He seemed kinda mean, but between things like being attacked by that town after trying to save it or losing everyone he cared about, maybe he was only like this because he got hurt so much in the past? Pleo couldn't think about it for too long when Bahamut's question snapped him back to attention.

"B-But we know who is behind this!" he cried. "It's this 'Team Rocket', right? Why can't we just defeat them and free Joule without killing anyone?"

 

[Ambyssin]

"Can you say that with absolute certainty?" Bahamut's red eyes focused squarely on Pleo's beak. "My dimension has— or, rather, had a Team Rocket. Like this one, they tried to dabble in forces beyond their control. And they were reward with Eternatus blighting out the earth's heavens before wiping out that planet.

"I think this case is no different. That mewtwo seeks to control something he can't possibly handle." The necrozma clicked his tongue several times. "Dark Matter has already mentioned Eternatus. If you ask me, the Blacklight is inextricably linked to Eternatus. Whether they're one and the same or tangentially related, eventually things will end up reaching a head."

He turned away from Pleo again. "Even if that's not the case, though, would you really intend to let this Giovanni character live? Risk him escaping and placing yet another planet in peril? Better he be killed so that he can never threaten anyone again."

 

[Virgil134]

"But we don't even know anything about Eternatus!" Pleo protested. "Maybe he's nothing like the one from your world!"

The Lugia briefly paused as he thought about how to respond to Bahamut's question. "And well... nobody has died yet, so why should we start killing other people just because they did bad things and could potentially do more? If we do that, then how are we any better than Team Rocket?"

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut sighed. What a place of privilege this shade's actual counterpart must have come from that he could talk in such a way. But that didn't necessarily have to be a bad thing. All worlds could use more budding optimists. Too bad Bahamut was long past such an attitude. "Well, I see how much of a perfect fit you are for Cabot. You both view yourselves as heroes, don't you? Heroes with strict moral codes that you will always follow." He tapped a claw against his armored back. "I must applaud your dedication. There was a time where I, too, tried to act under such a stringent code of morality."

The necrozma's eyes and core darkened. "And such an approach cost me everything I held dear." His lips curled into a snarl. "If you want to consider yourself a hero, that's fine. But I would argue there are others on the team who share my opinion on the matter. It's not about sticking to morals... it's about acting in the interest of the greater good." Bahamut's prismatic claws clenched into blocky fists. "If the past has taught me anything, it's that mercy is for the weak. Might makes right. Those who hold the most power are the ones in control. And I believe that, even on some subconscious level, your dear friend Cabot believes that. Otherwise he wouldn't be training up his offensive prowess to such an absurd degree.

"You're welcome to try and talk this Giovanni character over to our side. But when you fail, I will be there to do what is necessary for the greater good."

Despite the harsh words, Bahamut walked up to Pleo and pet the lugia shade's head. "Bless you, child. If you are a representation of a lugia from Cabot's world, then they are a pure soul. I pray that nothing happens to them that shatters their innocence. That would be a true tragedy."

He stepped away. "I suppose... I'll be on my way then. Back to being the team outcast." Bahamut dipped his head down and weaved through gaps in the forest's trees that were large enough to accommodate his bulky frame.

 

[Virgil134]

Pleo opened his mouth to speak, but stopped as Bahamut already started walking away. He hesitated a little and wondered whether to go after him, before hanging his head slightly and making his way back to town. Even if Bahamut meant well, there's no way he could be right about mercy being for the weak, could he? Surely there was a way to protect everyone in Cibus without someone on the team having to kill anyone... right?

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