Pokémon Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Path of Valor

[Arukona]

Hi, Amby! Figured I'd come back here since Review Blitz is a go-go, and that means there's no better time to get caught up on your fic after a while away from it. Now that the fic's in its home stretch with its weekly release schedule, we might well be nearing the end, and I definitely want to get caught up before that happens, just like I did with Hands of Creation when that was near its own end.

Last time, Bahamut became punchdoggified and Yuna got the final Needle, so let's see how things are turning out for our heroes now...

Chapter 106
Ah, a Shifting Sand Land, with hot sun and scorching sands. Valkyrie would probably feel right at home here, I imagine, and by the looks of it, so does Noctum.

I can already tell it's gonna be fun watching the gang deck Xander's ass whenever we get to him in the next few chapters.

He produced a set of keys on a klefki-styled keychain.

I'm now wondering if Klefki in some universes are made to unwittingly be living lockpicks for thieves' gangs, or if some Klefki leap into the thieving life with the advantage of having natural lockpicks.

"Does your sister know you're pretending to be her?" Shimmer wondered.

"No, but a pop culture writer would be crawling all over this." The fake salazzle waved Shimmer off.

Pffffft, that's certainly an image. I bet Kyoko would smack him if she saw him imitating her.

though he saw a family of graveler and geodude walking by with bags of groceries.

How are the Geodude walking when they have no legs? Pedantic of me to point this out, I know.

A poliwrath stopped and tugged on the shoulders of two hitmonchan. They all stared transfixed at Igneous. Smirking, he waved at them and blew some vaguely heart-shaped embers at them.

Better be careful, Igneous, you wouldn't want them approaching you to flirt back and cutting off your avenues of escape...

"The Medicis' Destructapalooza."

Oh hey, a term you reused in CAD, I see. Will we have a Mickey Mouse expy in this one? Xander and Vicky Vee do share a species...

"Why would he do that?"

"To get back at Isola for stripping him of his title," Igneous exclaimed.

Lotta folks looking to get back at Bitch Honse Queen, I see. Just a pity temporary alliances with any of them seem to be a no-go here.

Nice that Artemis's appearance change is a factor that enables the gang to not be tracked if they put him, an unknown to the Empire, to lead the time. That's a nice touch.

... Or the empire was choosing to prepare something for tomorrow.

Oh, they probably will, knowing them.

Unless this room was full of rotom-possessed appliances.

That would be a good way to spy on someone, wouldn't it? Rotom do adapt well for subterfuge.

What was it with everyone getting these strange cosmic changes to their appearances?

Hey, everyone gets great power from them and able to overcome their enemies, so who cares at day's end?

Shimmer squinted at Gene. "You totally stole that one from a movie."

"No idea what you're talking about, Twinkie." Gene lazily waved the ponytales off, then returned his attention to the projection.

Savern having his nickname stolen like that smh smh. Though twink horses will be twink horses, whether they be a Ponyta or Keldeo.

Nice part about having divisions in the team to tackle different story beats is the shock reveals that come with them where one half's uninformed and gets caught up, like we're seeing here with Gene and our gang of three lizards.

"You oughta go for a martini instead," Gene quipped. "Shaken, not stirred, of course."

Someone's a movie aficionado. Did Gene and Cyril watch a load of box sets together some time back or what?

As the mega charizard's jaw dropped, Gene bowed to the group and exited through the rift. A stunned silence followed, broken only when Igneous poured wine into a cup that was definitely not meant for wine.

Shaking her head, Valkyrie stomped toward the kitchenette. "Better pour one out for me, too. So much for a day of simple recon..."

Noctum swallowed hard. He really hoped this wasn't going to break the group's focus for tomorrow.

There's gonna be hangovers the next chapter they reconvene. I guarantee it.

Chapter 107
Ah, the 'meet the parents' moment. At least they seem to be chill enough for Nickie.

Back to present day, where Bahamut's 'act normal' arc is proving to go quite terribly.

He quickly scrambled to his feet and spread his wings out to look menacing... only to clip Jade's chin with his left wing claws.

"Ow!" Jade waddled back, rubbing her beak. "Watch it, Cece!"

"S-Sorry!" Reshiram squeaked, losing any semblance of intimidation he might've had seconds prior.

A pair of dorks, these two are. Clumsiness levels are off the charts with both of them.

Yuna darted between the three, sticking her arms out. "This is so not the time to air out your dirty laundry. We can't get caught up in the past, remember?"

*grumbles from Dialga intensify about the past still being relevant*

Also the 'so' part - is Yuna uninentionally picking up on some Leo mannerisms?

Reshiram vanished into the griseous core and Diancie appeared in his place. "I found her in the Needle at Jubilife."

"Interesting new look," Diancie mused. Bahamut's eye twitched, but this time he held his tongue.

Calm and collected, no fiery emotions around her once-superior. I like this Diancie.

Over to the Bitch Honse Queen, and oh, I see. Are we gonna have Future Paradox Tobias and Grayson alongside Justine now, are we?

A psychic force closed his mouth. Grayson's eyes widened, as did Tobias'.

Isola approached him, sighing. "And there it is. Your true, ugly colors. Here I was, hoping you wouldn't make the same mistakes. Alas, you've proven just as hideous as Justine and Seifer."

In a green and pink blur, Justine was at Isola's side. Only... she was completely robotic, just like the bugs!

Something was off! That wasn't Justine at all! Grayson tried to turn and run but was completely locked in place.

Isola turned away from them, shaking her head. "Do be a dear and take care of them," she said to the Justine robot.

Red light crackled around the machine. It lunged, and all Grayson could do was scream.

Yyyyyep. That seems to be what we're getting, isn't it? RIP Tobias and Grayson, I guess, unless there's some way to salvage them after their confrontations as Iron Crown and Iron Boulder.

Back to Yuna, where we appear to have a mystery Needle on our hands. Could it be at Khelifet, with our princess pulling in at the last moment to reclaim it?

Bahamut's a disagreeable nut to crack, alright. Good thing our gang's a clever bunch who manage to be pretty persuasive with their schemes.

"Not Bahamut." Yuna hovered past Jade, heading toward the outpost. "The dad that actually raised me."

Her mind was made up. With their history, Gene could handle Bahamut. Yuna had enough on her plate. She couldn't care less about her relation to him. After all, even if her views of him hadn't turned sour months ago, his behavior here was more than enough to show he wasn't worth her time.

Something's telling me we're going to have a father-daughter reconciliation scene at some point in the near future and neither side will truly fully accept it due to how estranged they've become in the last while. What a pity if that ends up being the outcome here.

Over to the dragon lovebirds, where Noctum's Dork-O-Meter registers a high reading yet again. And Valkyrie has a seemingly unconvincing disguise...although something tells me it's not gonna track on the radar of their enemies.

That flummoxed Valkyrie. She quickly covered her face with her arm fins. "God, you're dense."

"My bad?"

"You're blowing smoke over nothing."

I thought you were well aware that your Charizard partner wasn't exactly the brightest flame on the Chandelure, Valkyrie?

"What, does the dipshit have the attention span of a hatchling?"

Well, they do say the young folks these days don't exactly have much in the ways of attention spans. Probably the same with our resident vain Sylveon.

Don Guissepe

Wasn't it spelled Don Giuseppe earlier? (Ah, the accursed typo - common scourge for fic writers all around. )

So a tournament arc, huh? I presume we're skipping past the parts that don't matter, because otherwise this'd be drawn out all the more - a common pitfall with tournament arcs.

He really hoped this would be simpler than their previous Paradigm encounters.

Pffft. Simple? Silly Noctum. Fate doesn't do 'simple'.

Chapter 108

Quite a composed being Dark Matter is when he's NoT sPeAkInG lIkE tHiS.

Looks like we've got a gauntlet. Hopefully Gene's power'll be enough to make them fall like a house of (Enter)cards.

These fighting-type 'mons buffed up on the 'roids or what?

"I got him, bros!"

Gene caught a lunging toxicroak in a psychic grasp, then pivoted to face one of the Entercards.

"Nononono, wait, wait!" Toxicroak waved his buff arms around, only to get pelted with icy shards and fall limp.

Should've known that up against any Psychic-type, you'd be toast, Toxicroak.

a suspiciously buff absol

Okay, that's a tad more cursed, given that Absol have nearly always been more twinkish in my mind and so an Absol with big musculature would be a bit more anathema than the norm.

Crafty cards, these are. It's like battling an endlessly spawning Double Team.

You've been with me enough, bud, Gene mentally scoffed. He conjured a Fire Blast in his hands and hurled it at the sand. As long as there's even a tiny chance something will work, I'll give it a try.

A self-destructive mentality that might well end up with someone's death if he's not careful.

Rest in pieces for Cassius. But that's not gonna be the end of the conflict, is it?

Oh hai, Iron Enforcer. Back for another bout, are we?

An uneventful bout, although a hint that a recalibration could turn it good in future?

Now over to Paradox, where evil schemes are no doubt a-brewin'.

I do always love the displays of Paradox showing that behind the occasional goofiness coming from him, he's deadly serious as an evil emperor in terms of quashing any and all enemies that stand before him.

Ah, so Paradox will still have Demerzel at his beck and call. And since Demerzel still has close contact with Shimmer...that could end up with some crossed wires on our heroes' end. Mmmmmm, not a good sign.

An Eternatus terraformer? Powerful stuff, by the sounds of it. Would that be Paradox's last stand at all, I wonder?

Chapter 109
Seems Akari forgot to account for wild 'mons in her search for a venue for Dialga and Palkia to shout at each other. You think she'd remember they exist given her catching travails all throughout her journey.

D'awwwww, Yuna's little siblings! All so cute, and it's always nice to see Yuna being a big sis to them.

She looked over her shoulder. A ghostly typhlosion and torterra nodded in agreement. And a chimchar poked out of Torterra's tree to give them a thumb's up.

Someone likes her starter 'mons, I see. (I like the visual of the Chimchar in the Torterra tree too - very neat use of existing environment there. )

No thanks to your big sis for saving your dad, Yuna's siblings? Maybe they oughta learn a lesson in gratitude.

I haven't even talked with her about it.

Well, maybe that's a sign to talk with your mom about it, Yuna.

"H-Hey!" The toxtricity stiffened. Yuna's left hand slipped and ran along one of Nikki's chest gills. Her tail crinkled up.

"Ah!" She pulled her hand back like she'd touched a scalding stove. "S-Sorry."

"For what?" Nikki traced her finger around that chest gill. "Not like anyone was around."

I'm surprised an electric guitar sound didn't accompany that one. Though maybe that's only when Nikki has volts crackling across her body?

More Yuna and Nikki banter that I love to see~

Nikki's left hand brushed against Yuna's right. Without realizing it, Yuna grabbed it as she floated through the rift.

A line that gathers in equal parts and reactions from me.

Over to Widget and Cyril, where our resident Cosmozork is still worse for wear. Can't say I blame him one bit.

Hydreigon charged forward, but he wasn't fast enough. Virizion slumped over, squishing Emolga.

"No! NO!" Emolga's muffled voice cried out. Virizion's fur bristled as he struggled to get out from underneath her.

Hydreigon spat a Dragon Pulse toward the cackling spiritomb lingering over both of them. But a togekiss zipped in and harmlessly absorbed the blow.

Before he could react, something slammed into him from his right. He skidded across the ground. His rightmost head gurgled in pain.

A silhouette loomed over him. One eye crackled with red aura.

A Gates apocalypse scene? I suppose since we know that Widget is the Voice of Life, perhaps that wasn't a surprise.

Man, Cyril's pretty heartbroken. Gotta feel for the guy.

But...maybe he won't have to be sad for long. Not when there's a Keldeo-shaped Cosmog hybrid ready to join the gang of hybrids. I had a feeling this would happen, that all those cosmic Keldeo arts would be going towards something...

And there's the reincarnation of Dialga coming to the fore, with Seifer's memories on the backburner. Mmmmm, getting heavy Rhys/Dialga in HoC vibes, which would make it two for two in terms of Dialga being involved in instances like this.

I can't help but notice that Cyril's gone quiet in Diamond and Widget's exchange. Is he too stunned to reply?

"So, he's just gone then?" Cyril said, voice straining.

"In the most literal sense... yes." Diamond stopped to look the cosmic zoroark in the eye. "But it is, perhaps, more accurate to say he's now part of my greater whole."

Yyyyyep. Called it. Although judging by the next few paragraphs...it seems we're still going to have yaoi between Keldeo and Zoroark, only with an extra starry flavour this time in the former. ✨

They were sitting next to each other, backs against the side of the bed. They were whispering to one another. If Widget concentrated, he probably could've picked out what they were saying.

If only we could know what they were saying...Although knowing Cyril, I wouldn't be surprised the age rating might have to be bumped up a little if we did know.

"That Bath Mat over there juuuuuust so happened to remember?" Nikki poked the right side of her head with her index finger.

Bath Mat? Another zinger of a nickname from our resident Toxtricity.

"Necrozma tried to break in," Bahamut said, rubbing his temples. "Drilling through Paradox's artificial planet. But there was some sort of barrier he could never penetrate."

Ah, and so I presume one of the next big objectives will be to find something that can break the barrier. Common tale in stories, that.

But thankfully the gang don't have to go searching when Widget's right there! Although a part of me reckons that Paradox might well take advantage of this, in terms of getting access to Valhalla himself.

"All right. Sure. I'll warm the benches this time. In more ways than one." She smacked her rear with a hand.

Yuna turned away, tail shrinking halfway into her waist.

How much have the others picked up on Yuna and Nikki's relationship, apart from Leo? Or would they just pass this off as a Nikki moment and not think anything unusual about it?

"Well, uh... maybe we can get him to soften up during the trip?" Widget laughed nervously.

"Psssht. Sure." Nikki rolled her eyes. "And I got appointed Crowne Minister."

Gods help us if Nikki ever gets elected to any leadership roles. Although given that her partner is a royal, 'Queen Nikki' mightn't be entirely unheard of as a title.

here was a mischievous glint in her eyes. Yuna's ectoplasm rippled. "You're thinking of something, aren't you?"

Smirking, the toxtricity produced a small vial from her leather jacket's pocket. Yuna's torso constricted.

"I know. I know." Nikki shook her head. "You said you weren't sure and stuff. But after all the shit with Bath Mat, I figured—"

Yuna zipped forward and plucked the vial out of a surprised Nikki's hand.

"What the others don't know won't hurt 'em," the dragapult whispered, opening up a rift to her room.

Grinning eagerly, Nikki stepped toward the rift. The two girls entered it side by side.

Acting on impulse, I see. I suppose with all the stress and near-death scenarios that've been going on for the last while, one can hardly blame Yuna for wanting a quick 'break' with Nikki.

Chapter 110
Technology makes us lazier, huh? Can't deny that, alas. One of the many cuts of thousand that bleeds Radiance right now.

Valkyrie snorted out blue-purple embers. "Buncha shortcut-taking, drug-abusing assholes."

"Drugs?" The cosmic charizard raised a brow.

"They make 'medicine' that turns you stronger," Valkyrie scoffed, making air quotes with her claws.

Oh, so is that why their henchmon were all buff two chapters ago? That would explain that.

"He's made me out to be this... slutty bimbo. If this broadcast really is getting a lot of attention, then I don't know what's going to happen when this is all over."

No better way to smear someone in a widespread way than on a huge TV broadcast event like this one, topped off with Xander's prior social media following. Gotta feel for Shimmer here.

If we're able to stop Paradox and Zodiark, then we're going to need a lot of time to figure out what's next."

Hard to think of what's gonna be next after all the antagonists have been taken down. I suspect there'll be a lot of reorganising to do in the aftermath of all this.

Gotta love the 'hard exterior melting away in the face of a loved one' trope that's happening to Valkyrie right now. That she feels confident enough to confide in Noctum about that shows great character growth over the course of the fic.

RIP Irida's Glaceon in that flashback.

Warmth rising in his chest, Noctum opened the glass shower door and turned the water on.

I would question if this wouldn't be bad for him as a Charizard, but I guess his Palkia side coming out would mean that's not a problem anymore.

"Could be worse," Artemis said. The cosmic milotic came to a stop at the edge of one of the pools. "He could be actively heckling us. Trying to turn the crowd against us and all that."

Don't jinx it, Artemis, he'll almost certainly do that now! D:

"Haaa ha ha ha ha! Bonjour, my precious little scallywags!"

Oh boy, this oughta make things interesting. (From the reader's POV, obviously.)

Noctum glanced toward the commentator's booth. He could barely make out Gus screaming something at Xander, but the sylveon was watching all this with an amused expression.

Well, if that doesn't bode ill for whatever Xander has planned. Although something tells me sooner or later that the four's cover would have been blown anyway.

Fight seems to be going well. Even if Xander's viewfarming with all of this.

Crisis averted with the explosion. I thought there was about to be a bigger problem with that drone destruction at the end.

"What did I tell ya, #XanFam?" Xander declared, striding confidently atop the commentator's booth. "I had this thing on lock. Can I get some EZ Claps in the chat?"

The crowd — or what was left of them — was... applauding? And the sylveon was basking in it, waving with two ribbons and blowing kisses with another!

Given what Xander was saying about Shimmer earlier...pot, meet kettle.

Oh, and speaking of Shimmer, here he is.

"Maybe your #FaceTurn suckered those #RebelRunts, but #YaBoiXander sees it for what it is," the sylveon said. "#FakeAF. Cuz everything about you is F-A-K-E, fake, fake, FAKE! At least #YaBoiXander knows when to jump ship to the winning side. You're such a loser you've gone from being #CrownPrinceOfLoserville to #RebelRuntChump!"

Well, I hope your #PinkFairyAss gets a #KickingForTheAges when we get to the combat, you sly Sylveon, you.

And now we've got the boss fight, or at the very least a prelude before the big show with Xander in a couple of chapters.

"Blah, blah, blah. STFU, #ClownPrince!" Xander responded.

Oi! Nickname thief! Come up with your own material!

Once again, gotta love the confidence that Noctum feels when he's by Valkyrie's side, just as she confided in him earlier. I'm quite fond of this dragon duo, so I am.

Chapter 111

The triple 1s chapter.

I approve of this choice of battle music. Perfectly fitting for this arc.

There a reason why Gus is calling Valkyrie Prisma? That just a code name, or implying something deeper...?

Noctum grabbed Gus and quickly flew up to dodge a swipe of Turian's paw.

"Hey! Heeeeeeeey!" Gus flailed around. "Put me down, you filthy lizard! Nobody touches Big Gus without his say so!"

"VAL, CATCH!" Noctum shouted, grip holding firm. He spun around and chucked a screaming Gus toward the other end of the arena, where Igneous and Valkyrie were dispatching two mawile goons.

Damn, we're balling all of a sudden with this fat cat as the ball. Can Noctum land a slam dunk with him?

"Let's shave her scales off, aphbrodesiacs!"

I'm loving this dialogue coming from the Medici goons. I do love me some unnamed passerby chatter.

Could it be that Xeromus is hiding in the wings and ready to make his appearance once all's been cleaned up here?

At the rate of that climbing view rate, we might well hit a million by the end of the fight.

Oh, so Gus was behind the poisoning of Igneous's mom? Guess that's that mystery cleared up.

[(FeelsBadMan). He's (OMEGALUL)ing at you. (Are you just gonna sit there and take it?)]

Hell yes, more Ahsen screentime with his funny Spamton dialogue.

Instead, the static cube expanded. It swallowed up his legs and his arms.

[I KNEW YOU HAD IT IN YOU, KIDDO!]

Igneous didn't even have the time to scream before the static completely enveloped him.

Oh dear, does that mean Igneous is gonna be on his own for the confrontation with Ahsen?

But back to Noctum's POV, where there's the matter of Turian still left. And as expected, our Charizard delivers the final blow like a champ, all the while Xander hams up the viewcount as good as any Mettaton.

That's only stage one of this confrontation; now there's Ahsen to deal with, who we know is allied with Xander.

And now over to our resident Ponytales, where Shimmer discovers the inconvenience of having more fur on his tails. Bet Shane (were he here) would be like, "First time?"

... Wait, why was there a giant, heart-shaped crystal sticking out of the sylveon's head?

Oh, damn, we really are going full-on Mettaton with this. Given how he was my favourite Undertale character...I imagine I'm gonna enjoy what's to come.

And now to Paradox, where more evil schemes are a-brewin'.

"Of course." Paradox thumped the gem in his chest. It flickered red. "It's as I said, Sticky. Your supreme grand emperor is always thinking three moves ahead!"

Well, the best tacticians are always three steps ahead...

So this might mean Paradox will take Ahsen's power for himself after Xander's been cleaned up? Hmmmmm...

And now to our other monarch villain.

"Justy, darling, be a dear and order the genesect to Khelifet," she said, smiling serenely at Iron Leaves' reflection. "And get Iron Crown to join them."

Ah, I figured. Guess we're gettting Irons Crown and Boulder at some point in the near future.

"Your fears are unwarranted. A legend does not back down from their duty. There is a rift to seal. And I, the Essence of Time, shall aid you in your quest, Creator."

"Yeesh," Leo whispered. There had to be a less cringe way to get that across.

Exact opposite ends of the spectrum of formality here. Especially since Leo's the Arceus here.

Double anomaly means double the trouble. Hopefully the gang's gonna be alright.

Chapter 112

A Super flashback. I guess this would be why Leo and Widget get paired together a lot, because of their canon PMD world connections.

Levincia, huh? I guess that would be fitting setting for the showdown with Xander, given who the Gym Leader of that city is.

Even their pokémon seemed transfixed by Xander dancing and prancing around on his stream. It was... unsettling.

Lulling them into a form of soft brainwashing, is it? Mmmmmmm, another one for the lengthy rap sheet Xander's garnered.

JOIN CHATTER AND GETTING CHATTING

... Okay, Leo recognized that last one. Guess it existed here, too.

Why must the bird app of all things be universal?

And #YaBoiXander's ready to offer #FabulousPrizes to any trainer cool enough to catch them and post the proof on Chatter!"

An unsettling thought, imagining our heroes in all their strangeness being a random Trainer's 'mon.

It took me a minute to realise that girl was Penny. Guess my lack of playing SV is catching up with me, eheh. 💦

"No way." She shook her head. "This is totally a Ho-Oh's Insane Escapades fever dream. O-Or maybe—"

What, are you expecting Leo to have a Stand? Or, indeed, to be someone's Stand? (To be fair, Made in Heaven does bear some similarities to our resident creator...)

"—and ran into Penny." Leo gestured left with a forelet. "Along with her, uh..."

"My veevees!" she exclaimed, gesturing like the proudest parent in the world. "Flarevee, Vapvee, Joltvee, Espvee, Umbvee, and Sylvee!"

I would ask where Leafvee and Glacevee are, but team of six rules would probably mean they aren't here. Although maybe she has them in a PC box somewhere.

"So, you were a jerk?" Penny tapped her forehead with her fist. "And now you're trying to undergo your anime redemption arc?"

The ponytales' tails bristled. "I, uh, think that's accurate."

I like this interpretation of Penny being an anime nut. Almost makes me want to pull stuff like this if I ever write Trainerverse in future.

But they have a foothold now. Good on them.

Now over to Yuna, where her lot are going through a long, dark tunnel. Which either means they'll be ambushed in transit, or there'll be a light at the end of the tunnel in which the barrier will appear before them. Which will it be?

... No, wait! There was something. A small speck of light in the distance.

Looks like it was the latter on this occasion.

That last line brought about memories of Vegna's assorted legal ramblings. So there were some of his attributes within Bahamut. It was, if nothing else, a small bit of reassurance that Bahamut really did intend to cooperate with them.

"Even if he were to lose control, you guys outnumber him," Reshiram reminded her. "And Gene seems pretty keen on not letting him get away with anything."

Well, if we're speaking on the topic of 'losing control', there's no guarantee that won't happen to Gene either...Two sources of power going volatile would be the last thing they need with the amount of enemies they have.

"I—" Yuna blinked several times. "It was too garbled, but 'truth' came up a couple of times."

Bring out Reshiram, maybe he can help out with that given his truth senses.

"Celestica Labs."

A link to the Matriarch...

But all that paled in comparison to the dozens of silvally she spotted within the village. In fact, there wasn't anyone there but silvally.

So this is your idea of heaven, then, Amby? Given that you are the PMD fandom's resident fishdog stan.

"It shouldn't be possible, but... those are the mass-produced type: fulls that served under Matriarch." His starcloud tail lashed at the air. "I'm sure of it."

Even so, a village full of mass-produced units like Silvally...proves more than a tad worrying.

Chapter 113

Virizion squinted at him. Hydreigon laughed nervously. "I've seen how you turn heads. Aha ha... ha..."

Her stink eye only worsened.

Heh, nice callback to Gates!Virizion's head-turning status. Is that just a thing with Virizion across the board in PMD fics? Because Firiara's kinda the same way too in Savern's world.

All the Silvally appear to be robots, built to follow orders. Meaning that if more undesirable orders are given out...they'll obey to those too.
Unless there's some brainwashing shenanigans our heroes can pull off.

Maybe there's some kind of authorisation word our heroes can get the Silvally to talk?

Silvally's eyes glowed a bit brighter. [This is Origin.]

A bit more glamorous and peaceful than the other Origin that comes to mind whenever I think of it as a place.

Ah, so the appearance of Jubilife is meant to be a link to the Matriarch's identity...and in turn, Zodiark's.

I do wonder if there'll be some way to convince the Silvally to come with in the end, to satisfy Widget's wishes.

One was a girl in a sparkly outfit that gave off cresselia vibes. The other was a fiery-haired young man summoning a ho-oh behind him in a flaming vortex.

Sailor Moon and JoJo? I dig the picks. Although I wonder if in this AU, Avdol would be the main character of Stardust Crusaders given that his Stand is rather phoenix-like...

Shimmer winced. "I'm not used to such... messes."

Ooooh, says the princeling. Deal with it - this is normal for a good chunk of people.

"Wait, mystery dungeons?" Her eyes were wide. "Like... like the games where you get to become pokémon and make friends with other talking pokémon and... and..."

Something you want to tell us about that, Penny? The wish to be a Pokémon, perhaps?

Oh wow, she's a total nerd about it. I do enjoy the fangirling.

DJ Vice: Hey, everyone here okay?

Ninjatticus: But of course!

VEri Nice: What's up?

DJ Vice: Everyone's glued to their phones where I am. WBU?

Ortega the Great: i thought my folks were just working but it sounds like theyre watching a stream?

VEri Nice: And that's bad because?

Ortega the Great: theyre old geezers!

Melaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa: theyre zombies dude!

Text chat can be funny sometimes, and also omg those usernames

"I bet you're the type to ragequit when you're losing an online match in Super Bash Brothers."

"You mean, 'Super Smash Brothers'?"

"Er, I don't think it was that."

"It's definitely that."

On a side note I bet Penny totally wanted Eevee to be playable in Smash and was dismayed when that never came to be.

"Well, that might be important," Scarlett whispered. "If they're not transfixed by Xander's stream, then they could help us."

So Team Star's gonna be the backup for the day, huh? I dig it. Certainly not the first time the gang's gotten help from the enemy team if Team Rocket were anything to go by.

I'd dreamed of ending up in an isekai anime, but not like this."

Haven't we all, Penny.

Awww, that's kinda endearing of Penny, that she wants to protect her team and not get them in danger.

Chapter 114

"She, uh, might've had a bit too much of that hard berry juice last night."

Friendly reminder that alcohol's canon in PMD~

If you happen to see any jobs that pay really well, mind shunting them over to me?"

"What for?" Igneous asked.

Tessa's aura feelers pulsated. She traced her foot along the marble floor. "I want to save up to get Nickie something special."

Awww, a present! Here's hoping Nickie cherishes it.

Back to the present day, where corrupted Tera crystals appear to be a dime a dozen here, and also wow, this crystal is sturdy as hell. Diancie could only dream of making a diamond this strong.

A purple specter approached him. Leaning over, their arceus mask met Hydreigon's blurry gaze.

"Welcome back, Voice."

So it was Zodiark who attacked the Gates world. Presumably for its Voice.

The old struggle of an artificial being finding their way in the world once they've been relinquished from their "good soldiers follow orders" mentality. I like this basic gist of Widget's arc and where it's going thus far.

Now back to Levincia, where Leo's become a bull. 🐂

The sylveon was currently... playing some sort of video game where he ran around as a two-legged sylveon, building walls and ramps with wood and metal he materialized from nowhere. Xander operated the controller with his ribbons. He stumbled across some sort of human avatar, only to blow them apart with a burst of pink energy from some sort of blaster.

What video game's this a reference to? First thought's Minecraft, but I'm not sure where the blaster comes into it...

Although this one had a much clearer effect on a lot of people.

... Leo really hoped he could fix everything.

Creator instincts creeping into you, Leo? Behind the Gen Z teenager slang, he's got a heart of an Arceus there.

"What's stopping you, O Child of Fate?"

Oh hai Zodiark. Haven't seen your cross-wheel face in quite a while.

A marked difference from Volo, Zodiark is, when his emotionless, indifferent speech is one of his key facets here.

"Consciousness breeds suffering.

Was that an intentional match-up of this line with the OST pick you had for this part? Because it's pretty neat if so.

Nothing Zodiark had tried had worked on the team.

Don't jinx it, Leo. Do not.

Now over to Shimmer, where once again he reckons with his fall from grace. But...there's nothing saying he can't rise to the top again, and maybe defeating Xander would be the first step.

"Sheesh, language," Penny grumbled, looking up from her computer. "If you guys are trying to up your social link, can it wait until you're back home?"

Someone's a player of Persona, I see.

"Oh, yeah, of course." Penny wrapped her arms around the back of her chair and rested her chin on it. "The 'trust me bro' source."

"It's worked so far." Leo laughed nervously.

Penny pinched her brow. "Spoken like a shonen protagonist, I guess."

Leo does not give shonen protagonist vibes to me lmao

The ham-fisted route to destroying the equipment, or the workaround...? Something tells me either way something unpleasant is gonna result from it. You know what they say about Pokémon games and choices, after all.

Penny nudged up her glasses.

The anime glasses twitch!

"What, surprised? Figured you shonen types teleport spam whenever you fight. A wigglytuff doing it isn't that weird."

Wooooooooow, the callout. Holy shit, Penny, that's one hell of a burn when the gang's been doing just that in their battles. 🔥

Back to Yuna's group, where this tunnel is totally not ominous at all with that creepy broken recording in the background. No sirree, it's not. 💦

There, chained to three stalactites, was a large three-headed canine. Yuna recognized two of the heads: Suicune and Raikou. But the third...

"Cerberus?" Gene's starcloud tail curled and uncurled. "'Evolved' from flareon, jolteon, and vaporeon to entei, raikou, and suicune? Cute. But it's not going to make much of a difference."

Oh great, way to add to the ominousness of this area: give a three-headed abomination at the end of the creepy hallway.

Looks we're gearing up for a boss fight next chapter. Let's see what this overgrown pupper has to show for themselves.

Chapter 115

Reverse time then slowed everything around her, allowing her to retreat while pelting Raikou's snout with Dragon Darts.

Bayonetta battle system influence on display once again, I see.

"Still you hide behind your puppet's bluster."

Now Zodiark's voice was echoing all around the room.

That was a quick jump from Leo in Levincia to here, damn. Quite the speedy world jumper, aren't we, Zodiark?

Take a shot every time Zodiark says 'puppet'. You'll be swaying after at least a scene with him. 💫

Well, that's Cerberus down. But now a new problem's emerged with Paradox knowing for sure someone's entered Valhalla, and that could prove troubling.

She really hoped this was only a product of Mount Coronet being in disuse for such a long time. Yuna had had enough surprises for one day. The Needle had to be the only thing left. She could grab it and move on. No more twists or turns.

Famous. Last. Words.

Over to Diamond and Artemis now, where former god and disciple become acquainted once again.

"Seifer finding me." Artemis waved a ribbon. His eyebrows straightened out. "Apprenticing me. Was it random chance... or were we drawn to one another?"

Ah yes, the hidden ties of Fate, bringing together those of linked pasts and allied futures. Penny might know of a Ho-Oh's Insane Escapades villain who quoted, "Do you believe in gravity?" in relation to this very thing.

Diamond's surprisingly cavalier, all things considered. Maybe it's to do with 'not wanting to waste time' or some such?

"Please," Cyril whispered.

The cosmic keldeo stiffened.

"You just woke up. And the last time you ran in intending to save someone..."

Awww, poor Cyril doesn't want that happening again.

I like the polite side of Diamond coming out. A formal talking character makes a nice contrast from the Gen Z slang of Leo and rough-edge nicknames of Nikki.

He was a tiny lugia terrorizing a local town. Xander's lugia knocked over a vase of flowers, then loudly honked at the gardening store owner who tried to chase it down.

Untitled Lugia Game? Okay that's a good one. Living up to the overgrown Wingull credentials right there, that Lugia is.

Xander announced something about some sort of social deduction game involving Imposter ditto would be coming up next.

And now Among Us! I bet that unfortunately, Xander would do pretty well as the Imposter. Someone find him out and make him ragequit, it would be pretty funny.

Xander repeating a lot of what Zodiark was saying earlier...Seems #YaBoiXander's pretty #EasilyCorrupted, by the sounds of it.

Now a Gigantamax Eevee with Xander commandeering it, huh? Guess we have a fight in the end, just as I suspected. Destroying them or not destroying the equipment didn't appear to matter too much.

Chapter 116

Funny that this uses Penny's battle theme when she's meant to be Leo's ally in this instance. No doubt it's more for the Eevee and Xander given Penny's affection for Eeevelutions.

Leo couldn't see the stage, but obnoxiously loud air horns told him the stage was somewhere on his left. And Xander was conjuring dumb sound effects to try and humiliate Leo.

Xander sure does love his humiliation tactics, doesn't he?

"#ArceASS is getting #SkillIssued! Mods, let's drop a prediction and see if #YaBoiXander can take #ArceASS out in the next two minutes! Get all your #Xandollars in on this one!"

Literally one of those lines where I have to remind myself, "Yes, this is a PMD fic. That was a line dropped in a PMD fic."

Good job Leo's wisening to the Protect spamming done by Gigavee. Yet still he can't quite get the upper hand....

Eyyy, move linking! I like using that in my own writing and nice to see that Leo's copped on to using it in his own combat.

Leo braced himself for the worst when an engine's thunderous roar came from somewhere on his right. He heard the crashing of metal and plastic, followed by a startled yelp from Xander and a heavy thud somewhere in the direction of the stage.

Whew, that was a close one. Nice save from Team Star and the rest of the gang.

I love the combination of Nikki and Starlene giving a music-based counterattack. Now for an awesome finishing second wind against this #CockyLittleShit.

"The Xan Fam won't stand for this! They— what?! NO!"

He turned to one of the rotom screens, which showed his viewer count plunging by the millions.

"My viewers!" Xander looked around in a panic. "Where are my viewers?!"

Wow, they lost interest fast. The big crowd never tends to be a reliable one, as they say~

"Stream's offline," Penny said. Even with the hood obscuring her face, Leo caught the faintest smirk— no, shit-eating grin. "Party's over."

"WHAT?!"

Xander turned around and, sure enough, instead of his stream, the rotom screens now showed a swarm of CGI krabby doing some sort of weaving dance in unison. A "GET HACKED LOL" flanked by winking eevee emotes flashed on the screens in big, neon letters.

Niiiiiice one, Penny. That's such a welcome riposte against him after all the smug superiority he's held over everyone over the past while.

And now the ex-boyfriends have their official parting. No wonder everyone hates Xander when his intentions were slimy and impure from the start.

Leo gets his plates. I like the connections he makes with his memories of past and present linking to what's being said on the plates.

Quite literally being shown as a puppet on tethers...just like Zodiark keeps claiming. (Also nice art by Spinal. )

And now the team's going to gather in the one place...once Noctum, Igneous, and Valkyrie get sorted with whatever Spamton-esque shenanigans Ahsen is cooking up.

Chapter 117
Oh boy, judging by that title, things are going to get freaky. Which is par for the course for Ahsen.

Tessa nodded with so much energy Igneous thought her head might pop up. "I... I really like her." She kicked at the ground bashfully. "And I'm not an aura expert like the guildmasters, but I think she likes me the same way."

Determination spread over her face. "So, I'm going to do this." Tessa curled her paws up, crunching the paper in the process. "And come tonight... m-maybe Nikki and I will be more than just teammates."

The riolu sprinted over to the stairs. Igneous tried to fly after her.

"Tessa, wait!" he called, but she'd already leaped up the stairs by the time he reached them.

Given how things ended up turning out for Tessa and Nickie...I do hope they managed to get that confession out before things turned south.

But on a happier note in Levincia, at least things seem to be looking up for Penny. Nice resolution to end on for this part.

Now on a not-so-happy note, back to Yuna's group, where things are getting more ominous by the minute.

As Leo discussed Xander's stupid show tournament devolving into interruptions by pirates and another Paradigm Lieutenant, Yuna noticed how much bigger Leo was. He must've gotten his hands on quite a few plates, given he now stood several heads taller than her. Leo was two and a half Widgets big!

Growing more into the role of a Creator by the minute. Now it's a question of when he'll abandon the Gen Z slang and take on formal talk just like Diamond.

"It was GGs until these two crashed the party."

"Right." Yuna's tail crinkled slightly. More of Leo's weird lingo.

Alas, not today, it would appear.

Welp, if it looks like a trap and smells like a trap, then it is a trap. Gene even said it himself, and now here Zodiark is, taunting them all.

And before that, there's Genesect to deal with, sprung by Isola.

"It would seem your friends have met with some... difficulties. Whether they overcome them matters not. But we shall watch. See if they have what it takes to join you... and learn the truth."

Oh boy, we're set for another bunch of revelations in a bit, aren't we? Here's hoping the lizard group can survive the onslaught.

Oh no, they've ended up in an 8-bit game. Not good at all, given the quirky things that go on in those.

OAK: Hello there! Welcome to the world of POKéMON!

...What.

OAK: This world is inhabited by creatures called POKéMON!
OAK: This world is inhabited by creatures called POKéMON!
OAK: This world is inhabited by creatures called POKéMON!
OAK: This world is inhabited by creatures called POKéMON!

....What. Again.

OAK: Others use them f̴̖̈́͛͑o̵̬̖̦̍̋r̶̗̩͑ ̵̣̖̐̄̿f̸̣̓̽̌͜i̸̛̖g̶̘̉h̶͍̩̏̀͊t̷̞̃͒̆ṣ̸̻̗͝.
OAK: Others use them f̴̖̈́͛͑o̵̬̖̦̍̋r̶̗̩͑ ̵̣̖̐̄̿f̸̣̓̽̌͜i̸̛̖g̶̘̉h̶͍̩̏̀͊t̷̞̃͒̆ṣ̸̻̗͝.
OAK: Others use them f̴̖̈́͛͑o̵̬̖̦̍̋r̶̗̩͑ ̵̣̖̐̄̿f̸̣̓̽̌͜i̸̛̖g̶̘̉h̶͍̩̏̀͊t̷̞̃͒̆ṣ̸̻̗͝.
OAK: Others use them f̴̖̈́͛͑o̵̬̖̦̍̋r̶̗̩͑ ̵̣̖̐̄̿f̸̣̓̽̌͜i̸̛̖g̶̘̉h̶͍̩̏̀͊t̷̞̃͒̆ṣ̸̻̗͝.

Oh no, not the eldritch text.

OAK: <player>! This isn't the time to use that!
OAK: <player>! This isn't the time to use that!
OAK: <player>! This isn't the time to use that!
OAK: <player>! Ṫ̸̢̔̕ͅḧ̶̔̄͜i̴̘̱͂s̴̙̲̻̿̆́ ̸͓̏̓i̷͇͚̟͌͘s̸̜̺̗̎n̶̢͎̔̉͘'̸͎̀͝t̵̘̝͈͗ ̷̫̘̬̇͘͝ẗ̷̗́̒̍h̵͇͖̄e̴̤̿̾̊ ̷̰̀̃t̷̪̐̇ȋ̴͇̋m̷̡͘ȩ̵͉̌ ̴̩̂ṱ̷̍́͠o̵̼͍͚̔̎ ̸̖̩̰͒͝u̷͙͗̈́̚ŝ̷͇͉͔͑͋ẻ̴͇̺͍͊ ̸̣̞́t̶̙̃̅ḫ̴̨͙̎̋̑a̵̩̐͂͘͜ţ̴̣̹̆!̵̰̙̓

Oh come on, Igneous doesn't even have a bike or a fishing rod! Even in the world of fanfic, I can't escape this damn professor and him telling me what I can and can't do indoors.

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

Emojis in a PMD fanfic. Just like before, my eyes are not deceiving me.

~WELCOME TO GLITCH CITY~​

Static rippled across the text box.​

~W3LC0M3 T0 GL1TCH C1TY~​

~̴̲̝̊W̸̱̾3̶̯̪̏L̵̺̗̑C̸͔͖͆̋0̷̯̇̋M̴̼̓͊ͅ3̶͍̾͗ ̸̈́͆͜T̷̼̃̔0̸̠̩́ ̵͙͊G̴̖̚L̵̜͕̾̑1̶̻͛́T̸̻͐̍Ç̵͉̃Ḩ̶̜͊̚ ̶̠̇Č̵͙͝1̶̳̌̉T̴̨̫̿̕Y̷̟̹͋̌~̸̦̅

~̵͎̈́W̵͇̜̅̚3̷̤̓L̶͕̠̿̓C̵̛̦̈0̵̦̰̅̀M̵̙̊3̵̨͙͛͊ ̶̰̈͝Z̸̨̥̈́̕3̸͇̄R̸͍͔̽0̴̯̐̄͜ ̷̼̬͗G̷̯̍̉Ḽ̸̓̒1̷͎̀T̴̼͐Ć̴̗͗͜H̷̘͚̄ ̴̢̊͌2̵̛͈F̷͚̒͘~̸̬̳̊́​

~Z3R0 1SL3 2F~​

...Leave it to Ahsen to come up with the eldritch glitchy text world.

,,˙ʇuǝɹǝɟɟᴉp ʎuɐ lǝǝɟ ʇ,uop I,, ˙punoɹɐ pǝʞool ǝᴉɹʎʞlɐΛ ,,¿ʇɐɥʇ sɐʍ ʇɐɥM,,

Igneous' head leaf caught fire. "What are you talking about? You're standing on the ceiling!"

"I've got a problem, too!" Noctum declared. He was stuck on the mirror on the right side of the room.​

Oh damn, even the normal narration's gone glitchy!

~Z3R0 1SL3 3F~

Oh? Normal Mystery Dungeon in a floor-by-floor format? And to think you've criticised me on this before smh smh. (I jest, obviously.)

Back to Valhalla, where Zodiark's continuing his spiel like before.

"I did not corrupt your husband, Dark Matter." Zodiark sounded uninterested despite the verbal rebuke. "I showed him the truth. That his cause was a folly. That his battles wrought suffering, when he thought he was saving everyone. It is not my fault he lost his grip on reality when faced with the futility of his actions."

"Liar." Red energy crackled around Gene's chest core. "You shadowed him, bastard!"

"I did what was necessary to ease his suffering," Zodiark said.

And now he attempts to do the same to Yuna and her comrades...His preaching's no doubt worn thin to her by now, so I reckon it would probably take some tangible proof for her to believe his words.

~Z3R0 1SL3 4P3X~

Okay, we just skipped through to the end. No point dragging things out, I see.

As he'd done before, Ahsen shouted random directions, with his body getting jerked around.

I feel like it might be better if we heard him give those directions in dialogue. Would add to the humour of this.

I can hear (HELIX). See (HELIX). Taste (HELIX). And (HELIX) tastes like]

Is a form of Helix gonna be the boss of this part? Since I think I recall seeing a Helix art for PoV at some point in the PMD Discords...

[I'm about to (MAKE THE MOTHER OF ALL OMELETS, JACK)!]

Omg a Senator Armstrong reference. I know this fic is reference heaven, but even this I wasn't expecting.

[So why are you and your (1Head)s trying to #@$% me over right before we get to the good stuff?! What are you, a (CORPORATE CEO)?]

Valkyrie squinted. "Did... did he just censor bleep himself?"

Can this get any crazier? Genuinely one of the most unhinged characters in a PMD fic I've read, and that's saying a lot.

[... Everyone's favorite (BIRD-TYPE POKéMON)...]

Ahsen pulsated several times, before his body exploded into a giant, writhing mess of black blobs and tentacles. Pixelated blocks flickered in an out of existence all around Ahsen's body.

[... Knows how to put on (A REALLY BIG SHOW)!]

So...that means it's time for Igneous, Valkyrie and Noctum to be a BIG SHOT? (No doubt that'll be the theme of next chapter's battle.)

Chapter 118
No surprises that the Spamton-coded character had exactly what I predicted as his battle theme.

And now our heroes are being assault with the glitchy sounds of Gen 1 attacks. What a horrible thing to have to behold.

Seems Igneous was a hard worker in his past life. Too hard, by the sounds of it.

[All I wanted to do was (OPEN YOUR HEART), Ig,] Ahsen said. The tendrils that weren't attacking them wiggled in seemingly random directions. Directions matching all the messages popping up around the arena. [Open your 👀s your 👂s your 👃 your 👄.]

Swinging on the pop culture references by the dozen with Ahsen here.

Wild MISSINGNO. used HM04!

A pixelated Hyper Beam struck Honedge and made it disappear.

Hyper Beam wasn't an HM, last I checked. What functionality is this game for Hyper Beam to have HM properties to it? What, blowing apart walls?

Ahsen clapped two tendrils together, producing an 8-bit telephone receiver.

HELLO, BASED DEPARTMENT?

[Hey, (PALKIA), why don't you and your (WILL THEY WON'T THEY) go 01101000 01101111 01101100 01100100 00100000 01101000 01100001 01101110 01100100 01110011.]

This is ridiculous, I'm cackling at this

[Are you (REALLY FEELING IT)? (ART THOU FEELING IT NOW, MISTER IG)?]

Oh my god, two for two in this one!

[It's that (PET TWINKIE HORSE) of yours.] Ahsen's whole body vibrated. His helix fossil head spun clockwise, then counterclockwise. [He's locked your (HEART SHAPED BOX) tighter than (SIX EASY PAYMENTS OF $5.99)!]

"Shimmer has nothing to do with this!" Igneous growled.

[(O RLY?)]

I can't even at this point oh my lord I'm actually dying from laughter

So Ahsen's Vikavolt, by the looks of it? That seems to be what's being implied, by the looks of things.

Igneous' wings curled up slightly. He almost dropped to the floor but steadied himself. "That's—"

"You blame yourself for her death," Vikavolt exclaimed. Igneous could hear his buzzing wings getting closer. "But there was nothing you could have done."

The volcarona's wings twitched.

"She took that sketchy mission by herself," Vikavolt continued. "She didn't even tell Nickie about it."

Whirling around, Igneous blurted out, "She told me!"

No...She never got to confess to Nickie...

[After all my (FATHERLY) advice, you're still trying to (SEND ME TO THE SHADOW REALM)? Well, I think it's time I employed a little (UNO REVERSE) energy!]

Shit, not Uno Reverse! Few energies are greater than "no u".

Seems this is all about Igneous in this moment, with Valkyrie and Noctum out of the picture for now.

"Nikki and I went after her once I realized something was off."

Meant to be Nickie, since this is a flashback?

[Are you ready?] Ahsen resumed vibrating. [Ready to let that (START9) in? Ready to let (HELIX) make you a better (BEAUTIFUL GAY SALAD)?]

Another metamorphosis incoming? Ohhhhhhh dear.

And it seems Igneous met his end at Zodiark's hand. So that explained how that came together.

Seemed precarious there, but thankfully Valkyrie saved the day! A bodyguard to the end.

Oh damn, suddenly Ahsen comes out sympathetic at the end. Perhaps not when Helix is controlling him.

And so that brings a curtain to probably one of the most unhinged yet hilarious characters I've ever seen in a PMD fic. I absolutely loved Ahsen from the moment he appeared with the Spamton dialogue, and blending that with Missingno's glitchiness and Porygon-Z's corrupted nature makes for one hell of an entertaining character. Huge kudos from me in bringing such a character to life. 🫡

Chapter 119

They're planning to set up an outpost of some sort in this POV-2020 place. Try to monitor the situation directly. I'm... not sure the exact logistics of how that would work. It doesn't sound like there are proper gods in place to lend us power.

Still, that can't deter me. If I behave myself, maybe I can convince them to let me come along? At least for a little while...

Something tells me the ultimate convincing would probably have taken a lot of time and effort to do.

Diamond galloped across the ground, impressed his smaller body could carry Artemis around despite the cosmic milotic's larger size.

The honse is stronk with his Dialga conscience. 💪 (Then again, Seifer could probably have done it as well.)

Diamond wasn't in the mood for such childish bickering. "Enough! We're not leaving and that's final." He scanned the air again. The Flamethrowers and Thunderbolts were fewer than before. "If both these factions are thinning out their sides, then we stay grounded. Snipe at anyone who tries to—"

He certainly has a commanding presence with orders like that. I like this new persona.

If only Diamond had his time powers.

I wonder if...maybe he could reclaim them at some point? Although given that Yuna already has Witch Time time powers, that might be a tad redundant.

Iron Treads, full of Academy students...if I'm remembering correctly. Mmmmmmm.

And now we have Robo-ified Tobias. Striking just how much it strikes fear in Diamond - perhaps a holdover from Seifer's earlier nerves? Or is it just Diamond still getting used to his smaller Keldeo body?

Diamond wouldn't have to deal with Iron Crown anymore.

That's what you think. Pity that there's such a thing as "Round Two."

And now everyone's getting sucked into Valhalla. All the heroes together, ready to hear the grand unveiling of the truth, by the looks of it.

Grishi seems to know something about Mt. Coronet. What does he know that the rest of the gang doesn't...?

I do like Zodiark's gradual listing of everyone's imperfect lives until now. There's something I do enjoy about a point where the whole party is acknowledged, even if it's for a villain's denouncement like here.

"The heroes defeated the dragon," Zodiark said. "And one stepped forth to absorb his power. With that power, this hero sought to undo the dragon's damage... while ridding the world of the divine energy that brought forth so much suffering."

Oh hey, I know this story. To think it's been six years since it ended....Time flies, doesn't it?

Then Zodiark responded, "It is as you say, Voice. As this energy raged, I was dragged through time. Forward. Back. Further forward. Further back.

"And in these times I found so many suffering souls. Humans. Pokémon." Zodiark paused. "To say nothing of my own situation."

And in encountering all of those souls, Volo became corrupted by that energy and became Zodiark?

A Tree of Life inside somewhere with Mount Coronet energy? As if to exemplify the intertwining of the PMD and PLA worlds.

And with the Eternatus energy and Tera crystals, it's almost like exemplifying the links to Gens 8 and 9. What a chimera, eh?

It seems Chiron's spirit is located in this place? Perhaps locked behind the Needle...although I reckon once that Needle is pulled, things will be set in motion which cannot be undone.

At first, nothing happened. Then a crack spread from the part of the crystal the Needle had been stabbed through. Then another. And another. And another.

Yuna heard shouts behind her. She turned around to find the black haze descending over the other resistance members. Thuds sounded in quick succession.

Just as I feared...although by the looks of it, it seems our heroes are about to be taken to witness some kind of past event, judging by the next chapter being a Special Episode of sorts.

Chapter 120
It's actually quite clever making the Special Episode a chapter, as if to tell the reader that this is a firm part of the story that should be read, which is sometimes an issue with Special Episodes in PMD fics being made as flashback chapters.

So this Togekiss is a construct through which the Matriarch speaks. How often before we see Cynthia's other team members as constructs...?

"A-And I helped too!" a squeakier voice chimed in from behind the dogs. Chiron nodded at the espeon who stood beside Miraidon, wagging her forked tail.

"Of course you did, Selene." Chiron chuckled. A part of her still found it strange to be dealing with the person Enamorus had been before receiving Bahamut's blessing. She and Bahamut had both been under the impression all the Sages had sacrificed themselves to seal Eternatus. Yet they'd found Selene wandering around the Qliphoth lost and confused. She didn't even seem to recognize the two of them, sticking closer to Nova and the dogs.

Selene, as in GL!Selene? Or is this someone new entirely?

Nova marched up to the open door. "We've come this far charging full steam ahead. Now's not the time to suddenly change tactics."

Given what ended up happening to Nova and everyone else...these are famous last words, aren't they?

Oh hey, that's what the promotional video sounds like when it's not glitching out to hell like in Yuna's time.

As Selene said, it all sounds cheerful, making it a jarring contrast to the fact that our legendary heroes of the past are supposedly under siege.

"And here we are!" Cynthia gestured proudly to the giant machine. "The hope of the future, the Eternatus Core! With its power source... the Space Globe!"

Oh yeah, this was the part that kept playing on repeat and glitching out constantly due to the damage.

"We will," Zacian assured him. "But don't let this unnerve you, either. We're close to the end." She shook herself out. "I can feel it in my bones."

Near the end...I reckon that might well be for more than just their adventure here, through these darkened labs on Valhalla.

"... Hope this message gets through. I don't have a lot of time left."

Audio recordings from olden times doing a blessing for figuring out what really went on.

Quite a stark contrast this recording is tone-wise from the happy message of the video earlier. A sad sign of how downhill things went when calamity began to occur.

"And that should be enough to keep Zodiark from interfering."

Well, did it now? That's the question we'd all like to know.

"Welcome back, Chiron. N0-V4. I have been expecting you."

Oh hai, Cynthia. Nice to meet you in person, at last.

"Negative." Cynthia faced the group once more, her hands now folded behind her back. "Professor Cynthia is dead. I am Matriarch, an autologous artificial intelligence program created in the professor's likeness and imbued with her memories, thoughts, and beliefs to supervise Eternatus and ensure its continued stability. In other words, I am an AI-powered android. Not dissimilar from your origins, N0-V4."

Or not. We have an AI-powered fake instead.

To understand your collective folly, we must walk through the full sequence of events."

Funny, how in two different times, Zodiark and Matriarch are doing the exact same thing in regaling the team with a history.

"How did Cynthia get the Space Globe?"

The lineup of planets reappeared on screen, only now there was an icon of the Space Globe. It moved across the dotted line in the reverse direction.

"The Space Globe traveled back through the same worlds the man went to, finally ending up where he started," Matriarch said. "Enough time passed that it arrived in the professor's era. She found it atop Mount Coronet—the same mountain simulated here—and used it to further her own research."

Oh yes, I remember this from a flashback quite some time ago.

Bahamut being the serial doubter like he always is. Although faced with their enemy, one can't blame him for being tetchy and doubting.

"But Zodiark also had its own thoughts and beliefs about the data it held," Matriarch continued. "Including Dreamweaver." She looked up at the screen where the helix and the ball of static kept ramming into each other. "The two consciousnesses were opposed to one another. And the professor feared this antagonistic relationship would destabilize the Space Globe."

Funny how it's not too unlike the dichotomy of Dialga and Palkia and how they clashed frequently, just like in some flashbacks here in fact.

"The dimensional collapse is Giratina's fault," Matriarch insisted, her gaze still fixed on Bahamut. "And, while Zodiark interfered with the program, that same chaos energy caused the planetary reconstruction to go awry."

So that's why the Matriarch seemed rather testy about Giratina, as she blames him for everything being in a state of limbo.

"I will spell it out for you, Renegade. Eternatus is made of spirits. Those spirits are held together with the Space Globe's power. A power Zodiark wants entirely for itself. I am the only thing keeping Zodiark sealed. And that seal weakens in response to chaos energy."

She turned to the Space Globe, then resumed pacing. "If you destroy the core, Eternatus will destabilize. Zodiark will break free and claim all of Eternatus for itself. It will begin to shape the universe to fit its twisted vision.

A catch-22, alright. No matter what happens, bad things are bound to come from it. At least according to Matriarch, anyway.

"Followers who you shared your chaos energy with," Matriarch chided.

Matriarch sure likes being the teacher in this scenario, doesn't she? Almost treating Bahamut like a misbehaving child.

With a few specific exceptions," she shot Bahamut another look, "all life in this universe is new. And that new life is incompatible with the professor's Dimensional Restoration Program."

So all that life deserves to die, huh? A very cool, calculating way of saying you'd commit genocide, Matriarch.

They would find another solution. After all, improvisation had gotten them this far, hadn't it?

Ah, the "fuck it, we ball" strategy. It works...most of the time. But by the looks of it, this won't be one of those times.

Matriarch rested her left hand on the Space Globe. "Initialize Eternatus Protection Protocol."

The screen behind the Eternatus Core abruptly went black, save for a white cursor. It quickly moved across the screen.

>VOICE AUTHENTICATION ACCEPTED

Well, shit, this is where things start heading south, don't they?

Killer art, right there. But also an indicator that against three deities, our heroes aren't going to be having an easy time.

With this battle theme playing, it did take me a minute to realise that there would be analogues between Matriarch and the AI professors, wouldn't there?

Again, Matriarch seized up. The screen flickered.

>IMP0SSIBL3

Oh no, the glitchiness begins.

"This is how we beat them." Chiron gestured toward the altar. Bahamut looked where her wing point to see the screen glitching out.

>ST0P THIS
>Y0U ARE M∀KING A MIST∀KE

Would the AI be convinced otherwise? Or is Matriarch so set in her ways that she wouldn't hear anything otherwise?

Bahamut clung to the giant, rectangular bulge in Dialga's neck. A gold light blade stabbed through the blue diamond embedded in the neck bulge.

That will never not be a weird as hell design choice giving Origin Dialga that bulge.

Great battle - really giving a high-stakes feeling facing off against the original trio with Matriarch.

"Quite a rich statement, coming from naught but a vessel."

Aaaaaaand that's the cue for victory to fade away in an instant as Zodiark comes in and takes the power for himself.

To her right, Nova and Zamazenta howled in pain. Chiron's eyes widened. Strange, distorted red energy had surrounded both of them. It was like the chains around Arceus, Dialga, and Palkia. It swirled faster and faster... and dragged Nova and Zamazenta together! The red static tore Zamazenta into a fine crimson mist that seeped into Nova's cloak, darkening it to a navy blue. Chains wormed their way out of the ground to wrap around his legs. And a brown stone mask began to build itself over the type: full's face.

And that's how we got Xeromus... And as for Selene, that must be where the body snatcher in the Radiance royals began.

"Simple," Enamorus scoffed. "I never lost them to begin with." She eyed the sword in her hands intently. "Because I never went through with that ridiculous sacrifice."

Chiron's eyes widened. Then she'd been lying the entire time she was with them?

No. That didn't matter. Leo was in trouble! He needed her! She had to move! Why did everything still hurt so much?

"And it's a good thing I didn't." Enamorus drifted closer to the ground. To Leo. "I was prepared to wait so very long for this moment. But it seems I've been gifted with a miracle, thanks to Zodiark's brief freedom."

She pointed the sword up. "Zodiark has shown me the truth! About how ugly this world truly is! And the part you've played in it, Bahamut."

Yep, Isola through and through. So that's where that originated from.

So that's the start of it all, the endless rivalry between Radiance and the Aeons, when Enamorus turned traitor on Bahamut. Man, what an intense sequence, and all the more reason to now despise Enamorus/Isola.

Yuna's eyes snapped open to find Xeromus' helmeted head centimeters in front of her.

Well, that's certainly one thing to wake up to. That's nightmare fuel right there, seeing his helmet with his wild eyes right next to your own.

And in turn, now the truth's been unveiled...and things have now been set into motion that cannot be undone with Yuna's pulling of the last Needle. The stalemate the world is in now appears to be turning...albeit perhaps not in a way that our heroes would want.

Conclusion

But after that climactic chapter, I think I'll leave it there just for this review. I'll do the rest of the chapters later on in the Blitz.

Where do I even begin? Because wow, these chapters went places. From the PoV edition of the Primarina music showdown, to an 8-bit glitchy mess that saw a duel against Ahsen, to Seifer coming back to life in the new form of Diamond with Dialga's conscience, to Tobias and Grayson being robo-fied, to Isola becoming even more deplorable as a villain, all the while Zodiark lurks in the background, watching it all and instilling thoughts into our heroes and antagonists alike. He's a great protagonist for that, a great manipulator that the heroes just can't shake off no matter what they try. And by the looks of it, he might well be the fic's final boss, after Paradox is dealt with. Unless the final boss is an unholy amalgamation of some kind just like HoC's was.

My favourite set of the chapters was Chapters 117-118. Just for Ahsen, really - I loved him as a villain and all his glitchiness and unhinged dialogue that pulled from memes and Spamton alike. Pulling out Helix and Twitch Plays Pokémon references with him was great just for the humorous side of that alone, but then there was also him seemingly being Vikavolt, too? And that explained why he had such a particular fixation on Igneous the whole time, and had a disdain for Shimmer.

There was also Xander in how much of a slimeball he was and how much I loved to hate him. Very much a diss on influencers and how all he cared about was his follower count and becoming Shimmer's boyfriend for the power behind that when our resident twink horse would ascend to the throne. I loved the fightback involving Team Star, with the Big Damn Heroes moment they have when Leo's in dire straits against Xander and his Gigavee.

It all seems to gearing up towards the home stretch now - in which I look forward to seeing how the final pieces of the puzzle slot together. Granted, it'll be a good while yet before journey's end, and I still do have some more chapters to get through. But I was very, very impressed with what I read this time around, and I'm definitely looking forward to reading the rest.

Also happy birthday! That's why I'm dropping this review today - as a little pressie. 🎂

 

[CuteBunnyGirl]

Here for the Review Blitz!

"To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour."
~William Blake, "Auguries of Innocence"

The story starts off with an interesting poem, I wonder if it has any symbolism or something like that.

"Hey, Quetzal, how much longer are we here for?"

"You say something, Shiva?"

"Ifrit?" The articuno tilted her head. "What are you doing here?"

The names of the Articuno and the Moltres remind me of summons in the Final Fantasy games, is this intentional? And is the Zapdos’s name, Quetzal, also a reference to those games?

"My, my. The Queen has sent another of her vaunted captains to my humble abode?"

"It's not Her Eminence's judgement I'm concerned with."

The mention of a seemingly mysterious figure known as simply “The Queen” or “Her Eminence” intrigues me, I feel like she might have importance to the story.

"The Aeon Kingdom's delegation is here already.

So the place is known as Aeon Kingdom, I like that name!

What she found, however, was a cloud of black shadows surrounding a two-legged hulk of black crystals. Crystal tendrils sliced the air, snuffing the trio's attacks out like they were nothing more than the tiniest pidgey's Gust.

The Phantom seems to be quite interesting, is it supposed to be a pokemon or something else? Because it doesn’t remind me of a Pokemon right now.

Green and purple fluids splattered on the dusty ground in front of Shiva, painting an even clearer picture.

The scene where Douglas is killed by the Phantom seems to have a bit of a shock value vibe, mostly because the audience doesn’t have much time to get attached to him before his death.

"We will destroy Eternatus."

Eternatus is already name-dropped? Cool!

The shadows finally reached her face and… nothing. The pain was gone. Shiva looked up, but recoiled in horror upon seeing that her once-pristine, blue-and-white feathers were now tainted with black and shades of dark gray. She managed to catch her reflection in a shard of broken glass and noticed a curved mask sitting over her eyes. Shiva threw her wings up, trying to pull it off, but a sharp pain tore through her shoulders. Her wings were... far stiffer than she was used to.

"W… what did you do to us?!" Quetzal squawked. Shiva staggered to her feet and found an orange bird with lightning-bolt markings on his shrunken wings kicking at the ground with very long legs.

"I made you stronger." Two of the Phantom's tendrils turned right, facing Quetzal. "Do you not appreciate my gift?"

"Not in the slightest!" Ifrit huffed, his now-curved beak muffling some of his speech. The violet-magenta flames on his wings crackled.

I also like the scene where they are transformed into the Galarian legendary birds, I haven’t seen much fic about those before.

Overall, there seems to just be a lot of stuff I do not understand right now. I know they’ll most likely be explained later, but it might be easy for the audience to get lost currently. I just hope I’ll understand things like the Needles, Her Eminence and the Phantom later on. Maybe this is just because I haven’t read Guiding Light yet, but I am confused.

"Gah!"

Dreepy Yuna shot up in her bed, arms tightly gripping her silk blanket. She doubled over in pain, squealing until her throat burned. Several tense minutes passed before Yuna finally settled down. She stared at her blanket, barely making out the red heart woven into the fabric using what little moonlight trickled in through the slits of her bedroom shades.

"Maybe it... was just a nightmare?" she whispered, rolling the held part of the blanket between her arms. Yuna looked right and squinted, trying to call on some of her ghostly aura to see her dark room.

The scene proceeds to shift to Yuna, and it seems that the previous scene was just a nightmare. Yuna seems to have anxieties regarding her going to a school of fairy types.

Remember the family creed, Yunavresca: seize the day by the horns!"

I also like the name Yunavresca, it just sounds neat.

"Bahamut, give me strength," she whispered.

The name Bahamut also seems like a Final Fantasy reference.

So, here's my review for the prologue of Path of Valor! I hope my criticism wasn't too harsh, since I did genuinely enjoy it and I am excited to read more of this!

 

[Navar]

Happy birthday, Amby! It’s been a while since I last read your fic, and there’s a lot more chapters now. Since I’ve finally managed to get myself some free time, I’m gonna use it to review some more. Hopefully I’ll get as close to catching up as possible. Also, since this is a big review, I'm gonna be splitting it into two parts.

Chapter 79​

Good to see the chapter starting out in a chill manner. Shimmer being there does change the status quo a little, but surprisingly he doesn't seem to be doing a lot. I guess given everything that's happened, reacting the way he does (i.e, by doing nothing and being polite) is natural. Still, I'm finding it way better than his previous attitude. The guy had a serious problem before, and now it's not that much. As for Yuna... she's still a weak character, at least in terms of fighting prowess. But hey, she knows that's an issue and wants to fix it. I do like that, despite knowing this, she doesn't like it too much. I imagine training can be boring, so it's fitting. Her quote unquote child is a bit more excited, which fits with him. Overall I understand they don't have a lot to do at the moment, since their main goal seems to be locating Necrozma. You'd think finding a giant light bulb wouldn't be difficult, but apparently it's more than I thought. When they do find the guy, I doubt it'll be a fun reunion for anyone involved. I mean, he is kind of a prick.

On that note, seems training won't be happening for a bit. Another anomaly... and hm. It's just dawning on me that it's been 79 chapters and only now is Yuna being made aware of the whole trainer and Pokémon thing. It's interesting because I don't think it was that important before, so I don't mind her only finding about this now. And maybe it's relevant to their current situation—since you know, the anomaly is in Kanto, in the league to be specific—for her to know it. At least they're all formulating plans right away, which does help things a little? Which brings me to another point: the group is actually rather solid. I mean, their teamwork seems to be solid. Or at least, they seem like they're quick to plan things. Executing them, though? That's a different thing entirely. It might need a bit more effort to deal with the anomaly... I actually appreciate the effort in connecting all these worlds, it's neat to see how they all interact. I know it's been a while since I read this fic, but still, I remember enjoying that aspect of it. Obviously it's only getting more and more prominent, but... well, I like it.

Read some more. Some bickering over the league, and then more preparation for the mission. So far, it's chill. Like the start of the chapter! Well, I know the mission is serious and all, but good to see Nikki being... the comic relief. I don't think I've said it before but huh, she's that, isn't it? With meme references and all. But her kind of comic relief works just fine, it's not really distracting in my opinion. But also, hooray, Koraidon! I just love the species, so it's always fun to see one popping up in one of these stories. I know he's been here before, but still. Anyway, the more interesting bit here is that there's a cup, or a coronation? Y'know, these anomalies are getting weirder and weirder. In a good way, though. It's nice to see how creative you get with each of them. In this case, it's something to do with Galar? Wyndon in the chapter name, plus the cup thing. And with an audience that wasn't even there before—that's why I said they're getting weirder, by the way—which... it kinda odd. But it just makes me more curious about how it'll all unfold. Poor Yuna's gonna have to get in a sewer, isn't she?

I find it a bit amusing that, through all of this, Yuna is a bit worried she's gonna cause panic in the human world. They're there on like, this super cool, secret mission, but she takes a moment to think about this kinda stuff. I dunno how to explain it, but... it's funny, and kinda cute of her, I guess? Hard to explain. Anyway, so far there's not much happening, which I imagine is gonna change on the next chapter. The main takeaway I have here is that the core is in a vault, and that Yuna got spotted. I said it wasn't much, and I keep saying it. Because realistically I feel like Yuna could handle that officer and the dogs. I mean, she's not that strong, but I guess this would be easy for her. Something tells me that it'd be. Though, it does seem like she found what she was looking for, and earlier at that.

And oh yeah Shane's making more logs at the end of the chapter. Uh, yeah, London, but in Pokémon. Maybe he'd feel more comfortable if he was in Unova rather than Galar.

Chapter 80​

Compared to the chapter that came right before this, the beginning is a bit more ominous. Which, naturally, comes from the fact the cryptic bastard is here again. And like every cryptic bastard, they say a bunch of stuff that (seemingly) doesn't mean anything. Or, at least, Yuna doesn't seem to understand whatever it is they're saying. She even does the smart thing of trying to get away from whatever the creep is, but hm, they're not really gonna let her just do this kinda stuff, hm? But at the same time, the butterfree effect (which I might shorten just because it's easier to say) isn't actually behind this. They're just sorta there, I guess? Of course, this doesn't make things any better, but at least it's something! Honestly, the more I read this guy, the more they don't make any sense. I know it's the point, yeah. Still, I thought that maybe I'd be able to make sense of it. For the time being, it's just a warning that all the words they've seen end up dead? This is... ominous as hell. And honestly something that would make a bunch of people skeptical. I mean, it's a very ludicrous claim, isn't it?

But you know what? The more this guy keeps talking, the more they sorta made sense. I mean, it doesn't make a lot of sense, and maybe it doesn't need to. What needs to happen is Yuna questioning things. That's how it happens, yeah? Make your main character question the status quo so they go and make something to change it. Or this guy is full of shit and is just spouting nonsense, but I'd rather believe they have a point to the madness. Besides, from a meta perspective, they are sorta right. A lot of stories don't necessarily end. They just sort of stagnate, without any conclusion. At least that's the reading I got from whatever this guy is saying. In the end this guy is just trying to get on her nerves. Though, at the same time, Yuna IS being presented with a choice. Or two bad choices. The point, in this case, is which of them she's gonna choose. Each one is bad, which means she has no choice at all! And that's that the omen is trying to tell her? It's how I understood this. I do appreciate Yuna is still trying to fight back against this, uh, nihilistic view? It feels like that. I'm still not sure what the omen wants, but it's creepy, so it fits.

Igneous' moment in this chapter is something else, too. He's meeting with his father, sure, but there's still a lot of resentment on his part, towards him. Given what happened with his mother(or stepmother), it only makes sense that nothing would have changed between them. He's still... angry that it all happened. And honestly I doubt there's gonna be anything that will "fix" this situation. Maybe not now, but I dunno. At least he's not alone right now, so... talking to other people about what happened. It's something that can help him heal. Honestly I feel Igneous is probably my favorite character of the story. I dunno how to explain it just yet, but he's just a delight to read at all times. He's wrong about one thing though, the guy could probably use some comfort. It's better than not having anything, right? Even if I feel Igneous would take some time opening up to people. Not on the same level as, say, Nikki, but not too easily either. Still, he's doing a bit better now.

In the meantime, the actual plot of the chapter is still rearing its head. Namely, which choice Yuna has to make. But honestly, given how everyone seems to have a different idea as to how they'll be able to fix this situation, it's probably only making it more complicated. The problem is the warnings that Yuna received. If she believes them, then it's not like what she picks matters. Though I feel like she's not the kind of person to blindly follow what a weirdo like that omen says. She's... more knowledgeable about things now. It might even help her out! So, then, their genius plan is to make a fake attack? Honestly I'm not even sure if that'll work out, but it's... an interesting plan, for sure. I still feel like a lot could go wrong here. Like, they could be attacked by the police of this world or something. But Gene's smart enough to have that figured out, isn't he? He strikes me as that kind of guy. I do find the plan amusing, though. I'm curious to see how it'll turn out. I'm expecting it to not be the way they want it to be.

Chapter 81​

I like Seifer and Cyril. I dunno what to say, man, they're just... a cute couple, I guess. Even they have their part to play here, but this little interaction also says a bit about Seifer. He feels like he's too, I dunno, serious? Maybe. The point is that he doesn't allow himself to rest nearly as much as he should, which I suppose is where Cyril comes in. The guy's the total opposite of what Seifer is, but that's why the two work so well together. They obviously can and should balance each other out, like what a good couple would do. And besides, having a bit of a downtime before the proper mission starts is neat enough. I like that it's with them specifically. Honestly I doubt that we'll actually get to see their date night, but at the same time, I do wanna read a chapter that just has them being comfy and having a date. Something different from all the chaos of the plot. Like, a slice of life chapter? But there's so many characters here, which would make it difficult to pick just a handful to get that kind of chapter... oh well, maybe it'll happen.

Well, the first thing is that... it was obvious that the "team Rocket" that's appearing in this chapter is the anime iteration. If it's not them, it might be an alternate universe of them, given how this fic explores that kind of thing. Anyway, yeah, yeah. Gene isn't the best person to handle team Rocket, but at the same time, he's probably the strongest out of the entire crew, so if anyone can do that, it's him. Besides, if it's Jessie, James and Meowth, then anyone can handle them. The guys are buffoons! Or something like that, honestly. But I still feel like there's more to it than just... working with them. Also, as a side note, this is the first time I find out Meowth has an accent. I didn't grow up with the english dub, for obvious reasons, but I think that's kinda neat. Anyway, Gene is putting a lot of effort into convincing them that they need his help. But at the same time, he also needs their help... help from people that get distracted having an argument about pizza. That's classic team Rocket. Honestly the entire plan is just causing a scene. Again, it's an amusing plan to have, because it's kinda ridiculous. I also find it surprising that team Rocket managed to accept this idea so eagerly. Then again, it IS team Rocket, the idiots would take any opportunity if it's good enough for them. And the last comment for this bit... Gene likes puns. He's a dumbass sometimes.

Which brings me to even more cute stuff with Seifer and Cyril! Like I said before, although not in those exact same words, the guy is sheltered. I also am not surprised that Gene and Cyril got together. I mean, given they were the only ones in their little group (if I remember correctly), it was bound to happen. Though, at the same time, I find it cute that Cyril stopped doing that, especially now that he's with Seifer. And, in turn, Seifer is adorably awkward here. It just makes them feel like an even better couple. I don't know what to say, I just find them to be sweet. Something about breaking Seifer's stiffness (in more ways than one, apparently) is really nice to see. And... well, I do love myself a gay couple, so they're way up on my ranking. I didn't even know I had a ranking(?)

And then everything comes crashing down, because of course it does. I'm not sure why I didn't think there'd be measures against Zoroarks, but well, there are. Now that I think about it, it's not surprising in the slightest. Still, poor guy. So, now that it's been established that their plan has gone off the rails, it's kinda important to see what the group is gonna do in order to solve things. Well, the first thing is that they're gonna have to fight... more than what they originally planned on doing. In this case, I think it's mostly Seifer. Gene, on the other hand, is quick enough to make a backup plan. I already figured that he'd have this kind of thinking, and really, they weren't gonna deal with the anomaly in a single chapter(even if they arrived in the previous one, so it wouldn't be a single chapter anyway). I guess I'm just curious to see how long it'll take for them to solve this situation. I doubt it'll be quick and easy. These kinds of things never are! I think. Honestly the better part of this was just Cyril and Seifer. I love them a lot.

Chapter 82​

It certainly feels chaotic now. I don't know much about like, how battles are fought in a sorta war-like setting, and this isn't that, but like, the battle does make me think about that. I'm not sure if it's the right word to describe it, but it's what I thought of. Anyway, it feels chaotic enough with the rebels trying to get any kind of advantage they can get. For now it seems more like a stalemate? Cyril isn't making much progress even with his twink boyfriend around. But on the bright side the battle is amusing (especially with this Buzzwole, the dude is kinda funny for some reason). On the bright side it does make reading the battle easier, it's not uh, very fast-paced? The pacing is fine, I think. It's readable and enjoyable is what I mean. Even if the main focus seems to be "how the hell are we gonna make actual progress". It reads that way to me. I suppose hanging there and making that progress little by little is also an option. On the bright side it's always good to see more Noctum. He's adorable and I would like to hug him a lot.

Okay, so after typing that I wrote some more and unsurprisingly Noctum gets the short end of the stick again. He's, well, he should get treated better. At some point surely he'll have a nice moment where he can, I dunno, bake some cookies or something. For now he's getting assaulted by all these birds! But hey he's still alive in the end, which is more than fine. Not ideal, but fine. Meeting with the queen in the middle of all of this is something I'm not sure is lucky or not. Her ominous words about the strange blast also make me curious. Then you have this giant Duraludon who's going out of his way to shoot Valkyrie. I gotta admit, it's cute to see Noctum jumping for action and trying to help her out. I know they're (kinda?) a thing but I feel like he'd do it regardless of their relationship. Noctum is just that kind of guy in my opinion. Or at least he seems to be this kind of guy. In any case, he gets more points on my book. If not for Igneous he'd probably be my favorite character, but he's a close second place.

Well, Gene does have a good point. Perfect planning is basically never happening, but on the bright side he could strive to get as close to one as possible, which I guess helped him make the decision to work with team Rocket. And that actually brings me to my second point! So I was expecting team Rocket to do their thing, and in the anime it's fine and natural, but this is a piece of (fan) fiction, so I wondered how the other people in the story would react to their, well, their thing. I was expecting Gene to be baffled, and I'm not disappointed. There's something oddly amusing about seeing established characters interacting with OCs. I mean, the cast are OCs. I think. I also love how their first course of action is to just grab Jade and try to kidnap her. Also the fact they don't seem to think she's an actual Salazzle hybrid. I mean... I don't think that exists in their reality, so there's no reason why they would think it's a real thing. I almost expected them to double cross Gene (which is a terrible idea because he can just wipe the floor with them), but maybe that happens later.

In the meantime, it's finally time to handle the daemons around. It was meant to be just one, but the effect never says everything, huh? They're controlling one of those birds. There's also the problem of there being... either Red or Ash here? I want to say Red, but given the team Rocket existing here is the anime one, it might be Ash. I'm not sure just yet. But well, what happens next is more chaos. Yuna's out of her depth, now more than ever. And this poor girl continues to get thrown words and accusations about things she doesn't really understand. And this human hardly seems like he's Ash, the personality doesn't seem to match him. Unless he's brainwashed like the birds. It does seem fitting. The chapter itself ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. I doubt Yuna's gonna die here, so I'm guessing this is gonna have her evolve again. It would make sense thematically, like she's taking control of her own fate or something. It'd also be cool, so here's hoping that's what's gonna happen in the next chapter. In any case, this one was fun. I like chapters full of action, which is the case here.

Chapter 83​

Yeah, so we're starting things off with Yuna having a moment to herself. And by a moment to herself, it means she's going through a rough time right now. As expeced given the ending of the previous chapter. Though, this scene doesn't show a lot. After nearly dying, Yuna gets to experience... something. I'm not sure what it is, but she's being shown things (a thing that I'm realizing is rather common throughout this story). And what does she do with all this information? I have no idea, I just know Yuna's just as confused as me. Though, as I continue to read, more of it makes sense. The presence that was mentioned by the effect is here, a Giratina. Seemingly, the same one that Volo uses in PLA, which is... interesting? I'm not sure what's the conection here just yet, but it's making me curious enough to keep reading this. It also makes me wonder what the point of this is. That is, what's the end goal for Yaldabaoth (also I had to copy the name because it's big and I could not remember how to spell it)? Is it just gonna, I dunno, tease her, show her things? We'll see.

Alright, read more, and have more things to say. The visions, flashbacks, whatever you wanna call it—all characters from Guiding Light, minus the volcanic Arcanine, which I can't remember. Now, it's been a while since I read that story, so for the time being I can't tell if this is Tessa or her mom. Either way, this is some... huge lore? The question I'm mainly asking is who Yuna's supposed to be in this vision. I'm not sure, and maybe I'm misreading things. What matters here though is what she wants. This is information, it's... the truth, somehow? What truth, I'm not sure. The point is that Yuna needs to deal with this. I guess sooner or later she would find out about whatever this is. Memories are an interesting thing to build around. Yuna's herself, in the end. At least that's how I see it, that she's her own person, regardless of Yaldabaoth. Regardless of what people keep telling her. Though, it does shed some light on her, which I find nice. And the visions do make me more curious about what the hell happened after Guiding Light ended. Shane already showed up here, more or less, so... I dunno.

Uh. Okay, cool, so... more reveals here. Most of which I don't entirely understand. Necrozma (Bahamut, I imagine) is trying to keep the worlds united? And that's a bad thing that Yuna should be trying to reverse? Okay, so the worlds aren't meant to be united the way they are now. I don't entirely get it, but it's slowly making more sense to me. Which does help with the vision. Whoever the Lucario/Riolu was there, maybe they did it? But they're not Necrozma, I don't think so. Man, I'm just spouting nonsense. It feels like I'm spouting nonsense. On the bright side, the next part of chaos' explanation is a bit more sensible, talking about the existence as Giratina. And about multiple of them. One of which is the one that was with Volo. So... I'm understanding a little bit more now? I think? There's, admittedly, a lot going on in this chapter. At least there's some answers about Yuna, and... I'm trying to get it. Not saying you made it complicated, I'm just dumb. However, I think I understand one part of the explanation. The... guy from Guiding Light. Nickie, I think. I think I understand, he was able to either make the PMD world there, or enter it through the resentment, and that resentment was alligned with Giratina's own? Man, I really am just talking out of my ass here.

See, I knew Yuna wouldn't want to suffer identity death. And honestly, surprised that this was even a thing that she could do, or... demand, I guess. For all the talk about power, it does feel like chaos is powerless. Or, at least, for the time being. Maybe it'll happen in the future. Honestly, I don't think you'd point out it's inevitable like this if it wasn't gonna come back in the future. But it worked, and she's actually evolved! Though, this feels like it was planned already, she was called Yaldabaoth in the end. Still, this feels like it's Yuna in control, and not whoever the other entity was. She's more powerful. She's... better than before? In a way, I think. She's not doing much in this chapter, or at least in the end of it, so the next one will hopefully show off just what she can do now that she's at her... peak? Maybe not at her peak yet, but she's closer to it.

Chapter 84​

Alright, back to Noctum. He's fine, and dandy, and he has his girlfriend with him. But there's also a giant metal dragon trying to kill all of them. One that looks like he has an ego bigger than himself. So, overall, the situation hasn't changed that much. They're still trying their best to get at least some kind of advantage over here. He's also kinda broken in that he can deplete your energy. Because of course he can, it's not like things can get any harder for our dear rebels, hm? The other point here is finding a way to get the king back. I'm not sure if he became the paradigm or if he's stuck inside the dragon. Either way, it doesn't make this any better. I do like the idea of them fighting a monster that's way bigger than them. Kinda makes me think of a Godzilla movie. And just like in that kind of movie, the secret is... I dunno, taking them out slowly? Or hitting this guy with the soldiers he's sending out. Using them as ammunition, or something like that. I mean, it's a better plan than what they were doing before, so this isn't too bad. I don't think it is.

Okay, yeah, it makes sense that they would just. Learn about what happened with Jugulis and adapt to it. In the meantime, Noctum is getting some... weird mental fog. I mean, it's been happening since the beginning of the chapter, I'm not sure why I haven't commented on it until now. Whatever, so this is a flashback for him? I mean, it looks like one, though a flashback that's kinda really tiny and only like, two paragraphs long each time. Unfortunately this thing is distracting Noctum enough that the poor guy can't fight properly. I doubt the Duraludon actually knows what's happening, but he sure doesn't waste an opportunity to keep attacking Noctum... and the rest of the rebels, of course. The one thing that helps them out is Vegna appearing. Man, it's been ages since I last saw this guy, and he's still... off. Not bad, just off. Like I can never tell what this guy wants to do. I mean, it's part of his charm, I guess, but still, that's something to think about. But on the bright side, that's a reinforcement, with some birds too. Surely this will actually help them out.

More things happen. Well, they're still fighting, and I feel like little by little they're actually making an effort int taking down this beast. It is tanky though, I mean, that much's obvious. What's more interesting is of course the fact that Noctum is still getting those visions. It almost feels like most of the cast has some kind of... I dunno, other self or something? I don't think that's the word for it, but in any case, Noctum has been having the flashbacks all through this chapter. So naturally it means something big is gonna happen to him soon. For the time being, he's just like Yuna a chapter ago, sucked into his own consciousness(?) while a cryptic figure is there with him. Two dragons experiencing similar things. Coincidence? Eh, probably not, but what do I know, right? Granted this one was a bit short and it ended with Noctum getting assaulted again, so it wasn't exactly like Yuna's own... subconscious or something. Anyway, whatever happened with Noctum actually managed to make him attack this dragon and, hurt him? Or at the very least, he's annoying the giant. Given that up until this point nothing was doing much against him, this is progress! I think. And then he wins, so yeah, progress after all. Noctum also gets a new look here, and it's another starry Pokémon. You're really putting all those adopts into use.

Back to Yuna for the moment, it seems. She didn't seem like she did much, but on the bright side she does have a good handle on the situation. Except for the part where she saw memories of another life, and now she doesn't know what to do with this information. In all fairness, it's a lot to take in, so... she has the right idea here. What's interesting here is that there's another flashback, which in turn is about Chiron now. Not much to say about it. For the last comment on this chapter... Necrozma's back. Well, he's somewhere, I'm not sure where yet, but hey, the guy is still kicking (obviously). Means he's gonna be making a move or two soon, and given people wanted to locate him, I think he'll likely locate them beforehand. He also seems aware that Yuna has more power now? Well, that's neat. Not exactly neat, but it's something else, I think. Still, another good chapter here.

Chapter 85​

Some log entries right at the beginning of the chapter. More things with Shane, I imagine, though the relevance of them escapes me right now. So, moving on to the chapter proper. Well, I guessed right, it was Ash all along! Ignore the fact I said it could be Red. Also, and this is a minor thing, but uuuuh, wow. A reference to those Ash betrayed fics? I'm not entirely sure what I expected, but it sure wasn't this. Anyway, for someone that was brainwashed and crazy, the guy sure looks better now. I guess all's well that ends well. In this case, they're all back to normal (save for the birds, who are not reverting to their normal selves). Though, this really is Ash. He's really calm even while explaining the whole thing about being betrayed. And honestly, I assumed team Rocket would be the one that would betray the deal. But nope, it's Gene, and honestly I kinda get why, team Rocket is an evil group, and he knows them (though not exactly this group of Jessie, James and Meowth). I mean, it's team Rocket, they get to do one thing at the end, and that's blasting off into the distance.

It's not uncommon for dictators, like Paradox, to see something bad happening and spin it around in order to make propaganda. What's interesting to me about this is that... he did it pretty fast? Like, it almost feels as if he figured that the rebels would win. Or maybe he's just that good of an emperor, and is able to patch holes into his reign without much effort. Which in turn makes our cast unable to fight back against him. They have been doing this for a while now, and... I'm not sure how they're gonna make a dent on Paradox's plans. Maybe it's not time for that just yet. There's still a lot of chapters remaining in the story, so I'm guessing something's gonna happen. What's important is that they're not planning on giving up, which is a good sign, at the very least. Also the king and queen really just went to bed right after the battle ended. I mean, good on them, I guess? I do appreciate that Noctum was worried about them. He's still just... a very cute goober. Now that it's all said and done, they should relax here. And maybe regroup. Yeah, regroup.

That's exactly what happens. Well, Yuna's been through a lot, and so did Noctum. Actually, everyone that's there went through a lot, except maybe Vegna. I mean "a lot" as in specifically the past couple of chapters, I'm sure Vegna went through more in... previous chapters, as well as in his life. Anyway, tangent over. What's important now is that they can try and chill a little. Or maybe not, because Yuna did have a lot of lore (TM) dropped into her, lore that everyone else should also know about. So... at least it means I get the abridged explanation about what happened during that chapter. Thankfully, because again, I'm dumb when it comes to this kind of stuff. The easier one is about the plates and needles. Obviously there's more to it than just explaining they're drawn to each other, but at least I feel like it's a good place to start, if any. Doesn't stop Vegna from wanting to pry more information out of Yuna, though. His methods sure are something. I'm not sure what, exactly, they are, but I mean, he gets results, so it's better than nothing? I don't like him all that much, even if he's a complex character.

Okay, okay, so there's even more important things now. Big things. Extremely important ones. Shane is back, and I mean, he was here before, but this is the real, proper appearance by him. And... Tama? I do remember him from Dodra, though I don't remember much. He's an Overseer here, which is nice. For the majority of this conversation I wondered why he was acting kinda... goofy? Like Shane, yeah, though not entirely like him. I guess I got used to the cryptic, cat Tama from Dodra. Anyway, given the reveal that he's another version of Shane, this does make the personality make a bit more sense. But more importantly, I think now Shane's actually gonna do things! I'm not sure what his goal here is, but he's a good guy, so I doubt it'll be anything bad. So, in the span of like, seven chapters, there was a lot of information revealed about the world. And I like all the lore that was told. It just makes me more curious about what the rest of the story. Only time will tell, really. But yeah, it's exciting. Wonder what's in store for the future.

Chapter 86​

Okay, cool, thank you Nikki, for making an abridged summary of all the important lore drops during that chapter. I'm really glad because now it makes more sense than before, so yeah, thanks for that. Anyway, another interesting bit here is that it isn't just Yuna that's... part of the quote unquote "real world". Some other people in the story are also part of that. Which, I imagine, would explain why Noctum has had those visions during the last chapter, and why his body changed so much in the fight. Though the point about why wait until now to actually do something does make sense. Maybe it was the only way that would work. Errr, well. Leo is an important piece in this puzzle too, so I guess the more he gets those plates, the more the mystery will unravel itself. Or something like that. I do appreciate that there's some focus on... well, everything that happened. A more quiet chapter, if that makes sense. It's better to read now when compared to before. It's amusing that despite all of this Nikki's concern hasn't actually been answered, and she's just been thinking about it while everyone else is dealing with Leo's... zoomer tendencies? Dunno how else to describe it. So the main thing Necrozma wants is more power, or... his light, to be specific? Okay, cool.

...Oh man. That's, uh, that's something else, huh? Yuna has a flashback, or vision, or memory, or whatever it is, and now it's more things with Tessa and Nickie. So, this is different from GL, I think. Because Tessa and Nickie weren't partners, it was Tessa and Shane. But hm, Nickie is trans, and that's an interesting thing here. I don't think she was in GL either? In any case, I didn't miss Shane being a prick for seemingly no reason, ratting her out to her dad? That's something he'd do in the beginning of the fic, I mean, he only really started to change after THAT chapter (you know the one, everyone knows the one). But anyway, this feels different from the story. Not bad, though. It's interesting to see a new side of Nickie. It's good to see that she's actually loved, and that she's in a body that she likes. Well, the girl part, not sure about the Vulpix part. But... it's good, isn't it? It's a nice feeling. I mean, probably. I'm not trans, but I am gay, so I can sorta understand the part about wanting to be your true, authentic self.

This is the bulk of the chapter. It's just... reassurance to Nickie. Reassuring her that everything's fine. Honestly, I felt like there was always some kind of wish fulfillment with PMD. I dunno, but to me, the idea of living in a world where they all exist had always been fun. In this case, it's like... a world where she can be herself. If not as a human, but as a Vulpix. There's something nice about that. Yeah, yeah, her body's entirely different, and there's some disadvantages to her new life, but at the same time, I don't think it's worse thant what she bad before. Though, despite this, I understand that Nickie would, sometimes, miss her old life. Or at the very least, it's likely she would think about that life. The point being that Nickie managed to survive through all of that, even as a human. She knew what she was, and she worked to make that a reality. Given Shane's mentioned, that's in the real world, and unfortunately, in our world, trans people are still... well, you know. You're in the US, you know how things are over there.

Tessa's a good friend. I mean, letting Nickie talk is one thing, but going as far as saying she wished she was strong is something else. Because there's a lot of different kinds of strength. She wanted to have the kind that Nickie had. Or... has? I'm not sure if she needs it now. Anyway, that's not the point. The point is that at least Nickie has someone that supports her. A lot of someones. Which, yeah, makes it so she's in a better spot than she was before. That's something to take into consideration, right?

On the other hand, experiencing this memory made Yuna actually act like Tessa (which okay, she was her, I think). It just ocurred to me that Nickie, Nikki... and she showed up right as Yuna was remembering things. I'm sure there's nothing about this and it's just a coincidence. Or is it? Eh, probably not, but there's no proper confirmation here, so it's something for a future chapter, in the meantime, I'm sure Yuna will have a reasonable explanation as to why she was talking nonsense for a moment there.

Chapter 87​

Oh, we're starting right after the last one, huh? With Nikki and Yuna. Alright, then. Then let's see... I knew it wasn't a coincidence her name sounds just like Nickie, and it's also spelled almost exactly the same. So, going from a human, to a Vulpix, then to a Toxel... that's one hell of a development. And yet, I dunno, something about it feels like it fits her. I also like how Nikki is only telling this big part of herself to Yuna, and only Yuna. After all these chapters, they've certainly gotten closer to each other. It's adorable, really, that she has someone like Yuna to talk to. Although it did take some prodding from her before Nikki decided she should open up. And anyhow, her not remembering things does feel suspicious, while she herself knows this, she's still in denial about possibly having been a human, or a Vulpix. It's a big change to be honest, anyone in her situation would feel the same, so I don't blame her one bit. She's reacting like anyone would. Again, it's a good thing Yuna's there, since they are... closer. Hmmm, interesting, interesting indeed. I did think Nikki would've taken this a lot smoother, though. Her being mad about this is... also understandable. It's like, a big shock, and besides, she doesn't even know if it's actually true, but honestly, it might as well be.

I feel like Scarlett might have been waiting outside the door just waiting for an opportunity to get in the room. Case in point, the melody that Nikki played. It's kinda cute she'd recognize it from far away, in case she wasn't like, waiting. She probably wasn't. Anyway, now that the cat is out of the bag, everyone gets to talk about the fact that they all knew each other from before all of this. It's nice that they're all coming clean about it, but huh, it's kinda funny how they all went through this before. I dunno why, it's kinda funny to me. But... huh, I hadn't realized that Nikki is the only one that isn't "special". She's a regular Toxtricity, as far as she's concerned. Honestly she's probably more pissed off because of this. The whole thing about everyone there knowing each other probably isn't good for her mental health at the moment, but at the same time, I feel like Nikki should just... I dunno, suck it up? Probably not the proper word, but I dunno.

Hm. Nikki's being a surprisingly good voice of reason. I guess, given she's different from the others, she can also have a different perspective on things. Namely, that yeah, sure, it's fun and all to reincarnate, but they actually lost, so it's not like this is a good thing. They're probably... not that good at working together. Or at least, they weren't in all those previous lives. Something has to change here, the question is what that's supposed to be. And honestly, I can't think of anything else they can do differently. On the bright side, maybe they can see how they failed before, and maybe that way they could find a way to do better this time around? It's an idea, at least. And now poor Yuna is having a bit of a downer moment in terms of her self-esteem. She doesn't need to be Tessa, though. None of them are the people they used to be. That's important to understand, and that could even help them. Yuna already is different enough, since she doesn't wanna "merge" with Giratina. She's someone else, and she wants to be someone else.

It's good to see everyone trying to, uh, unwind from it all. I mean, that's probably the word for it. By playing truth or dare, or their version of it. Which is honestly just the truth part. Telling secrets about each other, to each other. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Not sure if it's a good thing either, it might just be... a thing, maybe. Anyway, it's neat seeing what they were all hiding. Shimmer's probably the funniest one, and then you have Igneous, who's just suddenly doing drag(?). I mean, he does rock the dress. It's good. It's a nice drawing. He's... pretty, honestly. The rest of the chapter is just this, then? The young adults having fun, enjoying themselves. I feel like, after everything that's happened, they all deserve it. We can probably call this the calm before the storm, so... yeah, it's nice. I like the chapter. It's not really a heavy lore chapter, not as much as the previous ones, but it's still pretty interesting. I guess seeing them act like the young adults they are is a nice change of pace. This cast is... full of goobers, honestly. Good job over there.

Chapter 88​

Okay, it starts in a hospital. That's something else. And hey, Seifer is there! The twink horse is still around, good to know. Though this starting scene is a bit odd to me. He's trying to help figure out what's up with all these unconscious people, which, I mean, fair enough. It feels a bit disconnected to me, though. And, apparently, Gene was the one that attacked them? The quick thing to notice is that he's apparently used Malice to attack them. Well, that's a bit concerning. But uh, okay, it's not a flashback, and Seifer just out there doing commander things. Even if he's not liking the use of this title anymore. Honestly, that's interesting to me. Like, he's... different. He's been through a lot throughout this story, so it's natural that he thinks like this. At the same time, I think he's more or less used to this being his new reality, and not being a commander anymore has become his status quo, so it being challenged, even as a side remark, can make him feel like this. I'm not sure why I'm putting so much focus on him. Maybe I like him more than I realized. Well, sounds about right.

Yay, more scenes with Cyril and Seifer. Something a bit more domestic? I was hoping for this kind of thing, even if this specific example is more like... Seifer wondering if he did something bad, while Cyril is there to be comforting. Yeah, given how Seifer is this was bound to happen. I do appreciate Cyril's attitude about this though, the guy must have some kind of experience with this situation. Maybe not the exact same, but something similar enough that he knows what to tell his boyfriend. On another note, the art for this scene is really cute. Seifer is very huggable here. Anyway, I forgot that Cyril has been in this for longer than Seifer does, and so his opinion on things is also a lot different than his boyfriend's. That's natural, though. They have conflicting ways of dealing with things, and neither is better than the other. But... that's also how they can get closer. Get closer to each other. I mean, I could say a lot about them, because as a couple I really appreciate the way they act. They're... cute, adorable, and other stuff. So yeah I'm just really happy to read scenes with them. All of them.

The scene continues, hooray! It's just them talking, but honestly, what's more interesting here is that Cyril is actually a damn smart guy. Being able to read Seifer so easily is a good skill to have. But honestly, Seifer isn't too secretive either. His personality does make it seem like his parents had something to do with it. He learned his values from someone, after all. But still, Cyril figuring it out is nice. I do understand why he doesn't exactly like how common this seems to be. I would also like to say that I imagine Cyril was thinking about how "Doctor Seifer" would look. Surely, it passed through his mind, even if it's for a split second. Anyway, yeah, I get it. He should come clean about his own stuff too. It's not entirely fair that only Seifer goes through that. And hey, this is talking. Actual conversation between people in a relationship! The trope of bottling feelings in ships is one I don't really like, or keeping secrets. Maybe I watched too many CW shows... well, it's good to see they're actually working on things, and that Seifer trusts his boyfriend enough to tell him that something isn't working.

Ah, he's a human. I remember hearing about it before, but I can't recall if this was mentioned in the fic, or if it was word of mouth. Either way, neat. Cyril is much better as a Zoroark though. And his issues are more... about identity, when compared to how Seifer's issues are about his personality. Although, honestly, these two things are related to one another. It's easy to make comparisons between these kinds of issues. I do appreciate they're working through it... and then they have to have a date night by watching Not!Star Wars.

And for the final part of the chapter, Xander. Doing... shady stuff. Well, he did hit rock bottom, so it's not like I can blame the guy. At least, not as much as I want to. Well, he's working for the bad guy of the story, but it's obvious he's just using them. So obvious that Paradox himself knows this. And... well, Xander is probably gonna want some revenge against his boyfriend. Who is, seemingly, a bottom. You know what, I believe it. Well, anyway, was a fun little chapter, and I'm saying this mostly because of the fox and horse being gay.

Chapter 89​

I kinda forgot that Yuna had siblings, lol. I think it's been so long since this was mentioned that I didn't think about it. But uh, yeah, now that she's a Dragapult she gets to do Dragapult things, like shooting them out of her... cannons. Not sure if that's how you call them, but yeah, that's what she wants to do. It's cute that she's doing it, and so naturally too. And now all her siblings wanna do it. Poor Yuna, having to deal with her strongest opponent: children. The solution to this issue is seemingly leaving it for someone else. And this means Nikki. So now it's "poor Nikki". I guess Yuna's still dealing with all the reveals. There was a whole chapter of her dealing with it to the best of her abilities, but it obviously isn't gonna go away in a single chapter. This stuff is... stuff for more than one chapter, lol. On the bright side, she's doing her best to deal with it. It's good that she's at least trying. Whether or not that has any result is a different story. But eventually, something's gonna happen, for better and for worse. Hopefully for the better, right? On the bright side, Nikki and Yuna are having a slumber party. Honestly the mental image of a younger Yuna having a slumber party is kinda cute, I wanna see it. It's... rather adorable, now that I think about it.

Noctum is having a normal time. Relaxing, maybe? Not as much as he probably wished he could, but... he's also too responsible to not think about what he can do to help people out. In this case, being there for Yuna's mom. However, what's next is weird. I'm not sure if it's Noctum or Yiazmat that had the visions, but whatever the case, what happens is that she kicks him out. So I'm guessing she must've remembered something that shook her enough to want to be left alone. And in the meantime, Noctum has more flashbacks. It almost feels as if, now that they know they're reincarnations, those visions are becoming more and more prominent. The knowledge is making them appear more. That does seem like a reasonable theory? In Noctum's case, his visions are related to the Sinnoh legends. I wonder why that's the case. If he's Palkia or Dialga. It would explain why he's close to Yuna (Giratina).

Alrighty, there's even more stuff with Noctum now. Specifically with him and Valkyrie. And this time around they get to have a nice chat with one another. It's... cool to see them talking, even if Valkyrie's being her usual rash self and trying not to show off her real feelings. But at the same time, the fact they're talking is an improvement. Like they're trying to figure out what the hell they're supposed to be. For someone like Noctum I feel like he'd see her as a friend a long time ago, but then again it's not like they had the time to really stop and think about things. At least, not until now, I guess. At the end of the day, she's someone that doesn't like getting close to people. Noctum's... someone else. And maybe for the first time in a while she can get close? They're sitting next to each other by the end of this scene, so I'd say that this did happen, and they did get closer. Well, that was nice to read. Noctum really is a goober. The best one, honestly. I'm not sure how I'd describe his development, just that I like how far he's come since the story started.

The next scene is a bit more intense, this time it's with Leo eavesdropping on a very important conversation Vegna and Gene are having. I'm on Gene's side here, by the way. I think he's making a good decision by not accepting what Vegna says at face value. Like, there has to be another way of doing things. He's also aware he might lose control. And honestly, it does seem like a possibility. He's doing fine for now, but who knows what's gonna happen later? It's a complicated thing to think about in the first place. And of course Leo wasn't like, hidden away. It was obvious that Vegna would know he's there. The dude has like, a sixth sense or something.

For the last part of this chapter, just Artemis deciding she's gonna train with Archie and Maxie. Well, it's better than sitting around doing nothing. Everyone in the rebel gang has something to add to the team, so feeling useless is a fine feeling. Hell, Nikki is going through something similar. In this case, Artemis is going off with two former evil team leaders. Archie's probably the better suited to train her.

Chapter 90​

Oh okay Nickie's getting to be a goth girl like she wants to be. I get the initial shock from Tessa, especially because I feel like she doesn't really "get" this kind of stuff, but she's still gonna be supportive of her friend. Partner, really. And now there's even more similarities between this goth girl and the other goth girl (aka Susie Deltarune). Well, I'm curious to see how this little plot point develops. I'm sure it'll be interesting either way! There's a lot of interesting bits and pieces of lore introduced in these flashbacks which I hope will be resolving soon. This introduction also fits in nicely with the other part of the chapter, which is, of course, Yuna going on a shopping trip. I'm slightly concerned about how easy Nikki stole Cyril's credit card, but given he's also not the most clean person, I guess it's fine to steal from him...? I'm also impressed by the fact that Yuna's okay with it. Well, she's not... okay okay with it, but she's also not against the idea. It's kinda funny to see her going along with it, though. I mean, it's with Nikki, so I guess it all fits nicely in the end.

Honestly this also feels like it's a chapter that's more of a... downtime than anything else. And honestly, that's fine. They should have the time to relax. Plus, it's mentioned that this is the first time Yuna goes in this kind of place, which is bound to make things funny. However, even in this more or less relaxed period, she's still having a short period where she's feeling nostalgic for it. Those memories deep inside of her really keep showing up. It's like someone turned the faucet on and forgot to close it, so now it's just... going and going and flooding the bath tub. I'm not sure where I came up with this analogy, but whatever. I am also slightly worried about what Shimmer is doing. I doubt he's like, running off into a trap or anything, but it does feel like a dumb idea. At the same time, though, they are his mothers, so it's understandable he'd want to check how they're doing. Even if, uh, one of them just wants his body for her own evil purposes. Yeah, that plot point is kinda scary, but for now it doesn't seem like it's happening. Which is... good? Bad? Concerning, at the very least. So the main thing the cast is gonna do this chapter is play hockey. Huh, hockey exists in this world. It's cute to see Igneous being teased too, though I think I remember him being attracted to Shimmer as well. Wow he's (possibly) bisexual, I didn't know that.

Alrighty, so now we have Seifer and his boyfriend again. Only this time Cyril is getting... I don't wanna say profiled, but it does look like it. By Cobalion and Terrakion, no less. Well, a member of their species, judging by the names. And relatives to Seifer, which honestly makes things a lot more awkward, then. Hey, on the bright side, at least they're not homophobic. Just... against Zoroarks that act suspicious. Okay, in their defense, Cyril is kinda being suspicious here, but at the same time, it feels like they're grasping for straws. They're right, but... well, I guess they're good at their jobs, good enough they can notice when a Zoroark is acting shady. Ignoring the fact they're all acting high and mighty because of it. To be fair, they're probably strong enough to warrant this kind of attitude, even if it's annoying. And this bit ends with a bit of convenience because some rowdy folks have just arrived on the scene. Also, Seifer got recognized. Uh oh.

Okay, Gene's deal makes a lot more sense now after this explanation. But... wow. He must have a serious level of self-control if it took him until Wyndon to actually have to tap into this power that he hates. He was forced to because of the circumstances, that much's obvious, but... man, what a poor guy. I feel sorry for him in a lot of ways. And he's still trying his best. The question then is if this will be enough or not. Obviously, I want it to be enough. They don't seem to end the conversation all that well, though. It could be better, but hey, they're trying, right? That has to account for something. And it's better than not doing anything. That's what I mean, they're... not not doing anything. They also got interrupted because of the pirates from the previous scene. Back with a vengeance, it seems. Not the worst thing in the world, but... that's one way to end a chapter. I doubt it'll take too much effort to send them flying.

Chapter 91​

Surprisingly the beginning of the chapter has some focus on Leo for a change. With the news of an anomaly, this kid just... decides to go after it by himself. Yes, it's dumb to go in without a plan, but what I feel is interesting is that he's very eager to go. He's a kid, mostly, but he's also smart enough to know that they don't have time. He's not just a kid is what I mean. There's more to him than just this. He's ready for action even if it means defying what the adults in the room are telling him to do. And to be fair, in the end of this scene, he does find Nikki and Yuna, so he's not running off alone, but at the same time, he was willing to do it. That's proof enough that he's a rebel like the rest of the cast. Well, there were other proofs like him accompanying them on missions and all, but it's also nice to see him have the iniative. It's also obvious that Noctum would be worried, like he always is. Bit surprised Valkyrie didn't agree with Leo and decided to go with him, but even she has her limits, I guess.

The pirates have quite literally crashed the party, but at least they did it before Igneous and Nikki got on each other's throats. Not that I think they would get to that point, but maybe if they kept going the way they were, it'd happen. Anyway, I had kinda forgotten about these pirates. Again, it's been a while, I didn't remember they were even in the story in the first place. So they're back now, only this time around they seem more prepared. Or as prepared as pirates can be. Which honestly is way more than before. Like, they're actually using X-Transceivers now! That's gotta count for something, right? Right. Yuna's also way quicker to jump into action. I don't know, it feels like she's doing it faster than before. Honestly, good for her. There's also an anomaly here, which, if not made by the pirates, means this is one hell of a coincidence. Or good timing. Well, bad timing given the cast was out there to relax and stuff. This time around they're not really prepared and are taken by surprise. Still, it can't be that bad... it's just some pirates, I doubt they're evil masterminds like Paradox is.

Oh shit, there's more than one anomaly. Somehow I thought the one Leo was in was the same one as this chapter's. Again, Yuna's there to do things. Only she's summoning Rayquaza (the mental image of a big shiny dragon getting volleyball'd by giant fruit is amusing, I gotta say). This scene is also a bit chaotic, so talking about it feels chaotic as well, though I'll do my best. There's a lot going on, but despite this Yuna still finds the time to stop and look at something she recognizes. Or someone, I guess. All of this just so she can get them some help. To be fair, it's always good to have more people to help in these... raids? Raids is what I'm going for. While they did manage to handle this anomaly pretty fast, Vince is not the same guy as he was before. It's like he lost his memory or something. Or maybe he's panicking. Could be both, too. So he's not exactly being much help at the moment. Still, being with them might be better than wherever he was before. The lesser of two evils is what I'd say about it.

Ah, now I remember who he is. The junior Overseer that is actually kinda useless at the moment. Because the other anomaly is still growing, and things are only getting worse from this moment onwards. Uuuh, okay, cool. They're in a pretty tight spot, with a crazy Ceruledge close to them, who's probably gonna strike them, and strike them hard, if he was able to defeat a Paradigm member. They did it too, but... that just means this sword guy is on a level of power next to them. Maybe even more. No clue how they're getting out of this one. It's a cliffhanger, yeah. It's more about how they're winning, rather than if they will or not. I might've mentioned this before. Whatever. So our current "team" is Yuna, Nikki, Leo and Vince. Out of them Nikki is the weak link, though like she says, there's probably something she can do. Even with this in mind they're gonna need some serious strategy to pull it off... not much more I can say here. I do think this was a bit too fast-paced, but despite that it was fine to read. Exciting, tbh. Always fun to see the anomalies.

Chapter 92​

Well, it sure took some time for the Stuff(TM) that happened to Seifer to actually catch up with him. By that, I mean that his father is now belittling him. For, I dunno, reasons. He's only been here for a bit and I already hate the guy. I mean, he's fine with Seifer dating a guy, just drawing the line on the boyfriend being a Zoroark. He's just a bitter old man, I guess. Well, on the bright side, Seifer is confident enough (or at least pretends to be) that he can tell his dad to shut up. It's... brave of him, especially considering that they're currently being attacked. Sure, the pirates aren't actually going for them, but it's still an invasion. And the rational way to look at this is to focus on the bigger problem, and then deal with his father later. It's rational, yeah. I do feel a bit sorry about Cyril, though. I mean, the poor guy has been through a lot, and now his father-in-law meets him and the first thing the guy does is just complain, and complain, and complain. I mean, that's gotta sting, right? Even if Cyril has a lot of cynicism in him.

So the idea of letting this go until things calm down around them was kinda tossed aside. Well, it was a suggestion that was even made in the story, which says... something, I'm not sure what. Okay, okay. Cyril, you are adorable. Going out of your way to support your boyfriend and shit talk his family is fucking great. Though, honestly, Seifer also has a point. They really can't be doing it right now. Still, everything that Cyril said is true, and the Swords just have such a ridiculous concept of honor and duty that they ignore everything. They're... controlling, really. Controlling Seifer so he'd be their version of a perfect son. Or nephew. He's not that, though. He makes mistakes, and honestly so do they. The only problem is that at least Seifer acknowledges his mistakes and tries to stop himself from making them again. These guys are just spouting mean words and going as far as attacking Cyril (which is kinda pointless given he's a ghost, but it's not like they knew that). In other words, this is a family feud. While the rest of the town is being invaded by pirates. I can't exactly call it good timing. I do wish his father would realize how badly he's treating his own son.

Okay, there are more characters to be introduced here. A Zoroark, Mewtwo. Both at once. Okay, that's... interesting. Again, you're really making use of all these adopts (I'm assuming it's another adopt). The way he speaks is different, but it's fine and understandable. Now they're in the Blueberry Academy, huh? Okay, these guys really go places. They travel a lot. The problem, much like with the stadium, is that the core is deep inside this dome. Once again the core is inside a human structure. I'm wondering if there's any meaning behind that, or if this is a coincidence. I can't really tell at this point. Still, interesting how it happened again. Something something two nickels. Anyway, the Zoroark/Mewtwo is mostly someone that seems to act on his own, without wanting any help from Overseers. He certainly seems powerful enough to not need them, so the guy might have a point. I still think Vince might be helping out, if only Grishi let go of the... hatred, I guess? Or distrust of them. Vince's a good guy, he's just not that strong.

No actual fighting here, honestly. Just people talking, strategizing really. And honestly a good chunk of it is just Vince whining about his inability to do anything. In all fairness the one that brought him there in the first place was Yuna, so in a way, she's sorta responsible. I do agree they should question him and see if they can find anything useful to them. But maybe in a less aggressive manner than what Nikki's trying to do. Uh, she should probably chill for a bit. Maybe seeing him talk about being useless reminds her of herself, and she kinda dislikes that? Anyway, they have a reluctant ally in the sense that Grishi is there and he's gonna help them out, but he's not too interested in the Overseers. Honestly, the Overseers can be kinda dicks so I see his point. And unsurprisingly, things seem to be going from bad to worse here, with not just one but two Whispers. Three plates, two Whispers. Honestly it's pretty interesting. Nothing else in this chapter, so as usual, another case of you doing a good job. I do wanna say I wish Seifer kicked his dad in the face, but eh. We can't all be winners.

Chapter 93​

Okay, so once again the chapter is springing right into action, which is more than fair. Despite not knowing much about this guy, and thinking he's like, made of clay or something, Yuna is able to formulate a plan pretty quickly! Or I should say Shaymin did that, because that's the one that did most of the thinking. Getting shot at by her must be weird... and I also kinda wanna read the skydiving thing with him and Rayquaza. I dunno, it just seems fun. But yeah, they don't have anything that's particularly effective, in terms of type. Hell, Nikki's at a double disadvantage here, and at least on the bright side she seems willing to try anyway. That's what I like about her, she's always doing stuff, even if she doesn't fully understand it. More importantly, Zodiark's there (also the thing at the beginning of the chapter about Zodiark was kinda creepy, gotta say). And they're also calling Yuna that other, long name. It's interesting how quickly Yuna gets recognized as that other creature. She did take some of its power, so there's that, but even before she was already being recognized as someone else. This only like, exacerbates it in my opinion.

Yuna is deep in the battle, but like every encounter with Zodiark, she's basically being told cryptic stuff that she obviously doesn't understand. That was already a thing before, so it's pretty much the same here as well. Only this time around instead of fighting her, the Whisper takes a different approach and just. Runs away. Okay, that can be a strategy as well, though it does give me a funny mental image. Still, I guess there's a point in not fighting it because it'll only make things worse, and Zodiark might not want that? It's a bit hard to understand (for me, personally), though I do like this decision. The plan is just to break the dome and kill all the people inside because of the immense pressure. Yuna, obviously, can't do that, so she has to follow Ting-Lu. And fight it, which is also not a good idea because in this case she might be the one that breaks the dome and dooms everyone inside this place. I think this one's a bit more intense than the Wyndon anomaly, probably because I'm a bit scared of drowning to death, so this kinda sticks with me.

It took me some time before I realized that Leo was talking to Kieran. Until the mention of the ogre. But uh yeah, this is in Blueberry, so it's fitting that he'd be there. And he's ready to beat the crap out of Gilgamesh! At least he wants to do that. Though Leo is also there, talking to the little edgelord (I appreciate that Kieran's talking like a competitive player). Wanting to help him out would be more efficient, especially when you take into consideration what happened in Wyndon. But Kieran's still too stubborn. I don't know if the SV protagonist is here, but in any case, he's probably not gonna be doing much against a Whisper even if he's stronger than before. The solution to his issue is to fight Leo. I'm honestly surprised that, right at the beginning, Leo is just getting trashed. Well, he's stronger, but I suppose Kieran has a point. Leo hasn't actually had any training in his life. He wouldn't be able to do much against a proper Pokémon trainer. He could still try, though, and tenacity is one hell of a thing. Doesn't mean he's actually winning, though. Plus, he's fighting against multiple opponents at once.

Alright, through the power of him being some Arceus thingy, Leo actually manages to win! And honestly I was expecting Kieran to have a breakdown over this. Guess not, but I didn't want him to have that. Though what he says about Gilgamesh does feel weird. Not just a Ceruledge but a Ninetales as well. And Gilgamesh just wants a strong fight, so what, he's a Saiyan or something? It does feel different than your normal Whisper. Less rampaging monster and more like... hyperfocused on one specific thing. Which, in this case, is beating people up until he has his battle. At least Kieran is actually working with Leo now. Still hesitant to try it out, but in the end he accepted the idea.

The last bit is with Igneous and Scarlett... and actually talking to the pirates. I dunno why but I like them. Maybe because there's a Tyrantrum involved and I love Tyrantrum. So, something's up with their communicators, and Igneous already assumes this means Xeromus is around. Any sign of him is a... bad sign. So now he's running off to save them. You go there, lizard twink. You go and save your friends.

 

[Navar]

Aaaand here's the second part of this review (I started writing this part on the Sunday, which is another reason I cut it off, due to the week 2 stuff applying only here)

But I'm still gonna write some more reviews after this one, hopefully :v

Chapter 94​

Hm, okay, it's not as chaotic as I thought it'd be, honestly. So far, it feels pretty chill. Or at least, more chill than I thought. It's alright though, and now Grishi is back. He was out there helping Nikki, like the good guy he is. Good on him for showing some initiative! And again Ting-Lu is running off, which it was already doing before... feels different this time though. It's basically making cannons, so now the cast has to stop it from breaking the dome. That was their goal before, but now the clay guy is making more of an effort. Or at least it felt that way to me, but it's whatever. It's all cool, no problem about it. It does raise the stakes a bit, I'm not sure why. It feels like the bombing makes it more difficult for them to fight back and stop it from killing everyone in there (unless Yuna is like, already dead or something). They are having a hard time, but at least it's like they're actually putting in the effort. Doesn't matter if it's hard, they're actually trying! And there's the looming threat of the Ruination attack. I don't actually remember what it does, though...

Well, the good news is that Yuna actually has some useful idea in how to fight this guy. I don't entirely understand the plan, but hey, if it works, it works. Like before, Zodiark is still taunting Yuna. For all their talk, that seems to be the only thing they can actually do. Talk things out, threaten, be cryptic. I'm sure it's not the only thing they'll do across the story, but... it's what they're doing so far. And I guess possessing Whispers. On the other hand, this is one less to worry about, though there's still the crazy, battle-lusted Ceruledge on the other side. Which is their other issue. I like that, for all this time, Yuna completely forgot about Leo, only for her to be reminded that he's a child and he's likely gonna do something incredibly stupid and get himself killed by fighting someone that's much stronger than him. Which naturally means that Yuna is running like a torpedo to find her kid. I don't blame her for forgetting, she was highly stressed and only after handling the situation does she have the energy for this. Also, novice reverser, huh? Wonder what that is.

Gilgamesh is kinda funny. Like, he's just standing there, next to a trash can, complaining about the fact that he's not exactly finding what he's looking for. He's also from another world, though that much was obvious. Still, it feels like he was specifically looking for a world where he could find a strong opponent to battle. Like, he hasn't found that, maybe it'd make him realize something. Though he still seems eager enough to fight Kieran, even if he beat Kieran before? Honestly he's kinda cringe but also he's kinda cool. I'm not sure why but he's... neat. He's like, a theater kid or something. He wants to have a proper battle, so having it be done somewhere scenic would also be cool to him, so yeah, accepting the offer to do it elsewhere works well enough. And after all this time, Gilgamesh finally gets to have the battle that he's looking for. I'm not entirely sure what his deal is, but I really hope he's not a side character, because I'm here for him. He's starting to become a favorite please please don't be a one-off character pleaaaaase. Drama aside, he's pretty cool and I like him.

Alright, more of the fight. Leo and Kieran are both losing the fight, which would be bad, except that Leo, maybe due to him being a kid, actually knows that Gilgamesh is some kind of theater kid that's trying to show off to an audience. The kinda guy that likes puns, and would enjoy himself in a battle, because that's the point! The point is that he wants to have fun, and these two are there exactly for that. Well, they're playing pretend and it's making them have a much better shot at fighting this guy. Who's also showboasting. Using four swords, naming them after weapons? I feel like this guy is a reference to something (I know he has the name of a knight, but more than that) though I have no clue what that would be. But hey, it takes Leo some time but he actually manages to defeat him! Good for him, honestly. I'd say this is some kind of character development for him, but I'm not sure.

...Oh, okay, I just read the almanac. I knew he was some kind of reference, but I have never played any Final Fantasy game in my life, so it passed right by me. At least you explained at the end. I still wish he'd show up more though.

Chapter 95​

You could probably call these three the peanut gallery. They're not actually in this mission, so instead of doing anything too important they're basically just. Standing there. I wouldn't say relaxing, for obvious reasons. Like, they're there and they're discussing what to do, because right now the only thing they can do is wait. It must feel like forever, honestly. Though they won't have to; since once the anomaly is gone Noctum can actually rift and go there. You know, he's certainly gone places, this goober of a dragon. Ignore me talking about him, I just find him too cute to not say anything about him. Sorry about that, so anyway. The goal is to go there and... maybe help people out? I imagine things aren't entirely done in the mission, so on the bright side, it looks like the trio is gonna be able to do something! If only they didn't stop to grab something to eat. Well, that's not too much of an issue, I mean, you can't exactly fight with an empty stomach, so if nothing else they're at least taking care of their health. But uuuuh, I feel like the clock's still ticking, so hopefully this won't be too long.

So we're cutting to the worried mom and her son—does that make all Yuna's siblings Leo's uncles and aunts? That's something to think about. Or maybe not! As expected, Yuna's first reaction is to scold Leo for being reckless. I mean, he was there, and he solved the issue (with Kieran's help), but I think she's right in the sense that it was still a bit dangerous of him to go there and try it. But at the same time, Leo also had a point. I guess in the end, both of them have their points. Neither is particularly right here, and I like that, in the end, Yuna wanted him to learn from the experience. As for the plates... that's more cryptic stuff. Kinda creepy too, or maybe it's creepy to me, I dunno. Despite what they just talked about, Leo is still planning on acting on his own. I also just wanna point out that Yuna kinda got used to the whole "being a mom" idea. Well, she's certainly experiencing a rebellious teenager. Or... a ten-year-old? Something like that. Still, this poor girl. I feel like she's been through a lot over the course of this story.

For the next scene, we have Seifer and his boyfriend again. Also Artemis. Now, in terms of anomalies, this one's... well, it's weird. It's turning everything into fruit, which is weird enough on its own. But hey, at least it doesn't seem to affect people? Well, Pokémon, but you get what I mean, they don't seem to be undergoing that, which is a good point, amidst... whatever this dungeon is all about. So Seifer is there to help everyone evacuate, going as far as telling them that he's a commander. Honestly, I don't know if he likes this or not, but I feel like he wouldn't be able to deny that he had some respect and some power over people, enough to make them move. He also still has the intensity to carry it out (also as a note I imagine Cyril was probably kinda interested in Seifer having this attitude, I'm sorry I love them so much a). Though thankfully it seems Gene was able to teleport a bunch of people away, so now the only real issue they're having is... well, how to handle the anomaly. They've done this a bunch of times before, I'm sure they can do it again. They gotta do it, right?

Naturally, things have to get worse before they can get any better. First, Xeromus is back, hooray. I don't remember the last time I saw him, but uh, welcome back, I guess. Another important thing about this is Seifer getting his own pair of visions. Creator and Palkia mentioned... so he's Dialga, probably. Xeromus' words about what Seifer used to be and what he is now are also interesting, like he hasn't changed much. I can't tell, because I don't know how he was before. I do hope at one point Xeromus can be Nova again, though honestly I kinda doubt it. But we'll see, I guess. What does happen is Seifer getting to fight as much as he could. Everyone gets pushed to their limits in the story, it seems. Not that there's anything wrong with that, though it is a bit amusing to me. The art at the end of the chapter is also really good. But oof, poor Seifer. Honestly, a lot of characters here suffer a lot. I hope they get their happy ending once the fic is wrapped up. That would be nice, wouldn't it?

Chapter 96​

It's finally time to go back to igneous! He was pretty desperate the last time I saw him, and honestly it was for a good reason. Xeromus showing up is always a sign of trouble, plus, he met the guy before (from what I remember). I know he was a Volcarona before, though now I'm wondering what that has to do with him being half Salazzle now. Or maybe you just thought the design would look cool (which it does). Once they do find Cyril, Nova/Xeromus is... being his usual self. I do appreciate that despite everything, Gene is sitll trying to reason with him. Well, I say reason, but he sees Nova and the first thing is yell at him and ask what he did. I wouldn't exactly call that reasoning, but... it's better than going for the kill straight away. Still, the situation is pretty bad. Seifer is knocked down, hurt, and yeah, Nova does have something to do with it. He might not have caused it directly, but his words and all the taunting sure had an effect on Seifer. In a way, he IS responsible for this. Just not directly, I suppose. It's still not a good thing, obviously.

Gene's reaction to all of this is a lot more intense than I expected. But I think it's not unwarranted, because in a previous chapter, he already mentioned that it was becoming a struggle to keep this part of himself at bay, and honestly seeing one of his friends seemingly dead is... well, it sure would be enough to make anyone angry. In Gene's case, the anger is enough that he's struggling to keep himself in check. Igneous doesn't know the full context, only Vegna and Leo do. So in his mind, he's seeing his friend losing it with no reasoning as to why that's happening in the first place. Which would be scary. Gene also seems a lot more... nihilistic is the word for it? Cynical, maybe. The point is that he's already assuming that Seifer died here, and instead of finding a way to bring him home he's just accepting that Seifer is gone and there's nothing they can do to save him. That's... different, I wanna say? Maybe seeing Nova set him off further, and he's acting this way because of it. It's more likely it's a combination of factors. Either way, it's creepy. And a bit scary.

On the bright side, Igneous' insistence that they shouldn't go rushing into things does seem to have gotten into Gene. But even this isn't exactly helpful in the end. It's like things are only getting worse. I can see that the stakes for this chapter are high as well. They have to get out of there, because if Seifer is left in the state he's in, then he really is gonna die. Well, everyone seems to think he's dead already, so I'm sure that's not a good look. Still, like I said, things only get worse. Xeromus can, somehow, summon Zamazenta. It doesn't surprise me. And behind all the madness that Xeromus has, he also feels like he... believes in what he's doing. I do wonder if Nova's gonna return at one point. I really wish he does. Because for a brief moment, Xeromus doesn't even talk in that distorted (bolded) voice. So I have to assume that's Nova and not the crazy guy using his body. Maybe the way to get him to take control would be to make him question his loyalties and what he wants to do. It's... an idea, maybe? But the characters have yet to think of something they could do to help him out.

Hmmm, alright, I'm piecing it together slowly. Nova is... there, I think, though Xeromus is still very much the dominant one here. And he keeps saying the same thing, over and over again. For a moment there it almost feels like Nova is the one that believes in what Xeromus stands for. I'm confused, though that might just be a "me" thing, and not indicative of the story. Still, I felt like it was worth a mention here. It doesn't change much, seems like Gene has an idea of how to save him. And for the next and final scene of the chapter, with Leo striking a deal with a Ninetales. Shane, it's Shane. I mean, that's obviously him, right? I don't see who else it could be. So now Vince is part of the gang, more or less. Grishi helped them out a bit more than I thought. He's a good guy, all things considered. He has his reasons for hating the Overseers. I mean, those guys are a bit difficult to deal with. Guess we'll be seeing more of him, though. That's nice.

Chapter 97​

Shimmer has been mentioned a couple of chapters before, so now seems like a good time to see where he is and what he's doing. From the way he's saying it, it doesn't seem like he's fully in the side of the rebels. Well, I guess survival is a motivator, isn't it? And I'm sure he doesn't want his mom to take over his body and use it however she wants. So, for the time being, Shimmer's idea is to meet up with Demerzel, somewhere where they won't be disturbed, I imagine. That's an issue in of itself, but for the time being they are alone. I guess this is more like... they want to regroup and discuss what their next goal is. Or something like that. Though there's more important things. A prisoner that, seemingly, is gonna make a prison break? Well, that's ominous, and Demerzel is... also a character that likes to be ominous. Or likes to show off his smarts. Either way, he's warning them about this, for some reason. It's obvious he wants to come out on top at one point, so this might be part of his plans. The question is how it all fits in the grand scheme of things. I doubt the prisoner is his partner, anyway.

It's obvious he's manipulating Shimmer, I mean, it was clear before. He's telling Shimmer what he wants to hear, and I know Shimmer isn't stupid enough to blindly believe what this guy is saying. At the same time... he does have a good point. Shimmer should be helping those people out. Well, he is a prince... so he should do it, it's like, important stuff that he should be doing. And yeah, Shimmer knows that too. Like I said, he's not stupid. He knows it's important. Hey, on the bright side, Shimmer isn't doing this alone. It's like... he has backup, and enough that it might be easier for him to handle the prisoner, whoever they are. So his backup are a bunch of athletes, and not like, guards. Demerzel might have picked the wrong people to help him, but... does Shimmer even have a choice? I mean, this group is gonna go there and help him, on Demerzel's orders... I'm sure he knows what he's doing, but even then, it's not the brightest idea in the world. And with that in mind, surely things will be fine, right? They don't seem to have a lot of time to think about that... the battle is upon us, I guess.

Oh yeah, Vortex. It's been a while since he showed up, and now he's way stronger than before. The distorted voice as well as the fact he's melting things around him sure makes him seem like a viable threat. I thought he died the last time he showed up, but clearly that's not the case lol. And once again we're having a kaiju battle, only this one is a more appropriate use of kaiju, given the giant dragon running around causing havoc. He's of course losing it. Wanting to kill Isola? Well, that's not a bad thing. However Vortex is only thinking about it, with such a narrow focus that everything else seems pointless in front of him. I do wanna say he llost everything and that kinda makes his reaction understandable, but... well, he's destroying the entire city. Nothing's gonna be enough to justify this kind of nonsense. And Shimmer is in the middle of it all, trying to save this place. It's... obvious he's gonna be able to, in the end, but that doesn't mean it's not gonna be difficult, because it sure as hell is gonna be difficult.

Ah, how convenient of Vegna to show up right when he was needed. Though I feel like he also made Vortex pissed off just by being there. Well, he did, so... maybe showing up wasn't that great of an idea. And Vortex continues to lose his grip on reality, all because of what I assume are delusions of power. He's so fixed on this idea that he's the one in charge that he... well, the result is what's happening in this chapter. The guy is out of his mind.

And it only gets worse once Noctum arrives. The reaction from Vortex is similar to the one he had with Vegna, except I feel this one is more accentuated. I do like how nonchalant Noctum is about this entire thing. I guess he doesn't have time to deal with Vortex's nonsense. And hey! He's also getting more of Palkia's power. Neato.

The scene at the end is also creepy. Isola turns her own wife into a robot. She can do that, apparently. I'm sure this will have no consequence whatsoever (obviously joking here). We'll see where this leads.

Chapter 98​

...Oh, wow. I'm not entirely sure what to say here, at the beginning. I still have to say something, obviously. So... Seifer wasn't knocked out. He was dead. He died, then and there. It's... huh, okay. Okay, okay. Breaking in the bad news is obviously one hell of a job. Cyril is honestly taking this better than I expected. Like, I thought he was gonna throw something in the walls, or punch something, or someone, or cry, and while he's not doing any of those things he's still obviously shaken up by the news. Honestly, yes, everyone is, but Cyril's his boyfriend. He's the one that is hurting the most. And the fact that Seifer's dad said he was dead to him, right before all of this happened... that's dramatic irony at its finest. It's almost like he cursed Seifer and had this happen to him. I know it's not the case, but the coincidence is right there. It's damn miserable, isn't it? And here I spent a bunch of chapters talking about how much I like Seifer. It took me by surprise, but I dunno. I feel like he's not gonna stay dead forever. It wouldn't be the first time someone had a miraculous resurrection (Igneous is what I had in mind).

Yeah, Noctum would also be on edge. But he's saying things that don't make much sense. Well, he's saying "Time", and he's Palkia, while Seifer had visions of Dialga, so putting two and two together and you have this. It's reasonable to say that he's losing it. Not just because a friend died, but because Dialga died, or... something. I don't know it yet. Well, given all that's happened they didn't even have the time to consider that Noctum also has a different appearance now. It probably isn't the highest priority at the moment. So now Yuna has to deal with this as well, along with dealing with Seifer's death. I don't think she was particularly close to him, but also, she's a bit sheltered. This might be the first time she sees someone she cares about dying, and yet Yuna's still trying to maintain her usual attitude. It's obviously not gonna work, but at the very least her effort is commendable. Still, there's a LOT going on right now. And I'm still sad that Seifer died! Leo is also nowhere to be seen, so I'm assuming he's also going through a tough time because of Seifer. Reasonable.

Interesting. The chapter is exploring more how Yuna's dealing with this, rather than Cyril. I'm not sure why, but well, she is the main character, so it's fine, I guess. Well, since she's the focus here, I guess I'm talking about her. Her emotions are surprisingly, I dunno, hollow? It's like Yuna doesn't know what to feel. She doesn't wanna deal with it, and she's aware that this thing they're doing had its risks. But I guess seeing someone actually dying is enough to put things into perspective. And that's one hell of a perspective. Said perspective is also less about Seifer, and more about herself. She's putting the focus on herself, which is fine, though I dunno, one of her teammates died. Well, in her case, her worries are more about losing herself. That's fine, that's... a worry that's in line with all that she knows about Giratina. It makes sense, then, that having a death in their group would make her consider what would happen to her, were Yuna to die. It's enough to make anyone scared. And honestly, her emotions are all over the place. It's warranted.

Vegna showing up is fine enough, and honestly he's the last person that I expected to try and comfort Yuna. In his own, cryptic way. The more important thing about this is uh, the fact that he's Bahamut. I thought he was Bahamut's kid? Idk, well, that's a twist I didn't see coming. But it also feels obvious at the same time. He does seem like someone that has a lot of regret. I'm a bit confused, but I guess more details are gonna come soon, or at one point. I just gotta... read more, I guess. That's fine though.

Okay, on the bright side, the last scene is more... cute than anything else. Wow, Igneous is bisexual, I kinda knew that. Crushing on three different people at the same time is crazy work though. And Shimmer is also crushing on Igneous. In his defense, Igneous is rather... handsome. Honestly I was half expecting these guys to enter a poly, but I think Shimmer is just gay and not bi. Oh well, at least they seem to be relaxing... or as relaxing as they can be, given the fact that Seifer is gone. So overall, a rollercoaster of a chapter.

Chapter 99​

There's something really ironic about this first bit. Nickie wondering what life would be if Shane was the one sent to this world instead of her. And uh, that already happened. We already know what life would be. Something really different. And she had a point, describing how Shane was in Guiding Light perfect. It's kinda cheeky to have a reference like this, but then again, this fic is a sequel, so it's the least that could happen here. Honestly the flashbacks are cute. I almost wonder if Nickie and Tessa would get to be a couple in this... previous life.

Okay, the chapter properly starts right after that big revelation in the previous one. The other big revelation is the number of Needles left, and that Isola has something to do with this... huh, there really are a lot of villains in this story. I do like how they're connected, so it doesn't feel like they're just getting tossed around like this. Either way, Vegna had his reasons for hiding the truth, I guess. But now that it's all coming out, I'm sure they're not gonna be keeping any secrets. Surely, I mean. I do wonder if this is a weight off his shoulders.

There's a lot of reveals here. Well, I say reveals, but Vegna is just saying some stuff. I think the first thing that comes to mind when you have reincarnation is that, at one point, members of the same family will no longer be related. Yuna, for example, reincarnated from Vegna's wife, while Leo was his kid. Except now they're not. Well, Leo still considers Yuna his mom, but Vegna doesn't have this sentiment towards her. As for Leo, I'm not sure. He calls Yuna "mom", but I don't even remember if he met Vegna outside of that scene with Gene. So I don't think these three are a proper family. It's just another way of having Yuna get truth after truth tossed out at her. The sentence of truths crushing her is repeated a lot, but so far that hasn't happened yet. Maybe Yuna hasn't received a truly earth-shattering reveal, and maybe that's gonna happen soon. Or maybe not, it's not like I know. As for Vegna, even he doesn't have a full grasp of what actually happened to all of them. That seems to be the big mystery of this story... and I'm sure there's gonna be an answer soon.

Oh wow, Vegna's backstory is a lot more... interesting is not the proper word, but I'm going to use it. Anyway, his story is interesting. Given the ending of one of the previous chapters, it's already known that Bahamut is an alternate Shane, so with Vegna describing that he fought another Necrozma he found similar to himself, it's clear he fought Shane. He also met the Overseers there, and that's how he managed to have the idea to create his own world. I'm following along better than I expected to be. This stuff is kinda complicated, but I'm understanding it, I think. So his new body is also rather fragile... and the solution to that was necromancy? Well, interesting, interesting. With this in mind I think I have a bigger appreciation of him than I did before. It's like I know more about Vegna now (I mean, I do). Just... man, does anyone in this setting have a healthy, normal life? I don't mean it as a shade, I just think it's kinda funny how that happens. And after all of this, after all the explanations, Vegna's solution to their problem is to tell them to kill Necrozma. He describes it as pragmatic, which I guess is something that hasn't changed about him.

Go, Yuna. Teach this old man a lesson. Knock some sense into him. Is this the girlboss in her? Heheheh. Maybe. So after all this time of people constantly telling Yuna what she should do, it's no wonder the girl just... explodes here. She explodes, but at least she's not like, going out of her way to attack people, even if she's obviously upset about everything that happened, as well as all she heard. She's... done with it, really, and I don't blame her for it. And she also gets high with Nikki, something that I'm not surprised happens. I like their relationship, it's cute how Nikki looks out for her, and a bit different to how they started out as. Character development, you love to see it! So Leo has another mom now, interesting.

Final scene just has Gene recruiting some people, as well as a mention that Cyril is in the medical bay. You know, he barely showed up in this chapter, so I'm guessing the next one is gonna have... a lot of angst. I should probably prepare myself for that.

Chapter 100​

Well, that's a downer way to start a chapter. Someone would take the blame for Seifer's death. And this is even more apparent with Artemis. Him and Seifer didn't seem to get along all that well, but it's not like Artemis hated the guy (at least, it doesn't seem like it). So being faced with his death when it was basically his fault does kinda make him consider what the hell happened. The Aussie dog (who's also a Zygarde, apparently, that's cool) nearby is trying to comfort him, but it doesn't seem to be doing much. However, what does happen is that Artemis gets some kind of epiphany because of this. A way that might save Seifer, which is all cool and all, but it's only a "might". There's no real guarantee that this will actually happen. Though I think that, if anyone can do it, it's probably Leo. The dude is kinda powerful, and I'm saying this knowing it's one hell of an understatement. It's also a shot in the dark, and maybe it's motivated by grief, and guilt as well. I do have... some knowledge about a cosmog/keldeo hybrid you have, which honestly it's a spoiler, but I'm only judging it by what's actually written here, and so I'm hoping it all works out!

Like I thought, Cyril is a big part of this chapter. And his reaction to Seifer's death is, at first, no reaction. It's like he's calm, but holding back so he won't break in half because of what happened. But honestly, it doesn't take much before he's actually mad and angry, or bitter, or sad, or all those things at once. And for good reason. His boyfriend just died, he doesn't want to talk to anyone, doesn't wanna do anything. It wouldn't take much to have him fall into depression. The grief is just that big. The only one around him is Widget, and... I'm not entirely sure how comforting Widget could be. Or if comfort is what Cyril needs at the moment. He's also acting like Artemis, in the sense that Cyril blames himself. Again, it's for a good reason. Cyril must be considering all the things that he said, all that he did, and wondering what he could have done different. That's what grief does. Well, it's what I think, I haven't experienced it myself. But this scene does feel pretty realistic from what I know about grief.

Continuing on with this scene, Leo has already been found by Artemis, so now we have four characters here, all trying to figure out how they're going to resurrect Seifer. Cyril is surprisingly into this idea, but it makes perfect sense—he has the chance to get his boyfriend back, why wouldn't he be interested in it? But this is complicated. It might take a bit more effort to get Seifer back, though. This is a resurrection, so it can't be too easy, but not too hard either. The first part is easy enough—big crystal that might have Seifer's soul trapped inside. But once they do deal with that, someone else gets Cosmog'd. Well, I'm sure Artemis isn't gonna complain about being useless now. The other important bit is Widget finding a Hydreigon. The mention of a voice does remind me of the Voice of Life from the games, so I'm guessing this is what it means. To get Seifer back, they'll probably have to go through whatever this is. So... yeah, it's not gonna be an easy task. It's not like resurrection is an easy thing to accomplish in the first place.

Meanwhile, Shane is doing stuff, talking with another Overseer. So it was really him that was talking with Kieran and all. He doesn't seem to be doing much, though it's because he can't do much. Something's interfering with him, some kind of energy? It's nice to see Shane being a lot more responsible now, at least. The years were kind to him, from what I can see. No clue on Tessa's whereabouts, though. Well, her Tessa, not the one that's currently Yuna, unless that's somehow related. Again, I don't have all the pieces of the puzzle just yet. But hey, Shane is trying to interfere with the world! Whether or not that's gonna have any effect is still unknown. But honestly, I like how it's using a legacy character, he's important, but he's not doing everything for our current cast of characters. He's sure trying to, even if it's not working. This is the last scene in the chapter, so no idea on Seifer's resurrection. I'm imagining it's the next chapter, so for now... it's like I'm being teased about the end result of that. Well, it is a cliffhanger, so this is more or less the kind of thing that I was expecting to see.

Chapter 101​

Okay, starting the chapter with another flashback. Noctum is starring here, but he's not doing much, he's seeing people talking. There's also the mention of Dialga and Palkia here, and honestly I was always the kind of guy that nicknames all his Pokémon. It doesn't sit right with me to not do that. But Irida's someone that isn't like that. Well, she's barely a Pokémon trainer in the first place, so... makes sense. So Akari wants to catch Arceus in this flashback, which is something that's apparently very hard. Well, it was in the game, and taking into consideration that this is based on the game, yeah, it might be difficult for her. Noctum is also just kinda chilling in this scene, and even in a previous life he sees to be a chill guy. Only this time he's more powerful... I think. Honestly the whole reincarnation thing is kinda wonky, but like, in a good way. I enjoy having this bits and pieces of information about who the characters used to be. They're different people now, sure, but I imagine their previous selves also influence how they act during the present day. It's an interesting way of handling this trope.

Moving on here, hmm... Alright, Valkyrie and Noctum are talking, but the most of it is telling Noctum what happened while he was unconscious. He sure picked the right time to go asleep, huh? Everyone is in shambles, one way or another, which is terrible news, though I still think something good is ognna happen at some point, probably soon. It has to, because man, the angst here is massive. Sidenote, man, Noctum must really be dense if he doesn't know what a lingerie is, or what catatonic is. It's okay though, he's still a fun character to read. And not really dumb, since he knows more about what's happening than he's really letting on. It takes Valkyrie doing her thing to get Noctum to say anything, and only on the promise she's not gonna kick him between the legs. Or do more of her thing. Honestly Noctum is cool, piecing together information basing himself only on the dreams that he's having. It's impressive, or at least, I think it's impressive. Well, he's a pretty cool guy. He does know he used to be Palkia, so that's a start, yeah? I'm not sure how this is gonna help the situation, though.

Alright, more explanations. The first one being that Seifer is Dialga, which I already knew, but hey, it's nice to see it being confirmed in-universe. The second one is that Valkyrie is also part of the reincarnation thing, only instead of being a cool Pokémon she was just a human. Look, nothing wrong with that, but it does feel kinda funny to me. At least Noctum is still someone that is very honest, and Valkyrie's reaction to all that she's hearing is fine. She reminds me a bit of Nikki's reaction, even if their former selves are kinda different (but also similar in that they were both humans). I figured that Noctum had gone crazy because he sensed something was up with Seifer, since Dialga and Palkia are around. Putting these two together and having them deal with Seifer's death is neat, though. Valkyrie is an assassin, she's used to it, and obviously she killed people before. Which means her reaction is a bit more subdued, even in the face of Leo's attempt at bringing Seifer back. She's very, hm, nonchalant is what I'd say, though it doesn't feel right either. The point is, she's dealing with it in her own way. Well, they're handling it together, at least?

And now, back to Yuna. She's having a lazy day (or a lazy date, eh?) with Nikki. I'm sorry, I really am, but the idea of putting fries in a milkshake sounds disgusting and Nikki lost some cool points because of it /j. That aside, the "date" got interrupted by both Shimmer and Igneous showing up. Discussing why Leo's attempt failed. I'm not entirely sure, and neither are any of them. The best thing they can do is just theorize. Throwing darts randomly until one lands. Or something like that. That also gets interrupted, because hah, Xander has become a vtuber. It could be worse, he could be a gamer! Now the team's goal is to, well, stop the guy from doing more damage than what he's probably already doing. I mean, maybe he's hypnotizing people through his powers like how Scarlett did before, and that's why he has two million subs when his channel was made only a short time before this chapter. Either way, there's... a lot going on, but it's still fine. I like how things are developing so far, so it's still been fun. As always.

Chapter 102​

Oh yeah Nickie has a cool new design. You know what girl? Good for you, sometimes people just wanna be punk. It's always nice to have your true, authentic self on display. But man is it funny to see Tessa reacting to this, because at the end of the day, Nickie is part of a different culture. But also, the fact that the Pokémon world has this kind of stuff is very interesting. The important thing is having Nickie enjoy how she looks. Plus, the design really looks coo. Pledge did a wonderful job bringing it to life, as she always does.

Okay, back to vtuber Xander. Honestly I see the vision in making Paradox buff, but I'm not gonna talk more about that. Ahem, anyway, seems like Xander is enjoying his new lease in life. Well, he's a popular vtuber, or like, an icon or something. But that might also be going to his head. The dude feels like he's getting drunk on all the power he's getting from all of this. And... well, he did get a lot of power. To the point he's mostly acting as a jerk to people that are closer to Paradox than he is. Surely that's not gonna come back to haunt him. But yeah, he's gonna do something important this chapter, and I feel like he probably had things handed to him in a silver platter, so now he's actually gonna have to put effort into his plan. Hooray.

Next bit. Uh, so Gene's surprisingly lax about the whole thing of Cyril being catatonic and Seifer currently being a crystal. They haven't talked about this in the scene, so I'm a bit curious as to why. Well, Gene might just be a bit pragmatic and trying to focus on the task at hand. Which in this case means having Shimmer battle someone. He does have a point, Shimmer was their enemy before, and yes, he turned around now, but... it's like he's not fully there. The fact that he went out of his way to talk to Demerzel before adds to that. I don't think he's gonna betray them or anything, but he's also not entirely invested. In any case, the fight is probably gonna make him get invested, which isn't a bad thing. I don't think Shimmer is that strong, though. Well, we'll see! I'm curious to see how it goes. Also, as a side note, I kinda find it cute how much time Nikki and Yuna are spending together. Lesbians, maybe? I do know Nikki is.

...Oh okay, Gene and Shredder were a thing. Uh, cool, cool. I mean, nice, though I didn't expect Gene to be a bottom. That's a lot of bottoms in this rebel gang (counting him, Shimmer and Seifer, so that's three, cool). But that's not too important at the moment, they're finally meeting with the guy that's supposed to either help them or join the rebels. But hmm, yeah, it's not an easy task to accomplish. For obvious reasons. I think it's kinda cool that they're having a battle alongside music. It's a diegetic way of incorporating soundtrack into the story. I don't know music theory though, so anything apart from this is beyond me. I just think it's cool. The battle itself is fun, and I think the music makes it more fast paced than usual, though it's still fine enough to understand. A bit different than the usual brawl in this story, which is another nice point for this chapter. And Shimmer... well, he's doing his best, but let's see how he fares against the bara Obstagoon.

And he doesn't win. Well, I knew he wasn't gonna win, and I also knew the point of this wasn't for Shimmer to win. The point was to show what he had, and in the end, Shimmer did make Shredder happy, so it all worked out, right? They have more allies, which is awesome! Plus, that means more Shredder time and I kinda like him (the gay is talking right now). And it's nice to see Shimmer and Igneous having a moment. I kinda want them to kiss. Team Bastion is hella fruity from the looks of it.

Leo, Widget and Artemis. All of them are back, and talking. So they also know each other, which... neat. Still no mention of Seifer, or what they're doing about that. Huh, I wonder if this means he really is dead, and they can't bring him back. I'm still holding out some hope that it won't be the case, but... well, it's kinda fleeting hope. Only time will tell, and at least, things are still moving forward without them. Because that's life, I guess? Doesn't mean I have to like it, and... I guess I miss Seifer. He was so cool, man.

Chapter 103​

Okay, the first bit of the chapter is just another flashback. I don't actually know much about this one, other than this Hydreigon, because it might be the one mentioned last chapter as well as the one that Widget saw. As for the guildmaster... eh, I don't think I have enough information to really tell what this means. Still, a fun little bit of the chapter.

Back to Xander, who's now meeting with some italian Perrserker that's... also kinda a showboasting person. I think it's better than whatever Xander has going on with him. Anyway, the plan here is putting someone's soul in another person's body? Uh, body swap. It's body swap. Which is creepy enough on its own, I didn't think I was gonna see this, but honestly, it's not surprising when you consider all the stuff that happens in this story. This is not a complaint, by the way. I just think it's kinda funny, but like, in an amusing way. No shade at all. Paradox's crew does seem to be playing mad scientist a lot, and I remember Paradox being able to alter the DNA of other people, so it feels fitting. The bad guys here are kinda powerful. Juuuust kinda. Heh.

Oh, it's been a while since Ahsen showed up. And it continues to be a kinda crazy creature. Honestly, I'm not surprised. But still, man how long has it been since the guy appeared in the story? Somehow, this Porygon looks like it's even crazier than usual. I wasn't even sure this kind of thing was possible in the first place. I also like how it's confirmed that Xander is a vtuber (for a moment I had no idea if he really was one, or if I somehow misread things). Well, he's doing a good job so far, which is... neat, I guess. It's neat enough that I like seeing where this new development for him goes. Speaking of which, I used to think he was just a side character, but now he's in the level of a minor antagonist, so that's... development? I don't think it's good development, like, he's actively becoming a worse person because of this, but it's still development nonetheless. It's interesting to see where it leads him. And now Ahsen is offering him a deal, like it did with Igneous all those chapters ago. So there's two powers at play here...

And now, the main cast shows up again. Trying to figure out how to stop the whole body swap business. I gotta say, Xander has a sick sense of timing if he's livestreaming right as the cast is talking about him. And to my surprise, a cameo of Isola. Honestly, being a queen, she's used to denying things that are asked of her, and the rumors and tabloid stuff making its way to her... she has an answer right at the tip of her tongue already. I do wonder how the body snatching thing spread this fast, but hmm... now Igneous is a wanted man. This does elevate Xander to a more, uh, threatening... no, not that. He's a more active antagonist, though I think he's still more or less a henchman of Paradox's. He's stronger now, though. I'm sure he's pissed off at a lot of people, Shimmer included. So... gee, I wonder who's gonna be the target of vengeance from Xander. I cannot for the life of me imagine who that person would be. I doubt Shimmer is happy about his ex acting the way he's doing either. But hey, Shimmer has better people in his life now, so it can't be all that bad.

The point of them all watching this report is seeing if there's anything useful for them. Any kind of information that might give them an advantage. I will point out I think Xander's speaking in a kinda cringe way right now, but honestly? I get it. It's fitting with his new... personality, or powers, or both. It's annoying, but I think it's meant to come off that way. Still easy to read, though, so it's not all that bad. But maybe the worst part of it was the bit with Xander talking about his ex. Uh, yeah, I doubt there was any love between the two of them. It was like friends with benefits, only without the friendship part. And to make matters worse, there's another (possibly final) Needle found, along with the tournament that's being shown in the TV. Now, the more important thing is... I wonder if this is the final one or not, because hm, the story still have like, another 50 chapters or so, so I don't think this is the case. Well, either way, I'm sure it'll be fun to read. I imagine something's gonna change the status quo once they get to that Needle.

 

[Goolix]

Hello! Here for Review Blitz and reviewing the prologue.

He traced a crown over his head with his right wing.

Nice imagery!

"It's no trouble at all." Douglas' beards fizzled as he chuckled. Shiva suppressed a shudder. "I wish I'd gotten some notice, so I could've had the help prepare you some tea. But no matter. I'd never question Her Eminence's decisions. She's looking out for us."

"It's not Her Eminence's judgement I'm concerned with." Ifrit shook his head. "It's the fact that she came to this decision after consulting with that advisor of hers." He folded his wings and stared squarely at the needle. "He claims he had some sort of... premonition regarding your Needle. So, she deployed me at once for some extra firepower."

I'm surprised that Ifrit is allowed to talk like this to Douglas. Douglas is a noble and we've gotten the impression that the Queen is not to be contradicted. Even if he's going after the advisor and not her, he is.... still questioning her judgment by consulting the advisor.

Intense pain took hold of Shiva's wings and chest. Every breath was a struggle. Ribs were definitely broken.

"Ribs were definitely broken" comes across as a little comedic considering that otherwise the tone is dark and tense. Feels like Buffyspeak.

Shiva threw her wings up, trying to pull it off, but a sharp pain tore through her shoulders. Her wings were... far stiffer than she was used to.

"W… what did you do to us?!" Quetzal squawked. Shiva staggered to her feet and found an orange bird with lightning-bolt markings on his shrunken wings kicking at the ground with very long legs.

"I made you stronger." Two of the Phantom's tendrils turned right, facing Quetzal. "Do you not appreciate my gift?"

"Not in the slightest!" Ifrit huffed, his now-curved beak muffling some of his speech. The violet-magenta flames on his wings crackled.

Ah, I like that the transformation into the Galarian forms feels painful and dysmorphic to them. Really getting across an image that their identity is going to be changed for the Phantom's benefit.

I'm intrigued by the purpose of the Needle. It reminds me of the needles that appear in Mother 3, where if all are pulled, the world will end. The needles here seem to have some overlap, where pulling them out has important consequences, but also the needles themselves are powerful. I imagine, then, that whatever could threaten to pull a Needle must be quite powerful if most Pokemon can't even begin to do so. I'm also interested in the way that mystery dungeons are conceptualized as invasive phenomena that occur and need to be planned against. I haven't played the games in a very long time, so I don't quite know what "distortions" are or if they're something that happen in them.

Prose-wise, I know you said the style will change later. I will say that some parts felt a little conversational compared to the mood you were setting up. "Ribs were definitely broken" sounds like something you'd say to a friend while summarizing something that happened, not something you'd think in the moment. Similarly, in "Her wings were... far stiffer than she was used to," the ellipsis combined with the italicization feel very casual compared to the rest of the tone.

Besides that, I liked the way that you incorporated the body language of the different Pokemon and details such as Galarian Weezing talking through both mouths and, uh, fizzing a lot. In general, the focus on newer Pokemon is pretty cool!

The Yuna section was calm, domestic, even, compared to the tragedy that had just happened. I'm guessing that she must have some sort of prophetic dreams if she visualized this (unless it all really was just a dream?). We learn she's here for family legacy reasons, she's lonely and only hangs out with her servants, and she misses home.

The use of names of figures from mythos is interesting. Shiva is certainly still worshiped; I don't think there's a god called Quetzal but there is Quetzalcoatl; Bahamut seems to be real in one mythos and also used in the fictional D&D series. I'm wondering as to the significance of these!

Overall, I'm very curious about what happened in the prologue, but I'm guessing that's a teaser and we won't find out for a while!

 

[Arukona]

Hi again, Amby! I'd said I'd be back for more, and so I'm here now to get through some more chapters for a Review Tag over at United. So back in we delve.

Chapter 121

Over to Paradox, it would appear, for him to take his opportunity regarding the opening of Valhalla. Looks like we're gearing up for an eventual showdown between our heroes and the big bad Supreme Grand Emperor himself (title pending before then; watch him add another honorific that Sticky'll have to keep track of).

"Order the forges to divert all resources to completing my Eternatus Terraformers and Iron Conqueror suit," Paradox said, smacking his left hand with his right fist. "And get my Troopers ready. We're going to send that planet a warning shot."

Oh, so Paradox will have his own...Paradox form. It took me typing that to realise the double overlap there.

"Of course!" Paradox rubbed his hands together. "By taking away that ridiculous prison island Cassius mentioned in his reports: Citadark Isle."

To the same place where Valkyrie was imprisoned...Guess we'll be heading there, where I'm wondering if there might be an XD: Gale of Darkness reference or two with a name like that. (If so, I bet Namo was delighted. )

Back to Cyril and Cid's POV, where things appear to be heading south very, very fast. Guess Eterna's really making its move now.

"It seems like the mystery dungeons are gone. But I can't contact anyone. And the remaining genesect and Eternatus Troopers left... but not before helping take whatever Medicis were left around the stadium prisoner. Including Gus."

I worry what that could mean in terms of higher powers wanting more mook energy and thus putting them into Paradox forms.

"It's Zodiark," the purple koraidon mumbled. "They're getting their power back. And that's the very thing my bosses were trying to stop."

I suppose with the last Needle pulled, that last defence against Zodiark faltered, and thus this might well have happened. That warning from Matriarch when Chiron and Bahamut invaded the lab did seem to have been justified after all.

Now over to the Bitch Honse Queen, where we really seem to be getting a good view of the villains in this chapter alone. All we need is a Zodiark POV and we'll be three for three.

Add 'Take a shot every time Isola says 'beauty'' to the Path of Valor drinking games (although this could've come into play quite some time back).

And many yakuza were taken prisoner. Iron Crown is delivering them to Citadark Isle before returning to the castle.]

Which is...the exact place that Paradox intends to attack next. Ohhhhhh dear. Looks like our heroes have their next mission now, whenever Xeromus gets out of their hides.

But Isola and Paradox still have their enmity, don't they? So does that mean they'll be vying for who'll be the next highest ruler in the new Eternaverse? Isola seems more embracing of Zodiark, whereas Paradox doesn't seem to have been influenced much by him...

Anyhow, enough of villains and back to our heroes, where Yuna's reeling from the flashback and the full truth shown to them. All the while, Zodiark taunts her with that truth.

"Beyond humanity. Beyond divinity. Beyond life and death."

Truly no better candidate to be the ultimate antagonist, then.

And because evil triumphs again and again, he seeks to end it all, to end the suffering he sees in countless worlds.

"That is why reality requires a new truth. One of eternity."

Just like Isola said before...a new eternal land.

The music's great for this moment. Perfectly portrays the sinister divinity of Zodiark and the horror of the new truth that Yuna witnessed of the past. I suspect my music playlist will see more of an FF16 presence in a bit.

Those pathetic Overseers, too.

So is this where Shane and Tama will come into play, then?

Yuna managed to force the tendrils back into her ectoplasm. She cupped her hands over her griseous core, even as it burned them.

"I won't give in to you. Not now. Not ever."

"Pitiful puppet," Zodiark sneered.

Ironic when he's been calling Yuna a puppeteer too towards Leo and others. In that case, would that make Yuna a puppet of puppets?

"You cannot kill me.

Bet.

More balls of static popped up beside the broken stone pillars. A silvally unit emerged from each static portal, standing at the ready. Glowing eyes fixed on the rebels.

Oh dear, a Silvally showdown. Guess good soldiers are following orders this time.

But if there is a silver lining, we miiiight be another step closer to turning Nova away from the dark side. Hopefully?

Chapter 122

And now the battle against Dreamweaver, and almost immediately it proves to be no joke. As expected of a balancing force of this world.

Type changes appear to be its main force of operation, in which case I wonder if the strategy might be to counter it with super effective stuff when it changes.

"Submit," Dreamweaver said.

"Never!" Yuna spat. She slammed her arms down. Two Giratina legs struck Dreamweaver from above.

Stubbornness is a virtue in this instance for our heroes.

Now over to the rest of the team, who seem to be having mixed results against the Silvally horde. Plus double the problems when Scarlett can't summon Starlene.

"We can't ditch Shim and Scarlett!"

Nikki gave him an incredulous look. "Shim? You're going for a pet name now of all times?!"

The hybrids are bonding~ Though as Igneous says next line, now's not the time to focus on that.

"Arceus is after her." The cosmic keldeo narrowed his eyes at the hole. "Or, rather, Arceus is after Giratina. For Zodiark."

Because then that way he can have the Renegade back in his control...Is that it?

The power of the past might well be the trigger to unlocking Roar of Time for Diamond. Meaning that as he said in a previous time, the past is just as important as the present.

A large explosion shattered Valkyrie's rock spires. The garchomp skidded along the ground, roaring in pain.

Diamond jolted. Smoke billowed up from where the Stone Edge slabs had been. Beside the smoke, another silvally glowed bright white.

"They're Exploding!" Shimmer whinnied in fright.

Funny...I remember when a Silvally Exploded in the previous fic, that was a precursor to a great deal of anguish from our main hero.

"My power," Diamond said between ragged breaths. "My Roar... of Time."

He got his power back! :ponyhype:

Now into the sky, where Yuna's duelling Dreamweaver back by awesome art from Raph.

The way Igneous described this thing... its attacks were slow and lumbering. What gives?

"Stubborn, ignorant puppet." With a burst of Extreme Speed, Dreamweaver rammed into Shaymin.

Nothing saying it can't change up its styles to suit the scenario, given how nebulous a form it can be. :P

"It's their attacks!" Reshiram squawked. "They're using the same types as the plates Leo already has!"

Being an Arceus (beta form, but still Arceus), that would check out. But drawing upon the same powers as Leo? Where is Leo, for that matter?

Oh hell yes, You Will Know Our Names. Now the tides are bound to turn!

Going all out caused a lapse in judgement, and that was all the opening our heroes needed to strike this nebulous creature down. Or at least Yuna with Gomorrah Giratina.

Then brilliant gold energy erupted from the hole in the mountaintop. Hell, it widened the hole. Cracks spread down the mountainside.

Oh right, a reminder that there's still a good bit to go with the battle inside the mountain. Namely, our resident possessed Silvally and everyone else.

Will next chapter be where Xeromus sees the light...?

Chapter 123

Judging by that chapter name, that might well just happen.

"I know that's not really you." Gene swung again.

Xeromus parried with a swipe of his foreleg. "You haven't known me in ages!"

The lovers' quarrel. Just how will Gene pull Nova back from the edge?

No hacking and wheezing from Xeromus anymore - this is him at his full power, and it's giving even our heroes a hard time, especially Leo who should have the all types advantage but instead struggles hard.

Leo's eyes widened. The flames hurt Xeromus. More than any of the arceus' dark-type attacks had.

Maybe it's Nova's influence? After all, seeing the sight of a freed Silvally who was once possessed himself could prompt Nova to try and come out more.

"Rocks..."

Gene blinked. His red core dimmed. "What?"

"Use rocks... weakest..."

Must be all the types combining together and them still being weak to Rock. Somehow I had a feeling that's what was driving Xeromus's resistance.

Nova's wanting to perish...But there has to be another way, surely?

"What's going on here?" Gene drifted closer to the ground, on the opposite side of Xeromus. "What are you doing? We're rescuing him, remember!"

Flames gathered around Leo's forehead.

Use rocks... then hit him...

"WAKE UP!" Leo cried, before Judgment's flaming arrows pummeled a battered Xeromus.

Rock-type Judgment? That's gonna smart. Don't tell me...Will it be too much?

Then the silvally's expression sharpened. "I need you to listen to me. We don't have much time."

Leo's starcloud fur pulsated. "What do you mean, Nova?"

He stepped forward. "Look at you. And you... you sound lucid. The shadows are gone... right?" Leo looked around at all the white. "That's why we're here?"

"The shadows are gone." Nova slowly nodded. "But it's already too late for me."

He finally met Leo's gaze. "When this... pause runs out of energy, I'm going to Explode. You'll need to put up a Protect to keep yourself safe."

It might not have been too much...But no, Nova...

So Nova's gonna be the fall 'mon, the sacrifice that'll allow for the gang to get out of Mount Coronet, and through telling Leo about the Eternal Seal, allow him to make it when the time comes. Gene's gonna be broken, but...at least Nova won't die for nothing.

A second later, Xeromus exploded. Golden light flooded the mountaintop once again. The force of the blast pushed Leo along the ground, but his shield held tough. This time, instead of silence, there were shouts and startled cries. None louder than Gene's. And some rumbling overhead made Leo worry the blast was going to make the crystal dome collapse on them.

And that was the explosion that was heard outside last chapter.

"In the end... I didn't have to kill him." Gene kept walking away. Past Yuna. And Nikki and Noctum. "He at least... left me with that act of mercy."

Gene's taking it hard, but...at least this never had to come to be.

An exhausting battle for all, with a smidge of R&R in order, although I reckon with how events are lining up, Fate won't be so kind as to give them that luxury.

Widget still sat beside the crater, however. Staring at its empty basin. Completely frozen in place. It was what Leo feared. And why he couldn't leave quite yet.

"We'll, uh, talk later," he said.

Yuna nodded, then flew into the rift. It shut behind her, leaving Leo alone with Widget and his thoughts.

The PMD world's Creator and its Voice of Life...together. A discussion they're about to have next chapter, I'd wager.

Conclusion

That'll be it just for this review (just so I don't run too long on the Review Tag). But these couple of chapters were hella intense, with the climactic takedowns of Dreamweaver and Xeromus. Some great battle choreography between all the cast, some great gearings up for the next part of the plot with POVs on Paradox and Isola, and the curtain brought down on two major villains, with a tearjerking goodbye in Nova's case. That one hit me in the feels especially - next to Seifer's death, that's one of the most emotional moments in this fic. And also two for two in terms of a prominent Silvally character Exploding for their death in an Ambyfic.

Good stuff. I'll come with the rest of the chapters later on in the Blitz.

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Heya, it was your birthday at the time that I wrote this, so I figured that for the occasion, that I'd give a twofer of a treat to chew over plus ring in the new year by diving into the second special of this story:

Chapter 120

Though "through adversity to the stars", huh? Just keeping that one in mind for where things might wind up going here.

Spoiler: Line-by-Line

Chiron flapped her wings to climb higher toward the bright blue sky. A sky that had to be fake. Trickery on Matriarch's part. What was it even doing inside of Valhalla?

Oh, hello, surprise Area Zero music.

A Moonblast grazed the lunala's right wing. She rolled left, avoiding a pink, misty explosion. A scuffed up togekiss flew after her. But Chiron had both size and speed to her advantage. And this was what she'd been training for.

With another flap of her wings, she flew higher. Chiron gathered up energy around her wings. She just needed to concentrate for a little bit...

Oh, so this is the vision that Yuna is having right now. I see we're not wasting any time at all getting straight into the action.

Pink flashes came from below her. Togekiss fired two small Moonblasts in quick succession. Chiron somersaulted in midair and dove down. The Moonblasts sailed behind her.

"You're making a mistake, Chiron."

It was Matriarch speaking through Togekiss. Just as she always did with these avatars of hers. The others were fighting with her teammates, but Chiron had flown away from them.

... That's also what Tessa's dad in POV-2020 was, wasn't he?

"Only mistake I made was trusting you," Chiron said, managing to keep her tone even. She spun left, avoiding Air Slash crescents. Then she unfolded her wings and unleashed the energy she gathered. A beam of multicolored rocks struck Togekiss, knocking her from the air.

Okay, better question. Why would you trust her? And for what purpose to begin with?

Chiron flew after Togekiss, continuing to hammer her from above with Meteor Beam. After a few more seconds, the Meteor Beam faded. Chiron hovered in midair, watching Togekiss freefall until she crashed into the ground, kicking up dirt and grass. Chiron folded her wings and dove down. She couldn't let Togekiss recover. Togekiss would try to heal herself and—

Oh. Never mind. Togekiss was out cold. Her tiny feet flickered with bits of static. As if Chiron really needed more proof Togekiss was some sort of artificial construct.

So... the Iron [WHATEVER] equivalent of a Togekiss, then? Or was this just straight-up a Mirage Pokémon?

She spread her wings out and looked around the valley. There were small houses smoking with signs of battle. But Chiron didn't spot any bright flashes or explosions to suggest any ongoing skirmishes. She concentrated and felt familiar auras congregating at the center of the valley. So Chiron opened a wormhole and flew through it. Her resistance teammates were on the other side, looking no worse for wear.

Oh. This is the moment that Eternatus was sealed away 1100 years ago, wasn't it?

"There you are." Bahamut floated toward her. He raised a black crystal arm. "Everything okay?"

"Fine." Chiron bobbed her head. "Matriarch was giving me her usual 'You don't know what you're doing' talk. But Togekiss is down." She glanced left, where Nova was looking toward the mountain on the far side of the valley. "And the others?"

I'll just take that as a confirmation there.

"Down for the count." Zamazenta shook out his crimson pelt. "Ain't that right, sis?"

Beside him, Zacian's matching sword and armor disappeared in streams of blue and pink light. "Indeed. There was little Lucario could do to me."

Boy, it's quite something to finally see those two in the flesh. Even if I remember enough of past vision sequences to know that they're probably in for a really bad time later on in this special.

"A-And I helped too!" a squeakier voice chimed in from behind the dogs. Chiron nodded at the espeon who stood beside Miraidon, wagging her forked tail.

Oh, hello PoV!Selene. o<o

"Of course you did, Selene." Chiron chuckled. A part of her still found it strange to be dealing with the person Enamorus had been before receiving Bahamut's blessing. She and Bahamut had both been under the impression all the Sages had sacrificed themselves to seal Eternatus. Yet they'd found Selene wandering around the Qliphoth lost and confused. She didn't even seem to recognize the two of them, sticking closer to Nova and the dogs.

Oh, just filing that one away there. Though wait, who is Enamorus in the present day, then? Unless that's not this universe's Selene that they're dealing with.

Bahamut figured that she'd taken a blow from Eternatus and lost her powers and memories as a result. And Nova wanted more allies, so that was all they'd ever discussed on the matter.

Chiron eyed Miraidon warily. "And how is the little one?"

Miraidon gingerly cradled a slumbering cosmog in his mechanical arms. "The sleep seeds are holding up. Not a peep or random teleport from him this entire battle."

Ah yes, hello Leo. Even if I'm not really sure what you're doing here instead of being stuck with Jade right about now.

"Then they're good to leave," Bahamut said, drifting between Chiron and Miraidon. "This is no place for the boy."

Chiron frowned. "And where would you have them go?" She extended her right wing. "We both know Miraidon can't use any attacks. And we have no other allies that can protect Leo."

Wait, but didn't you very explicitly describe the Miraidon present as cradling Leo in his arms? How is that even possible if Miraidon isn't in Ultimate Mode right now?

Bahamut pointed down at a patch of scorched grass. "And he's at greater risk of something happening here."

Nova stepped in between them, head crest fanning out.

"Enough, both of you." His turquoise feathers glowed brightly. "You already litigated this the other day. The risk of Matriarch sending her remaining type: fulls to capture Leo is too high. Like it or not, we have to bring him along."

Oh, well. That would explain a few things. Even if I'm sure this will all end nice and terribly considering how far off the deep end Bahamut winds up going as a direct consequence of this special.

He stared Bahamut down until the multicolored triangles in Bahamut's brain prism dimmed. With an annoyed grunt, he turned away from Nova.

"Then let's not dawdle any longer." Bahamut pointed to the base of the mountain. "We think she's holed up in there, yes?"

"Aye." Zamazenta's shield-shaped armor faded in streams of red and lavender mist. "Nowhere else to go in this place. Unless you wanna try going door-to-door in these little houses."

Oh, so the Type:Full village was here all the way back in the day. If it wasn't for the inhabitants being literal NPCs, I'd ask if they had folklore about this whole incident.

"Hmph." Bahamut hovered along the valley floor. His claws curled up. A sign of the constant pain his strange, depowered form left him in. "That was rhetorical."

Zamazenta walked after him, grinning. "I know."

Zamazenta did this a lot back in the day, huh?

Together, everyone headed for the doorway at the base of the mountain. It was a heavy metal door. Perhaps even heavier than the one that blocked the entrance to Valhalla. It took a combination of Nova, Zacian, and Zamazenta to get those doors open. Would Chiron have to step in this time to help?

The lunala got her answer quickly when the door beeped... and slid open.

Chiron:

Bahamut: "Yes, and that's what worries me right now, since it really, really shouldn't be." ._.

"Gee. Wonder if ol' Matriarch's expecting us?" Zamazenta quipped. He stepped toward the open doorway, only to whine when Bahamut grabbed the back of his head to stop him.

"Don't make light of this," he growled. "There could be another ambush waiting for us on the other side. Perhaps Matriarch—"

Well, someone is a grumpy Gus there.

This was Chiron's moment to step in. She floated up to Bahamut's side and leaned her head against the top of his crystal body.

"Dear," Chiron whispered. "One step at a time, remember? Like we promised?"

Nova marched up to the open door. "We've come this far charging full steam ahead. Now's not the time to suddenly change tactics."

Bahamut's black claws twitched. His crystals rattled in some sort of sighing equivalent. "Yes, yes. We'll press on." He pointed to Miraidon and told Chiron, "Stay with him, though. Just to be safe."

"Of course." Chiron drifted over in Miraidon and Leo's direction. The cosmog remained fast asleep. Miraidon had a small bag slung over his shoulder. Full of sleep seeds for Leo and medicine to help the rebels in case they needed it.

... Which is a terrible sign for what happened to them considering how we found Leo like 80 chapters ago, but let's not think too hard about that right now.

After Nova, the others entered the door in groups of two. They found themselves in a dim hallway. A glowing glass floor offered the only light. Chiron couldn't make anything out on the walls and ceiling. They looked like black glass of some sort.

"This door's locked," Nova called, though it was too dark to see anything at the other end aside from a slight turquoise glow from the type: full's head and tail.

Bahamut's brain prism pulsated with multicolor light. "Then we blow it open like—"

Chiron tensed, hearing the hum of an engine or generator all around her. The walls— or, more accurately, the screens serving as walls came to life. Swirling blue lights filled the hallway. Zacian and Zamazenta stood at attention, their armor appearing in flashes of blue, magenta, and silver.

Ah yes, so we're having one of these moments:

"Hmph." Bahamut raised his arms. Wincing, he conjured gold light around his claws. "Seems we found the trap."

Chiron waved Miraidon back toward the mountain's entrance door, readying to strike at some unseen enemy. Except instead of enemies, a cheerful jingle played through hidden speakers scattered around the hallway. Comets raced across both the screens, painting a bright logo reading CELESTICA LABS on either side of the lunala.

Universe-destroying evil has never sounded so cheery and upbeat.

"Welcome, everyone, to the grand tour of Celestia Labs, the science facility of tomorrow!"

The logos disappeared and both screens showed identical footage of a woman with blonde hair that obscured a part of her face. She had some sort of black jumpsuit with a white lab coat over it. She walked across the screen, gesturing to a large building with lots of glass and metal walls.

"Hi there." The woman smiled at the rebels and waved politely. "I'm Professor Cynthia, founder, lab director, and lead researcher here at Celestica Labs."

And we are about to find out exactly why

needs to be a Champion in the different universes she's in to avoid bad things happening.

"What is this?" Bahamut growled.

"Some sort of promotional video." Miraidon eyed the screen on the right. "But I'm not aware of any facility with this name in Eternatus. What about you, Nova?"

The video suddenly shifted to footage of Cynthia walking down a brightly-lit hallway. There were other researchers greeting her alongside scattered pokémon.

"Our work is dedicated toward bringing humans and pokémon even closer together," Cynthia said. She stopped to turn and wave at the people greeting her. "Let's take a quick look, shall we?"

Um, lady? I think that your project kinda failed considering how there's a total of like 5 humans in Etherium and exactly none of them were in normal human bodies when we saw them.

Nova shook his head. "It's not ringing any bells either." He tapped a gold talon on the ground nervously. "You're the one with all that extra knowledge, Mira. Wouldn't this ring some bells for you?"

Chiron drifted closer to the screen on her left, which now showed footage of old stone tablets fixed to a white metal wall. There were runes on the tablets she couldn't make out. Mechanical arms moved around, projecting red lights across the runes in lines and box patterns.

"We're making excellent progress deciphering the glyphs and ruins from the Hisui region of old," Cynthia said, walking on screen while gesturing to the mechanical arms. "Hisui, of course, being the previous name for our lovely Sinnoh region."

"Sinnoh?" Nova's crest tightened. "But Matriarch was in control before Eternatus absorbed Earth."

Oh, so this is the same earth that Bahamut sicced Eternatus on. I think.

"Well now!" Miraidon's electric brows shrank. "Thinking about it, Celestic Town is a place in the Sinnohs I have data on." He looked ready to scratch his head, but remembered he was holding Leo. "And there are records of Champion trainers named Cynthia, but that could just be a coincidence."

Bahamut's brain prism flickered with rainbow light. "I don't believe in coincidences. Not where Eternatus is concerned."

... Wait a minute, I just realized, but is

the same as

? Since Miraidon here very clearly has knowledge of the broader multiverse in a way I wouldn't have expected for someone who wasn't an Overseer.

"The more we glean from the runes," Cynthia continued, patting the white square base of one of the mechanical arms, "the more we can understand how relations between humans and pokémon have evolved." She smiled for the camera. "That's a crucial first step in driving our bonds to even greater heights!"

Ah yes, becoming equals under the tyranny of psychotic space aliens.

Chiron's expression remained neutral as the footage shifted to grasslands that were underneath a glass dome. In some ways it reminded her of what was outside. Only the sky probably wasn't artificial.

"Something wrong?" Selene whispered. The espeon sat beside Chiron, her tail curled around her left flank.

"Nothing this lady's saying sounds bad." Chiron's wing-claws twitched. "But I can't fathom why something like this is here."

She went off the deep end at some point? Volo wound up impersonating her? Dunno, but I suppose we'll wind up getting an answer soon enough.

Cynthia walked along a dirt path, stopping to pet a couple of wooper that had waddled up to her. She resumed talking to the camera.

"Here in our atrium, we nurse injured pokémon back to health with new, state-of-the-art therapies." While Cynthia smiled for the camera, the wooper happily hopped around and chirped for the camera. A rotom-powered screen floated into the shot. Cynthia gestured back to it.

"And we're starting development on software that can allow humans and pokémon to converse with one another like equals."

"Our atrium", huh? Is this this universe's equivalent of Aether Paradise or something like that?

Cynthia knelt down. "Here's a little demonstration." She turned to the wooper. "How are you today?"

Both wooper made cute babbling noises. The words "good" and "happy" appeared on the screen behind Cynthia. She glanced at it and pet both wooper.

"Glad to hear it," Cynthia said. She stood back up and approached the camera once again. "Our work is ongoing, but as you can see, it's quite promising."

I mean, considering how the Pokémon in the Trainerverses in PoV have vibed as having the intelligence of human 3-year olds in terms of their ability to coherently articulate concepts, I'm not sure if that translation tech would've gotten much further there.

Chiron's wing membranes rippled. Translating ferals for humans to perfectly understand? Like Selene said, it didn't sound bad.

"But why is this here?" Chiron whispered, looking down the hallway. Nova was pressing his head crest against the door repeatedly, like he was feeling around for some sort of vulnerability.

"Matriarch must be showing it to us," Bahamut surmised. He pressed a black crystal arm to the screen they both faced and jolted pink energy into it. The screen flickered for a moment. Then the video continued on as normal, with Cynthia walking down some sort of metal corridor with a glass floor that showed the tubing and hydraulics underneath the hallway.

Chiron: "Okay, seriously, where's the point where things go mask off and we see the horrible catch here?" .-.

"I'm sure many of you are wondering how we're able to do all of this." Cynthia grabbed the ID card clipped onto her lab coat and pressed it against a card reader bolted to a heavy metal door. "Fear not. We'll show you that in detail, too. Right after this sneak peak."

The metal door opened to reveal a large, circular room. Grated floors showed a complex maze of multicolored wires and machinery, steadily funneling toward the opposite end of the room. There was a large, black, triangular machine. In the center of it sat a golden wheel surrounding a glass sphere. Blue and purple swirled around within the sphere. Like auroras or the nebulas that Chiron had sometimes seen flying between planets inside Eternatus.

"And here we are!" Cynthia gestured proudly to the giant machine. "The hope of the future, the Eternatus Core! With its power source... the Space Globe!"

Ah yes, there's our horrible catch there. Since I can already tell that this had absolutely terrible consequences for the world this happened in.

"What?" Bahamut's brain prism flared up, only for it to dim as he leaned against the screen in pain. "The core is... a machine?"

"I don't understand." Chiron pressed a wing to the screen. This video... showed some sort of peaceful science facility. But the rebels had just entered a mountain. What was going on here? Why was the video, which sounded like the start of a tour, casually mentioning the very thing their team had fought so hard to locate?

What makes you so sure that the facility is in the same place it was in at the time the video was taken?

"That concludes the introduction video," Cynthia declared, waving to the camera. "Thank you for visiting Celestica Labs. I hope you all enjoy your tour of the facility."

The cheerful music finally ended and the video feeds cut, plunging the hallway back into its dimly lit state. Everyone stood in silence, until Miraidon muttered, "How curious."

Bahamut: "'Curious'? Miraidon, what the hell are you going on about?"

Bahamut dragged his claws across the screen. "Hmph. This is a stalling tactic. An attempt to unnerve us before Matriarch springs a trap. We mustn't fall for it."

Chiron blipped over to Bahamut's side. "Well, Matriarch has used manipulated footage before." She looked down guiltily. "It's something I was once complicit in."

Just filing that one away, since I'm pretty sure that will become relevant at some point. Also, you want 'complicit' and not 'complacent'.

Nova nodded slowly. "Same here. But, I dunno, this felt different..." He tapped a golden talon on the floor.

Then the red light over the door in front of Nova turned green. It slid open. Warm light spilled in from the other side.

Before Chiron could react, Bahamut quickly hovered up to the door. "See?" He raised his crystal arms. "Be on your guard."

Zacian: "... No way to send a drone ahead of us to scout or something, huh?" .-.
Bahamut: "No, though come on. Let's finish this."

"We will," Zacian assured him. "But don't let this unnerve you, either. We're close to the end." She shook herself out. "I can feel it in my bones."

Lol. Lmao. Well, to your end, maybe, but this story had another good 1100 years to go in it afterwards.

Chiron glanced at Miraidon and Leo. Miraidon fed the cosmog another sleep seed. He remained still in Miraidon's arms.

"Let's get going," she said. "The longer we think on it, the more time we give Matriarch to prepare for us."

After everyone nodded their agreement, they proceeded through the doorway and into the light.

Whelp, time to see how much of a disaster this all winds up becoming.

The inside of the mysterious mountain bore an uncanny resemblance to the promotional video the team was forced to watch. They passed by the room that held those large stone tablets, except the tablets were missing. They went through multiple greenhouses. And, of course, plenty of hallways and staircases. All the while, they continued to see small videos or hear audio tapes suggesting work on Cynthia's various projects was proceeding well.

I mean, that sounds an awful lot like you are just going through the spots that were in the promotional video, just saying.

By the time they entered yet another hallway lit purely from underneath the glass floor, Chiron could only draw one conclusion. "I think... we're inside this Celestica Labs place." The lunala folded her wings over her torso. "Or, at least, a recreation of it."

Yeah, see? Sometimes the simple explanation is just the correct one.

"Agreed." Zacian walked slowly down the hall. "But why would Eternatus' core be a science facility hidden in a mountain?"

"Are we sure the original was inside a mountain?" Selene wondered, her forked tail twitching. "The greenhouse lighting in the videos looked a lot more... natural." The espeon looked over her shoulder. "I'm more inclined to believe it's a copy."

Yeah, see. I had a feeling that this wasn't the original facility, since that video was taken a long, loooooong time ago. And possibly not even in the same universe.

Bahamut shoved past Selene. Chiron swore she saw a look of contempt on Selene's face, but it was gone in a second.

"Hmph." Bahamut's brain prism pulsated with dim golden light. "Whether it's the real or a copy matters not. We've climbed a long way. Surely the core is nearby."

That sounded like tempting fate if I ever heard it, just saying.

At the end of the hall, Nova tapped another steel door with his golden talons. It had a dim red light over it.

"Locked?" Bahamut asked.

Nova pressed his crest tip against the door. A jolt of electricity funneled through it. He pulled his head back, sighing. "Yep."

Bahamut: "And we're not just lazoring it out of existence right now why...?"

Chiron looked at the walls. They weren't screens this time, so no way Matriarch was about to show them another video.

"Then shall we blast it open?" Bahamut shakily brought his crystal hands together. Golden light gathered around his claws.

Oh, well. I see they're wasting no time at all getting to the lazoring part.

Selene's ears twitched. "Wait." Her head swiveled back and forth. "Do you hear that?"

Nova's crest fanned out. Then Chiron picked up speakers faintly crackling. She looked around for any signs of them but found nothing.

"No more games, Matriarch." Nova knocked on the door with his crest. "Open up or we'll blow this off its hinges!"

Bold of you to think that she doesn't have a contingency plan for that, Nova.

Unseen speakers crackled again. Loud enough for everyone in the hallway to hear them.

"... Hope this message gets through. I don't have a lot of time left."

Oh, well. That's ominous there.

Chiron stiffened. That was Cynthia again. The audio was a bit fuzzy at first but gradually got better. Cynthia didn't sound cheerful like in the other recordings. Something alarmed her.

"Sensors are picking up disastrous readings," Cynthia said. "The Space Globe... is emitting a signal."

See. I knew that that thing was going to be very bad news there. What was that, a 'come eat my planet' beacon?

So, if this wasn't some giant ruse, the thing powering the Eternatus Core appeared to have slipped out of Cynthia's control.

"And yet it's still here," Chiron muttered.

"The signal... is pulling other worlds toward ours!" Cynthia declared. "Matriarch says there's some sort of resonance between those signals and the Space Globe's energy reservoir. Which suggests that, all this time, that energy has been spiritual in nature."

Ah yes, the central problem looming in the background of XB3. So I see that your comment about this story being a XB2/3-style sequel to GL was apt in more ways than one.

"What?" Selene's back arched and her velvety pink fur prickled.

"I've run the simulations," Cynthia continued. "These other worlds are going to collide with ours. And with one another. The result will be disastrous. For us. Possibly the neighboring universes, too."

If I had a nickel for every PMD fanfic I've read that had universes colliding and causing terminal existence problems as its big "thing that needed to be stopped", I'd have two nickels. I suppose that I should expect to see a lot more of them from here on out given that they're not exactly niche fics and that anyone who ever played XB3 is intimately familiar with the premise.

Chiron couldn't help but mouth "other worlds" to herself. She subconsciously looked around the room, as if she could somehow locate one of these speakers.

"I can't let it end like this." Cynthia sounded fearful, yet frustrated. "I'm the one who found the Space Globe. Who... who built this whole contraption to tap into its power."

You could just, like. Turn the machine off and see if that stops the worlds being drawn in towards each other.

Bahamut smacked the wall with a crystal arm. "You don't seriously believe this drivel, do you?"

No one answered him. Like Chiron, everyone else's gazes were fixed on the walls or the ceiling.

"We have one chance," Cynthia said. "If the Space Globe truly is full of immense spiritual energy, then I... I have to write a program. One that will... reverse the dimensional crash that's about to happen. And restore people to their rightful worlds."

Oh hey, this is literally the plot to XB3. Next thing you'll tell me that the AI that Cynthia created wound up going rogue and dicked around with the universes attached to Not!Origin for giggles.

"I'm sorry..." Nova's cheek bolts turned slowly. "Is she saying she thought she could undo a cataclysm with a magic computer program?"

"Aren't you basically a magic computer program?" Zacian mused.

"Th... that's apples and oranges!" Nova squawked, head crest fanning out.

Hey man, don't knock the magic computer programs until you try them. They're not exactly rare in science fiction and anime(-adjacent media).

"Dreamweaver can supply the power... and Matriarch's protocols can guide the program," Cynthia continued, sounding more frantic by the minute. "And that should be enough to keep Zodiark from interfering."

Chiron frowned. Dreamweaver and Zodiark meant nothing to her. She recognized Matriarch, though. And it sure sounded like Cynthia claimed she made Matriarch.

Oh, so she basically created POV-2020's equivalent to Z. Great job there, Cynthia.

"But Matriarch's in charge of Eternatus," she mumbled.

"It's a long shot, but it's the only one we have," Cynthia said. "Still, I'll... I'll back up these audio logs into Matriarch. Just... just in case the worst happens."

Ah yes. I'm beginning to understand where the whole "don't mess with Eternatus" angle wound up coming along.

The audio feed suddenly cut out. Like at the bottom of the mountain, the door's red light turned green. It slid open. This time, though, there was much less light coming from the other side.

Nova took one look back at the others. Everyone got into formation, with Chiron floating protectively by Miraidon and Leo.

Waiting in the next room wasn't a person or some secret army. It was... an altar? There was a stone walkway. Broken pillars flanked either side of it. Like spears stabbing the sky.

Hello, remains of Spear Pillar. Wasn't expecting to run into you here.

... Or, rather, the hexagonal crystals covering the entire room like a dome. Chiron frowned. Something about these crystals made her head hurt.

... Or we could be at the time machine room of Area Zero, that works, too.

Bahamut stuck his left arm out. "I see a figure."

Nova crouched down. "Must be Matriarch."

"But something's wrong." Bahamut's brain prism pulsated with gold light. "I don't sense an aura."

... Oh my god. We're reprising the climax of SV but with

, aren't we?

Chiron followed their gazes to the raised platform at the end of the walkway. There was a figure there. Tough to make out, thanks to the large triangular crystal behind it.

Her stomach tightened. The lunala wrapped her wings over her torso. "Wait," she whispered. "Behind the figure. Is that—"

"Aye." Zamazenta's armor materialized in a red flash. "The machine from the videos. And the power source is right in the middle."

Okay, so what's the over/under that AI!Cynthia is going to turn out to actually be really swell up until some equivalent of the Paradise Protection Protocol kicks in. Since just saying, I can see garbled AI!Turo/Sada-style text just from scrolling down to try and check my place.

Chiron's stomach tightened up again. Almost like someone had kicked her from behind. "Then... those were all real?" She sucked in a sharp breath. "And that's the Eternatus Core?"

"Welcome back, Chiron. N0-V4. I have been expecting you."

Damn, not being subtle at all about the Origin comparisons there given that you're just going and dropping the area music for it. Also, does this mean we're going to hear its battle music in about a minute?

Nova stiffened, crest fanning out. He shot an alarmed look at Chiron, whose wing-claws twitched.

"That voice..." Now it was Zacian's turn to summon her armor and blade. "It's Professor Cynthia!"

The triangular crystal lit up. Then a large screen came to life, bathing the altar in white light. Those who could threw arms up to shield their faces.

Team Bahamut:

Chiron managed to adjust to the light enough to see that the figure standing in front of the machine was, indeed, the same lady they'd seen in the promotional videos. The same black jumpsuit. The same white lab coat.

"Impossible," she whispered.

Just saying, I'll eat my hat if she doesn't turn out to be an AI.

Grunting in pain, Bahamut raised his right arm. A Photon Geyser gathered between his claws. "Stand aside. If you try to protect the core, I will destroy you."

Silence. Then Cynthia sighed and pinched her brow. "So, the readouts were accurate. You two actually brought the Renegade here." She turned her back to them. "Unfortunate."

Chiron: "I'm sorry, we did what now?" ._.

With a snarl, Bahamut hurled the Photon Geyser forward. It nearly reached Cynthia and the machine, only for a crystal barrier to materialize out of nowhere and snuff out the attack. Bahamut lowered his arm, brain prism smoldering with golden light.

"I believe we should talk," Cynthia said, her back still turned to the group. "Approach."

No one dared to move. Chiron was tempted to charge up a Moongeist Beam.

Whelp, time to get our deep, dark secret that Volo is convinced will grenade the party. Let's go ahead and see what we're dealing with.

Cynthia placed her hand on the center of the Eternatus Core. It had the same strange purple and blue nebula Chiron saw in the footage of the Space Globe.

"Since you have taken such... great care to make it here, you deserve to understand the situation." Cynthia looked over her shoulder. "After all, you are about to make a catastrophic error in judgment."

Bahamut: "... She's stalling. Chiron, destroy the-!"

Chiron: "Bahamut, just wait for a moment here! I think this is important!"

Chiron's brow furrowed. Though this was Cynthia's voice, she recognized that tone. Analytical. Authoritative.

With a flap of her wings, Chiron quickly closed the gap between herself and Cynthia. "Another one of your avatars, Matriarch?"

Rapid footsteps approached Chiron. Nova's cheek bolts revved up. Turquoise sparks littered the ground by his forelegs. "It doesn't matter how many avatars you make. We'll beat them all back."

Cynthia stared Nova down, before turning her back to the group again. "This is not an avatar."

It's an updated version of whatever chassis AI!Turo/Sada were using.

"So, what?" Selene looked around nervously. "Are you the lady from the videos, then?"

"Negative." Cynthia faced the group once more, her hands now folded behind her back. "Professor Cynthia is dead. I am Matriarch, an autologous artificial intelligence program created in the professor's likeness and imbued with her memories, thoughts, and beliefs to supervise Eternatus and ensure its continued stability. In other words, I am an AI-powered android. Not dissimilar from your origins, N0-V4."

Aaaaaand there it is. So what is the in-setting analogue to the Paradise Protection Protocol going to wind up being called anyways?

Nova tensed. His gaze fell toward the ground.

"You knew this already," Matriarch continued. "However, before you fled my custody I was able to erase all data of my true nature and android body from your processors."

An uneasy silence lingered over the room. Nova looked like he wanted to say something, but never opened his beak.

"What happened to the real professor?" Chiron asked, though she had a bad feeling she already knew the answer.

She's dead, Dave. And likely has been for a minimum of centuries.

Matriarch shook her head. "You heard the audio log."

Selene's velvety fur prickled. "That was real?!"

"Every word," Matriarch insisted. "But I am getting ahead of myself. To understand your collective folly, we must walk through the full sequence of events." She stuck her right arm out and touched the Space Globe. It pulsated with blue light.

Chiron: "Our... folly?" ._.

Then the giant screen over her head came to life and showed... a picture of the altar they stood on. Only it was outside, with thin clouds and snow drifting by.

"The universe we are in now suffered the effects of the cataclysm described in the audio logs," Matriarch said. She pointed at the screen. "Previously, there was but one life-bearing planet in the universe: Earth. Greatly resembling the Earth within Eternatus."

She snapped her fingers and the screen shifted to a picture of a younger Cynthia... and a man with similar blond hair swept over part of his face.

"At some point, there was a disruption in Earth's stability," Matriarch continued. "Divine energy—immense power wielded by legendary pokémon—leaked into this world from another. This created rifts in space-time. One of which led to the disappearance of that man over there. A relative of the professor."

Ah. So for want of a happy ending,

unleashed Volo onto the multiverse.

The screen shifted once again to show the man dressed in a blue coat. He had a large backpack on. Next to him was a girl with black hair and a purple coat with a strange gold symbol on its sleeve.

"Historical records showed the man appearing in the recent past," Matriarch said, flipping through pictures of the man with a togepi and a gible. "He used the Renegade Pokémon, Giratina, to open more rifts in an effort to summon the Original One."

Not sure who that girl is supposed to be, but filing that one away for the future.

At the mention of "renegade," Chiron felt that strange kick in her stomach again. She folded her wings over her torso and glanced at Bahamut. His brain prism was... dimmer than before. He pressed a large crystal hand to his head. Or what passed for his head in that depleted form of his.

"Huh?" Nova managed to find his voice. "Giratina? Original One? I don't follow."

"The old world came into existence thanks to the power of many legendary pokémon." Matriarch raised her hand. A strange series of circles and triangles traced itself in the air over her. "All of which trace back to the Original One, Arceus."

Bahamut: "And that justifies anything that's happened to us so far how?"

Nova's crest tightened. "Arceus?" His glowing parts flickered. "That... sounds a bit like my RKS System."

Matriarch folded her hands behind her back again. "That is logical. After all, your ability to change types is derived from data I have on Arceus. Here..."

On the screen appeared three large pokémon. One had four legs, pristine white fur, and a gold wheel around its torso. The next was a blue and gray, four-legged beast with gray armor on its chest. And the last was a large two-legged dragon with big, circular shoulders, each with a sparkling gem.

Oh, hello, Creation Trio.

"Arceus, Dialga, and Palkia." Matriarch pointed to the pokémon in succession. She shook her head. "But we are straying off subject."

The screen transitioned to a silhouette of the man—now with a bizarre hairstyle that Chiron couldn't put into words—standing before a double helix of blue and purple light. Energy that looked strikingly similar to what was in the middle of the Space Globe.

I can already tell that it is the same energy in the middle of the Space Globe.

"The man's efforts were initially thwarted, however he eventually located the foreign divine energy and took it for himself," Matriarch said. She shifted the screen to show several planets. A dotted line traced through them. It eventually stopped at one with a similar mix of blue and green as the planet where the line started.

"Giratina gave chase, but eventually the man reached a world inhabited only by pokémon." Matriarch flicked her wrist. The screen shifted to show that same man in front of a different altar. A large Red Chain ensnared an arceus and five pokémon Chiron didn't recognize. Three tiny pixies and two pokémon vaguely resembling horses. Their color schemes were similar to Dialga and Palkia.

Ah yes, the root universe of PoV-2020, where Tessa and Nickie were happily chilling before they got run over.

"Seconds before he could bring about his plan to rewrite the world, Giratina arrived and broke the Red Chain." As Matriarch continued speaking, a great shadow descended on the scene on screen. The chain shattered. Everything condensed into a few bright pixels in the center of the screen.

"This caused a reaction." Matriarch brought her hands together. "The world compressed into a singularity. People, spirits, and all." She turned to the screen, where those tiny pixels expanded... into the Space Globe.

"Wait." Zacian's eyes darted between the screen and the Eternatus Core. "Are you saying the Space Globe is—"

The Beacon from Critical Role's second campaign /s

"The collective power of that world." Matriarch turned back to them, hands behind her back. "Countless legends. An unfathomable number of spirits. It is why the professor felt the Space Globe had unlimited power."

That kicking in Chiron's stomach had gotten worse. She folded her wings even tighter. There was... a lot about this that didn't sit right with her.

"How did Cynthia get the Space Globe?"

inb4 it blipped in akin to the Zohar/Conduit in your average Xenogame.

The lineup of planets reappeared on screen, only now there was an icon of the Space Globe. It moved across the dotted line in the reverse direction.

"The Space Globe traveled back through the same worlds the man went to, finally ending up where he started," Matriarch said. "Enough time passed that it arrived in the professor's era. She found it atop Mount Coronet—the same mountain simulated here—and used it to further her own research."

Close enough, really. Even if it makes me wonder if left to its own devices, the Space Globe really would've just gone popping into different universes akin to the Zohar/Conduit. Even if I doubt it'd have a thing for showing up at Lake Turkana.

Which would lead into those video and audio recordings. Chiron frowned. She wasn't sure what unsettled her more: Matriarch's explanation or her detached tone.

Matriarch: "Lunala, I literally just told you that I'm a robot. This is par for the course."

"This is ridiculous!" Bahamut spat. He pointed to the center of the Eternatus Core. "You truly expect us to believe an entire collapsed world is contained within that?" He flicked his right arm dismissively. "This is a trick. She wants us to lower our guard."

Go and give it a poke if you're so confident then, Bahamut.

"It is not a trick," Matriarch chided, as if Bahamut was nothing but a child who'd spoken out of turn. "If you want to know the gravity of this situation, then let me finish my full explanation."

Bahamut floated close to where Matriarch's crystal barrier had sprouted up before. He looked ready to strike. After several seconds of silence—and looking at the others, who weren't moving—he drifted back. His brain prism flickered erratically.

"Lying wretch," he mumbled.

No, I fully believe this explanation. Even if I also believe that there's like a 90% chance that you're missing crucial additional context given what was revealed about Matriarch not being above manipulating videos.

Matriarch turned back to the screen. "Let us continue, then." She waved her right hand and an image of the triangular Eternatus Core appeared overhead. "As the professor continued to work with the Space Globe, she made certain discoveries."

A blue and purple double helix appeared on screen. "The relic's energy supply appeared to have... something of a consciousness to it. She called it Dreamweaver."

Are... those souls that they were skimming off of that thing?

Then a ball of red and black static appeared next to the helix. "She also found a second consciousness. One brimming with information. She called it Zodiark. Zodiark held data of other worlds. Their customs. Their legends. Their people."

Chiron tensed. Even though it was just an image, the longer she looked at the static, the more her stomach hurt.

"But Zodiark also had its own thoughts and beliefs about the data it held," Matriarch continued. "Including Dreamweaver." She looked up at the screen where the helix and the ball of static kept ramming into each other. "The two consciousnesses were opposed to one another. And the professor feared this antagonistic relationship would destabilize the Space Globe."

Wait, wait, wait. So who on earth are those two, then? I assume one is Volo/Butterfree effect. Then is the other... Yaldabaoth?

A question came to Chiron's mind. She blurted it out before even realizing it. "That's where you come in?"

"Correct." Matriarch nodded. A golden spiral appeared between the helix and the static ball. "The professor built me as an arbiter. To maintain balance between Dreamweaver and Zodiark."

Chiron: "And you do this how, again?"
Matriarch: "I'm getting there."

All three projections drifted toward different corners of the Eternatus Core. The double helix went to the bottom left and the static ball to the bottom right. That left the golden spiral at the top of the triangular machine.

"For a time, the professor's efforts paid off." Matriarch looked up at the image, frowning. "But there was one key fact she never realized: Zodiark was directly related to the man who had escaped from the world in the past."

That... sounds an awful lot like Yaldabaoth there.

The ball of static expanded into a silhouette of the man from earlier. Weird hairstyle and all.

"When the Space Globe traveled back between different worlds, Zodiark planted traces of its energy," Matriarch continued. All the planets from before reappeared. Tiny red circles appeared on all of them. "Those traces were, in fact, fragments of the Renegade's power. Of Giratina. Zodiark wanted to ensure Giratina could not interfere with it. However, these traces instead resonated with Zodiark. And the unthinkable happened."

Well, scratch that last comment, then.

Matriarch raised her right hand. The planets began to drift toward Earth.

Chiron grimaced. This was what that final audio log alluded to. "Some sort of... interdimensional collapse?" she said.

"Indeed." Matriarch folded her arms behind her back. She paced in front of the Eternatus Core. "These planets were drawn toward Earth. The people of those other worlds were unaware of the situation until it was too late." She looked up at the screen. "But I detected the danger and alerted the professor to the situation."

Wait, just how many worlds have been blendered into the POV-2020 that we know about today, anyways?

Nova matched Matriarch's pacing, eyeing her wearily. "And then she tried to devise a 'program' that would reverse everything?"

Matriarch nodded. "I assisted with that, too."

A few seconds of silence passed. Chiron's gaze fell toward her crescent tail. "That program... must have failed. And that's why we're all here."

"On the contrary." Matriarch stopped pacing. She pivoted to Chiron. "It stalled out."

And thus, for want of an uncaught infinite loop, POV-2020 became a ticking time bomb for the omniverse.

Chiron: "What do you mean 'stalled out'?" ._.;

Zacian and Zamazenta tilted their heads in unison. "And what's that supposed to mean?" the former asked.

"The program was activated." Matriarch's expression sharpened. "Think about it logically. If nothing had happened, those other planets would have collided with Earth. Everything would have been destroyed.

Zacian: "And... uh... what happened to these other planets again?" .-.

"Okay," Chiron said. Her stomach had kicked out again. Luckily, her wings were keeping anyone from noticing. "Then how did it 'stall out?'"

"Zodiark interfered with the program," Matriarch said. It was... an obvious answer, frankly. She held up her hand as if to preempt any comments from the rebels. "It trapped the program in an endless loop of its startup sequence.

Lmao. So the thing really did just get stuck in an infinite loop.

"A startup sequence... in which all the souls from these ruined worlds would come together to form a giant construct: Eternatus."

The screen shifted from a picture of the core to one of a gigantic, hand-shaped creature. Chiron recognized Eternatus' visage well. She'd seen it blot out the heavens of Bahamut's home before firing the giant Malice Cannon that horribly disfigured his beautiful golden form.

"Wait." Nova's gold forelegs trembled. "Are you saying that Eternatus—"

"Is made of spirits, yes." Matriarch resumed pacing. "The program had a defined sequence. All souls would gather together as Eternatus. Their planets would be reconstructed inside. Those souls would be placed back on their respective planets. Then Eternatus would use the last vestiges of the Space Globe's power to return each world to its point of origin."

Oh, so Eternatus is the blatant Origin expy of this story. I have to wonder if you had that idea put together from the very jump, or if you wound up refining things as time and your idea for what you wanted to do with PoV marched on.

Nova's cheek bolts turned in their sockets. "But all the planets ended up outside Eternatus."

Matriarch nodded. "Correct. In the reverse world." She stopped pacing and locked eyes with Bahamut. "Which, normally, is the Renegade Pokémon's domain."

Bahamut: "... And why are you looking at me like that again?"

Bahamut's brain prism flickered with rainbow light, but he remained silent. Chiron shot him a worried look. Her stomach lurched again. It was getting quite worrying how often this was happening. And how it seemed to be in reaction to Matriarch discussing this Renegade business.

"The dimensional collapse is Giratina's fault," Matriarch insisted, her gaze still fixed on Bahamut. "And, while Zodiark interfered with the program, that same chaos energy caused the planetary reconstruction to go awry."

Her expression sharpened. "Since that final recording, my primary function has been to see the professor's program to completion. That is why I have worked diligently through the ages to gather these scattered planets within Eternatus... while containing Zodiark inside the Space Globe and stopping it from enacting any further schemes."

So TL/DR "submit to getting eaten by my soul jar dragon otherwise there's no undoing everything that's happened"

She bowed her head. "Zodiark has always had a response to the Renegade Pokémon. And the Renegade is drawn toward chaos. Maintaining firm order within Eternatus was necessary." Matriarch pointed at Nova. "That is why I built you and your troops, N0-V4." Then she pointed at Chiron. "And why I sought to keep you close at hand."

Chiron pointed a wing-claw at her face. "Where do I fit into this?"

"There is a small fraction of the Renegade's power in you," Matriarch said. "Not nearly as much as he has, which is why he is the Renegade Pokémon of this temporary world." She folded her hands behind her back. "I suspect that is what drove you to him. And away from my watchful eye."

Chiron: "Bahamut, she's lying, right? Please tell me she's lying..." ._.

Bahamut glanced at Chiron, then looked away, brain prism dimming. Chiron was ready to snap at Matriarch but she held up her right hand. Behind her, the Space Globe pulsated with light.

"Your... decisions to this point are already causing a reaction." Matriarch swiped the air. A holographic screen with colorful lines and bars appeared. Chiron couldn't make out what they were showing. "Chaos energy drifting from the Renegade to you, Chiron. And the Space Globe stirring in response to you both." She pointed at Bahamut and Chiron.

More kicks in Chiron's stomach. It was like something was trying to drag her toward the Space Globe. She squeezed her wings tighter around her torso.

Matriarch: "I believe the expression is 'Great job breaking it, hero'."

"I don't believe you," Nova interjected. He stomped a golden foreleg down on the ground. "You've said all sorts of wild things to keep me in line in the past."

"Because nothing was more important than maintaining order," Matriarch countered. She folded her hands behind her back. "Disorder attracts the Renegade to Eternatus. Every time he lashes out, I struggle to contain Zodiark."

Whelp, that basically confirms that Yaldabaoth is pulling a Zanza on Yuna. Wonder how long it'll take for that shoe to drop in the story.

She shook her head. "And now you are here because, what, you intend to destroy the core?"

"We do." Bahamut's reply was terse. "You have twisted the galaxy around with your lies long enough."

Matriarch: "I'm... going to have to spell out for you why that's a terrible idea, aren't I?"

Matriarch pinched her brow. "Nothing I have said here to you is a lie." She paced in front of the core, her eyes trained on Bahamut. "I will spell it out for you, Renegade. Eternatus is made of spirits. Those spirits are held together with the Space Globe's power. A power Zodiark wants entirely for itself. I am the only thing keeping Zodiark sealed. And that seal weakens in response to chaos energy."

Oh, well. That was fast. Though I'm pretty sure the TL/DR here is "destroying the Space Core instantly empowers Zodiark and ensures a BAD END"

She turned to the Space Globe, then resumed pacing. "If you destroy the core, Eternatus will destabilize. Zodiark will break free and claim all of Eternatus for itself. It will begin to shape the universe to fit its twisted vision.

Yeah, I figured.

"My programming will not allow for such a scenario." Matriarch stopped by Nova. She looked down at him. "If you insist on pressing your attack, then I will do everything in my power to stop you."

Zacian tightened her grip on her sword. "Meaning more avatars?"

More like a redux of the SV climax, but let's see where this goes here.

Matriarch shook her head. "The professor devised a safeguard protocol using Dreamweaver's divine power." She looked back at the Space Globe. "I will activate it." Matriarch twirled a lock of her blonde hair. "In addition to that immense power, I contain records and battle data of the most accomplished trainers from both the old world and Eternatus. Even with the Renegade's chaos energy, you cannot possibly hope to defeat me."

>I contain records and battle data of the most accomplished trainers from both the old world and Eternatus

Oh, so that's where that vision of Chiron getting toasted by a Delphox came from.

She crossed her arms. "But I do not believe it should come to that. Given the information I have provided, there is only one logical course of action." Matriarch waved her hand. Another holographic screen appeared. "You will abandon this endeavor." She pointed at Bahamut as several circles with red exclamation marks appeared. "And he will locate and undo these mysterious seals he used to bind Eternatus in place and link it to the reverse world."

Bahamut:

"That was not my doing," Bahamut growled. "My followers made a foolish decision."

"Followers who you shared your chaos energy with," Matriarch chided. "The semantics do not matter. Eternatus must be freed. Once it has absorbed this final life-bearing planet in the reverse world, I can attempt to resume the professor's progr—"

"Wait," Nova said. Standing tall, the type: full stared Matriarch down. "What about the people living in Eternatus?"

Selene tilted her head. "Huh?"

"Everyone living on these planets you absorbed," Nova said. "Hell, folks living in places like Aeonius, too." He jerked his head in Bahamut's direction. "What happens to all of them?"

>Aeonius

Oh, so that's what Etherium used to be called, huh?

Though I can already tell that this answer is going to get nice and uncomfortable with the way that Matriarch has been consciously avoiding it all this time.

Chiron's eyes slowly widened. "I see what you're getting at." She hovered forward a bit. "You had me preach to people that all life begins and ends with Eternatus. What does that really mean? Are all these people... reincarnated souls or something?"

A tense silence followed, until Matriarch turned her back on them. "I wish that was the case, but unfortunately it is not. With a few specific exceptions," she shot Bahamut another look, "all life in this universe is new. And that new life is incompatible with the professor's Dimensional Restoration Program."

Aaaaaaand there it is. That's one hell of a catch to your nice-sounding plan there, just saying.

Nova stepped forward, only to find a crystal shield materializing. He stepped back, eyes narrowing. "Then what would happen to them?"

"All the new souls that have passed on have been quarantined in a separate part of Eternatus," Matriarch said, looking up at the crystal dome overhead. "And, in order to execute the professor's program, all new souls made in this stopgap universe—whether living or resting—will be ejected into the space between worlds."

"WHAT?!" Nova cried.

Matriarch: "Oh, so when Spike Chunsoft decides to erase an entire world full of souls for the greater good, it's fine, but when I do it, I'm the evil one. I see how it is." >_>;

"Y-You can't do that!" Selene hissed. She shot another disdainful look... at Bahamut. Chiron raised a brow, but decided against calling it out. Matriarch was the more pressing concern.

Just filing that one away there. Since that sure sounds like that that wasn't the same Selene that was Enamorous.

Bahamut's brain prism crackled with rainbow energy. "I knew she was peddling nonsense. She intends to sacrifice us all!"

Chiron glared at Matriarch. "This is a joke," she spat. "You... you lied to everyone." Her gaze fell toward the ground. "You had me lie to everyone. For ages. How can you support something so... so horrible?"

Because she's literally programmed to do this? Also, Matriarch's objectives are to return things to how they were. Of course the life that has grown upon the foundations since then would be extraneous variables to it.

And, for the first time, Chiron caught a flash of something unexpected from Matriarch: regret.

She once again turned her back on the rebels. "As advanced of an AI unit as I am, I cannot betray my core function." Matriarch lowered her head. "And that core function is to execute the professor's Dimensional Restoration Program... by any means necessary."

Oh, well, there's our equivalent of the Paradise Protection Protocol. I can already tell.

Her expression sharpened. "I am a program. I do not experience emotions, even if my android body can display them." She shook her head. "Logic dictates that what will happen to all these new souls is unfortunate.

"But the professor could not have accounted for this unexpected development when she wrote this program." Matriarch turned back to them, arms behind her back. "And for every new soul walking around this universe, there are hundreds more frozen in time in space. Bound together as part of Eternatus.

Wow, just how many universes are taped together in POV-2020 at this rate? Even if I strongly suspect that this is no longer true after another 1100 years of the clock running.

"My duty is to these slumbering souls." Matriarch gestured all around the dome. "Your sacrifices will save an even greater number of people. Logically, this is the most acceptable outcome." She narrowed her eyes. "And my programming will oppose any attempts to stop this."

Team Bahamut:

The room fell into silence as the rebels exchanged looks with one another. Selene's ears were pinned back. Bahamut appeared ready to attack. Zacian and Zamazenta were crouched low.

Nova looked over his shoulder at Miraidon. "What do you think?" he asked.

"I believe... there's another way forward," Miraidon said. He drifted away from the others, gripping Leo tightly. "Do what you must."

TL/DR: Pull a Spike Chunsoft and make a new universe for those souls that need to get the boot. I mean, that feels like the "simple" workaround to this, and you've got multiple Arceuses that can potentially pull the trigger.

Nova glanced at Chiron. He didn't have to say anything for the lunala to nod her agreement. Even with everything they'd learned, they couldn't throw away everyone else's lives. If Matriarch's way of doing things had led to a colossal stalemate, then it was time to do what they'd discussed.

They would find another solution. After all, improvisation had gotten them this far, hadn't it?

Chiron took a deep breath. "If you're bound by such... strict programming, then I think it's time for a change in stewardship." She spread her wings out. They brightened with sky blue light.

There was another flash of regret on Matriarch's face. "Very well." She stepped back. "Then you leave me with no choice."

Matriarch rested her left hand on the Space Globe. "Initialize Eternatus Protection Protocol."

Well, that one's certainly on the nose as a parallel. I'm a little torn as to whether or not it'd have made sense to stray a bit more from the PPP that you're using as a template here, but you can't say that it doesn't communicate quite effectively what to expect here.

The screen behind the Eternatus Core abruptly went black, save for a white cursor. It quickly moved across the screen.

>VOICE AUTHENTICATION ACCEPTED

The entire triangular contraption whirred to light. All of the crystals throughout the dome lit up brightly, shifting from gray, to white, to a deep red.

Ah yes, this is certainly familiar. I take it that the glitchy voice lines will be kicking in imminently.

"W-What's going on?" Selene looked around in a panic.

"She's attacking, obviously." Bahamut hurled a Photon Geyser forward, but it again struck a crystal barrier. Up on the altar platform, Matriarch went still. Behind her, the Eternatus Core began to rotate.

>DREAMWEAVER POWER CIRCUITS ONLINE
>MATRIARCH UNIT SHUTTING DOWN

Just saying, I don't think that she's going to tell you to run away there.

The entire mountaintop trembled. Chiron backed away from the altar. A faint red circle appeared around the Space Globe. Her stomach lurched again. She turned to Miraidon.

"Get back," she said. "Things are going to get ugly."

Miraidon silently nodded and floated away, clutching Leo tightly.

And how given that Volo basically expects whatever happened here to grenade the team as we know it.

>GATHERING RED CHAIN ENERGY
>INITIALIZING ETERNATUS PROTECTION PROTOCOL

Three red flashes appeared over Matriarch. Three red orbs dropped into her hands.

"Wait." Nova squinted. "Are those... poké balls? Made of red crystals?"

Matriarch didn't respond. Her eyes were now a hollow blue. She marched two steps forward, arms and head twitching unnaturally— no, robotically.

>BATTLE PARAMETERS ACTIVATED
>SEND OUT ARCEUS
>SEND OUT DIALGA
>SEND OUT PALKIA

Wait a minute. Are these GL's Legendaries, or is this Noctum, Diamond, and somehow a part of Leo here?

She tossed the three crystal poké balls up. They opened up and produced three large four-legged pokémon with red chains wrapped around their torsos. Chiron immediately recognized Arceus, but the other two... they looked similar to Arceus. Like in that pokémon-only world from Matriarch's footage!

Well that art is certainly swanky there.

>JUDGMENT
>ROAR OF TIME
>SPACIAL REND

Matriarch stiffly raised her right arm and pointed at the rebels.

Um... yeah. I sure hope you guys invested heavily in evasion spam and Protect-esque moves, since you're going to need it.

"Move!" Nova cried, running off to the right. Chiron caught flashes of golden light over her head. She teleported backward and watched golden lances rain down from the ceiling. To her left and right, the others were scrambling to dodge explosive bursts of blue energy.

>PURSUE

Chiron: "Wait, what? That's not even a mov-!" O_O

The moment the words appeared on the screen, Chiron found one of the beasts—Palkia, if she had her color schemes correct—right in front of her. Their shoulder gems glowed brightly. Chiron teleported right once again, only for the air around her to shatter. An awful slicing pain hit her wings. The lunala spiraled toward the ground.

Well, this battle is going well™ already.

Water swirled around Palkia's head. Their mask opened and they spat a giant Hydro Pump toward Chiron. The moment she hit the ground, she retaliated with a Moongeist Beam. It proved enough to stop the water, but now Palkia was galloping toward her. She teleported behind them and pushed pink ripples forward.

Palkia spun around, tanking Chiron's Psychic. Their shoulder gems glowed again. The air around Chiron distorted. Were they going to use that invisible slicing attack again?

Well, try to anyways. Even if I suspect you're about to get some imminent help here.

She brought her wings together. A blue Protect shield shimmered in front of her seconds before the air seemed to shatter.

Her stomach kicked again. But the Protect held firm.

Oh, so they did invest in learning Protect. That's... wise, since I feel like this battle would've ended quite quickly without it. ^^;

Chiron dropped the Protect. Fairy energy brimmed in her wings. Palkia spotted this and began gathering a Hydro Pump.

Smirking, the lunala flicked her tail back. A wormhole opened behind her. She flew into it, reappearing behind Palkia. While they shot their Hydro Pump forward, she flung her Moonblast into Palkia from behind. Palkia whirled on her, snarling.

>TRAP LUNALA

That actually makes me wonder how much of this vision everyone else with Yuna is seeing in live-time, since boy is this going to mess with Noctum and Diamond's heads if they also saw some version of this.

The order quickly flashed on screen. Matriarch remained frozen in place, her right arm still raised.

Chiron tried to teleport away from Palkia, but something invisible latched onto her and dragged her toward the nearest broken pillar. Palkia reared up on their hind legs and sent crisscrossing blades of blue energy forward. Their corners caught the pillar and sliced right through it.

She tried conjuring a desperate Protect. It blunted some of the crescents, but awful stabbing pain rippled through her wing membranes. Chiron hit the ground beside the sliced-up pillar. If those crescents had hit her at full force, would they have cleaved right through her?

Well that sounds... painful. Though unless it got airbrushed in the round of retcons, don't worry, Chiron, we won't need to get seriously worried about you until we see a Delphox enter the battlefield.

Heaviness pressed on Chiron's head and tail. Palkia floated over her, their eyes and shoulder crystals glowing brightly. She struggled, but couldn't move her wings. This wasn't Psychic. Or any ESP, for that matter.

"Nnngh... he... lp..."

I do wonder if it would've made sense to give a bit more of an acknowledgement of how everyone else is doing sometime up to this point, especially if you're going to sell the sense of things becoming rapidly unglued by having everything Chiron sees/overhears look grim.

The air warped and twisted around her. Chiron sucked in a sharp breath, only to exhale in relief when a Photo Geyser slammed into Palkia from behind. Bahamut rushed toward Palkia. Black energy swirled around his claws. His Night Slash struck Palkia's right shoulder and knocked them away.

He dropped down and extended a crystal hand toward Chiron. "Are you okay?"

Chiron: "Could be better, really."

Chiron took a few shaky breaths. "Yes." She raised her right wing. Bahamut yanked her off the ground.

They wouldn't get to exchange any more words, because the air around them suddenly grew heavy.

"Move!" Chiron shouted. She teleported higher into the air, safely out of range of the flurry of blue crescents Palkia shot from their resting spot near the entrance to the mountaintop. The lunala conjured more fairy energy while Bahamut tossed tiny Photon Geysers at Palkia.

Before she could fire her Moonblast, however, something struck her from behind. Chiron careened past Palkia and slammed into the crystal dome. She dropped to the ground and landed on the outskirts of the mountaintop with a dull thud.

Chiron: "How on earth is that remotely fair?!" @.@

She tried getting up, but her back and wing membranes positively burned. With shuddering breaths, Chiron grasped the fading fairy energy she'd gathered for her Moonblast and instead conjured soft pink light in the air. Moonlight spread across her. The burning on her back and wings faded.

"Chiron, look out!" Bahamut called.

Arceus galloped toward her. They raised their head and shot a gold spear into the air. It turned pitch black. Black beams rained down toward her. Chiron teleported far to the right, near some of the rightmost broken pillars. She watched the black beams strike the ground and explode.

That's Judgement, isn't it?

That must have been what hit her. Some sort of dark-type attack. Why else would it have hurt so much?

... Or it could be that thanks to the wonders of Multitype.

Nova charged past along the ground. Selene followed him, casting Chiron a disapproving look.

"Sorry!" the type: full called. "It's hard to keep Arceus under wraps!"

I'm honestly shocked that Selene is still alive in the middle of all of this. Since if box legendaries are struggling this much, you'd think that she'd be way, way in over her head right now.

Chiron flew toward the pillars on the opposite side of the mountaintop. She was just in time to see part of the air distort and shatter like glass. Hovering atop a broken pillar, a screaming Bahamut grabbed his right shoulder while his right arm dropped to the ground. It trembled in place. Palkia spotted it and gathered blue energy in their mouth.

She had to cover for Bahamut. Purple light gathered around Chiron's wings, but she couldn't form the Moongeist Beam fast enough. Instead, she opened a wormhole in front of Palkia. They shot their Dragon Pulse right into it. Chiron spawned a second wormhole behind Palkia and hit them with their own attack. They staggered forward in midair, giving Chiron enough time to shoot them with a Moongeist Beam.

The large purple beam blew Palkia back toward the crystal dome. Their roar echoed across the mountain. Chiron caught flickers of light to her right. She quickly glanced at the altar. Matriarch's right arm and head jerked unnaturally. The screen over the Eternatus Core flickered.

>GET HER

So... uh... yeah. I think this is about the time where you should be looking towards flipping the table and ending the battle by any gimmick necessary, consequences be damned, since y'all are going to die pretty fast at this rate. And a number of you are basically doomed by canon to kick the bucket here anyways.

Dialga tried to fire strange blue hexagons at her from near the altar, but Zamazenta used his large head to vault Zacian into the beam. It harmlessly bounced off her.

>SPACIAL REND

Chiron turned her attention back to Palkia, teleporting left to dodge Spacial Rend crescents that exploded in midair right where she'd been. Bahamut had managed to reattach his arm. He remained by a wrecked pillar, gathering rainbow light around his hands.

Wait, he could do that?

Something sprang to mind. The lunala opened a wormhole and tossed a Moonblast into it. The ball of pink fairy dust reappeared over Palkia's head. They were too slow to stop it. It coated Palkia's face in pink fairy dust, leaving them thrashing about next to the dome.

Bahamut recognized the opening. He raised his hands and fired a Prismatic Laser. It slammed Palkia into one of the crystal hexagons. Like before, Palkia's roars echoed through the room. Chiron glanced at the altar. Again, Matriarch seized up. The screen flickered.

>IMP0SSIBL3

Ah yes, there's our glitchy voice lines in action.

Chiron's eyes widened. The light!

She immediately teleported beside Bahamut, grabbed him, and teleported him across the mountaintop, to the opposite side of the dome from where Palkia hit.

"It's the light," Chiron said, practically shaking Bahamut with her wings.

Bahamut: "Chiron, what on earth are you going on about?"

"What?" His brain prism flickered erratically. "Let go. That beast is going to come after us."

Chiron lifted her head and saw Palkia charging toward them. She flung a Shadow Ball at Palkia, then teleported back behind them with Bahamut.

"I think these beasts are weak to chaos energy," Chiron said. "And that comes from the light. Your light. Watch."

She charged up a Moongeist Beam even as the air around her decompressed. Bahamut hovered toward Palkia to offer a distraction. Chiron fired the Moongeist Beam. It only clipped Palkia's right shoulder, but that was enough to make them drop from the air and crash into the ground.

Well damn. Even if I'm not convinced that Matriarch doesn't have an ace up her sleeve for precisely this scenario.

"This is how we beat them." Chiron gestured toward the altar. Bahamut looked where her wing point to see the screen glitching out.

>ST0P THIS
>Y0U ARE M∀KING A MIST∀KE

Chiron: "♫ No time to question my moves~ I stick to the path that I choose~ ♫"

EPP: THIS ISN7 TH3 ∀NIME WHEЯE Y0U CAN IGN0ЯE TH3 C0NS3QUENC3S Y0U STUÞID B∀7

For a moment, Chiron worried she'd have to explain things further. However, Bahamut quickly got the memo. Before Palkia could get up, a Photon Geyser struck them from above. Another roar sounded. Now the whole mountaintop shook.

"Keep up the pressure," the lunala cried, a Moongeist Beam charged up. She fired as Bahamut floated out of the way, readying another Photon Geyser.

I suppose that I should be going and warming up the Bubsy macro right about now, huh?

The mountaintop trembled. Pieces of the pillar Palkia sliced through earlier rattled across the ground. Chiron caught a flash of dark energy to her left and barely managed to teleport away from dark-type Judgment lances. They instead struck the crystal dome over the door leading back into the lab.

Another Photon Geyser erupted on the ground. This time, Palkia didn't roar. When the light faded, their entire body crystalized. It shattered like glass, spreading blue and pink diamond dust in the air.

Chiron: "I think that means we're winning!" ^^

Chiron pivoted left in time to see Selene tumbling across the ground and Nova getting slammed into one of the broken pillars by some sort of strike from Arceus. Their pelt and wheel had a strange black glow. She tried to charge for a Moongeist Beam, but Arceus caught her gaze.

>JUDGMƎNT

Chiron: "... Or not."

Next thing Chiron knew, the air was full of black energy spears. She teleported to her right, hearing thunderous clangs that were no doubt from Zacian and Zamazenta continuing to grapple with Dialga.

Oh, so those black light things were Judgement after all.

"Nova, are you okay?" Chiron called. The type: full's turquoise parts were instead glowing orange. He raced across the ground, barely dodging a barreling tackle from Arceus. Probably an Extreme Speed, with how fast Arceus moved.

"They— nnnrrgh!" An orange wheel erupted around Nova's torso. He whirled around to strike Arceus with glowing talons—his Multi-Attack, from what Chiron remembered—but Arceus' black wheel and fur shifted to a shade of purple. His talons phased right through Arceus.

Chiron's head tingled. Arceus' aura had shifted just like Nova's. They changed types... to ghost?

Boy does that sound annoying to have to deal with in a fight.

The lunala fired a Moongeist Beam without a second thought. Arceus was too busy trying to strike Nova. The purple laser blew them back toward the crystal dome. The mountaintop shook again. Cracks appeared in some of the broken pillars on Chiron's right.

"Help keep Arceus distracted!" Chiron telepathically said to Nova. The type: full charged toward Arceus, shifting into a dark-type.

Boy I sure hope that as a creator god that Arceus is less capable of observing lots of places at once like Zygarde is, otherwise this is going to be a lot easier said than done.

She was vaguely aware of Bahamut going to the opposite side of the mountaintop. Presumably to help turn the tide against Dialga. Chiron teleported closer to the altar. Arceus looked over at her and sent a golden Judgment spear into the air. Then Nova struck Arceus' foreleg and they buckled.

Well, guess that worry was unfounded there, since that distraction went quite swimmingly.

Chiron held her ground, opening a wormhole to take the ectoplasmic spears and redirect them toward Arceus. They saw the spears coming and jumped into the air, leaving them vulnerable to the Moongeist Beam she was charging. It slammed Arceus into the crystal dome. Their wheel chipped. The hexagonal crystal cracked. Its glow faded.

Arceus tried to retaliate, but a small Shadow Ball struck them from below, then Nova leaped up from the ground. His ectoplasmic claws bludgeoned Arceus' head. They had a dazed look in their eyes. Chiron quickly shot another Moongeist Beam, slamming Arceus into a lower crystal tile. It cracked at the same time Arceus' wheel shattered.

The mountaintop had its most violent quake yet. Two of the broken pillars toppled over. Arceus dropped to the ground and lay still.

Wow. They actually defeated him back in the day. I mean, I'm sure that there will be horrible side effects from all of this, but still.

>ƎRR0R
>ƎRR0R
>POWER LEΛEL DROԀԀING

Well, that was certainly fast there.

"Eeeeew! It's melting!"

Chiron turned in Selene's direction. The espeon backed away from Arceus, whose body was melting into red and purple slime. Nova limped away from the slime, looking nervously at it.

Well, I suppose that explains why he looks like Beta Arceus now. Even if I'm not sure what on earth just happened there.

However, she couldn't worry about that. There was still one more threat to deal w—

"Begone!"

An eruption of gold light filled the corners of Chiron's vision. The lunala spun around to find Dialga staggering back toward the altar. Bahamut clung to the giant, rectangular bulge in Dialga's neck. A gold light blade stabbed through the blue diamond embedded in the neck bulge. Blue and gold light seeped out onto the altar. Zacian and Zamazenta stood at the ready.

Well, that sounded painful there.

But there was no need for them to strike. Dialga collapsed on their side. Crystals raced to coat their body. Bahamut pulled his light blade out and drifted back just in time for Dialga's body to shatter like Palkia's.

The mountaintop trembled again. More of the dome's crystals cracked. Their glowing lights dimmed.

I suppose that explains a thing or two about why Noctum and Diamond needed to be reincarnated.

>IMԀOSSIBLƎ

Matriarch's android body seized up. Electricity crackled from head to toe. Her arms fell to her sides. She dropped to her knees. Her eyes went dark and her head erratically twitched. The screen behind her continued to flash a broken error message. The Eternatus Core and its ominous glowing red circle stopped spinning.

Yeeeeeah, I can already tell that things are going to be a lot less triumphant in about 30 seconds.

For a few moments, everyone remained silent. Silent and still.

"Is... is that it?" Zacian whispered. She didn't dispel her armor or sword. "Did we win?"

Time to see just what went horribly wrong after all this.

Bahamut's brain prism brightened. "It sure seems that way. There's only one thing left to do now."

He faced the altar, but Nova was already limping up it. His tattered turquoise cloak flopped against his back with every step.

"It's over," he said. "You can't control anyone anymore." Nova jerked his head in the Space Globe's direction. "And if you were telling the truth, then you'll tell us exactly how this thing works, so we can fix whatever you and this professor of yours broke."

Yeah, I'm not holding my breath on you getting that information. You'd probably have more luck with something along the lines of 'sudo man dreamweaver' considering that you're dealing with an AI

Lingering sparks trickled down Matriarch's body. Her head continued to twitch.

"Y... ou..." It was a struggle for Matriarch to even speak. "Mak... ing... big... mis... take."

Chiron frowned. Her stomach lurched again. The first time in a little bit. She folded her wings over her torso.

"If things are truly as dire as you proclaim, then logic and algorithms aren't the solution." Chiron shook her head. "We need to think outside the box. Improvise. We—"

Oh hey, it's like the first fight with Alternis Din in Bravely Default 1. Minus the villain whose warnings we're ignoring having a love interest for one of the party members.

"Quite a rich statement, coming from naught but a vessel."

An unfamiliar, distorted voice echoed throughout the mountaintop. The red ring within the Eternatus Core glowed brighter. A crack appeared in the Space Globe. Then another. And another. And another.

Ah yes, that certainly sounds positive there. /s

"Nova, look out!" Selene cried, sprinting up the altar stairs toward the core.

But she wasn't fast enough. Neither were the others. Red light erupted from the Eternatus Core. Chiron threw up a Protect and ducked her head underneath her wings. She heard screams—Nova and Selene's—going in opposite directions away from the altar.

I'll take the under on Selene ever getting back up from whatever just happened there.

Chiron lowered her wings and her Protect, only to gasp in horror. Zacian and Zamazenta sprinted to her left and right, calling out for Selene and Nova, respectively. They must have gotten flung by a blast from the Space Globe.

Bahamut lay on the ground, his brain prism pulsating and his claws scraping against his crystal head. The lunala caught a brief glimpse of a man standing in front of the shattered Space Globe before she, like Bahamut, doubled over in pain. Chiron dropped to the ground, trying and failing to clutch her stomach with her wing.

The pain was awful. Agonizing. Like something was trying to burst forth from her ectoplasm.

Which you know, is because something is trying to do that right now.

And that man... looked exactly like the one from Matriarch's pictures!

"Wh... at?" With a shuddering breath, Chiron picked her head up. The man kicked Matriarch. Her android body tumbled down the stairs and ended up in a collapsed heap at the bottom.

"NGGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

To her right, Nova and Zamazenta howled in pain. Chiron's eyes widened. Strange, distorted red energy had surrounded both of them. It was like the chains around Arceus, Dialga, and Palkia. It swirled faster and faster... and dragged Nova and Zamazenta together! The red static tore Zamazenta into a fine crimson mist that seeped into Nova's cloak, darkening it to a navy blue. Chains wormed their way out of the ground to wrap around his legs. And a brown stone mask began to build itself over the type: full's face.

Well. That explains what happened to Xeromus and Zamazenta back in the day. Even if I'm not sure how on earth the gang is supposed to get past that when it comes time to take on Volo/Butterfree Effect.

And the man on the altar was watching this with an amused look on his face! Was he doing this? How?

Because he's no longer a man, Chiron. He's become something far beyond that.

Chrion recalled Matriarch's earlier explanation. She was keeping a "Zodiark" sealed within the Space Globe. Then was this Zodiark?

That would be a pretty good guess, yes. Which is probably a bad sign for what's going to happen to you and your hubby given that you're carrying Renegade/Yaldabaoth energy right now.

"St... op!" Chiron pleaded. She had to use some sort of attack. A Moongeist Beam. A Shadow Ball. Anything. "Why are you do— aaaaagh!"

She doubled over in pain again. It was a struggle to even breathe.

"As predicted," the man said. "Chaos is all that you know. Even split apart. Sealed within vessels. Here you are. Disrupting. Sowing chaos. You cannot escape your fate... Yaldabaoth."

Just filing that one away. Though I wonder if Gira/Yaldy is still split up in the present day.

Was he... addressing Chiron? She was in too much pain to tell for sure, but it sure sounded like that. Chiron violently lurched forward. She screamed. Something black and inky lunged from her stomach ectoplasm. The sludge joined with an even larger pool of black ink that spilled out of Bahamut's brain prism. It rose up and crashed over the altar like a wave over a shore.

Ah yes, just going and getting our daily dose of Body Horror while we're at it.

The man raised a brow and uttered a single dry, "Oh."

He turned and tried to grab the Red Chain spinning around him, but the black sludge moved faster. It engulfed the man and the Red Chain, shattering the latter with a brilliant red explosion. Red crystal fragments were propelled from the altar in different directions.

Chiron: "Wh-Wha- What just happened there?"

One fragment struck Bahamut. He tumbled back into a broken pillar behind Chiron. Red energy crackled around his crystal body.

A second fragment landed somewhere on the left side of the altar. Selene and Zacian's screams then stopped.

Yeah, they sound pretty dead right now, just saying.

Chiron tried to pick herself back up, but she felt even more exhausted than she did the moment the battle had ended. All she could do was roll onto her back, trying to figure out what that black sludge was. More of it had come from Bahamut.

Was it the Renegade's power? Matriarch was clearly telling the truth about the whole sealing Zodiark thing, so that stuff about the Renegade being split between them was probably true, too!

Chiron:

Up on the altar, a broken Space Globe lay at the base of a large, star-shaped crystal that had grown over the center part of the Eternatus Core. There was a silhouette inside of it. Was that what had happened to the man after the black slime attacked it?

Well, that black slime was still around. It was at the bottom of the stairs again, growing smaller and smaller. Eventually, it congealed into a tiny, frail dreepy. It quickly ended up encased in crystals, just like the Eternatus Core.

Oh, hi

.

"Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear."

Miraidon hovered toward Chiron in a panic, looking between her and Bahamut. He still had Leo cradled in his arms. His supply bag dangled from his right thruster.

"This is bad." His electrical brows shrank to tiny sparks. "We need to get the lot of you checked out and—"

Whatever Miraidon intended to say was abruptly swallowed up in a large pink whirlwind filled with hearts.

Wait. Is that Enamorous that just came and crashed the party there?

Chiron's breath caught in her throat. "LEO!" she cried.

The whirlwind roused Bahamut from his stupor, only for a pink blur to rush up toward him and knock him further back across the mountaintop. When the twister vanished, Miraidon was nowhere to be seen. Leo lay sobbing on the ground, his pom-poms flickering erratically.

And above him floated Enamorus. Brandishing Zacian's sword. A sword with fragments of the Red Chain wrapped around it.

Well then.

Chiron could sense Zacian in there. But that didn't make any sense!

Enamorous: "It's called 'getting betrayed', Chiron. Did you really think that I was just going to kill myself to become an overgrown toothpick because your husband demanded it?"

"What?" Chiron struggled to get a breath in. "What are you doing? How did... you get your powers back?"

"Simple," Enamorus scoffed. "I never lost them to begin with." She eyed the sword in her hands intently. "Because I never went through with that ridiculous sacrifice."

Damn. That wasn't all that far off from the actual line in terms of vibe.

Chiron's eyes widened. Then she'd been lying the entire time she was with them?

Sounds like it. Boy, Bahamut sure had a talent for picking winners for Sages, huh?

No. That didn't matter. Leo was in trouble! He needed her! She had to move! Why did everything still hurt so much?

"And it's a good thing I didn't." Enamorus drifted closer to the ground. To Leo. "I was prepared to wait so very long for this moment. But it seems I've been gifted with a miracle, thanks to Zodiark's brief freedom."

This is going to be a "take over the world and refashion it into my image" gambit, isn't it?

She pointed the sword up. "Zodiark has shown me the truth! About how ugly this world truly is! And the part you've played in it, Bahamut."

Yuuuuup, sure sounds like we're on track for that.

The sword shrouded Enamorus in red static. Chiron swore she heard the sword howling. Which would confirm her fear that Zacian was in the sword. And given she saw Zamazenta and Nova get pulled together by Zodiark's hex, he must've done something similar to Zacian and Enamorus!

Still on her back, Chiron tried to wiggle forward. Leo's sobs got louder. If she could just get a bit closer, maybe she could use Moonlight to heal herself and her cosmog.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Bahamut floated into the air. He conjured light blades in his hand. "Get away from my son, you traitor!"

Enamorous: "Hmm, no. I don't think that I will. In fact, this feels like a pretty good time to start going through just how you've shaped this world, doesn't it?"

Enamorus pointed Zacian's sword at him. "No! I followed your hideous orders all these years! And for what?" More static rippled around the sword. "For you to fail at protecting us! To fail so hideously that the others thought it best to throw their lives away!"

I mean, she's not wrong there...

Bahamut rushed forward, only for Enamorus to swipe the air with Zacian's sword. More pink whirlwinds full of hearts blew Bahamut back.

Chiron cautiously inched forward. She was almost close enough.

"Well, I wasn't going to sacrifice my beautiful life for such an ugly reason!" Enamorus spat. "So, I found a tool to disguise myself. I thought if I could help this feeble little movement, I could ruin your lives the same way you ruined mine!"

Bahamut: "... Okay, I'll admit it. I should've vetted my Sages better."

"It's okay, Leo." Chiron offered telepathically. Her head was close to him now. And his crying was as loud as ever. "Mama's here. Mama's gonna make it okay."

Um... considering how we found Leo in this story... no. More like you're going to brutally fail within the span of a minute.

The lunala was drawing out fairy energy for a Moonlight when Enamorus suddenly spun around and, with astonishing speed, thrust Zacian's sword into Chiron's chest. Her eyes widened. She immediately coughed up purple ectoplasm.

"CHIRON!" Bahamut roared. Golden energy balls lit up the air.

Well that's not a Delphox there. I suppose I should go back and see what Chiron's death vision in the first 10-ish chapters looks like now since I'll take that as a sign that it's been heavily retconned.

But Enamorus tightened her grip on the sword. A massive pink whirlwind whipped up all around Chiron and Leo. It drowned out the cosmog's crying. Deafened Bahamut's roars and Enamorus' twisted laughter.

Searing pain tore through Chiron's ectoplasm. Through her wing membranes. Burning. Stabbing.

... Until everything was weightless.

Chiron: "Did. Did I just die?!"

She wasn't on the ground anymore. She wasn't* in her body* anymore. It lay beneath her, crystalizing by the second. Leo lay still next to her. His pom-poms had gone dark. His body had deflated. A mote of blue and purple light lay next to it. His spirit.

And Enamorus had Chiron's spirit in her grasp.

And there's our brutal failure there. That was surprisingly painful to read.

She tried to do something. Anything.

Instead, Enamorus wound up... and threw her up toward the altar. She struck the giant crystal in the Eternatus Core. Her spirit had a full view of the mountaintop.

So given the FF influences on this story, what's the over/under of disembodied spirits looking like pyreflies?

Nova staggered around on the left side, thrashing his newly-helmeted head back and forth. Whatever the hex had done to him, he wasn't in control of it like Enamorus.

On the opposite side, Miraidon forced the door leading back to the lab open and fleeing through it. The door slammed shut behind him.

Enamorous: "Oh don't worry, I'll work on that in a bit."

Between Enamorus and the door, Bahamut was desperately trying to attack, screaming incomprehensibly. But nothing could connect. Instead, another Springtide Storm slammed him against a broken pillar.

"Zodiark wants to reshape this world," Enamorus declared. She grabbed hold of the blue and purple light—of Leo's spirit—and floated toward the altar. "And thanks to that ugly parasite you and Chiron carried, those plans have further stalled."

And where's the "you" angle in all of this, anyways?

Enamorus reached the top of the stairs. She pointed Zacian's sword at the broken Space Globe fragments. They trembled.

"But that's okay," she said, grinning wickedly at Chiron's spirit.

With a flick of her wrist, red static brought the Space Globe's fragments back together... around Leo's soul.

"Because, in the meantime, I'll make a truly beautiful life for myself!" Enamorus declared, holding the newly repaired Space Globe high. "A beautiful kingdom that worships me and lavishes me with the praise my radiant beauty truly deserves!"

Yeah, I had a feeling that this was going to be her motivation.

She pointed Zacian's sword down at the mountaintop. "And nothing you can say or do will ever, ever stop—"

A wormhole appeared on Enamorus' left. A frenzied Bahamut emerged from it, snarling like a feral, and grabbed hold of a screeching Enamorus. He dragged her through the wormhole, clawing at her in a desperate attempt at wrenching the Space Globe away from her. But it slipped out of both their grasps, and disappeared in a flash of light.

Cue the furious screeching in 3... 2...

The wormhole closed. A few moments later, Nova staggered through the same door Miraidon fled through. Once it closed behind him, silence settled over the mountaintop.

Chiron's vision grew blurry. Her thoughts clouded. It was... getting darker. Colder.

Just before everything went completely black, Chiron heard one final thing. Coming from the base of the stairs.

"En... gage... aux... ill... ar... y... pow... er..."

... Matriarch still made it through all of that? .-.

Yuna's eyes snapped open to find Xeromus' helmeted head centimeters in front of her. A jagged crack ran through the center, exposing bloodied white fur.

Screaming, she scooched away. The dragapult threw a hand onto her griseous core, only to yank it away when it nearly burned a hole through her ectoplasm.

Yeah, I'd scream coming face-to-face with that myself.

"Do you finally understand?" Xeromus' voice oozed a perverse glee. "There is no saving this world! Not without dooming everyone who lives in it!"

Well that's quite the knife twist there.

Yuna: "B-But if we made a new world for everyone who couldn't go back to normal like in Shaymin the Wanderer, th-then-!"

Xeromus: "Hah! Resorting to children's stories for hope and refuge! You truly are pathetic creatures!"

He took one step toward Yuna. Then another. Behind him, the giant crystal once stabbed by the Needle began to chip and crack.

"And it's all your fault! You brought about a cataclysm! You forced innumerable souls into an endless limbo! And you've perpetuated this stalemate ever since!"

Ah yes, in grand Squeenix tradition, the protagonists really did unwittingly make everything worse. Anyhow, let's check in on how Yuna's doing right now:

Yuna:

Saliva dribbled out of the crack in Xeromus' mask.

"You made us suffer! Made me suffer! And now... now it will all be worth it!"

Yuna scooched away. The crystal was breaking apart. And someone was inside of it.

Wait, Chiron? Is that you?

"Because now... we'll finally get the salvation we rightly deserve!" Xeromus proclaimed. The crystal behind him completely shattered, flooding the altar in brilliant golden light. Behind Yuna, the other resistance members cried out in panic.

"Hahahahaha... aaaaaahaaaahaaahaaahaaahaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

Ah yes, I see that Xeromus is really going all out with that impression of Kiyoharu from SMT4 there.

Alright, took a while and I wasn’t able to quite get this live before 2026, but that was quite the grim ending note to leave off on. At the same time, it doesn't exactly feel unearned given that the story's been foreshadowing for a long time that there was going to be an awful truth behind everything the party's been working towards, and boy was there ever. I can already tell that it's going to take them a while to dig out from under this... whenever they get through surviving whatever just got loose from that crystal there.

Beyond a couple stylistic nitpicks, I don't really have much in the way of criticism for this chapter really. It did a very good job at staying gripping throughout, and it leaves off on one hell of a hook at the end. Perhaps maybe there could've been a bit more acknowledgement of what was happening with the rest of Team Bahamut during the battle, but you've nailed your colors to the third person limited mast a long time ago, and it makes sense that in a life-or-death battle that one's perspective would get more than a little siloed towards "stay alive for the next five seconds".

Hope you had a good birthday and a good start to the year, @Ambyssin . I admittedly expect that catching up with this story won't be quite as smooth for me this year since the publishing pace has kinda gone into overdrive, but I'll be looking forward to seeing where things go in the coming year.

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 134: Best of Times​

"That's the situation," Blossom said, drifting away from Nickie and Nero. She glanced toward the spiral staircase. "If we don't do something now..." The latias' voice trailed off and she shook her head. She focused on the sky motifs painted along the wall.

Nickie's dyed tails puffed out a bit. "Y... You can't be serious. If this guy got to your legendary buddies, then what the hell chance do we have against him?!"

"I don't know." Blossom gulped. "And I wish I had something more to offer. But I don't. It's quite literally now or never."

Nickie's legs trembled. Blossom didn't blame her. The situation was dire. Still...

"It's always been like this," Latias said. "I'm sure you heard about it from Tessa. How close Dark Matter got to winning. So many people turned to stone... and the sun growing closer and closer."

She hovered forward a bit, across the floor painted to look like a sundial. "But Team Harmony pulled off a miracle. So, why can't we?" Blossom poked her claws together. "No matter what you think, you were brought here for a reason. This reason."

Nickie's gaze fell to the floor. Nero nudged her with a foreleg.

"Look at it this way." His stone mask muffled his voice, as always. "This guy took Tessa from you. Wouldn't it be nice to get some payback?"

That got through to her, because Nickie looked up. Her legs were still shaking a bit, but there was some fire in her eyes.

"Yeah." Nickie exhaled some frost. "Payback... would be nice."

XxX​

Yuna had to admit, the restaurant's normally soft lightning actually felt appropriate for once against the backdrop of deep space. It made things... comfier for the dragapult. She floated beside a standing table with Nikki, gazing at the opposite side of the restaurant. There was a space free of any tables. Scarlett sat coiled up against the wall, while Starlene hovered a meter away. Her wings glowed brightly, pumping a slow jazzy tune throughout the restaurant.

"Fly me to the moon, and let me play among the stars..."

Cyril and Diamond were dancing in front of Starlene... sort of. The zoroark was definitely dancing, but Diamond was clumsily trying to match his movements on his hind legs. At least Cyril held the keldeo's forelegs to stop him from falling.

"Yep. Cheesy." Nikki clicked her tongue, then sipped a luminescent, fizzy drink through a straw.

"Do you have to sip so loudly?" Igneous said. He and Shimmer sat at a table to Yuna's left.

"Well, since you brought it up, Twiggy, yeah. I do." Nikki rested her elbows on the table, put her head on her hands, and winked at the grovlazzle. "Don't like it? Maybe join the luvdisc on the dance floor. I mean... you've got your own twink boyfailure horse. You'll fit right in."

The smoothie Shimmer sipped went right out his nose. He descended into a coughing fit. "E... excuse me?" The ponytales' horn flickered.

Yuna frowned. "C'mon, Nikki. This is supposed to be a fun party. Maybe lay off the teasing?"

"It's not teasing if it's the truth." Nikki elbowed Yuna's right flank. Her tail shriveled a bit. She turned around, crossing her arms. "I've seen the looks you two give each other. The gaydar needle's pointing so stiffly at you I'm thinking you'll break it."

Shimmer sat there, blinking slowly. Igneous' head leaf caught fire. Scowling, the grovlazzle frantically pet it out.

"Bah ha ha! Y'see, Princess?" Nikki elbowed the air to her left.

"Yes, I see." Yuna kept her tone even. "And how would you like it if, every time they saw us, they quipped about being surprised you could walk straight after hearing the noises you made the other night?"

Nikki's mohawk vanished on the spot. She silently turned back to the table and resumed loudly sipping her fizzy drink.

"Sorry about that." Yuna rubbed her shoulder. Igneous had put the icy drink he had on his head to stop his leaf from simmering any more while Shimmer sat there with his face bright red.

"Yes, well..." The ponytales awkwardly squirmed on his cushion. "We thought it... best to keep things platonic. At least... for the time being." He leaned forward and sipped some of his smoothie. "But, uhh, congrats to you two, I guess?"

"Pssht. Cowards."

Nikki had found her voice again. Yuna gave her the stink eye. The toxtricity raised her hands.

"Fine, fine. No more teasing." She scooped her drink off the table. "But only cuz it's you who asked, Princess."

But that wasn't good enough for Yuna. She pointed at their teammates. "Apologize or you're sleeping alone tonight."

"All right. Okay." Nikki looked at Igneous and Shimmer like they'd swiped her favorite toy. "Sorry."

Yuna raised a brow. "Foooor?"

Nikki rolled her eyes. "For teasing you two."

Igneous crossed one leg over the other. "Whatever."

"Does this mean you'll stop calling me Pillow Prince?" Shimmer asked. There was genuine hope in his eyes.

Nikki smirked. "Not a chance."

Groaning, Shimmer lay his head on the table. "Why me?"

"Aww, c'mon." Nikki stepped over to their table and noogied the ponytales. "That's what a Nikki friendship gets ya, ya dweeb!"

"Ow, ow!" Shimmer's horn flickered. He managed to squirm enough for Nikki to back off. He glanced at the toxtricity. "Wait... friends? I thought you hated me?"

Nikki shrugged. "Eh, I've come around. Helps that you pulled your head out of your ass."

Despite the dumbfounded look on Shimmer's face, some of his fluffy tails wagged a bit.

"We're the most messed up friends in the universe," Igneous dryly declared. "But... it's better than what I'm used to."

"Of course it's better than being a prickly, edgy loner." Nikki sat down beside Shimmer and held her drink out over the table. "Here's to... friends standing against the end of the world."

Igneous stared incredulously at her outstretched arm. Sighing, he held his glass out to clink it to hers. "You've gotta come up with a better toast than that."

Yuna smiled. Awful toast idea or not, it was good to see everyone getting along.

XxX​

Gene finished off a glass of pinap juice and levitated it over to an empty table. He pushed himself off the pillar he was leaning on, watching the happy couple dance alongside various skorps, dragons... and Jade. Everyone else gave the salugia a wide berth, given she was shaking her tail back and forth.

"Gotta hand it to ya, ya scamp. Put together a nifty little shindig."

The mega mewtwo turned to see Archie waving a flipper from a couple of tables over. He had a nearly-finished plate of nachos in front of him, while Alder, Maxie, and Koraidon all had what looked like empty salad bowls. A slowking sat at the table with them. Razim, if Gene remembered correctly.

"What, this?" Gene gestured toward the makeshift dance floor. "It's nothing. Cobbled it together in an afternoon."

"Mmm." Maxie nudged his goggles. "Well, people are enjoying themselves."

The dark samurott slapped a flipper on the ground. "And that's what matters! Ain't that right, fellas?"

"Of course." Alder bobbed his head. "It's nice to have some respite during these turbulent times."

Humming in thought, Razim slowly stirred a straw around his glass. "You say it is nothing, and yet..."

Gene followed Razim's gaze to a table near the bar. A kommo-o and a baxcalibur chugged mugs of frothy mead. They must've gotten Yuna to bring some from Aeon.

Kommo-o finished his drink first, slamming the mug down and belting out a small stream of dragonfire. Sighing, Baxcalibur set his empty mug down seconds later. The dragons gathered around the table broke out into applause.

"... Even this is more than what we do back home," Razim continued. "Humble meals with family and, perhaps, a few friends. That's all."

"Yeah, well, we don't even got marriage at Shaftra Mesa," Archie scoffed, wiping nacho cheese off his mustache. "Some folks pair off and make an egg. And that's that."

"Such frivolities were deemed unnecessary," Koraidon said. He tapped his chest wheel in thought. "Though, in light of everything that's going on, perhaps change is in order. Provided we make it through this ordeal."

Alder's pink feathers flickered. "Indeed." The psychic braviary adjusted his feathery afro with a wing. "I daresay we might not even return to the mesa when all's said and done. The winds of change blow fiercely across the universe."

"Tch." Archie tapped a flipper impatiently. "Buncha killjoys."

Chuckling to himself, Gene turned left and hovered away from their table. Most of the partygoers kept to the inner half of the restaurant. Which made the cosmic lucario standing by the floor-to-ceiling window stick out like a sore thumb.

"Dude, have you even moved an inch since you got there?" Gene walked the remaining distance between him and Bahamut.

No response. Which Gene expected. Either Bahamut was lost in thought or brooding hard enough to will Gene away.

"Well, do you at least want something to eat or drink?" the mega mewtwo asked.

"Love and harmony combine, and round our souls entwine," Bahamut whispered. His starry tail dimmed. "While thy branches mix with mine, and our roots together join."

Gene turned around and leaned against the window. "Yeeeeeeah. Dunno what that's supposed to mean."

Bahamut's eye twitched. "It's... from a poem." There was an air of restraint to his tone. He slowly placed a paw on the window. "It's what I said to Chiron... when we were wed."

"Right." Gene crossed his arms. "If you're in full sulking mode, then why are you even here?"

"One of the grooms suggested I attend," Bahamut said. Gene figured that had to be Diamond. "I'm here to be polite." He lowered his paw from the window. "But I do not find myself in festive spirits."

"So, you're choosing to stay out of everyone's way." Gene sighed. "Can't say I'm surprised. You are stubborn like that."

"What good would it do to have me around a bunch of drunkards?" Bahamut growled.

"Eh, most people aren't drinking."

"I saw you with a glass earlier," Bahamut countered, aura feelers twitching.

"Of pinap juice." Gene's starcloud tail poked out from behind his back. "I'm not really a drinker."

"Really?" Bahamut turned, raising a brow. "With your... lackadaisical attitude, I figured you'd be all over the stuff."

"Pfffft." Gene smirked. "C'mon. You were — are? — psychic. You understand." He massaged the middle of his brow. "That shit messes with your head something fierce."

A single dry laugh escaped Bahamut's snout. "Fair." He slowly joined Gene in leaning against the window. "Then, at the very least, why are you not partaking in their company?" The lucario gestured to the partygoers.

"This is Cyril's day," Gene replied. "I'd rather he and Diamond get all the attention. Besides..." He thumped the red core in his chest. "That much positivity ain't good for my roommate."

"Do not use me as a convenient excuse to hide your paranoia."

Our paranoia, Gene mentally corrected. He ignored Bahamut squinting at him.

"Hmph. So, if someone hugs you, will you break out in hives?" Bahamut wondered. He shook his head. "No, that can't be it. Otherwise, you'd be dead already." His gaze sharpened. "Don't think I haven't seen you escorting that obstagoon and incineroar to your private quarters, because I have."

"Ah, ah." Gene wagged a finger. "It's not positivity if it's sinful behavior~"

Bahamut's scowl only deepened. "Well, for all our sakes, I sincerely hope everyone gets their minds out of the gutter, lest their extracurriculars distract them in battle."

Gene had a smarmy retort prepared when his X-transceiver buzzed in his head. "What's up?" the mega mewtwo said, ignoring Bahamut's perplexed look.

"You need to come down here right away." It was Cid. The orbeetle was doing his best not to sound panicked.

"We were right to be paranoid."

"All right." Gene pushed himself off the wall. He beckoned Bahamut with a finger. "If you're done sulking, Cid's got something. May as well make yourself useful, right?"

Bahamut squinted at Gene, but ultimately stepped forward. "Fine. Let's go."

With one last glance back at the party, Gene opened up a rift. He sure hoped this was small enough that he wouldn't have to bring the festivities to an early end.

XxX​

Sighing, Valkyrie rubbed the bridge of her snout with a claw. She sat at a table opposite Noctum with a plate of bones in front of her. The remains of a rack of ribs. Opposite her, the cosmic charizard had half eaten one of those burgers with a bun styled to look like an eevee. He hadn't even touched the smiley face fries.

"I cannot believe you ordered that at a party," the garchomp said. She leaned over and sipped some water through a straw. Unlike Noctum's glass, hers had no ice.

Noctum set the half-eaten burger down, frowning. "What? The meat tastes good." He lifted up a fry. "And these make me happy." He held it in front of his face. "You know what they say. Smiles are contagious."

Valkyrie's lips twitched. She pretended to stretch so her arm fin would hide her snout. Then an idea sprang to mind and she lowered her arms, smirking.

"So, what does eating a smile mean then?"

Noctum stared back at her blankly. He put the smiley face fry back on his plate. "Uhh... that I hunger for happiness?" Shrugging he picked up his burger again. He picked the chip styled to resemble an eevee ear off the bun and tossed it into his open mouth.

"Right." Valkyrie should've expected a simple answer from him. Such a dork.

"Y'know, this is a party," Noctum said. "Wouldn't hurt you to relax a little." He took a bit out of the burger.

"I am relaxed," Valkyrie scoffed. She stabbed one of the bones with her claw and nibbled on it. "Calling you out for being a dork isn't limited to when I'm 'on alert.'"

If her jab bothered Noctum, he didn't show it. The cosmic charizard finished off the burger, then licked meat juice off his claws and fingers.

"You could be more... conversational," he finally offered, poking one of the fries with a claw, then eating it in one bite.

Valkyrie dropped the bone back onto her plate, scowling. The dork had a point. That was part of what being a friend entailed, wasn't it?

"Okay..." The garchomp tried to think of something casual to talk about. Her gaze drifted to Cyril and Diamond dancing together. Or, rather, Cyril practically dragging the clumsy keldeo along the makeshift dance floor.

"Do you dance?"

"Does a little shimmy count?" Noctum wiggled back and forth in his seat.

Valkyrie snorted. "No."

"Oh." Noctum's starry wing membranes dimmed a bit. "What about you?"

"Learned to ballroom dance once for a mission," Valkyrie said. "Had to take out a guy at a Stoutland Yard b—"

Her brow furrowed as she realized she immediately fell into talking about her work. Damn it. Acting casual was hard.

"Never mind." She sipped some more water. "What are weddings like in Aeon?"

Noctum grabbed a smiley fry and tapped it to his snout. "They're pretty fun. The families gather at an Aeon Temple for the actual ceremony. The couple exchanges pledges under Bahamut's gaze."

Valkyrie's gaze trailed off toward the giant window, where Bahamut had been standing the whole time. She didn't spot the cosmic lucario. Had he left?

"Then... well, you saw a bit of it earlier." Noctum tilted his head and spat out some blue-purple embers. "The couple will breathe elements of their choice into the air and the crowd will follow suit."

The cosmic charizard ate another fry, then jerked his head toward the dance floor. "After that? It's a festive meal." He paused. "Typically with a good amount of mead."

"I see." Valkyrie finished her water. It sounded... like a proper party. "But can everyone really afford to do that? Or just, y'know, folks like Yuna's family?"

"Oh, couples can petition the king and queen to fund their weddings," Noctum said. "We don't take part in the festivities, but we make sure the nearest temple can accommodate them and provide food and drinks."

He ate two more fries. "We may not have Radiance's technology, but between trading resources with your boss and all the treasures we've found left behind by distortion we've warded off... it's manageable."

Valkyrie found that hard to believe. But, really, was there any point pressing it?

"Would you ever want one?" Noctum asked.

The garchomp tilted her head. "A treasure horde?"

Noctum shook his head. "A wedding."

"Well, that's a hell of a question to ask," Valkyrie blurted out. Her mind scrambled to figure out what else to say and ended up latching onto smarmy joke. "Why, are you offering, Mighty Palkia?"

"O-Of course not." Laughing nervously, Noctum rubbed the back of his head. "I was just... curious. If you'd ever thought about it. I mean, with your work, I should've figured the answer would be no."

"Yet you asked anyway." Valkyrie shook her head. With her water finished, she aimlessly twirled the straw around in her glass. "Lemme guess. You've never thought about it because you were always focused on helping the royal family."

Noctum sat up straight. "That obvious, huh?" His starry tail flame grew a bit. "But, hey, at least that's another thing we have in common."

He gave Valkyrie a toothy grin. The garchomp grabbed her straw and flicked it at him. It didn't actually hit Noctum, but the charizard got her message.

"Not a funny joke, then?"

Valkyrie shook her head. She had a smart remark at the ready when a flash of purple caught the corner of her eye. She turned left and saw Gene emerging from a rift over at the makeshift dance floor. His shoulder gauntlets glowed. Starlene floated up to his side. Through the latias' mechanical wings, Gene projected his voice across the entire restaurant.

"Party's over folks. The emperor's forces are on Aeonius and headed for the Aeon Kingdom."

XxX​

Various people quickly cleared the dance floor, then moved more tables away or stacked them atop one another so everyone assembled could gather around. Everyone left Gene most of the dance floor as open space to stand in.

Yuna had her ectoplasmic tail in her hands, where she wrung it like a towel. She floated to Gene's left, focusing on the mega mewtwo to avoid the nervous gazes of the Aeon dragons that attended the party. Widget and Leo stood to Gene's right, while Noctum and Valkyrie were across from him. In all the commotion, Igneous and Shimmer ended up near the two dragons, with Scarlett recalling Starlene and joining them.

"How bad is it?" Noctum asked, ripe with worry.

Gene glanced at Cid. The orbeetle's spots flickered asynchronously.

"It's a fairly large force," Cid said. "I'm sensing many of those mechanized pokémon we've run into in the past. But there's also something else, too. I'm not sure how to describe it." He tapped his fingers together nervously. "Large ships of some sort? They're brimming with Eterna energy, at the very least."

"Then what the hell are we standing around for?" Nikki pushed past Yuna. "Let's get over there and kick their damn teeth in!" She kicked the empty space in front of her.

Gene held his left hand up. "I don't think you really understand what's going on here. The emperor's forces are on Aeonius."

"And?" Nikki shrugged. "He's sent robots through before."

"Only through pockets of distortion," Gene said. His tail pointed at Cid. "Tell 'em."

Cid gulped. "It, ah, would appear... that the emperor now has the ability to make rifts for himself."

"WHAT?!"

"You're kidding me!"

"Oh man... are we screwed?"

A chorus of surprised exclamations filled the room. Nikki's mohawk disappeared. She stepped back, shoving her hands in her jacket pockets.

"Shit." Nikki glanced at Yuna. "Uhhh... you okay?"

The dragapult barely even registered Nikki. She squeezed her tail so tight it was practically pencil thin.

"Princess?" Nikki whispered. She put her hand on Yuna's shoulder. Yuna tensed, but sucked in a sharp breath.

"Not okay," she mumbled. But Yuna had to pull herself together. This wasn't the time to freak out. "Can you grab me a chair?"

"Sure." The toxtricity scanned the room, but all the chairs were behind the crowd, pushed up alongside tables. Nikki squeezed by people, muttering apologies.

"Do we have any other information?" Widget wondered.

Igneous raised a hand. "Dad says that, over the past couple of weeks, a lot of Aeon's citizens were taken into the underground caverns. Those who can't fight are getting ferried over toward Scale City and our other encampments." The grovlazzle scratched his head. "Though I can't say these places are necessarily built to house that many folks."

"Did we ever take the Medici's complex?" Valkyrie wondered. "Y'know, after the pirates ransacked it."

"We did." Igneous crossed his arms. "That's one place we're ferrying folks."

Yuna exhaled deeply. Good, so her parents had thought ahead.

"Got your chair."

Nikki returned, placing a chair to Yuna's right. The dragapult sat down in it, wedging her ectoplasmic tail through a hole in the back.

"Thanks," she whispered. Nikki nodded. Yuna returned her attention to Gene. "Should we call my parents?"

"Already did." Gene's starcloud tail swished left. "Your dad's taken your siblings underground. Yiazmat intends to stay and fight."

Yuna swallowed hard. "Right."

"She did hold up back on Indigo Plateau," Noctum offered. The cosmic charizard rubbed his shoulder nervously. "Still, this is dicey. Do we have a plan?"

"Tch. Of course we don't." Valkyrie thumped her tail against Noctum's. "The real question is how we're winging this." She looked right at Gene. "And if time's of the essence, we'll need the short version."

"We're not holding back here," Gene said. He punched one hand with another. "With two exceptions, it's all hands on deck. Anyone who wants to fight can. We should... probably expect Uroboros there, too."

Widget raised a brow. "That a Paradigm lieutenant?"

The mega mewtwo nodded. "She'd be the last one... other than the emperor himself."

Yuna kneaded her ectoplasmic thighs with her hands. A Paradigm lieutenant and some sort of new, unexpected energy signature? This was getting worse by the minute.

"So, uh..." Leo tapped a forehoof against the floor. "What're the exceptions you mentioned?"

Gene pointed at Leo. "You, for starters."

"For real?" Leo's starry fur bristled. "C'mon, if it's firepower you want—"

"Oh please." Bahamut shoved past crowd members to step to Leo's right. "It's a necessary precaution. If the emperor got a hold of you or any of your Red Chain fragments, he could wreak absolute havoc upon us all."

Leo's mane and tail drooped. "I'm more than capable of fighting off his troops."

"That's true." Gene crossed his arms. "But we need to keep at least one big gun on standby in case the absolute worst comes to pass." His shoulder crystals glowed a bit brighter. "And you are the biggest gun we have. Plus, you can rift anywhere."

"Which means I can flee at the first sign of—"

"Just listen to him, Leo," Yuna blurted out. She didn't realize she even said that until all eyes in the room fell on her. The dragapult sat up straighter in her chair.

"I think... knowing you're waiting in the wings will make it easier for us to not hold anything back."

It was flimsy logic, but it was the best Yuna could come up with in the heat of the moment. And it was good enough to get Leo to step back.

"Nicely said, Princess." Gene raised an index finger. "Except for one little detail you're missing."

Yuna blinked. Wait, don't tell me...

"Oh, lemme guess." Nikki stepped in front of Yuna. "Princess is the other exception."

Gene nodded. Yuna rose out of her seat, her tail phasing through the chair so she didn't carry it into the air by accident.

"Seriously? That's my home, Gene!" The dragapult's tail rippled. "You can't seriously expect me to—"

"I need you and a few of your buddies for a different assignment," Gene said.

Yuna's bluster evaporated. "H-Huh?"

Gene paced around the empty dance floor. "Princess and a few others are going to Larkharr."

"The hell's that?" Nikki asked. "I've never heard of it."

She and Yuna looked around the room and found only confused expressions. Most of the crowd mumbled similar questions to themselves.

"It's a mystery dungeon... and the pirates' homebase," Gene exclaimed. His chest core glowed deep red. Yuna hoped that was just dramatic effect. "You have to go there and find Gilbert. Get him to take you to Captain Blackskull."

"Are you serious?" Nikki stepped forward, mohawk frazzling. "Why the hell are we walking up to them? They've been total dirtbags to us!" She pointed accusingly at Gene. "And don't say 'just trust me.' This ain't the time for a 'trust me, bro'!"

Gene held up his hands. "You're absolutely right."

Yuna leered at the mega mewtwo. "Then why are we having this conversation?"

"Think about it." Gene tapped his right temple. "The Blackskull Buccaneers have evaded the emperor's troops all this time."

"Yeah, because they're probably in cahoots or some shit!" Nikki's mohawk crackled with yellow sparks. "Why else do they have all that crazy tech?"

Gene shook his head. "It's the exact opposite. They're keeping tabs on the emperor somehow. Which means they're probably aware he's escalating." He resumed pacing around the dance floor. "If we're going to make a run at the emperor, then now's the time for us to combine our forces and tech. And I think Blackskull knows it."

Yuna didn't buy it. "Then why isn't he coming to us? Gilbert knows this place, doesn't he?"

Gene sighed. "It's easier for you to see for yourself, Princess. Especially if you take those two Overseers with you." He gestured toward the bar, where Jaeger and Vince's heads shot up in unison.

"And I'll let you bring your girlfriend and those two lovebirds as an added bonus." Gene's starcloud tail pointed toward Igneous and Shimmer. The grovlazzle's head leaf smoldered while the ponytales' face reddened.

"Don't we get a say in this?" Igneous growled.

"Not this time." Gene smirked. "Need at least a handful of decent fighters in case Gilbert does Gilbert things."

"Can I go with them?" Scarlett raised her tail as she spoke.

Gene shook his head. "Sorry, we need Starlene with the bulk of us."

"Oh. Okay." The dragonair's tiny wings drooped. Igneous and Shimmer offered her sympathetic looks.

"I... I'm still not okay with this," Yuna said. She hovered toward Gene. "Why can't you go to the pirates? I should be able to fight to protect my home, damn it!"

"That's exactly it." Gene stared Yuna down. His shoulder crystals pulsated with red energy. "The emperor's expecting all the Aeons to fight off his troops. If we send their princess somewhere else entirely, it raises the odds we catch him by surprise."

Yuna's frown deepened. It made... some twisted sense.

"Besides," Gene continued, tapping his right temple. "This business with the pirates should be much faster. If you do it quick enough, you can charge into the fray and really undercut the empire."

The dragapult puffed her cheeks out. She knew sweet talk when she heard it. And while she wanted to keep arguing the point, she knew full well they'd end up talking in circles.

We're too pressed for time.

At a time like this, Yuna wished she had one of the Sages to call on. But she still couldn't grasp their spirits. Only empty energy dwelling in her griseous core.

"Fine." Yuna exhaled sharply. "We'll go to Larkharr."

She flew up to Gene and jabbed his chest core with a claw. "Don't screw things up on your end." Black shadows swirled around her chest. "Or you'll have me to answer to."

Gene smirked. "Understood, Princess."

The mega mewtwo turned back to the crowd. "All right. Those who aren't going with Princess or staying to help Cid and Cyril with the computer bank... form up by the window." He pointed to the giant glass window, where Jade was fast asleep beside Ifrit, Quetzal, and Shiva. The three smaller birds stood at attention. Quetzal took one look at the salugia and nudged her with his foot.

"Huh? Wha?" Jade blinked several times. "I-I'm awake! I'm awake! Whose kiester are we kicking?"

"Let's get to work!" Gene declared, sending the restaurant into a flurry of foot traffic and nervous voices.

Sighing, Yuna turned back to Nikki. Igneous and Shimmer were already beside the toxtricity.

"So, uh..." The grovlazzle scratched his head. "Is Gene going to tell us how we get to Larkharr?"

"I've got the instructions."

Cyril approached the group with Jaeger and a panicked Vince in tow. The cosmic zoroark looked over his shoulder to watch Diamond join the growing group going to fight in Aeon. He waved at the keldeo before returning his attention to the others.

"Let's get to the hangar. The ship's ready for you to depart."

He looked expectantly at Yuna. The dragapult opened a rift to her right. Blue light from the hangar spilled out over her. She gestured to the rift. Cyril shepherded the others through it. Nikki was the last one in, though she paused with one foot in the rift.

"You can change your mind," the toxtricity said. "Doesn't matter to me. I'll go with you. Just say the word."

"No. It's... fine." Yuna traced a claw around her core. "We'll finish this quickly... then get the drop on the empire."

Nikki smirked at Yuna. "Hell yeah we will."

She held out her fist. Yuna bumped it with her own. Then they stepped through the rift together.

 

[Negrek]

Hey, Ambyssin! I missed visiting PoV last year, but I'm back now for Chapters 26-35. Not really an ideal place to stop, but to be honest I was having trouble finding one in this stretch. There's always something going on!

That in general was a highlight for me in this section; you always show a lot of creativity in the different environments you take your characters through and the sorts of people they meet in them. Here, the poisonous region with its weird mutants and reassembling skeletons was a particular standout. I also enjoyed further elaboration on what life is like in the metropolitan parts of Eternatus--hypercapitalist hellscape but with the interesting combination of magic-like Pokémon tech with more out-of-date human tech (e.g. "uPod" ads similar to what we'd see 20 years ago).

Similarly, even your minor characters are always oozing with life and personality, like the pirate chatot and his aggron henchman, or the nickit and greedent duo who unexpectedly reappear in this segment. It's kind of fun because it can be hard to tell who all is just a one-off and who might be back later, for another minor or even more significant role. The number of eccentric, larger-than-life personalities works especially well with the atmosphere of the Qlipoth, I think, where things being fantastical and "larger than life" is kind of the point! They all contribute to the sense of a world bursting at the seams with energy, and where everything's been done before, so people reach for more and more outlandish ways of living in an attempt to feel something. Your sense of humor and ability to make characters memorable in a very short of time really shines.

It is kind of a downside of having so many characters and so much action that any particular slice of chapters doesn't necessarily contain a great deal of character progression. We get some important scenes for Noctum and Seifer in particular, but the "main trio" of Yuna, Nikki, and Chiaki barely spend any time all together. While there are some interesting insights into Chiaki's family situation here (plus the revelation of what happened to Nikki's dragonair friend), this is one of those sections where it feels like the characters are mostly just reacting to whatever crazy new thing's thrown their way and doing their best simply to survive. It's just kind of the nature of the beast with this sort of story--even after a pretty substantial number of chapters, there are so many characters that they haven't all had the opportunity to get many scenes (and those that have often spent those scenes fighting/running for their lives rather than confronting their own problems). I do hope at some point there might be a chapter or three where the main cast gets the space to decompress a bit and properly deal with what all's been happening to them. I feel like poor Yuna is still only barely getting a handle on everything to do with the Soul Dew, and there's obviously a ton more stuff for her to deal with coming down the pike.

I liked the little glimpse we got of Shimmer interacting with his family after the trial. One definitely gets the idea that some of his superior attitude is compensation for the fact that his parents don't actually seem to like him all that much, or at least treat him as someone whose opinions are worth listening to. It doesn't seem like they've been doing a great job of raising him into someone who'll make a good successor to the throne, either. It's always fun seeing someone used to getting his way in everything by trading on his social status confronted with who don't care about it and have no interest in giving him what he wants.

Also, I enjoyed seeing a little more of Vegna and more hints about what exactly's going on with him. Now that he's the main trio's Crowne Cup advisor, I hope we'll get to see a bit more of him and dig into how he's connected to the whole Sage/Eternatus plot.

I also thought the little shout-outs to humans hanging around in the Qlipoth was fun. Not sure whether they'll really have much of a presence in the story, but perhaps they're responsible for some of the culture inside Eternatus, where some elements seem to mirror our own.

It ended up not being very consequential in the long run, but I was kind of surprised that the team didn't react more strongly to the hotel's water going out. Forget about showering, there are like four of you hanging out in that room, and you can't flush the toilet! Things are gonna get real gross, real fast! Although having a milotic around who can generate water (with whatever caveats about potability or the conditions under which that can be done) does perhaps make this a less scary situation than it would be with four human students.

In any case, I kind of caught the tail end of one arc (the trial and everything to do with the Needle) and most of the rest of another here. The build-up to the fight against Exdeath (yikes) was a lot of fun, and I'm particularly intrigued by what Chiaki was getting up to with his infiltration of the concert. There's a lot we still don't know about our main characters, but I'm interested in what's going on with Chiaki's family in particular. Also very curious about what's going to happen to him after getting caught up in the explosion. His injuries sound like the sort that would sideline him from the story for quite a while, if nothing else, but I don't really see that happening here!

Your setpiece fights are always well done, and the battle against Exdeath, with the added complication of gigantamax(?) mold monster garbodor and civilians for the group to protect is a lot of fun. There are so many moving parts (everything going on on the ship plus Exodes puppeting people plus Lugia and Reshiram plus Yuna's shadow stuff...), and multiple groups of characters that you need to juggle, but I think you pull it off well and balance everything in a way that makes it easy to follow along with what's happening despite how frantic it all can get. The action's full of twists and turns and reads breezily, even though it plays out across several decent-sized chapters. I also enjoyed the horror-movie sort of sequence with the garbodor chasing everyone through the disintegrating ship, and the fun of the group eventually finding a disinfectant sprayer to help them against the menace--at least for a little while. The whole scenario is just a lot of fun. I think I cut off pretty close to the end, and I look forward to returning later to see how everything shakes out!

I will admit that I'm still having trouble keeping track of the various factions involved here, especially among the villains. The group responsible for crashing the concert is obviously different than either Paradox or Vortex's groups--I think it's the one Xeromus is associated with? I think it's that last set of characters that I still don't have a good grasp on, in terms of their motives or what they're up to. This may just be a function of them having less screen time than the others, or having their scenes more spaced out throughout the story, but whenever something involving them comes up I have to spend a few seconds trying to remember what their deal is. I get the sense that they'll have much more prominence later, which isn't a bad thing, but at the moment I'm just not having a lot of luck keeping track of their part of the story.

I was hoping that I'd be able to make it through another arc with my reading here, but it turned out that I didn't quite! It was a good ride, though, and I look forward to picking back up on it later. My impression is that a lot of this story will end up being about people not being who they thought they were, or about hidden identities in general, so it's interesting to see that starting up a bit with Yuna's shadowy transformations. This section blazes along merrily and ends off on a bit of a cliffhanger; I'm kind of curious how long the story will be able to keep up such a wild pace. We're definitely starting to get into the thick of things now, which is very exciting. Congrats on finishing this fic (outside of posting), and happy late birthday!

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 135: Worst of Times​

Nero wasn't sure what to expect atop the tower. Blossom said it could be bad. But this... this was beyond imagination!

Dialga, Palkia, and Arceus. Uxie, Azelf, and Mesprit. All tangled up in chains filling the sky with a sinister red glow. Arceus' golden wheel bore the same shade of red. And the others had matching red wheels around their bellies.

"What... what the hell is this?"

To the type: null's left, Nikki staggered back. The snowpix's tails fell between her shivering legs.

"We... we can't possibly stand up against shit like this!"

"A wise observation, child."

An unfamiliar, distorted voice sent a chill down Nero's spine. He looked ahead toward the altar on the opposite side of the roof. A man stood there. With blonde hair styled to resemble Arceus'. Six pokémon stood at attention in front of the man, including...

"Guildmaster... why?" Nero stomped a foreleg down. "Why are you helping this guy?!"

The lucario looked away, aura feelers tensing.

Instead, a giggling spiritomb blocked Nero's view of Lucario.

"We're not going to talk any sense into them," Blossom whispered. The latias floated up to Nero's right. "We, um, have to make our stand here."

"You will do no such thing." The man turned his back to them. "Stand down. Soon, we will have a perfect world. Without suffering."

XxX​

"I've got a lock on them!" Cid declared through the X-transceiver line. "They're over the rail bridge connecting Aeon to Radiance. If we're going to attack them, now's the time!"

Noctum beat his wings slowly to keep in midair. He saw tiny specks far in the distance, even with Eternatus' eerie purple glow filling the sky overhead.

Still, the rail bridge was a fair distance from Drasbraznav. Just how big were these new tools the emperor had if Noctum saw them from over Aeon Castle?

"Zardy, you ready?" Gene asked. "I'm rifting folks into position. It's time to get a move on."

Noctum's starry tail flame pulsed. "R-Right! There are four peaks that flank the rail bridge to the north and south. Those should give us enough of a vantage point."

"Already knew that one," Gene scoffed.

"Pull your head out of the clouds and focus, Noctum," Valkyrie growled.

The cosmic charizard swallowed hard. "Sorry."

He swiped the air, opening a rift in the sky. Noctum flew in and landed atop one of the soot-covered mountain peaks.

His starry tail flame immediately shrank when Noctum looked up. "What the—"

Dead ahead of him floated large, red and purple skeletal beasts. They reminded Noctum of what Widget looked like when the resistance first encountered him, with glassy torsos brimming with red and purple energy.

And they weren't alone, of course. Noctum saw countless Eternatus Gunners, Brawlers, and Bombardiers flanking these giant beasts. And he even saw multiple robot volcarona and hydreigon.

Gene hovered past Noctum, his gaze trained on the approaching fleet. "Think it's safe to say we now know exactly why the emperor's laid low all this time. Cid, anything you can offer?"

XxX​

A flurry of activity surrounded Cyril. Skorps frantically typing on keyboards and bringing up red dots on radar maps. Some skorps running between computer consoles, pointing at things on screen. Others trying to connect more wires up to Cid's large head.

The orbeetle floated behind Cyril, eyes closed in concentration while his spots glowed brightly. Luminescent pink eyes surrounded him. A sign of his active Dynascan.

Curiously, Alder approached Cid. The psychic braviary whispered to him.

Frowning, Cyril glanced between the monitor bank, showing footage of the emperor's forces, and Cid. "Well?" the cosmic zoroark whispered.

Cid exhaled. "My Dynascan says those large creatures are Eternatus Terraformers." He spoke into a podium with a special X-transceiver attached to it. "According to Alder, they resemble a... smaller form that Eternatus has taken in other worlds. But I have no idea how the emperor got access to that kind of information."

Cyril tensed up. He turned back to the monitor bank and whispered to himself, "Stay safe, guys."

XxX​

Noctum chewed over Cid's explanation for a second. But before he could ask Cid another question, one of the Terraformer's torsos glowed brightly. A giant red and purple beam soared over their heads. Gene threw an arm up over his face to shield himself from the bright light.

Noctum followed the beam. It struck a valley to their right... and a large onyx building with neon lighting immediately sprouted up from the ground!

"W... what..." Nebulas swirled around Noctum's wings and belly. The emperor just... made a building out of nothing? How? With Eterna energy?

"Go, go, go!" Gene shouted, diving into a rift and disappearing from the mountain peak. Noctum looked over his shoulder to see various dragons taking to the air, while others lit the skies up with Dragon Pulses, Ice Beams, and Flamethrowers.

Noctum flapped his wings and ascended as the Eternatus Troopers began returning fire. Bright pink Dazzling Gleams lit up the air around the cosmic charizard. He rolled right of one, then fanned his wings out to stop his upward progress so another sailed harmlessly overhead.

"Pitiful dragon peasants!"

A projection of Paradox appeared over one of the Eternatus Terraformers as it fired another giant beam. A second tower sprouted far to Noctum's left.

"Welcome your new ruler! Welcome... my Eterna Empire!"

Yellow light filled Noctum's vision. Electricity zapped him. Noctum fell through the air, before beating his wings to steady himself.

"Surrender, rebel!" an Eternatus Bombardier declared. Two others pointed their blasters at Noctum. "In the name of our glorious ultimate supreme grand emperor!"

Get a grip. Noctum couldn't get distracted by fancy projections or terraforming. He had to focus.

The Bombardier trio unleashed three Hydro Cannons. Yelping, Noctum Phantom Warped to his left. He beat his wings to get closer to the Bombardiers, spewing blue flames. It struck the closest Bombardier and knocked them into the others.

Bigger, bluer flames swallowed the machines up. Their unown pilots careened through the air and vanished in puffs of purple smoke.

Widget flew up to Noctum in reshivally form. "This is nuts!" he squawked. His eyes widened. "Down!"

Noctum folded his wings, falling a dozen meters. A Blue Flare lit the sky up overhead. Noctum heard metallic clanging and shouts behind him. He spread his wings out and swooped back up toward Widget.

He didn't even have time to offer Widget any thanks. Reshivally shifted to miraivally and jetted off in pursuit of other Eternatus Troopers.

Instead, Noctum looked around and found five Eternatus Gunners shooting Ice Beams at the ground. He flapped his wings twice, then slashed the air with his claws. Spacial Rend discs cut through the air like buzzsaws. They easily cleaved through the Gunners.

"Do let your capturing Eternatus Troopers know if you have any sort of dietary restrictions," Paradox's projection continued. "We offer a range of different options for your imprisonment, including vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, keto-friendly..."

Growling, Noctum beat his wings faster to fly into the fray. Blue and purple beams shot up all around him. Pink Dazzling Gleams peppered the air. Noctum rolled left. Then right. He Phantom Warped through twin Blizzards, then spun around and shot the Eternatus Bombardiers responsible in the back with a pair of blue fireballs. Their unown pilots ejected their UFO-like cockpits, but Noctum had two more fireballs ready to blow those up, too.

Something sharp struck the cosmic charizard between the shoulder blades. He tumbled through the air, barely catching glimpses of an Iron Jugulis tailing him.

[That's far enough, rebel!] Iron Jugulis' three heads crackled with electricity.

A wide-eyed Noctum tried Phantom Warping, only for one of the electric beams to clip his wing. It spasmed and Noctum lost altitude. It only clipped him, but it hurt worse than the last one.

Was it using Charge Beam? Then it was boosting up its attack!

"Guuuuuuuuyyyys!" Noctum stopped himself from falling further. "I can really use a hand or two over here!"

XxX​

A stray blast struck the mountaintop behind Valkyrie. Ash and rock pelted her back. The garchomp hissed, but stood her ground. She spat Dragon Pulses into the sky. Clanging and a mechanical wail overhead told her at least one hit its mark.

"Yeah, slight problem with that!" She shot another Dragon Pulse, but a Blizzard swept it away. Two Eternatus Bombardiers retaliated with Hydro Pumps. Valkyrie dove for cover behind a large rock. She peeked out to see the water carry away a heliolisk and an ampharos. They slid away down a steep incline, their cries growing more distant.

"This isn't working!" Valkyrie scanned the sky above her and spotted the Iron Jugulis giving Noctum grief. She tried to shoot a Dragon Pulse toward it, but the machine got too far away. It struck Noctum from behind with a Charge Beam, only for a salamence and a dragonite to hit its right head with two Dragon Pulses. They dented the metal, but didn't outright destroy the head.

"Too many of us are grounded here!" She saw a flash of blue above her and sprinted left. Ice encased the spot where she'd been standing. Valkyrie swept a Dragon Pulse through the air and hit nothing.

"And all the troops are airborne," Valkyrie continued. "Unless you can get them out of the sky, then we're fighting an uphill battle, here!"

One of the Terraformers fired a massive purple beam into the distance. The ground shook. Valkyrie crouched down, digging her claws into the rock. Strange metal towers with satellite dishes sprouted from where the beam had struck.

"We could use a plan here, Gene!" she snarled.

XxX​

"I concur!" Diamond stopped shooting Hydro Pumps from his legs and fell from the air. Lightning bolts whizzed overhead. The blue and gray poncho he'd swapped his previous attire out for flapped against his legs.

The cosmic keldeo used one quick burst of water to soften his landing on some jagged rocks. Below him, multiple tyranitar and baxcalibur hurled rocks and ice into the air. But Diamond watched their arcs and saw their strikes plummeting back down to the ground without hitting anyone.

"Some of us do not have the wherewithal to remain airborne and strike at the enemy." Diamond scanned the sky, but the flashes of blue and white overhead were quite distracting. If only he had his original form. Then he could levitate without any issue.

He caught a flash of yellow behind him. His starcloud tail shot up in alarm. Diamond jumped from one jagged rock to another as... some sort of robot hariyama landed where he once stood.

... No, wait. Cid had briefed them on all the roboticized pokémon the emperor had access to. This one was Iron Hands.

[What's the matter, rebel?] Its large mechanical hands crackled with electricity. [Are things getting... out of hand?]

Rather than cringe at the pun, Diamond blasted Iron Hands with a Hydro Pump. Iron Hands deflected the strike with its large palm, while it launched an electrified fist at Diamond. The cosmic keldeo slid down his rock, whinnying when it burst apart from the Thunder Punch.

"Dime, you good?" A worried Cyril spoke up through the X-transciever.

Diamond shook dirt and ash out of his starry hair. "Fine." He pointed his yellow horn at Iron Hands. "Just need to stop pulling my punches."

He unleashed a blue tachyon beam. His Roar of Time struck a surprised Iron Hands and froze it in place. Without hesitating, Diamond jumped back onto the remains of his old rocky foothold.

"Everyone! Attack this brute!" he cried, pointing a hind leg toward Iron Hands.

The tyranitar and baxcalibur from before turned around and spotted Iron Hands. Nodding, they bombarded it with Stone Edge spires and large icicles. Diamond followed suit with twin Hydro Pumps. When the flow of time resumed for Iron Hands, the forces of the blows knocked it off the mountain.

[Cuuuuuuurse you rebeeeeeeeeeeeeels!] it shouted between loud clangs.

Diamond took a moment to marvel at the orange explosion far below.

"Above you, sir!" a male voice shouted.

Diamond looked up to see lightning overhead. He conjured a Protect shield but some of the electricity got through. The keldeo's legs buckled, though his shield fortunately held up.

"Nnnngh." Diamond let out a shuddering breath. "We're barely making progress down here, Gene!"

XxX​

Gene flew large circles in the air, dodging Dark Pulses and Shadow Balls shot by Eternatus Gunners with terrible aim.

The mega mewtwo hurled his spoon through the air like a tomahawk. It banked off one Gunner's cockpit, into a second, then a third, then a fourth. All four cockpits exploded, jettisoning their unown pilots. The spoon boomeranged back to Gene, who twirled around like a helicopter blade to deflect a couple of Dark Pulses fired straight at him.

Purple energy crackled in the distance. Two of the Terraformers were charged up. They fired giant beams before Gene could even react. This time, he heard panicked cries and wails alongside large metal buildings sprouting up.

"Monk healers need to get to anyone injured!" he shouted. Gene slung Shadow Balls to his left and right, then ascended to dodge a Dark Pulse volley. Purple and blue flashes peppered the air below him.

"That's your big plan?!" Valkyrie snarled. "We're losing ground here! When do we call on Leo?"

"We don't!" Gene growled. His chest core flared to life. Gene gathered oozing black shadows between his hands. "Get clear of me!"

"You're failing them. They trusted you and you are letting them down. There is a cacophony of fear and panic on the surface."

Gene raced forward, zipping away from black beams and purple spheres. He Phantom Warped through multicolored Signal Beams, then dropped the black shadows from his hands. They erupted into spikes that shred through Eternatus Gunners and Bombardiers. Metal shrapnel and debris rained from the air.

"Fire on the rebels again, my beautiful Terraformers!" Paradox ordered. He gleefully rubbed his tentacles together.

Next thing the mega mewtwo knew, a giant purple beam was surging toward him. Gene dove into a rift that deposited him in one of the valleys the healers were using to hide away from Paradox's forces.

A familiar cosmic milotic spotted Gene. He pulled his ribbons away from a kommo-o who groaned in pain.

"What's going on?" Artemis' brows crinkled. "Are you crazy? You're going to lead them right to us!"

"Rising fear. Rising resentment."

Back off. Gene had no time for Dark Matter's dour attitude. He turned to Artemis. "Where's Scarlett?"

"Uhh, over there, I think?" Artemis pointed his tail fins behind Gene. He spun around and saw the dragonair slithering nervously between unoccupied blankets manned by a couple of togetic. She met Gene's gaze and stiffened.

"Um..." Scarlett's tiny wings flapped nervously. "Is it time for Starlene?"

Gene nodded. "It's more than that. Her songs can power people up, right?"

Looking puzzled, Scarlett nodded. "That's why you brought me here in the first place."

"What about levitation?" Gene wondered. "If Starlene, say, sings about flying... do you think it could lift people into the air?"

Scarlett's neck bauble flickered pink. "I... I have no idea! It energizes people."

Gene crossed his arms. "Didn't Polaris describe the music as 'uplifting' pokémon?"

"Yeah, but I took it to mean energize," Scarlett mumbled.

"Well, who's to say we can't take 'uplift' literally here?" Gene pointed skyward. "Have Starlene energize these pokémon... to float!"

"Are you serious? Of all the asinine, ridiculous ideas— you're falling back on dumb luck! You'll get everyone killed!"

Like you've got better ideas, Gene fired back.

Scarlett blinked slowly, then sharpened her expression. "I'm not entirely sure, but I'll give it a shot!"

Nodding, the mega mewtwo took off into the air, though he kept close to one of the mountains. Anything to stay hidden from all Ice Beams and Flamethrowers lighting up the sky above him.

He watched Starlene zip into the air. Blue light trailed off the latias' mechanical wings.

"Everyone, make sure your X-transceivers are on," Gene said. "Pay attention to Starlene!"

XxX​

"About time," Valkyrie growled, ducking behind some barren trees as Ice Beams and Hydro Pumps whizzed by her to her left.

An orange bolt jumped over the tree and landed beside her. Quetzal jumped high into the air, spinning around. He kicked an Eternatus Gunner. It pinwheeled through the air, crashing into a couple more Gunners. The orange zapdos flapped his stubby wings to slow his descent.

But two Iron Moths appeared overhead. Toxins gathered over Quetzal.

"Shit!" Valkyrie sprinted out from cover and spat Dragon Pulses overhead. They whizzed by Quetzal and forced the Iron Moths to scatter.

[You can't take potshots forever, rebel!] one jeered.

[We will take you down in the name of the emperor!] the other added.

Quetzal landed beside the garchomp. "Thanks," he muttered. "But we're not out of the woods yet."

A pink laser swept through the air, blowing apart some of the Iron Moths' triangular wings. Both plummeted from the air, shooting fireballs with reckless abandon to try and hit the psychic articuno levitating around them.

Shiva swept another pink beam through them before they disappeared into the sulfur clouds between the mountainsides.

Before Valkyrie could acknowledge Shiva, music came through her X-transceiver.

"Light on your feet!
Cuz we can't be beat!
Let my words give a lift!
To beat these awful rifts!"

This wasn't any song Valkyrie knew. Was Starlene improvising on the fly?

"Wh-Whoa! Hey!"

Beside her, Quetzal floated into the air, his bulky legs flailing. Valkyrie looked down to find that she, too, was leaving the ground. But the garchomp still felt like she had ground underneath her.

She took a step forward. Then another.

Yes, she was walking on the air!

And it wasn't just her and Quetzal, either. Far to her left, Bahamut raced by. The cosmic lucario teleported behind the Iron Jugulis tangled up with Noctum. He sliced its main head off with a light blade, then teleported away.

"What the— everyone's flying?!" Jade squawked.

"Good, it's working!" Gene laughed through the X-transceiver line. "Shredder, you and your buds stick by Scarlett! And feed her as many elixirs as she needs! Birdbrain, over by me!"

A roar to Valkyrie's right caught her attention. Yiazmat pointed ahead toward a couple of dozen Eternatus Troopers.

"Forward!" the dragapult bellowed. "For our homeland!"

The dragons behind her mirrored her roar. As she sent Dragon Darts spiraling through the air, Dragonite, salamence, and hydreigon took off flying after them. Kommo-o, tyranitar, druddigon, and even a couple of drampa charged after them, running along the air.

Valkyrie darted after them. She caught an Eternatus Gunner training its blasters on her. As a test, she ran a claw along the air. A Stone Edge spire jutted out and cracked the Gunner's cockpit.

"Finally." The garchomp smirked. She slowed her pace and took a few heavy steps. Plumes of dirt swallowed up the Eternatus Gunner. It exploded, flinging shrapnel at two other Gunners trying to flank Valkyrie from her right.

"What is this?" Paradox's projection bellowed. "A bunch of lizards walking on the air like it's nothing?" He waved his tentacles dismissively. "Do you think your little parlor tricks scare me, Gene? Hardly! Go, my Iron Bundles!"

Roaring engines filled the sky. Two rifts opened overhead. Robot delibird with rocket thrusters for feet emerged. Suddenly Ice Beams and Hydro Pumps flew through the air.

Valkyrie spun left. Water splashed across her legs. She dove down. Fear briefly took hold as she was on her belly in midair. But she didn't fall. The garchomp scrambled back to her feet and spat toxin-laded Dragon Pulses overhead.

One caught an Iron Bundle. It drifted backward, dazed. That let a kommo-o leap up from below and spike it down like a volleyball. A second kommo-o was at the ready. She whirled around and knocked Iron Bundle's head clean off with a mighty swipe of her tail.

"Hoo hoo!" An urshifu to Valkyrie's left clapped. "That's the way, ladies! Putting those thighs to work!"

"Focus, Xiao!" A second urshifu drove a blackened fist into an Iron Bundle, punching clear through its chassis. Lin flung the wrecked machine away. "We can't let the enemy overwhelm us!"

"I'm focused! I'm focused!" Xiao dismissed him with a wave. He rushed a charging Iron Bundle and drove a glowing red fist into the blue bulb on its back.

Sighing, Valkyrie returned her attention in front of her, only to blanch upon finding an Eternatus Terraformer turning toward her.

"Shit!" The garchomp's legs locked up. Instinct screamed to flee. She turned around and scrambled back.

"The giant ships are aiming skyward!" Valkyrie cried.

XxX​

"Not if I can help it!" Gene growled, perched on Jade's shoulder high above the Terraformer aiming at the airborne troops.

He held a shadowy fist up toward the salugia's open beak. "Now, Birdbrain!"

The moment Jade unleashed her Aeroblast, Gene pulsed shadow energy into it. Black lightning arced around the orange beam as it raced forward. Eternatus Gunners tried to form up a protective wall, but the black sparks blew them apart. The Aeroblast carved a path forward to the Terraformer. It broke through the giant machine's red and purple exoskeleton and struck the purple energy brimming inside of it.

A chain reaction ensued. Red and purple explosions spread out from the Terraformer's core.

Paradox's projection flickered.

"What?! Impossible!"

XxX​

Noctum saw the first explosion and scanned the sky for signs of a familiar garchomp. Blue and purple light from his nebula belly filtered to his left, where he spotted Valkyrie running away.

The cosmic charizard dove toward her. "It's down, Val!" he shouted.

Valkyrie turned around. Her expression eased a bit from seeing Noctum. Then her eyes widened again.

"Behind you!" A Dragon Pulse crackled in her mouth.

Noctum conjured a rift to escape, reappearing behind Valkyrie. Her Dragon Pulse sailed ahead and struck a blue Protect shield.

[Naughty rebels need to be put in their place!] an Iron Jugulis declared. A wall of black energy headed right for Valkyrie.

"Down!" Noctum shouted. Valkyrie splayed out on her belly. Noctum swiped the air. A Spacial Rend crescent split the wall of Dark Pulses apart. They fizzled into black mist, leaving a bewildered Iron Jugulis on the other side.

Valkyrie slapped the air with her arm. A Stone Edge spire struck Iron Jugulis' base.

[Gah!] It drifted back. Its electronic heads flickered. [Foolish rebels! Die already!]

Iron Jugulis unleashed a furious volley of Air Slash crescents. Noctum hurled another Spacial Rend crescent through the air, snuffing them out.

[W-What?]

Valkyrie took the opening once again. Another Stone Edge spire skewered Iron Jugulis. This one punctured a hole in its body.

[No, that's not fair!] Iron Jugulis pointed its smaller heads forward. [You rebels are cheat—]

Golden light exploded out of its main head. Iron Jugulis plummeted from the air. Bahamut landed where the machine had been floating.

"Hmph. Stop messing around." The lucario pointed at Noctum. "Use that power on bigger targets." He jerked his head behind him. "There are at least three more Terraformers still raising hell."

Before Noctum could say anything, Bahamut vanished in a blip of blue light. The cosmic charizard's shoulders sagged.

"He's right." Valkyrie got to her feet. "These small fries are stalling. I don't think the emperor cares how many we blow apart. But you saw his reaction when that Terraformer exploded, right?"

Noctum nodded. He flapped his wings twice to close the distance with Valkyrie.

"So... we need to press forward, then?"

In the corner of his eye, he caught Archie Surfing across a couple of Eternatus Gunners. Atop his back, Maxie flung ominous purple fireballs around.

"Unless you've got a better idea?" Valkyrie said.

Noctum shook his head.

The garchomp pointed behind her. "You can rift us over there, right?"

"Wait... us?"

Valkyrie climbed onto a grunting Noctum's back. "Not about to let you charge there alone. We're a team. Y'got that?"

Blood rushed to Noctum's cheeks. "Uhhh—"

A claw jabbed him between the shoulder blades. Noctum squealed.

"U-Understood!"

He opened a rift and was about to fly through it when a loud whinny caught his attention.

"Wait!"

Noctum looked left. Diamond soared in, water blasting from his hooves. He dropped down, slinging an Aura Sphere to his right to shoot an Eternatus Gunner out of the air.

"If you are going after the Terraformers, take me with you!" The cosmic keldeo landed beside the rift. "We should cooperated here. Space and time mixing like this could prove most beneficial against such large machines, don't you agree?"

It made sense to Noctum. And he didn't have the luxury of thinking things over in the heat of battle. So, the cosmic charizard waved Diamond over to the rift.

"Starlene's singing does extend that far, right?" Valkyrie said.

"I'll test it." Diamond hopped through the rift, landing on air on the other side. His starry tail shot up in alarm, then he leveled his yellow horn and started firing Aura Spheres.

Noctum flew through the rift and shut it. He found himself face to face with two more Iron Jugulis.

[You rebels will not lay a hand on the emperor's glorious Terraformers!] one proclaimed, while the other spat three Dark Pulses at them.

Diamond fired Hydro Pumps from his forehooves to block two of them. Valkyrie leaped off Noctum's back and spat out blue-purple lightning to deal with the other. That gave Noctum time to gather crackling blue energy along his arms. He swiped both forward. Two Spacial Rend disks carved apart the air and bisected each Iron Jugulis.

The trio backpedaled from the resulting explosions. They now had a clear view of one of the Terraformers. Red and purple energy brimmed inside its skeletal body.

"My Roar of Time and your Spacial Rend." Diamond pointed a forehoof down at the Terraformer. "That should do the trick."

"Ha... hang on." Noctum slowly flapped his wings to maintain his altitude. "I can't just... keep using that attack. It's exhausting!"

"Seriously?" Rolling her eyes, Valkyrie dug an elixir out of a small bag fastened to her left thigh. She tossed it to Noctum, who fumbled it before digging his claws into the glass to steady his grip.

"We've got incoming!" the garchomp said, pointing behind Noctum. She ran past him and stomped the air. Noctum chugged the elixir while Diamond sprang to Valkyrie's side.

When the cosmic charizard turned around, he found a wall of thorny vines deflecting a Dragon Pulse and an Aura Sphere like they were little more than tiny embers. The thorny vines receded toward the ash and smoke-filled sky.

Noctum's starry tail flame shrank. "What was that?"

"You really thought you could sneak your way past our front lines and not get caught? Don't make me laugh!"

Out of the smog emerged a giant serperior head. Bullet Seeds the size of Noctum and Valkyrie shot right toward them.

"Not good!" Whinnying, Diamond galloped left. Noctum grabbed Valkyrie and climbed higher into the air.

The Bullet Seeds passed beneath them and exploded. Noctum was going to take Valkyrie back down when he saw purple mist filling the air.

"What the—" Valkyrie swung herself onto Noctum's back. "That's Poison Powder. Don't tell me... that giant serperior can lace her attacks with poison, too?"

Noctum saw more giant Bullet Seeds heading for them. "Hang on!" he cried, before rolling several times to his left. Valkyrie hollered, but the garchomp managed to keep her grip.

An Aura Sphere whizzed by from below, but another thorny vine swatted it back. Diamond leaped over it, before landing back on the air.

"What nonsense is this?" Diamond leveled his horn at the giant serperior head. "Who are you?"

Laughter filled the air as Serperior's head peeled back like a banana and a smaller seviper appeared.

"The one who's going to deliver your heads to His Excellency on a silver platter!" Seviper spat. "The last thing you morons will get to do with your pathetic lives is see just how badly you screwed this up!"

"Cyril?" Valkyrie growled atop Noctum's back. "You got anything on a giant serperior that's eaten a seviper?"

A groan came through the X-transceiver. "Thaaaaaaat's Uroboros," Cyril said.

The serperior head swallowed the seviper up and spat more Bullet Seeds. Noctum had plenty of space to fly to his right. But the more of these got out and exploded, the more Poison Powder filled the air. They were going to run out of room quickly.

"That was the one Gene warned us about, right?" Valkyrie said.

"Yep," Cyril replied. "Should've figured Paradox would keep his last living Paradigm lieutenant back guarding those Terraformers."

"Maybe we oughta double back?" Noctum said. He tried shooting blue fireballs toward Uroboros but a thorny vine emerged from the ashen sky and wiggled around, snuffing out the fireballs like dying candles.

Valkyrie snorted. "Yeah, sure. If you want to leave Diamond on his own." She sighed. "Looks like we're committed. And this fight got a hell of a lot harder."

Noctum gulped. He really hoped Yuna's team was faring better than they were.

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