Chapter 36
Athena and I made our way up the small path that wound its way through the canyon. I could see the research laboratory ahead of us. It was a huge facility that almost resembled the Kalos National Legendary Research Center, but, instead of three distinct wings, this facility had two. The laboratory was nestled where the valley formed a Y in the sheer brown rock towering above our heads. Each wing of the laboratory branched into one side of the Y, hugging the cliff face. The building was tall, reaching up from the valley to the top of the cliffs. At the top, was a large dome made of large plates of glass. A small path wound its way through the lower valley and that was what Athena and I had traveled on to get here.
I looked over at my girlfriend. She was wearing a red strapless dress that went down to her mid knee. Below that, she had on black leggings. She had wanted to wear a pair of black high heels but settled for a pair of black flats. I didn’t know how she had walked so far in them but Athena didn’t complain at all. Of course there had been the matter of practicality, but her decision had been final. Synched at her waist was a thick black belt with a big silver buckle. There were six yellow and black ultra balls on her left side. The last time I had seen Athena wear this outfit, it had been as a way to seduce me. Now, she just looked beautiful.
I reached over and gently took her hand in mine, lacing our fingers together.
I was dressed in an admittedly more practical outfit. I had on a red and white vest under a black shirt. Black nylon pants gave way to a pair of red and black trainers. I had on a baseball cap, black fingerless gloves and of course, I had a black bandana tied around my right leg.
Athena and I didn’t really have a specific plan to take this on. We didn’t have time for it. Also, both of us were done with carefully laid plans and following them to perfection. We were going to go into that building and destroy anything that could help Alola summon Necrozma, or die trying.
We were lucky. Rupert Galenson had refused to have any of his research documented, it was all at this lab and if we had our way, it would be gone by nightfall.
Athena and I walked the final few hundred feet to the laboratory. Up close, the structure was an intimidating sight. Brown and reddish coloring on the exterior seemed to be intending to hide the place from satellites and surveillance. There were a few windows on various floors looking out at the rest of Poni Canyon. Behind it, I could just barely make out the top of Poni Altar, close to this building. Athena and I were in a small parking lot of sorts at the bottom. Surprisingly, there was no resistance. Her and I walked up to the entrance of the lab.
“Are you ready?” I asked Athena.
“Once we’re done here, I’m going to hold you to your word Andrew.” She replied.
“What do you mean?” I questioned, momentarily surprised.
“We are going to find a peaceful place to live together, away from ALPL, KSO, KRA, and people all together. Just the two of us.” She said, decidedly.
In response, I drew her in for a quick kiss.
“I would love nothing more than that.” I smiled at my beautiful Athena Finch. She returned the smile for a moment. Then, her eyes narrowed. This research laboratory was standing in our way of a happy life.
“Let's finish this.” She declared.
The two front doors were bolted shut but Lucio had other plans for them. One precision kick later, and we were in the building. Unlike the Kalos National Legendary Research Center, there was no reception area, rather it was a starkly empty, circular room with two paths leading away from the door. Bright light shone in through enormous glass windows from the Poni Island late morning. Above us, catwalks ran between the wings. I counted five floors with walkways above us. There was no sign of life anywhere which I took as a good sign.
Without a word, Athena and I turned down the right hallway, intent on destroying the information that Alola had killed Phoebe and captured Looker to protect.
Athena and I headed down the hallway and came to the first room. Once again, Lucio forced open the door. The excessive force that he used wasn’t necessary, blasting the metal door off its hinges with an aura sphere, but I applauded him for it. He was just as pissed off at Alola as we were.
Inside was what looked like a large chemistry lab. Different compounds and fluids lay in beakers and flasks. A rack of test tubes each held a different compound, each had a unique color.
“Will we poison ourselves if we smash all the glass in this room?” I asked.
Athena shrugged.
“Only one way to find out.” She said in a way which was very un Athena-like.
Athena drew one of her pokeballs and Rose appeared. She crouched behind a cabinet, gesturing for me to join her. I complied.
“Dark pulse.” Athena commanded. Rose gathered her psychic energy for a moment, then she blasted it out throughout the lab, a black, horizontal wave of destruction. The sound of glass shattering and smashing on the floor was accompanied by acidic hissing and bubbling as chemical compounds that shouldn't be combined, merged together. Athena returned Rose and we hastened out of the room. Once we were out, I pulled a pokeball with Surya in it.
“Flamethrower.” I commanded. My bird inhaled and then blew fire across the chemistry lab, causing things to start burning and small explosions throughout it. Athena and I moved on to the next room. This one was what looked like a greenhouse. Small, colorful plants sat in various pots and bins of soil. Athena reached for her pokeball. Cysgod, her Weavile emerged.
“Icy wind.” Athena commanded mercilessly. Instantly, the temperature in the greenhouse dropped. Cysgod blew freezing ice all throughout the room, coating every plant with frost. I chose an ultra ball off my belt and tossed it out. Arthur appeared, smashing one of the tables as he landed on the ground.
“Earthquake.”
Arthur began to stomp his feet. Every time he hit the ground, the biodome shook. He increased his pace. Plants fell from their shelves, tables collapsed. When Arthur’s attack finally subsided, the whole greenhouse was in disarray.
It continued on like this. Athena and I made our way through the building, destroying everything that had any importance. I had to admit, I was taking my anger out on the scientific implements that I destroyed. All the suffering, all the pain that this damn research lab had caused me, it was time to make Alola pay. We finished on the first floor and headed up to the second. Athena had just finished smashing up an office area when I heard something on the upper floor.
“Shhh. Do you hear that?” I whispered to Athena, suddenly on alert. She paused and listened. I heard the noise again. It was the undoubtable sound of footsteps.
“Shit.” Athena said.
“Keep going. I don’t care who it is. They need to stop us, not the other way around.”
And so it was. Athena and I smashed, burned, crushed, imploded and blasted our way through the second, third and fourth floors of the lab. Nobody came to interrupt us. So far, so good.
We ascended the staircase to the fifth floor and had crossed the catwalk when we heard a sound. Athena and I froze. The sound got closer and closer. It was a sound I recognized. It was the sound of laughter. The laughing got closer and closer.
“So close and yet so far Athena and Andrew. I applaud you.” The sound of sarcastic clapping filled the large room. Out of the shadows emerged a man. He was about six feet tall, with sharp, angry features. He wore a tan two piece suit and expensive looking dress shoes. His hair was slicked back and he had a massive grin on his face. The last time we had met, I had been rescued. This time, he wasn’t going to scare me.
I folded my arms across my chest.
“Dennis Andersson. You just can’t pass off an insult can you. Or do your goofy shoes compensate for your dumbass hairdo?” I said, incredulously. The, admittedly lame insult was so out of pocket that I hoped he would be caught off guard, but like usual, he was unphased.
“Says the guy who’s going around looking like a dead Kantonian pokemon master. Have some class, Andrew.” He paused. “I guess it doesn't matter what you wear now because this is the end of the line.”
“Tell me Dennis, how do you intend to defeat both of us?” I put my hands on my hips.
Dennis smiled smugly.
“I don’t need to.”
Out of the shadowy hallway came a second person. He was wearing black jeans and a black hoodie. The thing was, I couldn't see inside the jacket. He was the faceless pokemon trainer, the trainer that had threatened my family, the shadowy man.
“I kicked your ass one time, I’ll do it again motherfucker.” I greeted him, narrowing my eyes.
The shadowy man didn’t reply.
“What business do you and your pal have here Dennis? You don’t care about Alola and if they succeed, it will hurt Kalos just as badly as it will hurt Kanto.” I leveled my question at him.
“You don’t get it yet?” Dennis chuckled, ignoring the insult. He turned to the shadowy man.
“They thought we were working for Kalos this whole time.” He laughed out loud.
“The battle at the crossroads. Our fight at the old ALPL building. The car chase. You were working for Kalos.” Athena was confused even though she didn’t sound like it.
“Wait a second…” She came to a realization.
“You weren’t supposed to survive at the crossroads.” Dennis spoke as if he were talking to a toddler. “We were supposed to execute you and your little friend here and bring that intel to Mr. Sharp ourselves, Athena.” Dennis leaned back, his arms folded over his chest, smiling pridefully.
“But my research…” Athena sounded shocked.
“You don’t think ALPL has access to your devices?”
“You were never working for Kalos when you attacked me in the old ALPL building. You were never working for Kalos when you chased us in Sinnoh.” I realized.
“My friend here, he was part of the team that ambushed you at your apartment in Kanto. You escaped and he chased you to the old ALPL building.” Dennis was having the time of his life revealing the truth to us in a condescending manner. I shifted my stance on the catwalk, ready to draw on Dennis and the shadowy man at any point.
I began to feel queasy. There had been yet another layer to the chaos that was the intel run in Unova where I had met Athena. From an intel leak in Alola which led to them deploying ALPL, myself as the secondary target, the blown extraction and now it turned out that ALPL had deployed Dennis and the shadowy man to make sure Athena followed through on destroying the intel.
“That all doesn't matter now. What does matter is that Rupert Galenson is setting up the gear to summon Necrozma at the Poni Island Altar right now. We don’t even have to win, we just have to hold you off until he’s done. Then, Alola will be the most powerful region in the world. Everybody will have to bow to her greatness.” Dennis gloated, relishing the moment.
“Don’t count us out quite yet. You aren’t as strong as you look.” Athena said venomously. She knew Dennis better than he thought.
Dennis shook his head.
“It isn’t even a matter of skill anymore.” He pointed to the shadowy man.
The shadowy man nodded and raised his hand. All of a sudden I felt a force yank at me. I cried out as I was launched from where I stood towards Dennis and the shadowy man.
“Andrew!” Athena called out, unable to grab my leg as I flew past. Instead of landing at the feet of Dennis and his shadow compatriot, I shot past them, back down the hallway where they had come. I flew through the air past open doors and into a huge dome. We were at the top of the building and this dome served as the roof. The glass roof allowed light into the enormous space. That’s what I saw before I was flung to the back of the room, smacking against the wall. I crumpled to the floor.
I could only assume that I had been out for a second because when I came to, nothing had changed. I was in the huge dome, the sun was still high in the sky. I took a second to get my bearings. I had a piercing pain in the back of my head and there were spots dancing in front of my eyes. The domed area was enormous, easily 100 feet in diameter with the dome being twice that at its peak height. I absently rubbed my head.
Magnificent isn’t it? Human architecture at its finest. I heard a voice in my head. Looking up from the flooring, I saw the person I least wanted to see right now. The shadowy man stood at the exit of the dome.
“You know, I always liked Kalosian Modern or traditional Kantonian better personally.” I replied, sarcastically.
The shadowy man entered the huge dome, slamming the door menacingly behind him.
“How the hell did you yank me away from Athena?” I asked him. The shadowy man gave no reply. Instead, he shifted his belt of six pokeballs.
“Oh so you want a rematch then. I would too if I got my ass kicked that hard.” I winked at him.
I just need to hold you off until our scientist finishes his work. But I admit, He pulled his shirt and jacket up, revealing a grotesque, purple and red slash wound across his chest and stomach.
This is personal.
I felt no remorse for his injuries. They were gruesome, sure, but this man had crossed the line the last time we had met.
“You bring my family into matters they should not be involved in, you get what you deserve.” I said through gritted teeth.
Your family? Oh yes, the Ross family. After I’m done here, I’ll be sure to… tie up loose ends with them.
“What did you just say?”
The shadowy man shrugged.
It’ll just be four more bodies on a long list. First the middle child, Andrew, then, I’ll take out your older brother, Aaron. Maybe I’ll make it look like a mugging. After that, your sister loves to vacation in Johto. That won’t be an issue, just like how your helpless old parents will be no challenge at all.
In a rage, I pointed my finger across at this shadowy bastard who dared to bring my family into a matter that wasn't theirs at all.
“You are going to fucking die. Right here. Right now. This is the last time you’ll ever see the sunlight with your wretched eyes.” I was so full of fury. This time, I wouldn’t hesitate.
There was a long pause. I faced off against the shadowy man across the room. We both waited for the other to make a move. I could feel my heart rate coming up, anticipating the coming battle. My right hand’s fingers twitched rhythmically, waiting for him to make a move.
Finally, he snatched at his belt. Purely out of instinct, I did the same, flicking my ball with Clair out onto the battlefield. So much had changed but she was still my lead in battle. Clair bellowed as she hit the field. I heard the flapping of wings as the shadowy man’s pokeball opened. There was a screech and the sound of flapping wings. A creature shot towards Clair. She reached one of her mighty claws up, deflecting the Crobat off the thick part of her arm. Instantly, I called Clair back. It was too dangerous for my bug type to face off against a Crobat.
I switched Julian in. The enormous bat shot past where Julian landed, barely missing him. Julian wheeled around and launched a high pressure blast of water that connected with the Crobat but didn’t seem to phase it. The pokemon turned in mid air and shot past him again. Right as it was about to collide with him, Julian punched the damn bat right in the face. The pokemon followed through and slashed at my Feraligatr with one of its wings, slicing open a gash on his shoulder. Julian followed up with a vicious left cross to the Crobat’s side. Before Julian could do any more damage to his bat, the shadowy man recalled it. I took this opportunity to move closer to the fray.
The shadowy man’s next pokemon hit the field. It was a ghostly creature that resembled a tree, with fog obscuring some of its features, even while it was in direct sun. It was the Trevenant that Julian had fought before. This time, I couldn't take the risk I had taken back at the ALPL building.
I called Julian back, switching him out for Clair. I would have switched into Surya but she was my trump card. I didn’t want to risk my fragile eagle with a direct switch. As soon as he saw my move to switch, the shadowy man commanded his Trevenant to attack. The pokemon scuttled towards me on six roots rather than legs. Still, it moved scarily fast. Clair landed right in front of the Trevanant. As a result, the grass and ghost type pokemon smashed one of its wooden hands into her side. Clair was knocked off balance as the Trevanant’s roots cut deep. The enormous tree followed up with a punch the other direction, knocking my Golisopod across the floor. Clair’s form began to dissolve into energy and she returned to my belt.
Immediately, I threw out my next pokemon. Surya cawed and flapped into the air. Now I could switch Surya in more safely.
Surya blew a plume of fire at the Trevenant, sending up billows of smoke where the fire burned into the ghostly tree. When the smoke cleared enough for me to see, the tree was standing but barely. I raised my hand over my head and swung it down, pointing at the Trevenant. Immediately, Surya swooped at the tree, slashing it with her razor sharp claws. The tree pokemon released a hollow moan before collapsing to the ground as Surya followed through with her attack towards the shadowy man, forcing him to dive to the ground. Still, he managed to throw out his next pokemon. I recognized this one immediately. The Toxapex opened its shell and sent a geyser of water at Surya. She was caught off guard and took the full brunt of the attack.
“Brave bird!” I called to Surya. I hated to doom Surya like this, but I had to get rid of the Toxapex. Surya dove towards the Toxapex at an almost incomprehensible speed. Right before she reached the mollusk-like pokemon, it shut the two flaps on its shell, encasing itself in a spiky shield. Surya crashed into the hard shell. I almost averted my eyes as Surya bounced off Toxapex’s shell, crashing to the ground with a weak caw. So much for using Surya as a trump card. I had to keep up the momentum though. Otherwise I wouldn't get the chance to heal Surya up.
I shifted to my left, grabbing a new pokeball and flicking it into the middle of the huge dome. At the same time, the shadowy man switched pokemon as well. Just as Arthur smashed into the middle of the battlefield, I heard the sound of a shrill astral cry. The shadowy man had released a black, bipedal pokemon onto the field. It wore a black dress with white gems going down the front of it. It had a cruel gleam in its startlingly blue eyes. The pokemon was easily shorter than me but its spiky hair added another foot to its height easily.
Instantly, I pointed at the Gothitelle and her trainer. Arthur shot a beam of purple energy at the two of them. Immediately, the Gothitelle raised her arm above her head, blasting a beam of energy back at Arthur, colliding with his attack. The two pokemon fought toe to toe, shooting energy that slammed into the opposing pokemon’s attack with a noise that can only be described as an electric howl.
Seeing an opportunity that I couldn't pass up, I raced past Arthur towards the shadowy man. I knew that I was the superior fighter and his pokemon was occupied. I was about 10 feet from him when my plan was brought to a screeching halt. The shadowy man whirled around towards me and threw a pokeball at me. The ball hit the ground right in front of me. His Crobat reemerged and screeched at me. I stopped on a dime, almost slipping on the floor. The enormous bat slashed at me with its wings and I rolled out of the way, coming up with the first pokeball I could reach. The Crobat pressed the attack. I lunged out of the way of another slash. I threw the pokeball and hit the deck as Julian emerged. Instantly, he punched at the Crobat. The pokemon screeched angrily and retreated back up into the air as I rose back up to my feet. Arthur and the shadowy man’s Gothitelle were locked in a stalemate, neither of them making progress against the other’s beam of energy, neither willing nor able to let go and take the hit from the other. The shadowy man’s Crobat turned in the air and came back down towards the ground. Instead of attacking Julian, the enormous bat swerved and dove towards Arthur. Time seemed to slow down. Hitting a steel type pokemon with a flying attack probably wouldn't hurt him very much but Arthur was fully focused on blocking the Gothitelle’s incoming attack. If Arthur was distracted for even a second, he would be blasted by the incoming psychic attack. Julian had to stop the Crobat. I pointed at the speeding bat.
“Hydro pump!”
Julian opened his mouth and sent a blast of high pressure water at the Crobat. The pokemon pulled up from its attack on Arthur to avoid the attack. The water cleanly missed Crobat and smashed into a glass panel at the top of the dome, falling back to earth in small droplets. The excess water hit the enormous beam of psychic energy between the Gothitelle and Metagross, sizzling into steam. The Crobat turned back towards the battle and came in for another attack. I pointed and Julian shot a beam of ice at the pokemon. Unfortunately, the bat was just too fast, flitting out of the way of his attack. The bat circled around, high up in the dome, returning to the side of the battlefield where the shadowy man stood with his Gothitelle. The energy between the two unmovable psychic types still crackled across the field. There was no way to tell which pokemon held the advantage. I had to change it up. The shadowy man’s Crobat was too fast for Julian to hit. Eventually he would manage to hit Metagross and the Gothitell’s psychic blast would overwhelm Arthur. I had to stop playing this shadowy bastard’s game. There was one combination that I could try but it had to work. Otherwise the shadowy man would have a complete advantage over me.
“Julian.” I spoke quietly. “Can you do it?”
He knew exactly what I was talking about. My crocodile turned to me and nodded. He was willing to sacrifice himself.
“Go.”
Julian rushed forward. Instead of attacking the Gothitelle or Crobat, he charged towards the beam of energy in the middle of the field. Before the shadowy man or his Crobat could react, Julian dove right in between the two beams of psychic energy. instantly, both attacks smashed into him, crackling with power. Arthur immediately stopped his attack but the Gothetelle mercilessly shocked my poor Feraligatr. Julian collapsed to the ground. In anticipation for what was about to happen, I dove to the ground, covering my ears.
“Arthur. Explosion!”
My Metagross collected his energy for a split second. Then, I heard an enormous KABOOM! A massive shockwave blasted in every direction from Arthur, pulverizing everything. The shockwave smashed all of the glass panels in the dome, raining glass down around me. The shards smashed against the floor. A few of them hit my back and legs but the pieces were so small from the enormous blast that they didn’t hurt. After a full 10 seconds, I looked up from where I lay. Even though I had covered my ears, they still rang painfully. I was disoriented and stumbled as I tried to rise. As I moved, I could feel a dull throbbing in my head from the blast. I tasted blood in my mouth. I managed to rise to my feet, trying to collect my bearings. In the middle of the floor, ringed in glass was Julian. Behind him was the charred, fainted body of Arthur. On the far side of the field, the Gothetelle and Crobat lay motionless on the ground. I zeroed in on the shadowy man. He was on his hands and knees, gasping for air. As I watched, he struggled to his feet. I had hoped that he would have been knocked out or killed by the explosion but as I looked on, he straightened up and drew a pokeball, dizzily. I couldn't read the emotion on his face because he had no face but his body language was seriously pissed off. He yanked the pokeball from his belt, holding it out to his side. I drew my new pokeball. I spat blood on the ground, staring him down. We were both injured heavily. Now the battle would be a matter of who would collapse second.
He threw out his next pokemon. I did the same. Simultaneously, both pokeballs hit the ground. Glass shards crunched as both pokemon appeared. I saw the shadowy man’s Zoroark first. Then, Clair landed on the field. The evil fox grimaced as the glass stabbed into its feet. The two pokemon circled each other. I limped closer to the battle. Neither I nor the shadowy man wanted to commit too much to attack because both of us wouldn't be able to defend ourselves or run away if the opposing pokemon got close. Wind blew through the now open air dome where the panels of glass used to hold out the weather. Finally, there was an opening. The shadowy man’s Zoroark stumbled on an uneven piece of the floor. Instantly, Clair lunged forward and smashed into the Zoroark’s jaw with a left cross. The black fox recoiled as Clair followed up with another hook and a jab, boxing the Zoroark’s head back and forth.
“Sweep the leg!” I commanded.
Clair immediately brought her leg around and swung it under the Zoroark’s two legs, tripping the pokemon up. The dark type pokemon fell to the ground.
“Finish him!” I said mercilessly. I had no empathy for this pokemon. Clair brough her two enormous arms up, and smashed them down on the Zoroark. The pokemon groaned and went limp.
“No illusions today.” I growled.
Sooner than I expected, the shadowy man’s next pokemon appeared. The pokemon released an ear piercing screech. It was a screech that I knew but haven't heard in many years. It was a screech that haunted me, even in sleep.
I cried out as a Mismagius swooped at me. Or rather, it looked like it swooped at me. Instead, the witch hat pokemon from my nightmares lashed out at Clair. My Golisopod wobbled on its feet but remained conscious. I tried to call out a command to Clair, but the words stuck in my throat. That hesitation was all that the Mismagius needed to launch a ball of ghostly energy at Clair. The shadow ball hit her right in the chest and Clair collapsed.
There was a moment’s pause. I was too fearful to move, the shadowy man and his terrifying ghost pokemon glared at me. The Mismagius swooped at me, breaking eye contact and suddenly I could move again.
I dove to the side as the Mismagius swooped over my head. I felt a sharp pain in both of my arms as they were cut by the glass. Quickly, I reached down and knocked one of my pokeballs off my belt. The ball fell to the ground and Rico appeared. As the Mismagius whirled around to face the new threat. Rico raised both of his arms in front of his face and bounced from one foot to another like a boxer, grinning all the while. His show of unflappability gave me enough strength to rise and face this creature. The shadowy man and I faced off with our ghost pokemon by our side.
Suddenly, the Mismagius started to disappear into the ground. Without waiting for my command, Rico lunged forward and grabbed onto the top of the Mismagius’ hat. They both disappeared into a shadow.
As soon as they were gone, the shadowy man lunged forward, a knife suddenly in his hand. This had been part of his plan.He had wanted to get both of the pokemon away from us to try and beat me in my weakened state, positioning himself to do that while I watched the two ghost pokemon fight.
Instinctively, I dodged out of the way from the attack. Rico had cleared the way for me to take him down and I was not going to waste that chance. I backed up from a vertical slash and reached for my belt. I grabbed my silver and black karambit and swung it upwards in one motion, counterattacking. Now it was him on the defensive. As I pressed him back across the floor, I heard a rumbling below us. The shadowy man swept out with one of his feet. I backed away but he combined the attack with a slash from his knife that barely missed my midsection, cutting into my jacket.
Suddenly, the shadowy man backed away from me. As he did, Rico and the Mismagius appeared from the shadows. Rico had his arms clamped around the witch hat pokemon’s midriff, both of his hands covering the orange gem on its chest. As I watched, the Mismagius tried to charge up its gem to launch a beam of energy but Rico’s ghostly hands somehow interfered with the gem gathering energy, absorbing it into his ghostly body. Rico planted his feet into the ground and suplexed the Mismagius over his head, slamming it down on the ground. I had to suppress a laugh. Karambit in hand, I watched as Rico leapt up and spun in mid air and slammed back down, punching the Mismagius.
The witch hat pokemon went limp and my nightmare returned to the shadowy man’s pokeball. Rico advanced on him.
“You can’t scare me with that anymore you shadowy fucker. This is over.”
The shadowy man picked up his last pokeball.
I would be more concerned about what’s happening to your Gengar.
I looked over at Rico just as he stumbled.
Destiny bond.
Right as he said that, Rico collapsed to the floor.
Now it's over. The shadowy man’s knife glimmered in the sun, holding a pokeball in the other hand. I struggled to stay upright. The ringing in my ears made it hard to hear the sounds around me. Still, the shadowy man could place words into my head.
There is no way that your Lucario can crack my Toxapex.
“You don’t know that.”
The shadowy man shook his head.
You need to face reality. My last pokemon is a defensive master. There's no way you can break through in time. It's just facts.
I picked up my last pokeball.
“Lucio and I have been through a lot. We have fought in battles that your pea brain can barely comprehend. You really don’t have any sort of idea what we’re capable of together. BRING IT ON YOU SHADOWY MOTHERFUCKER.” I launched my pokeball towards the shadowy man.
In response, he dropped his ball. I heard the sound of Lucio bark as he leapt out of his pokeball. The shadowy man’s Toxapex released a shrill cry. Lucio leapt forward and opened with a double arm blow to the Toxapex’s shell. The pokemon closed its shell and the attack bounced off. Lucio followed it up with a kick and a flurry of punches. Still, the creature didn’t move.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something on the hillside, a shadow or something. When I turned to look at what it was, it was gone. Confused, I turned back to the battle.
Lucio punched away at the Toxapex to no avail. One of the poison type pokemon’s spikes dug into Lucio’s arm. He backed off with a startled yelp. Lucio looked back at me for commands.
“Psychic.” I commanded.
Lucio brought his hands together, pointing his open palms at the Toxapex. A beam of energy shot at the Toxapex. At the last moment, a blue shield appeared in front of the pokemon, blocking the attack.
Do you see now? It's hopeless.
“Never.”
Lucio skirted around the crustation towards the shadowy man. But, without revealing any of its weak points, the Toxapex scuttled in front of the shadowy man. Lucio couldn't get through. All of a sudden I had an idea.
“You know what fish don’t really like? Your crustation might be able to take some of the most brutal hits, but what if it doesn't have its shell anymore?” I dashed forward, karambit in hand. The shadowy man turned and realized what I was about to do. He rushed forward but he was too late. I slashed his Toxapex across the shell, a brutal gash wound appeared, beginning to ooze blood.
Lucio turned his attention to the Toxapex and punched right where I had made the new wound. Each punch shook the crustation. Lucio turned his hand inverted and slashed inside the slice wound, opening up the Toxapex’s shell even further. All of a sudden I felt a force yank on my leg. I was forced back by something pulling me. I stumbled and fell, dropping my knife as I was dragged away from the fight. Desperately, I looked around. Where was the shadowy man? As if in response to the thought, I felt a hand grab onto the back of my shirt. A knife appeared at my throat. I didn’t dare move. Lucio turned from his fight against the Toxapex but the creature finally opened its shell and grabbed one of his legs, yanking him back. He couldn't help, especially not that far away.
It may have been the lack of oxygen playing tricks on me but I saw four figures on a hill across from the dome.
Your family will feel the pain you inflicted on me tenfold.
My response was a choking gag. The knife pressed harder against the skin. There were four figures for sure. I could almost make out their features. One was a huge, heavily built figure. One was tall and slender and one was average height and skinny. The last figure was a few feet closer. It was blue with yellow highlights. It had a yellow fin over its thin head. It was an Inteleon. The Inteleon was carrying something in its arms, pointing it at me. No. Pointing it at the shadowy man.
I didn’t have time to come up with a plan. In an instant, I let my body go limp in the shadowy man’s arms. When he adjusted his grip, I surged upwards, cracking the back of my head against his. The shadowy man sent a wild slash at my neck, cutting into the flesh with the tip of his knife. I didn’t have time to register the searing pain in my neck before I surged up to my feet. The shadowy man recovered from his surprise and slashed back at me. I had to dive back to the ground to avoid the attack. I rolled out of the way of a downward stab from the shadowy man but he stomped on my leg, holding me in place. He stood above me, knife poised to strike.
Finally He gloated.
Please let it happen now. I thought to myself. The shadowy man began to stab down on me. I closed my eyes, waiting for the end.
I heard a sharp SSWIP and then a body fell to the ground. Carefully, I opened one eye. I didn’t see the shadowy man anywhere. Then, I looked down to the ground. There lay the shadowy man, his body limp on the ground. Right where his heart was, there was a hole, about an inch in diameter. I could see through the tear in his jacket as blood gushed out of the wound. He was motionless, his knife still in his unmoving hand. I felt an itching sensation in my neck. Almost inadvertently, I brought a hand up to the wound. My fingers came back red. I almost didn’t care about being hurt. My mind was still disoriented from Arthur’s explosion.
I looked back to where the snipe shot had been fired from. There, walking towards me were three people I knew very well. They reached the edge of the cliff and the average height one brought out a Braviary, allowing them to cross the ledge by bird, one by one.
There they stood.
“Andrew Ross.” The large man said. He ran across the destroyed dome floor and offered me a high five. I accepted and he pulled me into a hug.
“Koa. I’ve missed you brother.”
Once Koa Edna was done crushing my ribs, I looked at the other two. I shook Corey’s hand.
“It's nice to see you Andrew.” He was all smiles.
Dalra settled for a wave.
“Andrew. I’m glad we got here in time.”
“Me too, Dalra. Thank you for saving my life.”
She smiled, proudly.
“That was all Larry.”
I stepped back and took in the sight of my three former teammates.
“You guys could not have come at a better time. It's really good to see you guys again. But why?”
“Somebody high up in the government tipped us off to what was going on.” Koa replied.
“We were scattered across the eight regions. It took us a few days to organize ourselves and still, we had trouble…” Corey trailed off as he saw my vacant expression.
“Athena.”
Just as I said her name, I heard the sound of an explosion from below. Without waiting for any of them to follow, I charged back into the building. I rushed down the hallway where I had been dragged by the shadowy man’s fuckerey.
When I got to the catwalk where we had been confronted by Dennis and the shadowy man, I heard the sound of fighting below me. A pokemon cried out and I heard an electrical hum. I ran over to the side of the catwalk, looking down at the ground far below me. There was another explosive crash and I heard someone shout a command to their pokemon. I raced for the stairwell.
As I ran, I realized that I wouldn’t be very much help in a fight. I didn’t think to pick up my knife, I was badly hurt and actively bleeding, and I only had one damaged pokemon left.
I made it to the ground floor and the noises of battle grew louder. I turned into a hallway and ran full tilt to where my girlfriend was battling her sworn enemy. I had no plan. I just had to save her. As I ran through the hallways, I could see signs of a struggle. Black burn marks on the walls, pools of poison, smashed tables, there was even the fainted body of Dennis’ Colossal.
I reached the airlock to a sterile lab. Athena and I had skipped over it because there was nothing in it. When scientists wanted to research something potentially dangerous, they brought it here and conducted their research. Athena and I had skipped over the enormous white room because there was nothing in it, just a few steel tables and white cabinets. The first set of doors had been forced open and the second one blasted by a pokemon attack. Beyond the shattered plastic, I saw two figures: the love of my life and the person who had ruined her existence as a normal person.
Athena stood over Dennis Andersson. She didn’t look good. Her hair had come loose and she was missing one of her shoes. Her black leggings were torn and there was a nasty gash on her leg. Dennis didn’t have any external injuries but his hair stuck out in multiple directions, as if he had been electrocuted and his jacket was covered in black soot. Rose, like always, stood by Athena’s side. There were the knocked out forms of pokemon from both trainers. Athena’s Ninetales lay slumped in a corner. Dennis’ Aegislash and Drapeon lay next to each other, both equally as listless.
“Is this how it ends Athena?” Dennis said, slyly.
“This has been a long time coming Dennis.” Athena said venomously. A gob of spit flew from her mouth and landed on Dennis’ chest. “After all you’ve done, death is the only thing you deserve.”
Dennis’ smirked.
“You can’t stand losing to me twice in a row?”
“It was so much more than that.” Athena bent down, turning away from Dennis and pointing to something on her shoulder blade.
“Do you remember Shalour City Trainer’s Academy? Your Drapeon stung me.” Athena jabbed her thumb to her side, pointing at the fainted body of the Drapeon that Dennis had used to wound Athena and kill Phoebe. Dennis’ smirk melted off his face.
“It can’t be… Sarah Garrison?” Dennis pointed a shaky finger at Athena as if he had seen a ghost. “They-they said you died! You died in Alolan prison!”
Dennis’ usual unflappable manner was completely gone. Athena had torn him down to what he was, a bully who got joy out of hurting others. Now that his power was gone, Dennis Andersson had turned into a terrified man, fearful for his life. Athena stood up and faced Dennis one more time.
“That is what the papers said. I was accepted into ALPL under a new name. Now, you are going to pay for every minute of pain and suffering you ever inflicted on anyone!” Athena brought her foot up and then slammed it down on Dennis’ foot. I heard a sharp Crack! and then a scream of agony. Dennis’ foot was now parallel with the rest of his leg.
I suppressed a gag or horror at Athena breaking his foot so viciously. He screamed in agony as Athena stood over him.
I carefully made my way across the empty lab, cautious to not disrupt this moment for Athena. If I interrupted this, Athena would never forgive me.
Dennis’ screams of pain subsided.
“P-please. I didn’t mean…”
“Didn’t mean it? YOU DIDN’T MEAN TWO YEARS OF TORMENT THAT RUINED MY LIFE?” Athena screamed. Dennis didn’t say anything. Athena stepped to Dennis’ right side, grabbing his arm. She yanked it behind him. Instead of a crack like his foot, I heard a popping sound come from his shoulder. Dennis screamed as a fresh wave of pain hit him.
“ANSWER ME.” Athena insisted. She pointed to her Gardevoir. The pokemon raised one of her arms, channeling psychic power. Dennis’ sniveling form was levitated off the ground until he was face to face with Athena. She took two of her fingers and pressed them against Dennis’ neck. New pain coursed through him as she pushed down on a pressure point.
“Fucking answer me you self rightious son of a bitch!” Athena hissed, her tone shaking with fury. Dennis managed to meet her eyes. For the last time, his eyes gleamed with fury.
“I meant every single minute of it.” He spat.
Athena grabbed his shoulders, glaring straight into Dennis’ eyes. On her face was an expression that I would never forget. Fury in its purest form. Her eyes stabbed into Dennis’ very fiber and tore every bit of inhumanity from him, ready to serve justice once and for all.
“This is for Nathen, my former boyfriend who you permanently paralyzed. This is for Phoebe Di Manuelle, a great agent, and my friend who you slaughtered with your pokemon. But mostly, this is for Sarah Garrison, the girl who you killed in a battle at Shalour Trainer’s Academy.” With that, she pointed to Rose. In one motion, Rose twisted her hand.
The bubbling crack of Dennis Andersson’s neck reverberated around the room.
Athena took a moment to watch her sworn enemy’s lifeless body crumple to the floor. It was only then that she noticed me. For a brief second, I saw absolute fury in her eyes. The bloodlust of killing Dennis Andersson hadn't been enough. But then, the rage melted from her eyes. Her shoulders slumped and she looked exhausted.
“Andrew…” Was all she could manage before she broke into tears. She stumbled a few steps into my arms before collapsing against me. Her whole form went slack as she sobbed into my shoulder. Rose approached us, careful to keep her distance, but close enough that she could comfort Athena if need be. I kissed Athena on the top of her head, still holding her up. Her whole body shook as she sobbed out seven years worth of pent up frustration, sadness, anger, and depression. I didn’t say anything, she didn’t need to be comforted right now. She just needed to let it all out.
Behind me, I heard footsteps.
“Andrew!” I heard a voice that could only be Corey.
“Athena?” Koa’s voice rang out.
We ignored both of them. There was nobody on this earth right now except for me, and my beautiful, precious Athena.
I didn’t know how much time had passed. It could have been minutes, hours, or days. All I cared about was being there for Athena. I held her as she cried and cried.
Finally, she stopped shaking and her tears began to slow down. I gently kissed her again before slowly letting her go, carefully making sure she had her balance. Her face was stained with tears and her eyes were swollen red. She drew her hand away from my neck.
“You're bleeding.” She said in a concerned voice.
“I was grazed with a knife, I’ll be fine. I could say the same for you.” In all honesty, my wound was still searingly painful but I didn’t want to worry Athena with that.
To my surprise, Athena released a small chuckle.
“I’m glad that’s all that the Aegislash cut.”
“Here.” I untied my black bandana from my knee and knelt, securely tying it around Athena’s wound to slow the bleeding.
“Thank you, Andrew.” She said, lovingly.
Finally, Athena turned to the three people who had joined our battle. Surprisingly, I didn’t see a hint of embarrassment on Athena’s face due to the fact that Koa, Corey and Dalra had seen her crying on my shoulder.
“Koa.” She said huskily before clearing her throat and greeting the other two former ALPL agents. “Corey. Dalra. What are you doing here?”
Koa smiled broadly and rushed forward, lifting Athena in a bear hug. Just like with me at the dome, each one of them greeted Athena.
“We came as quickly as we could.” Dalra said.
“No. I mean how did you know? Why did you care?”
Corey dug in his pocket for a phone. Drawing it out, he showed us the screen.
“An anonymous email was sent to all of us with damning information about ALPL and Necrozma.”
Sure enough, there was an email with a bunch of files attached to it. There was only one person with the wherewithal and capability to send that information to Koa, Corey and Dalra. This had to be the information that Cynthia collected about ALPL and legendary research on Necrozma. If Cynthia wanted to keep her involvement in this a secret, I would respect that, so I kept my mouth shut about it.
“We all got an email and it directed us to rendezvous with each other in Alola.” Koa added.
“Well, I’m glad you showed up when you did, otherwise that shadowy man would have killed me.” I said, relieved.
“Is he dead?” Athena picked up a pokeball and called back her fainted Ninetales.
“If a snipe shot from an Inteleon can do that to him.” Dalra replied, confident in her pokemon’s skills.
“We have to heal our pokemon. It's not over yet.” I suddenly blurted. Rupert Galenson was still endangering the world. Dennis had no reason to lie about such a thing. Corey snapped his fingers.
“You're right.”
“There’s an infirmary on the top floor.” Dalra suggested.
Athena and I led Corey, Dalra and Koa out of the lab where Dennis’ body was and back to the top floor, reaching the infirmary as quickly as possible and setting our pokemon to heal. It would take a few minutes but it was still better than jacking them up on items and sending them into battle against a legendary pokemon.
I couldn’t speak for Athena, but I felt awful. My whole body was scraped, battered and bruised. My ears were still ringing from Arthur’s explosion. The battle with the shadowy man had taken a lot out of me. I could only assume it was the same for Athena.
Still, we had to get patched up as best we could. There was almost certainly a fight to be had at Poni Altar. There were medical supplies that Athena and I made use of. I dabbed at the blood around the scrape on my neck, clearing away and getting clear access to the wound proper. I was lucky. The shadowy man’s knife hadn’t hit my jugular or pierced my throat. I had just been scraped on the front part, slightly to the side of my neck. The throat is very close to the heart so there was much more blood than what a cut of that size would have elsewhere. Still, it stung painfully as Koa applied a bandage around it.
I watched as Athena rolled up one of her leggings and gently undid my black bandana, revealing the gruesome injury. Just like mine, wiping away the blood and disinfecting the wound made it look much better. Still, there would be some nasty scarring on Athena’s leg. I noticed that Athena gingerly kept the bandana that I had given her. Seeing that made me smile.
“So what happened to you guys after Phoebe… you know…” I trailed off.
Koa cleared his throat.
“They deemed us too dangerous to work together. So they split us up.”
“I ended up in Johto.” Dalra said.
“They put me in charge of the ALPL branch in Galar. Not nearly as important because of them being allies with Alola. It was a glorified desk job.” Corey stated.
Koa sighed.
“They sent me home to pseudo retirement.”
“But they called us back all after a few months. They told us to chase you two and chase we did.” Corey continued their story.
“But you never got close. We never saw you.” Athena cut in, rolling her legging back down her newly bandaged leg.
“Oh but we did.” Dalra responded. “Canalave city, Sinnoh. You two were shot at by a Galvantual with pin missiles. That was me.”
“The very next day, I was in command of the attack group that you capsized off the shore of Kalos.” Corey admitted.
“And I chased you through the Kalos Grand National Station Andrew.” Koa scratched his head sheepishly.
My eyes must have bugged out of my head.
“What? Are you serious?” As I spoke, I realized that this made sense. ALPL would want to send their best hunters, the people who knew Athena and I the best after us.
“We followed you all the way out of the train station in Santalune city but we lost you from there.” Corey admitted.
I didn’t know what to think. These people who I trusted had just admitted to hunting us through the regions, serving the whims of ALPL and trying to kills us. Why had they come to our aid, even after getting that information from Cynthia? Was this another trap? I looked over at Athena.
“And you were intent on killing us until you got the tipoff to come here.” Athena said.
There was a long pause. Finally Dalra spoke.
“We were. I know it’s a poor excuse, but if we know what was afoot with ALPL, we would have never done it. I killed that shadowy man with my Inteleon right before he was going to execute him. Why would I have any reason to do that other than to save him?”
Athena considered this for a moment. Then she sighed, conceding that Dalra was right.
“Either way, we do need your help. Dennis couldn't be bluffing about Rupert Galenson. I don’t speak for Andrew but I would certainly love to have three more trainers and 18 extra pokemon by our side.”
I shrugged.
“It would be a shame for you to all make the journey out here and for me to owe you Dalra, a life debt just to not save the world don’t you think?”
I looked around and saw smiles from everybody. Just then, I heard the healing station ping, indicating that our pokemon were done healing.
“Well, let's load up people. I’ll meet you on the roof.”
It was kind of exciting to go into battle with my teammates together again. Still, Phoebe’s egotistical boasts were painfully missing.
I snapped each pokemon back onto my belt and headed for the roof.
“How are we going to get over there?” Athena was asking Corey.
“That’s easy. There’s a path that winds down to the rear side of the altar.” Koa answered for Corey.
“Okay then. What are we waiting for?” Athena asked, seeing me arrive at the shattered dome.
“One moment guys. I need to know one thing before we go. Otherwise I will kick myself for not having checked.” I walked over to where the shadowy man’s body lay.
His face was still obscured by shadow and there was a pool of blood around his corpse. Carefully, I reached down to his face and pulled the hood off him. In all honesty, I didn’t know what to expect. Was he a pokemon? Was he human? Was it a he at all? The shadow retracted from his face and I laid eyes on the ever anonymous shadowy man’s face. He looked like a normal male. I had expected him to look hideous, hence, the secrecy and concealment. But he looked completely normal. One of his blue eyes was frozen in the moment where he had been shot by Dalra’s Inteleon. The other had an eyepatch that did very little to conceal the vicious purple scar that went down nearly the entirety of his face. I shuddered as a cold realization washed over me. I had caused that. I was the one that ruined his face with my brutality. When I had defeated him at the old ALPL building, I could have left it at that. I had consciously made the decision to cause him pain because of what he had threatened me with. I gritted my teeth. He still had stepped all over hallowed ground by threatening my family.
I stood up, taking one more look at my fallen enemy. Then, I returned to teammates.
***
We hiked over one final ridge and the Poni Island altar was in sight. The massive structure was ingrained into an enormous stone hill. Damaged stairs led up to where an enormous ancient conduit leered down onto the center of the altar. Normally, the altar was supposed to be empty but I could see boxes and a giant tent set up. People were bustling around, busying themselves with mobile batteries and last minute calculations. Right in the middle was an enormous, black metal rod. It was about a foot in diameter and at least eight feet tall. Different implements were connected to the metal to various suspicious and dubious looking sciencey devices. I recognized an enormous battery and what looked suspiciously like the pokemon transport system used by pokemon centers. Aside from that, all the other stuff didn’t make sense to me.
Athena, Koa, Corey, Dalra and I looked at the busy scene below us to see what looked like the final preparations on the mechanical device. The trail had led us out very close to the Altar. We could easily make our way to the bottom of the stairs. Below us was a large cave and a path that led back south. Nobody said anything. We were ready to go. Koa bravely stepped over the ridge and began to climb the stairs two at a time. Athena followed, then Dalra, then Corey and I.
We began to ascend the enormous flight of stairs. Now all of us were in shape, but even the fittest one among us, Koa struggled after ascending the ancient stairs. Our pace began to slow, but after a good while, we reached the top. We crouched, just out of view of anyone at the top. There was the hubbub of people racing around and chattering above us. Nobody could hear our heavy breathing.
“What’s the shot?” I whispered to nobody in general.
“I didn’t see any guards or anything. They’re not expecting to be attacked.” Dalra said.
Koa cracked his knuckles.
“I don’t think a group of scientists can wield their pokemon very well.”
“Then we control the crowds. Pull your scariest pokemon, get their attention, make an example of somebody if you need to but don’t kill anyone.” Corey had a determined expression on his face.
“Koa and Andrew, how about you try to find Rupert Galensson.” Athena said.
“Copy.” I picked up a pokeball off my belt.
“Is everyone ready?” Athena asked. Everybody confirmed that they were good to go.
“Let's do this.”
Koa stood straight and jumped up the last few stairs. I saw Athena throw a pokeball over my shoulder and charge up the stairs, followed by Dalra, Corey and I. Athena’s pokeball hit the ground and I heard the terrifying scream of her Hydreigon. The three headed dragon blasted three beams of energy up into the air. Corey threw a ball past my shoulder. A Chansey appeared next to Athena’s fearsome dragon. For a second I was confused. Chansey’s weren't the scariest pokemon in the world.
“Metronome!” Corey shouted. All of a sudden, the Chansey began to teeter from left to right.
“EVERYBODY GET THE FUCK DOWN!” Koa bellowed, throwing his own pokeball. An enormous tree-like pokemon roared. It was at least 30 feet tall with an off brown body and three green heads with green leaves for hair. The scientists cried out in fear and surprise, instinctively obeying Koa’s demand. I saw Corey’s Chansey rocket into action. In an instant, the egg shaped pokemon threw off a plethora of attacks. Hyper beam, air cutter, leaf edge. The pokemon was moving so quickly it was hard to see.
Dalra threw her ball. I didn’t see what pokemon emerged because I raced for the large tents, Koa hot on my heels. We dashed into the large tent that had been set up. I had time to register a few tables and chairs and one desk before I raced into the building. There were a few scientists inside the structure, all wearing white lab coats. The first one we came across was felled by a right cross by Koa before he could even realize what was happening.
“EVERYBODY GET ON THE GROUND. RIGHT NOW.” Koa shouted. His demand was followed by cries of fear as the scientists all obeyed him. There was one on the far end of the tent who was sneakily reaching under his lab coat as he knelt. I launched my pokeball towards him. Julian appeared and roared, backhanding the scientist. He fell to the ground and a pokeball dropped out of his hand.
“Nobody moves!” I demanded. They complied with what was said, lying still on the ground.
“WHERE IS RUPERT GALSENSSON.” Koa insisted, pushing further into the tent.
Still shocked by our sudden takedown and control of the site, one of the scientists stammered,
“He-he’s…”
Koa hauled him up to his feet, grabbing the front of his lab coat and shaking him.
“Where is he?”
The scientist pointed a shaky finger at the man I had just disarmed with Julian.
“Ko. Over there.” I got Koa’s attention and pointed to the man that the scientist had indicated. He nodded. Dropping the scientist, he stormed over to where the man lay, hauling him up to his feet with the collar of his shirt. The man didn’t say anything as Koa brought him outside.
“Alright. I want everybody to get up slowly and form a line! Keep your hands where I can see them!” I ordered.
The scientists hurriedly complied with my command, gathering themselves and forming a column. Julian stood on one side of the column, making sure they didn’t try anything. My Feralagatr and I marched the scientists outside. Athena, Dalra and Corey were keeping the other workers contained. Athena’s Hydreigon spat at one of the scientists who flinched back. Koa still held Rupert Galensson by the shirt collar. I joined them, commanding the scientists to join their compatriots. Julian and I made our way over to Athena, Koa, Corey and Dalra. Athena was saying,
“That went surprisingly well.”
“Now what?” I asked.
All eyes turned to Rupert Galensson. He was older in age, probably in his late forties or early fifties with salt and pepper hair. He was on the shorter side and looked to be quite thin through his lab coat. The thing that was off putting about his appearance was his eyes. Ever moving, they never fixed onto something for too long, always evaluating, calculating, trying to dissect us down to an atomic level. Not how Athena analyzed things through the lens of an analytical spy, but rather, genuinely trying to figure out what atoms and molecules we were made of.
“Mr. Galenson. You have some explaining to do. How do we shut this thing down?” Koa said through gritted teeth.
Rupert Galenson looked up at our group of trainers. A red welt was forming where Julian had punched him.
“You’re too late. The anchor is already set.” His voice didn’t sound human, it was more serpentine in nature. A whispered hiss.
“Necrozma is on its way. It is coming to destroy this world. To consume it into its almighty power.”
“Why would you want to destroy this world? Didn’t Alola want to control Necrozma?” I questioned.
Galensson chuckled.
“The fools in the Alolan government will do anything they can to escape the predicament their nation is in. Even if it is to fund research into controlling a pokemon that can’t be controlled. I have seen it with my own eyes. Necrozma came to me in a dream. It wanted me to be its disciple, to be the harbinger of its power and wrath on this plane of existence.”
Before anyone could react, a Bisharp appeared in front of Galenson. One of the steel pokemon’s arms came forward, pressing the sharp end up against Galenson’s throat.
“I don't think you understand. There is no Necrozma coming to appease all your religious bullshit.” Corey spat with more venom than I had thought he could ever muster.
Galenson just smiled at the intimidating steel pokemon in front of him.
“There is no stopping it. There hasn't been any stopping it since I set the timer to activate the portal last week. We’ve just been monitoring the state of it since then. We just wait for the great one to travel through Ultra Space to get here.”
There was some muttering among the scientists we had gathered. Galenson had probably lied to them about the true nature of the project as well.
All of a sudden, the earth began to shake. Small pebbles and rocks clattered on the ground. It felt like a small scale earthquake. The whole Poni Altar began to vibrate rapidly. In the center, the metal rod that was implanted into the ground began to hum with energy.
“He’s here.” Galenson breathed.
“We gotta stop it!” Koa shouted over the rumbling. He tossed Galenson towards Corey and raced towards the beam of energy. Before he could lay his hands on the rod, he was launched backwards, crashing into the hard stone.
“You fool. There is no stopping it.” Galenson rasped.
“What do we do?” Corey said fearfully.
“There is nothing you can d-” Galenson was cut off when Corey’s Bisharp smacked him on his head, knocking him out.
Koa rose to his feet, looking frazzled. He shook his head and joined us. The five of us looked at the metal rod that was now reverberating with power. There was a realization forming in my head. Something I really didn’t want to make tangible. Necrozma was coming. We were the first line of defense against it.
I turned to the scientists.
“Go. Get out of here. Call the Alolan military or anyone you have. Give your families a hug when you see them again.” As I said this, my eyes began to water up. With every second that passed, my chances of a peaceful and happy life with Athena were dropping.
The five of us fanned out across the Poni Island Altar, each of our pokemon by our side. Koa had his Alolan Exeggutor, Dalra rested her hand on a tall Ampharos standing next to her, To her left was Corey with his Chancey and Bisharp on either side, Next was me. Julian held a fighting stance with his paws in front of his face like a boxer. Finally, Athena was to my left with her three headed Hydreigon next to her.
By now, the whole altar was shaking as the metal rod channeled all the power into one place. Suddenly, a white hot beam of energy shot down from the sundial above the altar, colliding with the rod. As soon as the beam hit the metal rod, there was a massive blast of energy outwards. I had just enough time to avert my eyes but I was still blinded behind my eyelids.
I heard an unearthly roar. The sound pierced my ears but also somehow pulled sounds from inside my head. It was a scream of rage. It was a scream of triumph. I opened my eyes just enough to see what was going on. Right above the rod was a slim white rift that hummed in the air. That wasn’t the scary part. Hovering in front of the portal was a dark black creature. This creature was hard to describe. It had an energy about it that made it flicker around in your mind’s eye. It for sure had two large hands attached to a torso and a large spiky plate of armor that obscured its head. I could just barely make out its eyes underneath the plate. I wish I hadn't though. The eyes of the creature were a color that is impossible to describe. They were every color, and no color at the same time. They hurt my eyes to look at it so I quickly turned away. The sound of Necrozma’s howl was still ringing in my ears.
I still had the wherewithal to look at my teammates who were equally stunned. Dalra had her hands over her ears. Corey’s chin was tucked to his chest. I saw Koa smack himself on the side of the head to try and refocus.
“Guys?” I asked. Even to me, my voice sounded far away. Necrozma floated unmoving in front of us. I had to do something. There had to be some way to break this sound muting aura.
I pointed at the pokemon in front of me and shouted a command. Nobody heard it but Julian picked up on it nonverbally. His roar was muted as well as he shot a blast of water at Necrozma. I expected for the creature to dodge away from the attack but the beam hit it directly in the face, pushing it back. It was as if the attack had awoken my teammates from some sort of trance. I saw Athena point and Hydreigon blasted three beams of energy at Necrozma. The pokemon nimbly dodged out of the way but was hit by a seed pod rocketing from Koa’s Exeggutor. Corey’s Bisharp tried to lunge towards the pokemon but his attack was blocked by one of Necrozma’s enormous arms but while Necrozma blocked the attack, Dalra’s Ampharos landed a direct hit with a bolt of lightning.
Necrozma shrieked in rage and began to pull energy from around it. I realized that it was charging up an attack. I heard a high pitched shriek of energy and then a beam of pure white light shot from his chest. I dove aside as the laser blasted where I had been standing a moment before. The beam swung horizontally and made contact with Corey’s Chancey. The pokemon was blasted with pure light for a few moments. Then, the energy attack subsided and Corey’s Chancey fell to the ground.
I pointed and Julian launched another attack. This time, Necrozma zipped out of the way of the water. Athena tried to follow it up with an attack but Necrozma absorbed the blast of energy into one of its enormous hands. It was becoming more powerful. Necrozma dodged out of the way of another lightning strike and Corey used this moment to switch into his Porygon 2. Necrozma began to charge up its beam attack. I cursed under my breath, although I couldn't hear it, switching pokemon. Lucio sprang forth, just as Necrozma launched his laser beam at Athena. She scrambled away but the attack caught her Hydreigon right in the chest. The pokemon fell to the ground. We needed to stop Necrozma from growing in power! I had one last trick up my sleeve. If this didn’t work, nothing would. I punched the button on the necklace underneath my shirt and a fermilear humming of energy began to grow. Somehow, this sound pierced the muting effect that Necrozma put over the battlefield. The consolidation of energy around Lucio seemed to draw Necrozma’s interest. It stared hungrily at the sphere of power that had surrounded him.
The energy burst and Lucio’s howl pierced through the muting effect as well. This time, instead of attacking with his laser, Necrozma launched himself at Lucio. Koa tried to capitalize on his committing and blasted it with purple energy. Necrozma didn’t even seem to notice. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Koa switch out his enormous tree as I quickly backed up from the clash of two titans of power. Necrozma swung one of its arms but Lucio blocked his attack. Necrozma almost withdrew in shock at being stopped so abruptly. Lucio capitalized on it by sending a blast of energy back at the prism pokemon. Necrozma absorbed the attack but now my teammates’ pokemon began to move in. Necrozma zipped to the side and tried to shoot its laser but Lucio blocked it off the tip of his spike, deflecting it up into the air.
Rose released a blast of dark energy at Necrozma but it flitted out of the way. It was growing even more powerful. We had to stop it now!
Lucio heard my thoughts and understood. He kicked at Necrozma. It dodged back out of the way, but backed up. Koa sent out a new pokemon, a Hitmonchan. The pokemon stomped into the stone, cracking it up and launching rocks into the air. The Hitmonchan punched the rocks at lightning speed, sending them rocketing towards Necrozma. Corey had his Porygon 2 send three beams of energy at Necrozma. Everybody was piling on the damage. Necrozma was in full retreat mode, turning back towards the portal where it had come from. Dalra released her Inteleon and the pokemon sent a jet of water at Necrozma. It was inches from the portal. One last attack would do it…
Necrozma fixated me with its colorless eyes. Suddenly, I was frozen in place. Lucio sent one more kick into the pokemon and it backed up into the portal, still staring into my soul with its eyes. Suddenly there was a brilliant flare of light. Everybody averted their eyes as Necrozma retreated back into the portal except for me. I was paralyzed. I saw the enormous flash of energy and then I saw nothing. I could only feel and hear. There was an enormous howling of energy and I felt a force yank me off my feet.
The howling grew more intense and I couldn't fight against it. I lost my footing and was dragged towards the portal. I could hear my friends shouting but I couldn’t stop myself. The noise got louder and louder until all I heard was silence.
I was completely blind. My eyes couldn't take in anything. Somehow, I knew that I wasn’t in Alola anymore. There was no bright sun on my neck to indicate the opposite. The ground I lay on felt cold and uneven, a stark contrast to the smooth stone of the Poni Island Altar. I tasted blood in my mouth. Somehow, it brought familiarity to my situation.
Gathering my arms underneath my torso, I pushed up from the ground. My hands clasped something that felt like rock. Off in the distance, I heard what sounded like a glacier cracking, a tearing apart of an enormous landmass.
“Hello?” I called out, fearfully. My voice echoed as it traveled further away from where I lay. I had a sneaking suspicion on where I was but there was no way to be sure without my eyesight.
“Is anyone out there?” I shouted, louder than before.
“Andrew?” I heard a familiar voice call out my name. My heart skipped a beat. It was Athena!
“Athena! I’m over here!” I shouted into the emptiness. I heard footsteps come closer to me.
“Andrew! Holy shit. Are you okay?” I heard the voice coming closer.
“Athena! I can’t see anything.” I said, slightly panicked. I felt her help me up to my feet.
“What? What are you talking about?”
“I’m blind. I can’t see. Where are we?”
“Oh my god. We’re in Ultra Space!” Athena’s voice broke into panic, a strange emotion for me to hear her have.
My heart sank. My suspicions had been correct. Necrozma had sucked Athena and I back into its home dimension.
“Do you know if anyone was yanked into here?” My voice was much calmer than I thought it would be.
“No. I don’t think so. They all got clear but we were too close to the portal!”
“There’s gotta be a way out of here.” I insisted.
“The anchor. We have to destroy the anchor so Necrozma can’t come back.” Athena realized.
I felt her shivering hand reach out and grab mine.
“It's cold here.” She said,
“We’re gonna get out of this Athena. I promise.” In all honesty, I didn’t know what to expect. I couldn't even take in the terrifying dimension where we had ended up.
“I hurt my leg so I’m going to lean on you if that’s okay?”
“That’s fine. You need to guide where I’m going. Where is this anchor?” I asked Athena.
“You don’t see it but there’s a man made steel cable running along this island of rock we’re on. The whole place is just floating in the abyss. It's probably good that you don’t see it.” Athena seemed to have regained some of her normal confidence.
I gripped Athena’s hand tightly as we walked along the rocky island. I didn’t know how much time had passed, that was, if time even existed here. Occasionally, we would hear the sound of earth crumbling into the abyss or the low moan of an enormous creature. Athena verbally guided me away from falling off the floating island. As we walked, my vision began to clear. Not entirely, but my eyes began to make out vague shapes and silhouettes. After what felt like ages, Athena stopped.
“There it is.” She breathed. “It looks just like the conductor that Galenson used to summon Necrozma to Poni Island. There’s a precarious strip of land connecting it to us, about 3 feet wide. I can’t tell if it will hold a person. The obelisk is glowing with power.” Athena described to me.
“We have to cross it.”
“Andrew. You can’t see. Maybe it's better if I risk it.”
“If we die here, I want to die with you. Besides, if you don’t make it, I will be lost here without any sight.” I should have been terrified. I should have been scared about falling into the abyss forever, never landing, never dying. But I wasn’t. Somehow, I knew that both Athena and I were going to have to cross this land bridge together.
“What about a pokemon?” Athena asked me.
“I don’t think Surya or Zahn can destroy the beacon. It has to be us Athena.”
She gripped my hand tighter.
“I trust you Andrew.” She guided me out onto the land bridge.
I took a cautious step. Then another. All of a sudden, it felt as if the whole world flipped upside down. I felt my whole body flip. Athena and I were upside down.
“Woah what the fuck was that?” I exclaimed.
“I don’t know. The whole world suddenly flipped. I don’t think it jarred anything loose though.” Athena replied.
“Let's keep moving.”
Slowly, the two of us continued across the bridge. For me with no sight, it felt almost no different to be walking upside down. Athena limpingly led in front, guiding me with her hand. I could feel her shaking, this must have been terrifying for her. I was almost glad of my partial blindness. The vague shapes that I could make out were beginning to form definition again. I could start to see small bits of the terrifying Ultra Space. In the depths of the abyss, an enormous pokemon cried out, echoing all around us.
“Just a few more steps…” Athena said, anxiously.
I took a deep breath and stepped forwards. I heard Athena breathe a deep sigh of relief. We had made it.
“We’re here Andrew. Now we have to destroy this anchor so that Necrozma can’t come into our world ever again.” As she said Necrozma, There was a high pitched shriek that reverberated around us.
“Good idea.” I decided.
“Let's cut the cable first.”
I heard the sound of a pokeball open and Cindy cried out. Athena guided me off to the side. I felt a blast of heat to my left. Cindy began to burn away the anchor’s connection to our world. With the sound like a massive spring seizing back up, the cable snapped. I heard the humming of the anchor fade, a humming that I didn’t even know was there until it was gone.
“Andrew, I could use Clair’s help.” Athena said.
I picked up my pokeball with Clair in it and pressed it into her hand. She opened the pokeball and her ball with Cysgod in it. Then, I heard the sound of earth shifting as I could only assume that Clair and Cysgod were tearing the anchor out from the rock. I heard a metal clang as it finally gave way.
“Throw it over the side.”
I heard Athena instruct. I could only assume that Clair and Cysgod did as she had instructed, destroying Rupert Galenson’s horrific research once and for all. We had done it. We had won! But we were still stuck in Ultra Space. A few moments later, I felt Athena attach a pokeball back to my belt.
“Andrew! There’s a portal. Behind us. There’s a way out!” Athena excitedly gripped my hand.
“Let's get out of here!”
Once again, Athena guided me along the precipice over the edge. Each step brought us closer to the end of this journey. Step by step, we worked our way across the outcrop. Athena’s hand was sweating with stress. I didn’t know if we were upside down or rightside up anymore but it didn’t matter.
All of a sudden, my foot slipped. I fell and landed hard on the bridge with a grunt. The whole landmass shook. There was an almighty cracking sound. Athena cried out in fear and suddenly let go of my hand.
Terror seized at my heart.
“Athena!” I yelled over the horrendous noise of earth shattering around me.
“I’m here Andrew. The island! It's breaking up! There’s a hole in the bridge. I had to jump across!” She shouted in desperation.
I shakily rose to my feet. The noise was becoming deafening.
“I can’t make it across?” I yelled.
“You’re going to have to jump it!”
“I can’t see anything!” I shouted desperately.
The whole earth shook as the bridge began to break apart.
“The island is collapsing!”
“I can’t do it!” I still couldn't see anything, desperate tears welled in my blind eyes.
“Andrew! You have to trust me! Take a step forward with your left foot, then your right foot, then jump! I promise you can make it.”
Athena’s words cleared my mind. I thought back to how long we had fought for, how many battles, how many times she had saved my life and I realized, I did trust her. I trusted her to guide me through the dark. I trusted her to describe how I should jump over the abyss. I trusted Athena Nolland enough to put my life on it.
I lunged forwards. My left foot hit the ground, my right foot hit in front of my left. I leapt with all my might. I flew through the air for a few moments. Then, I stumbled onto the main section of land and into Athena’s arms. The feeling of her, so familiar to me. I collapsed in Athena’s arms and sobbed with relief.
“You did it. You did it Andrew…” She spoke reassuringly.
After a few moments, I began to calm down. Finally, I straightened up.
“We did it, Athena.”
She sighed and kissed me on the cheek.
“Let’s get out of here.”
Hand in hand, she guided me back to the portal. As we stepped into the beam of light, I heard the humming of energy. Athena and I were both being transported out of Ultra Space and back into Alola. I closed my eyes and held my breath. The humming grew louder and louder. Then, it abruptly stopped.
I opened my eyes. I could see again. The first thing I saw were the beautiful, green eyes of Athena. She looked at me, a look of pure happiness and joy on her face. Without saying anything, I pulled her in for a kiss.
“You made it!” I heard the voice of Koa jubilantly exclaim.
It was as if the world was spinning. It was so vibrant with color. Everything was teeming with joy in the Alolan afternoon as I kissed my love. Soon it would be time to let go of each other. There would be loose ends, there always were. We would need to tell Cynthia all that had happened so history wouldn't repeat itself. Then, we would mourn the deaths of those who had given their lives to help us save the world. But for now, I held Athena in my arms as we both cried tears of joy at our victory.
