Ash and the gang’s journey to New Bark Town was an arduous one. Goldenrod had been in a state of pure hysteria, even more so than any other place in the world, after Necrozma’s worldwide message and rightfully so, given that the city was explicitly mentioned within the message as being Necrozma’s destination of arrival. Luckily for Ash and the others, the trains were ran-electrically thus, set on autopilot, so they didn’t have to worry about finding anyone willing to take them there.

  That’s where their luck ended, however. After a particularly empty ride to Goldenrod City, the group found, of course, nothing. The city of Goldenrod was as much of a ghost town as Saffron was the previous day, only there was no psychotic Psychic awaiting them. Or at least, they hoped so. After wandering throughout the empty city, they eventually found a pier with one, singular old sailor readying a fairly-large boat to escape like the rest.

  Ash and the others managed to catch him just before he set sail, but found it difficult to persuade him to get them anywhere near New Bark Town. Though, ‘difficult’ may have been an inaccurate word to describe their encounter with the old sailor. ‘Impossible’ was more like it, given that the moment they mentioned the flaming town, he immediately cut the rope holding his boat to the pier and sailed away before they could stop him.

  They pondered their next move for a few minutes before Zero, noticing the league of other abandoned boats at the pier, suggested taking one of them. Serena was quick to scold her and tell her that they couldn’t simply steal someone else’s boat, especially if that person could still be within the city and on their way to use that as their only escape method. To Serena’s surprise, Riley and, to a lesser extent, Ash, actually ended up agreeing with Zero.

  Riley told Serena that this was their only real way of realistically getting to the town fast enough due to their lack of Flying Types. Ash thought about going back to Goldenrod’s Pokemon Center and calling up Professor Oak for that very purpose, but figured that it might not exactly be operational at the moment and went with the boat plan. Riley ended up convincing Serena that if there somehow was people still in the city, then there were plenty of other boats left over for them to take as well, and thus they made their way to New Bark Town.

  With some help from the Aura users pushing the boat, Zero getting into the water to use Surf and Aqua Jet to push it, and Noivern pulling the boat from ahead to increase their speed, they managed to hasten their boat’s pace and turn what should have been multiple days’ worth of travel time over sea into a measly five hours, at the cost of Serena’s stomach. During that time, Ash and Serena allowed their Pokemon to wander about the ship. Hawlucha in particular, immediately went to his best friend’s side, cheering him on as he helped pull the ship the entire way there. The Flying-type’s lung capacity for being able to pull off such a feat befuddled the group. After five hours of nonstop cheering on Hawlucha’s part, pulling on Noivern’s, and pushing on Zero’s and the Aura Users’ parts, they finally touched shore.

  Ash and the group were met with nothing but hills as far as the eye could see once they met land. They appeared to be in a cove of sorts, with very little sand that quickly met grass. Serena was the first off the boat, happily clinging onto the grass.

  “Sweet land, I’ve taken you for granted for far too long,” She cried as she rolled about in the emerald green grass.

  Noivern, huffing tiredly for air, came down next, with Hawlucha by his side. As Noivern lowered himself to the ground, his friend and mentor Hawlucha quickly hopped off the boat to catch him. Noivern made some sort of cooing sound, apparently as some kind of signature of gratitude. Hawlucha grinned down at him and gave a thumbs-up to his exhausted friend, congratulating him for his hard work.

  Zero came up out of the water, soaked to the brim. Riley quickly met her, handing her a towel, which the young girl gratefully accepted. The other Pokemon came out next, one by one, happily stretching themselves now that they had room to do so. Ash came out last. The fatigue from using his Aura for the past five hours made him dizzy, but he was otherwise fine. He looked over towards Riley and Lucario to see if they were in the same boat (no pun intended), but they appeared to be fine.

  ‘I’ve got a long way to go if I’m gonna catch up to them,’ He thought to himself with a sigh, He looked up at hills. The clouds above them were plentiful and bulky. They were smoke clouds, only white since they were far enough from the source of the flames. His eyes narrowed, resolute.

  “Hey guys,” Ash called out to his group, pointing up at the hills and the billowing smoke ahead, “New Bark Town should be just up ahead, I think! Let’s get going!”

  Riley nodded, “You’re right. Just beyond those hills are hundreds of people waiting for our help. We should get moving.”

  Riley motioned for Lucario and Zero to follow him as Serena, meanwhile, stumbled back to her feet with some help from Ash and Pikachu. Lucario attempted to follow his partner, but was stopped when Zero tugged at his paw. She made a motion with her arms, signaling that she wanted to go up. Lucario rolled his eyes and merely began to walk away, or at least attempted to. The Aura Pokemon’s mouth furrowed into a deep frown, and he grit his teeth, but ultimately turned back to the young girl and placed her atop his shoulders begrudgingly and with a glare that could kill.

  So then, Ash and the others made their way up the hill, and as they did, they were confronted by a horrific sight. Further away was New Bark Town, coated in flames. The white smoke clouds were replaced with the black, ash-coated ones that rose up from the remains of the town and its inhabitants. Ash, Riley, Pikachu, and Lucario’s expressions darkened at the sight. Serena, meanwhile, became pale. She had thought she could handle a sight like this after all she’s been through as of late, but thinking about what lied in wait for them in the burning town, especially after seeing the people being consumed by the flames on the news, was too much for her to handle.

  She was snapped out of her stupor when Ash grabbed hold of her hand. She jumped a bit in shock and met Ash’s eyes questioningly, though it wasn’t as if she didn’t enjoy it. Ash stared deeply into her eyes wordlessly, but Serena saw the meaning behind them. He was telling her that they would be fine, as always. He was telling her that they would come out of this, just as they had come out of situations like these time and time again, but if they didn’t go, many innocents would be lost.

  “...Alright,” Serena said, with resolution in her eyes, “Let’s go.”

  With that, the group charged towards the burning town, ready for anything. As they neared New Bark Town, it became harder and harder to breathe amongst the ashes and smoke. Yet, they couldn’t falter. Not when so many lives were at stake.

  “Alright,” Ash said, “We should split up and search for survivors.” He turned to Zero first. “Zero, you’ll probably be the most help here, since you can use Water attacks. You should focus on putting out as much of the flames as you can and flying any survivors you find out of this place.”

  Zero nodded and took off into the flames, spraying Water Guns from her hands as she went.

  Ash turned to Serena next, “You should have Braixen go off alone since the flames won’t hurt her and find survivors, then have her report back to you and use Clefable’s Psychic to get rid of the flames. As for Sylveon and Pangoro, keep them close so you don’t get hurt.”

  “Got it,” Serena said with a nod. She breathed in deeply, facing the flames. Just as she was about to head inside, she was stopped by Ash, grabbing hold of her hand once more. Immediately, a rush of energy swelled within her, and a blue barrier appeared around the young trainer.

  “It’s an Aura barrier,” Ash told her, “It should keep you safe from the flames, but I don’t know how long it’ll last, so I would be careful if I were you.”

  Serena nodded at him once more, thanked him, and took her team of Pokemon into the flames.

  Ash turned to Riley and Lucario next. “I don’t think I need to tell you guys what to do.”

  Riley chuckled, “Right you are. Lucario and I have been handling stuff like this for years, so we’ll be fine. See you inside.”

  With that, Riley gave a short wave of the hand to his pupil, summoned an Auric barrier around himself along with Lucario, and the duo faded into the smoke.

  “Now then,” Ash said, turning to his team, “That just leaves us…” He placed a hand to his chin in thought, scanning his team of Pokemon and scrambling his mind for potential strategies. “First thing’s first,” He said, turning to Noivern, “You’ve been exhausting yourself for the past five hours, so you’re out of the question.” A frown came to his face as he realized that taking his only Flying type, that could actually fly anyways, off of a mission like this might be costly, but endangering the life of his Pokemon wasn’t exactly on his to-do list either, and returned Noivern to his Pokeball.

  He noticed a complex array of expressions on Hawlucha’s face as he did so. It didn’t take a genius to know why. “Hawlucha,” Ash spoke, snapping the Wrestling Pokemon out of his stupor, “I know you were looking forward to working with Noivern on this mission, but he’s been pushing himself for the past couple hours now, and he’s deserved a rest. Not to mention, all the smoke might make him pass out midair, which would end in disaster.”

  Hawlucha crossed his arms, humming in thought, but ultimately nodded to his trainer, understanding his point. He wouldn’t exactly like placing his best friend in that kind of danger either. “Good,” Ash said, “Then...let’s see what we can do without Noivern for now…” One idea quickly struck Ash, given that he already said this to Serena about her Braixen. “Infernape,” He started, catching the Fire monkey Pokemon’s attention, “The flames won’t hurt you, so you should go off alone through them to find survivors as quickly as possible, then either escort them out or try to find someone else that can put out a flame if they’re surrounded with no way out.”

  “Fernape!” Infernape replied heartily with a salute. Having been given his orders, Infernape took off, using Flame Wheel to travel faster.

  Ash hummed in thought, scratching the scruff of his chin as he did so. “...This should go without saying, but Pikachu, you’re with me.” Pikachu chirped happily and jumped up onto his lifelong friend’s shoulder. “As for the rest of you...hmm…” He turned towards Goodra next. “Goodra, you should use Rain Dance. With how much fire there is, I’m not sure if it will help, but anything is worth a try. Just keep the rain coming down for as long as you can.

  “Dra!” Goodra replied with a nod. The gooey Dragon Type bounded off to the side of the road, then stared up into the sky with a deep blue energy surrounding her. With a booming cry, Goodra released the blue energy up into the sky and, surely enough, it began to rain. Ash quickly turned back to the flaming town before him, but was disappointed to see that it wasn’t really having any effect. It seemed that the raindrops were evaporating before they could make contact with the fire.

  “Still…” Ash started, thinking aloud, “The rain should eventually make the area damp, and the flames will have a hard time burning…” A frown crawled its way down the trainer’s mouth, and he stared deeply into the flames. His Aura flared slightly, reacting to the terrified and pained cries from whoever was left alive amongst the survivors. “...But will it be fast enough…?”

  Ash quickly shook his head. “The longer I take to think, the less time they’ll have.” He turned towards Sceptile next. “That fire probably won’t be easy for you to work with, and your moves don’t exactly give you much in the way for dealing with those flames, so...I would try to find higher ground, and if you see any open areas without much fire, try there. From there, use your speed to save as many people as you can instead of your attacks.”

  Ash’s Sceptile planted its’ signature twig in its’ mouth, nodded quickly, and bolted away to fulfill Ash’s orders. Ash turned to Hawlucha, seeing as he was the only remaining member. “I suppose you’re with me, then, Hawlucha,” Ash told him, “Like Pikachu.” Hawlucha grinned up at Ash and nodded cheerfully. This way, he could still be close to Noivern as well. Pikachu hopped down from Ash’s shoulder and gave his fellow teammate a high five, to which Hawlucha happily gave him one back.

  Ash chuckled at their antics. “Great! So, then, let’s hop to it, eh?”

  “Cha!” The two Pokemon cheered eagerly.

  After waving goodbye to Goodra, Ash, Hawlucha, and Pikachu, who had once again hopped onto Ash’s shoulder, approached the flaming town. The young trainer let out a deep sigh, then summoned his Aura into a barrier around the three of them. With the barrier in place, Ash stepped into the flames, ready to save the lives of as many people as he could.

  Ash had never seen the inside of a fire before, despite how many times he’d been burned in his journeys. In those times, his eyes were always forced shut from the heat, but now, he could marvel at the sight of it without that disturbance...though with what he saw, he couldn’t quite say it was pleasant. People often gave descriptions of hell as a dark, empty space with flames spanning all sides. What Ash saw was scarily accurate to that testament.

  “This is...crazy…” Ash uttered in disbelief. Pikachu and Hawlucha’s shocked gazes indicated they were thinking similarly to their trainer. Ash could barely tell that he was surrounded by flames right now. Outside of his little bubble of safety was nothing but pure red empty space and blackened ground. The occasional piece of ebony debris flew past him in a similar manner to a tumbleweed from time to time, but quickly disappeared within seconds into the seemingly-endless void of red spanning around them.

  Then, Pikachu’s ear twitched, and he looked to his left. “Pika!” The yellow mouse shouted, pointing left to get Ash’s attention.

  “Hm?” Asked Ash, “You hear somethin’, buddy?”

  Pikachu nodded, still pointing in the direction of the sound. “Pi, Pika!”

  Ash nodded and turned to where his partner was pointing, then began sprinting. After a few moments, the flames around them ceased, and they came upon an opening in the midst of the hellscape. Before them was a youngish boy, probably a trainer barely younger than Ash, with a white jacket, blue shorts, and blond hair.

  “Oh, thank Arceus!” The boy cried happily, “Someone came after all! Quick, get me out of here!”

  Ash nodded and opened the barrier slightly so that the boy could enter. The boy stared at Ash tentatively. He appeared to look unsure about Ash and, more importantly, the barrier, but as he turned back to the flames that were slowly closing in, he decided that his chances were better taken with Ash, even if he didn’t quite understand how he was making the barrier. Making up his mind, the trainer stepped inside the barrier, and Ash closed it around them so the heat was no longer a threat.

  The boy hunched over, taking the first cool breath he’d breathed in hours. “Thanks man...you’re a lifesaver! The name’s Euden by the way.

  Ash smiled at the boy and waved off his compliment. “It’s no problem, Euden. A couple of friends and I came here to save as many people as we can.”

  “Then you’re apparently more dependable than the police,” Euden spat, “I haven’t seen a single one show up! Buncha cowards!”

  Ash frowned, “Really? No one showed up? I get that people are scared of this Necrozma thing, but still…”

  Euden cringed at the mention of the monster responsible for the destruction of his town. “Yeah, probably...if that’s what it is, I guess I can’t blame them too much.”

  Ash’s eyes glinted as a very important question came to his mind. “Say, Euden...is this Necrozma guy still around?”

  The young trainer shrugged, “Beats me. I’ve been hearing some more explosions from time to time, but I’m not sure if it’s him or just some cars gettin’ caught by the fire.”

  “I see…” Ash said, looking down in thought, “...Well, I suppose there’s no point in playing twenty questions all day with you, then. I’m sure you want outta this fire, so I’ll help you outta this place.”

  Euden nodded eagerly. “Please do. I’ve been stuck here all day, and frankly, I’d rather never see another fire again in my life.”

  Ash emerged from the flames, out to the area they first went to. He knew it was the same place due to Goodra still summoning rain to try and pierce through the flames.

  “Woah, is that a Goodra?!” Euden remarked excitedly, “I’ve never seen one before! Didn’t know they came to Johto!”

  “That one’s mine, actually,” Ash told him with a chuckle, “She’s using Rain Dance to try to put out the fire, but I don’t think she’s had any luck yet.”

  “No kiddin’.”

  With that, Ash dispersed the barrier and allowed Euden to exit. “See you later,” Ash told him, “If I were you, I’d stay around here for a bit and wait for us to find more people.”

  Ash summoned his barrier around himself, Pikachu, and Hawlucha once more and turned back to face the flames, but then Euden called out to him once more.

  “Hey, one last thing!” Euden shouted to Ash, “I got a sister in there! She’s a year older than me and has a golden necklace of a crescent moon! She has an Absol with her too! My mom and dad are probably with her too, so can you keep an eye out for her?”

  Ash flashed a thumbs up Euden’s way, shouted back, “Will do,” and walked back into the fire. Ash traversed the red hellscape with a quicker pace this time. During the initial trip through the flaming town, he was taking in the sight, but now, he had his mission on his mind and was going to see it through without fail. Ash gave his two partners with him a thumbs-up, which they reciprocated, and emerged through another opening. This one was much, much larger.

  It seemed like this place used to be a major roadway and had only been consumed by the flames fairly recently, seeing as there were many buildings on either side still standing, even though they were on fire. A feeling of deja vu came over Ash suddenly, making him place a hand to his forehead to try and remember what was so familiar about this place.

  A searing, piercing agony tore through his head, forcing him to clutch at it and hiss in pain, falling to his knees. Pikachu and Hawlucha quickly went to his aid, or at least tried to. Some kind of memory Ash couldn’t seem to remember tore at his consciousness, forcibly making his Aura flare.

  “Pika Pi!” “Lucha!”

  Ash’s partners and friend frantically tried to aid their agonized trainer, but for the life of them, they couldn’t figure out what to do. The thought of shocking him came to Pikachu’s mind. It was a thought he quickly got rid of, instead opting to hold onto Ash’s coat in an attempt to steady him. Hawlucha crouched down and held him tightly, but Ash kept thrashing.

  Ash’s vision flickered, and every time it did, it seemed to take him to a very similar yet different version of the area they were in. Like static, Ash’s vision transferred between these two areas. Then, it hit him at last. He’d dreamt about this place before. It was the day he’d heard of the Orange Island’s demise.

  In that dream, he was surrounded by a flaming hellscape of a town. It looked exactly like this one. Nothing more than a desolate wasteland of fire. His eyes widened as he recalled the dream. If the burning town had come true, then what came next was-

  “Serena!” Ash called out suddenly. Surely enough, there she was. Emerging from the flames, Serena and her Pokemon came into the opening from the opposite side. Ash knew what happened next, yet, just like in the dream, he couldn’t move. But unlike in the dream, he could speak.

  “Serena!” He cried out desperately, “Don’t come any closer! Get out of here!” He didn’t see her in the dream, but he could never forget what happened. What he had heard. She screamed in utter terror, and then was silenced by the roar of the flames.

  Serena had failed to hear Ash’s warning. “Ash? What’s wrong?! Hold on, I’m coming quick!”

  “No!” Ash shouted, “Don’t come any closer! You have to get out of here!”

  Serena vigorously shook her head, sprinting towards Ash with her Pokemon in tow. “No way! If we run into trouble, we’ll face it together, remember?! Like you told me up on the hill!”

  “You don’t understand!” Ash pleaded, “Something...terrible is about to happen! You need to get awa-“

  Ash was cut off suddenly by a deafening explosion, forcing him to shield his eyes with his arms. From the flames to their side, something with gas in it must have been set ablaze, causing a detonation to consume the two of them. A terrible wave of dread came over him. This couldn’t be happening, he thought. It couldn’t.

  “Not her…” He whimpered as tears threatened to dot his eyes, “No, not her…!”

  Ash Ketchum, the ordinarily-valiant young trainer with bravery to spare, the young boy who would put himself between dueling Legends to save a life, paled in absolute terror as a chilling, metallic-sounding dark laugh manifested around him from seemingly every direction.

  “Ah, young love. So adorable and heartwarming, yet so terribly, terribly fleeting.”

  Ash’s breathing became labored, making him pant frantically for every ounce of air, yet none of it seemed to be enough. Every breath he took only made the next more difficult to achieve. He soon dropped to his hands and knees, making Pikachu and Hawlucha crouch down to his side. Yet, they too were struggling to obtain their next breath of air. The overwhelming feeling of terror they felt crushed the oxygen from their lungs.

  “Short of breath, my boy? Yes, explosions always seem to take my breath away as well. Truly, a wonderful sight.”

  “Y-you...b-bastard-!” Cursed an enraged Ash, who forced himself back onto his feet even though the lack of air was nearly making him pass out more and more by the second, but an even stronger feeling; one of absolute, unadulterated rage, triumphed over his shortness of breath.

  Pikachu managed to stand back up as well, sparking his cheeks furiously. Hawlucha followed their example and used Bulk Up to prepare itself for whatever lay in wait for them ahead.

  Another chilling laugh echoed through the fiery hellscape that echoed through Ash, Pikachu, and Hawlucha’s very bodies, yet they still remained defiant.

  “What did you do?!” Ash demanded, flaring his Aura, “WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?!”

  “I merely saw an opportunity, my boy. Here, I see an adorable young couple reuniting amidst the fires of a burning town and a vehicle that was somehow unharmed by the flames, so l thought I’d have some fun.”

  Ash growled like an animal. Such fury had never been known to him before. “Fun?! You...what are you?!”

  The flames surrounding Ash’s barrier were swept away suddenly, leaving in its’ wake a dark creature with an angular, prismatic body, two arms with glowing white crystals and angular, sharp claws in its’ wake. The creature’s gaze pierced Ash to the core, putting him under a choking pressure that made him feel like he was being pushed to the ground, yet still he stood.

  “What am I?” The creature repeated, “I am the end of all things. I am what is inescapable by mortals and gods alike. I am the night that whisks away millions by the day in my cold grasp. I am death. I am Necrozma.”

  “You…!” Ash seethed. “So you’re Necrozma! Why?! Why are you doing this?!”

  Necrozma rolled his head and groaned in annoyance. “I’ve already answered this question to another one of you sickening peons. I believe its name was Lugia. Such a meager opponent for my welcome to this world.”

  “That was you?!” Ash demanded, allowing his Aura to flare out from his hands in drothes, “That whole thing ended up getting pinned on Lugia! Do you know how many people died because of what you did?!”

  Necrozma let out an amused laugh. “The sheer irony of that question is astounding. Do you know the answer to that question? Because I certainly don’t. I’ve stopped counting for millennia now.”

  Ash clenched his fists, making his signature deep blue Aura brighten into a cyan one and seep from his hands like water. There was no more need for words in Ash’s mind. Necrozma’s blatant disregard for life sickened him to the core, and of course...Serena…

  Ash let out an enraged scream, summoning his Aura in a column of raging cyan and shot out a wave, one carrying every last drop of Aura he could muster, out at the black demon.

  Necrozma stared at the incoming wall of blue flames indifferently and, without moving an inch, Ash’s attack dispersed without even making contact.

  Ash fell onto his backside, his eyes widened, and bloodshot. Every ounce of Aura he could spare without killing himself was used for that attack, yet it did absolutely nothing. “W-What? How?!”

  Necrozma held out his arm and pointed a singular finger at the fallen Aura Guardian in training, summoning a tiny red ball of crackling energy. Thinking quickly, Pikachu took it upon himself to fire a Thunderbolt into the charging red orb, causing a small explosion of smoke. It availed to nothing. Immediately, the smoke was blown away, showing that Necrozma and the orb of energy were both completely unharmed. The yellow mouse took a step back in fear, but the sight of Ash by his side gave him the strength to continue facing down this dark menace.

  “Piiikaaa-!” Pikachu began sparking its cheeks, summoning as much Electric power as it could, “CHUUUUU!”, then fired it off into one massive stream of concentrated yellow plasma...and dispersed before even making contact with Necrozma.

  The aforementioned Leader of the Ultra Beasts gave the terrified trio an amused look, then turned his finger away from Ash and towards Pikachu. “So the slave is faithful to its’ master, then? Let’s see if it will die in his stead.”

  “No!” Ash roared, “Pikachu, get away from here! Run, and go find the others!”

  Pikachu adamantly shook his head and stood in front of Ash with his arms outstretched to take the blow. Ash’s original partner sparked his cheeks at Necrozma defiantly, refusing to leave Ash’s side. Hawlucha, seeing the tragedy about to unfold before him, took it upon himself to tear a large stone from the ground and hurl it at the dark demon. Without moving, Necrozma turned his gaze upon the incoming stone and blew it to smithereens. Hawlucha appeared from behind the rubble and lurched at Necrozma with an X-Scissor attack, but of course, it did nothing. The second the attack came in-contact with Necrozma’s prismatic body, it shattered. The Wrestling Pokemon stared at his destroyed attack with horror, but was promptly blown back by some kind of invisible attack.

  Ash cursed his helplessness. All he could do was shout, “Hawlucha, no!” uselessly as his Pokemon sailed backwards and landed in a heap in front of him. Pikachu quickly rushed to Hawlucha’s aid and, to his relief, he was fine for the most part. Hawlucha growled, forcing himself to his feet and taking a stand against Necrozma. Pikachu followed suit.

  “No!” Shouted a terrified Ash, “Leave! Run away from here!” He tried to stumble forward, but collapsed back onto his chest. “This...is an order!” Pikachu and Hawlucha, without looking back to their master, shook their heads. Abandoning their trainer and, more importantly, their friend was an order they could not abide.

  The dark invader merely gave the last stand of these feeble creatures an amused chuckle, pointing his finger towards the both of them. “Hah! So, the slaves sacrifice themselves after all! But tell me, if your pathetic kind can even speak that is, did you bother considering what would happen after your noble sacrifice? Who’s to say I won’t simply kill your beloved master as well?”

  Pikachu merely growled in defiance at Necrozma and jumped up at him, flipping around so that the yellow mouse Pokemon could deliver an Iron Tail, hitting him directly in the forehead and sending up metallic sparks.

  “Hmph.”

  Without warning, Pikachu was blown backwards by an attack he couldn’t possibly see coming. Some kind of invisible pulse struck Pikachu clean in the chest and sent him sprawling backward in front of Ash, where it lied, unable to move.

  “Pikachu!” Ash cried out. He forced himself forward, crawling desperately towards his closest friend. Seeing this, a devilish idea came to Necrozma’s mind, and he pointed his index finger towards the two of them. Pikachu and Ash were focused completely on one another, unseeing of the demise coming their way. Hawlucha stared back at the two of them in horror and, without thinking twice, jumped in front of Necrozma’s hand to take the blow.

  “Strike one.”

  A deafening explosion sent Pikachu and Ash flying backwards, yet even still, they clung to one another as if their very lives depended on it. A cascade of crimson flame blasted out in every direction, hailing down a rainfall of fiery sparks. Ash shielded Pikachu from them as best as he could, covering him with his own body.

  Once the explosion died down, Ash asked Pikachu, “Are you alright?” To which, Pikachu gave him a weak smile, but nodded all the same. “That’s good…” Ash replied with a relieved sigh, but then he realized something. “Wait, where’s Hawlucha?!”

  The two of them scanned their surroundings. More flame had consumed the area, somehow turning it into even more of a hellscape. Mere feet away, the two of them were surrounded on all sides by the raging, crackling fires. And Hawlucha was nowhere in sight.

  “No…! Hawlucha!” Ash desperately called out, “Hawlucha, where are you?!”

  “Pi, Pika!” Pikachu called out as well.

  Then, their eyes tore open in shock. Amidst the flames, mere meters from them, was Hawlucha. His body was limp and charred completely black. Without thinking twice, Ash forced himself to summon another barrier, placed Pikachu upon his shoulder, and tore into the flame to retrieve his friend. But it was not to be. From behind Hawlucha’s body, another tiny red ball of energy was hurled into the fallen Pokemon, blasting him into nothingness and sending Ash flying back.

  The young trainer collapsed onto his back in a heap, with Pikachu barely holding onto his shoulders. They frantically looked back up to where Hawlucha laid before, but were met with the sight of flames surrounding the barrier at every turn. There was nothing left. The town had been completely laid to ruin, and Hawlucha had disappeared along with it.

  “NO!” Ash frantically roared. He refused to believe it, even when mourning tears freely flowed from his eyes, he denied it. There was simply no way it could be happening. “Hawlucha! Where are you?!” He scrambled to his feet, even though his exhaustion screamed at him to stay down. Even when his legs ached, he refused to stay down, and he refused to acknowledge Hawlucha’s fate. “HAWLUCHA!”

  Tears dotted Pikachu’s eyes as well, but he lacked the will to call out to his friend. “Pi…” He knew perfectly well what had happened. Staring clean into the flames, he knew Hawlucha’s fate, and shut his eyes tightly.

  Ignoring Pikachu, Ash continued to call out to his fallen Pokemon. “Hawlucha! Answer me! You can’t…!” A lump rose in his throat as his tears flowed even more. He clenched his fists to the point he drew blood with his nails. He hung his head, for it was all he could do. “You...can’t be…”

  Another one of Necrozma’s chilling, all-encompassing dark laughs surrounded the two of them. Ash bared his teeth, enraged beyond what he had ever known before. “Necrozma!” The boy bellowed, “Show yourself, monster!”

  “With pleasure.”

  The flames around them dispersed, creating an opening and revealing the dark demon, who floated down to meet them with a cruel, taunting look in his crimson red eyes. Ash’s auric barrier fell apart, as the boy now lacked the strength to use it anymore. Pikachu threateningly sparked its’ cheeks with a fury in his eyes that matched Ash’s, and leapt off of his trainer’s shoulder, surrounding itself with all the electricity it could muster to use Volt Tackle...and was promptly batted into the ground by Necrozma’s fist with a sickening crunch.

  “Strike two.”

  “Pikachu, no!” Ash cried. He crouched down to his partner and held him tightly. Pikachu did not respond, hanging limply in his best friend’s hands. “Pikachu!” Ash shouted desperately. He shook his partner gently, and when there was no response, he tried again harder. Still, there was no response. Ash placed his ear near Pikachu’s chest. He wasn’t breathing. Frantically, Ash tried to push down on Pikachu’s chest repeatedly to instill breath within the small yellow mouse...yet still, there was no response.

  Ash tried more forcefully this time, desperately trying to summon his Aura to help him save Pikachu’s life. But he was far too exhausted. He couldn’t will his Aura to appear in more than a tiny speck of blue flame that lasted naught but a second before disappearing into nothingness. But Ash refused to give up. “C’mon, Pikachu!” He pleaded, “COME ON! You can’t do this! You can’t! Serena...Hawlucha...now you?! No! I can’t lose you!” He tried with all his might to summon his Aura with every downward push to Pikachu’s chest, with no response every time.

  Eventually, Ash slipped and fell over by Pikachu’s side. Furiously, he tried to force himself back up to try again, but his body refused to listen. All he could do was extend his arm out to Pikachu’s limp body and hold him. Tears would have been flowing like rainfall from the boy’s eyes, but he no longer had any to give. The heat from the flames had sapped them away from him.

  “...Pi...ka...chu…” Ash whimpered helplessly.

  “There’s no need to worry, boy.” The dark voice of Necrozma spoke from above him, pointing a finger down at him and summoning another red ball of energy, “You will be with him again soon enough.”

  A fury hotter than any fire began coursing through Ash’s veins as he heard that monster’s voice. He gripped into the dirt at his side and forced himself to roll over. Even as his arms screamed at him to stop, Ash pushed up off the ground and onto his knees. He heaved in air, placing a hand onto his kneecap, and pushed up. Every inch of his body ached in exhaustion, yet still, he forced himself back onto his feet. A dark, murderous look appeared in the once-joyous boy’s eyes, and he panted for air, making some kind of amalgamation of a cry and an enraged hiss with every one.

  “You…!” Ash no longer cared about his exhaustion. He no longer cared about the pain tearing throughout his body, both emotional and physical. He no longer cared that his Aura availed him nothing. Murderous thoughts screeched in Ash’s mind, tearing the peace-loving, happy ones apart in their wake as they coursed through every inch of his consciousness. He managed to flare his Aura for a split second, and in that split second, it was yellow.

  With an animal-like screech, Ash lurched forward at Necrozma, aiming a punch at the demon before him. Necrozma merely laughed and opened his arms outward, welcoming Ash’s attack. Ash’s punch connected with Necrozma clean in the face, but the only thing it availed the boy was an injured wrist. With the last of Ash’s strength gone, he fell forward, flat on his face beneath Necrozma.

  “Strike three. Y-o-u-’-r-e o-u-t.”

  Ash was lifted up in Necrozma’s telekinetic grasp to meet face-to-face. The dark demon then opted to grip Ash by the neck with his hand, hoisting him up. Ash choked and sputtered, but no longer even had the strength to open his eyes. All he could do was wait for the end.

  “Actually,” Necrozma spoke, turning ash around towards Pikachu’s limp body, “There’s one last thing you should see before I let you go.” Necrozma lifted Pikachu up with his telekinetic powers as well, hoisting him up to Ash’s face. Then, he lifted Pikachu up far above the two of them, dangling Pikachu by the tail and forcing Ash’s eyes open to see it.

  Ash wanted to scream, to cry, to shout, yet he couldn’t do any of those things. Every last ounce of strength and willpower left within his body was left in pieces or erased completely. ‘Pikachu…’ He thought weakly.

  “I don’t suppose you’ll be needing this anymore.”

  Then, he let Pikachu go. It was as if it were happening in slow motion for Ash. He could only look on uselessly as his first friend, his lifelong partner, and the one who helped Ash start his journey sailed down into the flames of hell Necrozma created. Ash’s life, the one he spent with Pikachu, flashed before his eyes. He remembered his first encounter with Pikachu. His tenth birthday, back in Professor Oak’s lab. He remembered being electrocuted the moment he picked him up. He remembered when Pikachu had gravely injured himself to stop the flock of Spearow from killing them. He remembered being trapped within an icy cave with Pikachu and his other Pokemon, refusing to leave his side to give him warmth. He remembered a time where Pikachu had nearly died due to him facing off against a Sinnoh trainer’s Raichu, and how elated he was when Pikachu turned out okay. But those times were gone. Destroyed, along with Pikachu, as he sailed down into the fire.

  Then, suddenly, a crimson blur rushed down from the sky, scooping Pikachu up and saving him from harm.

  “What?!” Roared Necrozma, taken aback.

  Ash was dropped from Necrozma’s grasp as the invader turned his gaze to the red blur. As Ash fell to the ground, he managed to take a glimpse at the red blur. It was Talonflame, and something else on top of it was holding Pikachu. It was coated in shadow, so Ash couldn’t see what it was. Talonflame whipped around and landed in front of a group of people running towards them. It was Riley, Zero, and the other Pokemon. What’s more, Serena was among them.

  “Ash!” They called out as they sprinted towards their collapsed friend, “Hang in there!”

  Ash allowed himself to grin, relief flowing throughout him, before he fell into unconsciousness.

  The shadowed creature hopped off of Talonflame’s back and handed Pikachu off to Zero, who used Heal Pulse on the injured mouse to stabilize it. “That should do it for now,” She said, handing Pikachu over to Serena and turning back towards Necrozma, “As for you…”

  “What the hell have you done?!” Riley demanded, “What did you do to him?!”

  Serena stared sorrowfully at Ash’s fallen body, holding Pikachu tightly in her arms. Yet, a part of her knew Ash was still alive. She couldn’t describe why or how she knew. She simply knew, and that knowledge was enough to keep her strong. The rest of the Pokemon, barring Hawlucha of course, took a stand beside their masters and friends, raring to save Ash.

  Zero pointed a finger at Necrozma, sparking blue electricity all throughout her body. “You must be Necrozma! Let our friend go!” The other Pokemon roared as well, sending out inklings of their own attack elements warningly as they rallied for battle.

  Riley stepped forward, flaring his cyan aura in a miniature storm of blazing blue. “So, you’re that disturbance I felt back on Iron Island. Because of you, my home was destroyed and countless lives along with it! Your time has come, Necrozma!”

  Necrozma looked down upon the group of people and Pokemon before him and laughed. “So, the cavalry has arrived then?” With the flick of his finger, Ash’s limp body was dragged across the charred ground and stopped before them. Zero quickly hunched down and began healing him as well. “You can have your worthless friend back. I’ll be sending you all down to hell shortly anyways.”

  Riley laughed dryly. “Funny. I was going to tell you the same thing.” With that, he and Lucario together charged a singular, colossal Aura Sphere. Zero, after having healed Ash’s wounds, stood up and charged her all-elemental Hyper Beam. Infernape and Braixen summoned their Blaze Abilities and began charging two Flamethrowers. Sceptile charged Solarbeam, Clefable and Sylveon charged Moonblasts, Goodra charged a Dragon Pulse, and Pangoro merely went to Riley and placed his hand atop his shoulder to allow his Aura to be drained. Talonflame perched itself next to the other Fire Types and began charging Flamethrower as well. The mysterious shadowed Pokemon placed its hands together, summoning a swirl of water beneath them. A Pokeball fell from Ash’s belt, squirming spastically. It burst, revealing Noivern whose eyes showed a berserked, vengeful frenzy for the loss of his friend. He roared savagely, with more hate oozing from every decibel, and used Boomburst with every ounce of his power.

  “THIS,” Riley bellowed, “IS THE POWER OF EARTH! YOU HAVE CAUSED TOO MANY TO SUFFER, NECROZMA! NOW IT’S YOUR TURN!”

  With a mighty collective bellow amongst the group, they fired their attacks, combining them into one, singular beam of light like before. It worked against Sabrina, so they hoped it would work here as well. The beam of light shot forward, uprooting and destroying the very ground beneath it as it went. Necrozma stood still as the attack approached. This attack held the hopes and dreams of every living being on Earth. The combined force of Earth’s mightiest warriors was merged into this attack. It was their last shot to end Necrozma’s menace. The beam of light approached Necrozma...and was promptly swatted away with the back of Necrozma’s hands like it was nothing.

  The group stared in horror as their most powerful attack sailed away into the sky and exploded. Everything they worked up to, everything they had been working up to all this time, everything they’d journeyed so far and long for was all for naught. They were rendered helpless beneath Necrozma’s grasp.

  “W-what?!” Serena stammered, stumbling backward, “He just…!”

  “That’s impossible!” Shouted Riley, “There’s no way he could have…”

  Zero stared up at Necrozma in complete and utter fear. Every inch of her body began trembling, yet she could not bring herself to move. Was this what it was like for the Pokemon in the lab as they were cornered by her?

  “How utterly pathetic,” Necrozma spat, “If this is the best of this world’s average fighters, then I can see why those other weak cretins call themselves ‘Legends’. They’re comparing themselves to bottom-line scum like you!”

  Before any one of them could even blink, Necrozma shot forward and caught Riley in the chest with his fist. Riley’s eyes shot open, bloodshot, and he coughed out a small spat of blood before being shot off into the sky and crashing down behind the group. Lucario’s eyes widened in shock, and he tried to run to his partner’s aid, but was stopped when Necrozma appeared before him and sent him sprawling across the ground with a mere flick of his finger. Then, the other Pokemon joined the fray. They collectively leapt above the dark demon, ready to attack him with everything they had. In an instant, a singular attack with such speed that it was invisible to the eye blasted them away.

  Zero was the next to attack. “Earlier, he sent Ash towards us without touching him. So, this thing must be Psychic Type!”

  “Correct,” The dark voice of Necrozma confirmed from behind Zero, making the young girl jump and whip around towards him, “Or at least from my knowledge, that is what this world would classify me as.”

  Zero cursed mentally. It was always Psychic Types when she was around, wasn’t it? Why did every enemy always have to have her one weakness?! Zero summoned a Dark Pulse in her hands, but instead of attacking Necrozma with it, she used Protect and sent that dark wave scattering across the barrier.

  “This way, you won’t be able to use Psychic attacks on me!” She boasted, “Dark Types are immune to Psychic, so your Psychic attacks won’t be able to pierce this dark barrier!”

  Necrozma chuckled darkly. “Is that right?”

  Zero growled and lurched up at Necrozma with a Crunch attack, but to her horror, she was stopped and held still in mid-air by him. “What?!”

  “Oh, it’s quite simple,” Necrozma said, spinning the helpless Zero around with his finger, “Your attacks and defenses mean nothing to me. You claim you can halt my attacks, yet you know nothing of what power I truly possess!”

  Necrozma slowly began to close his hand, crushing Zero more and more as he did so. At first, she refused to make a sound. Zero refused to allow herself to scream in the pain she felt, for it was nothing compared to what she’d already been through, and she would not allow Necrozma the satisfaction of hearing her pain. Then, she heard the sickening, deafening voice of Necrozma within her own mind.

  “Ah, you are a tough one indeed, but I have broken stronger beings than you. You think you have seen hell? Allow me to show you what hell is truly like!”

  Zero’s mind was assaulted with an array of images. The sight of entire civilizations burning to the ground, the agony of all who fell by the dark demon’s hand, the fear, the sorrow, the pain of what he has caused for millions of years coursed through every single cell of Zero’s body. Of course, he also made her feel what the Legends did when he fought them. He showed her death, made her feel it over and over and over again, but would not let her truly die, for then his fun would end.

  Zero forced her mouth shut even when inky black tears flowed down from her void-like eyes. She would not scream. She could not scream. She couldn’t allow herself to show pain. The pain she felt meant nothing compared to the pain she caused. If she screamed in pain now, it would be an insult to all the lives she ended.

  “...My, you are strong. Color me genuinely impressed. Not even one of the Legends was able to withstand that...but…” Necrozma’s crimson red eyes glinted, and a terrible laugh emanated from seemingly everywhere around Zero, “I have other ways of making you feel unending agony.”

  Like a puppet, Zero’s body was twisted in Necrozma’s grip, and she was turned towards her friends. Her arm was forcefully pointed up towards them, and without any hope for resistance, a ball of intense flames began to charge in her hand. Zero’s black eyes widened as she realized what Necrozma was planning. “No…! NO, PLEASE!”

  “You believe that they saved you from your own personal hell. What better way to thank them than to send them down to the real one yourself?” Necrozma leaned his head back, cackling like a madman, “Tell me, my dear. Is there anything more painful than seeing those you love...die?”

  Zero cried out, trying to force herself with all of her might to avert her arm, but the almighty power of Necrozma kept her arm locked in place. She could not stop it. She had no hope and no power to do so. There was nothing in this world she could possibly do to stop herself from ending the only family she had and killing her saviors.

  If Necrozma had a mouth, he would surely have been grinning. “Ah, there it is. I told you, I always have ways of making you cry out in agony. Now, finish it!”

  “No!” She roared defiantly. Though, defiant as she may feel, Zero’s body bent against her will in favor of Necrozma’s, pointing the fiery ball clean at her family without any hope of resistance. She tried to pull her arm back with her other one, but Necrozma held her firmly in place.

  “Do it!”

  “No!”

  The ball of flames had been completed. All that needed to happen now was for Zero, or rather Necrozma, to will it to be so. Zero shut her eyes, unable to bring herself to look at it, which did not go over Necrozma’s head. Zero’s eyelids were forced open. Necrozma would make her watch as she destroyed the ones who gave her new life. Then, something hit the back of Necrozma’s head.

  “L-let g-go of my f-friend!”

  A pebble had bounced off of Necrozma’s armored flesh and onto the ground uselessly. The dark demon dropped Zero for the time being, opting instead to turn around to meet whoever dared to do such a thing. Serena, completely pale with terror, faced Necrozma. She was panting for air despite not being tired in the slightest and was white as a sheet. Necrozma’s overwhelming, terrifying presence seemed to press down on every inch of her body like a weighted blanket suffocating her, but still, she forced herself to stand on her shaking legs, trembling like a leaf in an autumn wind.

  Necrozma couldn’t help but laugh at the pitiful sight before him. He placed a hand to his forehead and leaned back, laughing madly. “You cannot be serious! What are you supposed to be, hm? What hallucinatory circumstances are floating around that empty head of yours that are making you think you can issue me an order?”

  “I-I bear...n-no illusions, N-Necrozma!” She stuttered, failing to obscure her fear, “I-I cannot beat y-you...I know th-that, but…” She willed herself to stare into the eyes of the dark beast before her with a look that she intended to be fierce but was pulled back by her obvious fear, “I w-will fight! I have t-to!”

  Necrozma floated down to face her and opened his arms, welcoming her pathetic, futile attempts at whatever she was planning, if she even had a plan. Serena’s eyes widened in fear, and she subconsciously slid her foot backward as if to turn and run. She got a hold of her actions, shaking her head and attempting to glare at Necrozma, but her will was crumbling fast. It was as if she was a pillar already on the verge of collapse, trying to withstand an apocalyptic tsunami.

  She dared to look away from the demon’s crimson eyes, landing her gaze upon the various fallen Pokemon around them. Each and every one of them had been knocked out in a singular blow, and there was no way they could help her. Riley, Lucario, and Zero were in similar conditions, and though Zero was still awake, Serena doubted she would be of any help in the state she was in. Finally, her sights landed upon the unconscious body of Ash, and she pursed her lip, mustering the last of her will.

  “Ash…” She whispered aloud, “Please, give me strength…”

  She balled her hands into fists and turned her gaze back upon the monster staring back down at her. Even though he had no clear expression, Serena somehow knew that he was mocking her. She had no idea what she was going to do. She wasn’t a fighter. Anyone that could possibly fight had already been taken down instantaneously by this...thing.

  “What...are you?!” She demanded, “You’re not a Pokemon! A Pokemon could never do something like this! No Pokemon could be this cruel!” She waved her hand around herself, motioning at the surrounding remains of the town that laid in complete and utter ruin. “What benefit does this do you?!”

  Necrozma crossed his arms. “Benefit? I’ve answered this question before to one of the other peons of this planet, but since you’ve all been a rather entertaining audience and you’re all about to die anyways, I suppose I can tell you.”

  He pointed up towards the blackened, smoke-filled skies. “I am Necrozma. That much, you already know from my message earlier. I lead an army of creatures from what was once the realm of my home. They are called Ultra Beasts. Together, the Ultra Beasts and I ravage and pillage planets and civilizations for their resources, though those resources only ever go to the beasts. As for me, I am satisfied by taking a few ‘trophies’ from the inhabitants of each world.”

  Necrozma snapped his fingers, and three objects appeared. They comprised of a blue scale that looked similar to a feather, a green spike of some kind, and a ribbed blue horn. “These are the trophies I have collected from your world thus far. These were collected from the so-called ‘Legends’ of your world in our battles. And I assure you, I will have more trophies from your kind before I’m done here. You could say I’m a collector of sorts.”

  Hundreds of questions rushed to Serena’s mind. Did Necrozma just say he took on the Legendary Pokemon, and if so...did those ‘trophies’ of his mean that he killed them, or at least defeated them? If Necrozma already took down the Legendary Pokemon, what chance did they have to defeat him?

  Necrozma snapped his fingers once more, making the objects disappear into thin air. “Ah, right. You already know who and what I am, but I’ve yet to divulge with you the ‘why.’ As for why I am doing this, well, it’s quite simple really. He shrugged halfheartedly, “It’s because I’m bored and all-powerful. Here I am, the most powerful being in existence. What is there for me to do with my limitless power and possibilities? Exert it! There is no point in having power if I am not going to utilize it.”

  “But for this?!” Serena demanded, “You use your power for the mindless destruction of countless lives! It’s wrong! You can’t just-”

  “I fail to see your logic,” Necrozma interjected, “I’ve been told countless times that I cannot use my power that way and that it’s ‘wrong’ for me to do so. But who decides such things? Those with power do, for those without it have no means of saying otherwise and backing up their claims. Right and wrong are meaningless. I alone decide what I can and cannot do, and since my power has no rival, I can do anything! Everyone who has said otherwise is now nothing more than microscoping dust floating in the endless void of space.”

  “There are other ways to use your power than to destroy,” Serena countered, “You can use it to protect!”

  “So I’ve been told. Protect what exactly? The Ultra Beasts? They are nothing more than tools for my amusement. Pieces in a game I’m not even playing. Do you expect me to simply sit on a throne and do nothing but watch them scramble about in their everyday lives? What’s the point of that? I can imagine nothing more mind-numbingly mundane than that. Do you know what is truly exhilarating? Testing your power against another. There is nothing to me more satisfying than going from planet to planet, finding beings that consider themselves without equal in their power and crushing them.”

  He stared back down at Serena, making her flinch. “Of course, there’s also the likes of you. The peons among peons. The commoners. I also enjoy destroying you lot as well. Watching entire civilizations fall by the thousands is satisfying to me. So, in short, I suppose you could say my motivation is to exert my power upon all of existence. The entire universe is within my power to destroy, and I wish to make that known to all who reside within it.”

  Serena clenched her fists. “You...you’re pure evil!”

  Ash’s body twitched, and his dulled eyes opened at the sound of her voice. “...Serena…?”

  Necrozma shrugged. “Perhaps. Once one can stare down at everything else from on high, the concept of good and evil, do not matter. And if I am evil, what great force of ‘good’ is naturally out there to stop me? There is none. Good and evil are objects of a children’s game. I am above that. I am power incarnate, I decide what that power is used for, and no force in the universe exists to say otherwise...unless…” His eyes curled upward, as if he was meaning to grin, “...you are willing to try?”

  Serena creased her brows, glaring at Necrozma but also being unsure how to follow up on his challenge. All of her Pokemon were downed, as were Ash’s. No one was left but her to fight, but she was weak. Powerless, even...but if she ran, this monster before her would certainly kill her anyways along with her friends. ‘But...I can’t fight him!’ She thought, ‘What can I do, punch him?! If I run, I die and so does everyone else...and if I fight, it’ll end up the same...so I…” She grit her teeth and shut her eyes tightly, trembling. She knew the answer, but it terrified her. Death was her only result. No matter what she did, both her, and her friends would die, and there was no telling what Necrozma would do after. He’d likely go on to destroy the rest of the world...but if there was nothing she could do, then…

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  She opened her eyes once more. Necrozma was awaiting her answer patiently. The choice seemed obvious to her. She couldn’t save herself, let alone anyone else. She trembled like a leaf. Fear of death plagued her at every turn, but it was inevitable. Now, her only options were to go down fighting or go down like a coward, and if her journey with Ash taught her anything, it was to never back down in the face of fear.

  She shifted her glance down towards Ash one last time with tears flowing from her eyes freely. She wasn’t sure if it was from guilt or fear, but she didn’t try to stop them. “Thank you, Ash,” She whispered, “For everything. If it wasn’t for you, I would probably still be cooped up in my home and be terrified of the world...but you allowed me to break free from that shell and see just how beautiful it really is…” She tore her gaze from her lover’s body and warped it into a frenzied glare as she faced Necrozma. ‘I’m just sorry I couldn’t protect it...I love you, Ash…’

  Ash’s eyes regained their color and shot open as he realized the situation at hand. Against the pain in his body, he forced himself up, but fell back over when he tried to stand. “Serena, no!”

  Even amongst Serena’s fear and the overwhelming pressure and dread from Necrozma’s presence, a sliver of courage managed to shine through within the girl’s heart. She bit down on her lip, pulled back her fist, and let out one last battle cry, all that she could muster, and shot her fist forward at the dark demon.

  And of course, it availed to nothing.

  Serena was blown to the ground by an invisible pulse of energy. She landed on her side in a heap. The attack hardly hurt her, but she knew it wasn’t meant to. It was to show the staggering difference between their power and to make sure Necrozma could squeeze every last bit of fun out of this situation as he could before he finished her off. Oddly enough, a grin came to Serena’s face when she realized something.

  Necrozma gave her a questioning look “Hm? Are you trying to go out with a smile as some last-effort act of defiance? It really makes no difference to me-”

  “No, that’s not it,” Serena retorted with a small laugh that confused Necrozma even more, “I just realized something, that’s all.”

  Necrozma looked down at her curiously, intrigued by her meaning. “Oh, and what might that be?”

  Serena pointed up at him, “You’re extending this as long as you possibly can. You’re trying to draw this out! It’s because you’re getting bored, isn’t it?! You’re getting bored with conquering and killing, and so you’re trying to draw it out as long as you can so you can stave off that boredom, aren’t you?! Eventually, killing people and destroying worlds will become boring to you, since you’ve been doing it for so long, but you can’t bring yourself to think of what will happen then! When you’re bored of your own existence! That’s why you’re keeping me alive, isn’t it?! To keep that boredom away as long as you can?!”

  She laughed at him mockingly, taunting him as she believed she had uncovered Necrozma’s true motives. She believed he was fearful of his own existence. An immortal life that will eventually experience everything, and then will become pointless. Necrozma looked down upon her blankly, then chuckled darkly.

  “...Perhaps...or…” Serena was lifted up by an invisible force with her limbs stretched out. Her throat was shut, cutting off her air supply and making her choke for air. The pressure surrounding her increased a thousand-fold, slowly crushing her body by the second, “I simply wanted to extend your suffering as much as possible, so I can break you both mentally and physically before I toss your body into the flames and cast your soul down to hell!”

  Necrozma’s clutch on Serena’s throat lifted, allowing her to scream in agony as her body was slowly crushed bone by bone. It was music to Necrozma’s would-be ears. Ash, forced the paralyzing pain of his exhausted body to be silent and leapt to his feet, flaring his Aura, which was wavering between cyan and yellow. It was then that the mysterious, shadowy figure approached him.

  “Who are you?!” Ash asked the figure. As it walked towards the light of the flames, Ash was able to get a glimpse as to what it looked like and gasped. Its body was mostly comprised of a bluish color scheme with an amphibian-like body. A large, pink tongue surrounded its neck like a scarf.

  “...Greninja…” Ash uttered in disbelief. A grin soon came to the boy’s face, and he embraced his Pokemon friend in a hug. But, it couldn’t last. There were more pressing matters at hand, and both of them knew it. “So, you’re finally back, huh?” Greninja grinned back at him and nodded.

  “Alright!” Ash cheered, “Then, let’s sync up for old time’s sake!”

  Ash and Greninja closed their eyes. Their minds began to sync with one another until finally, their brain waves became completely identical, and Greninja transformed. Black patterns appeared around the sides of Greninja’s head, an x-shaped scar appeared on his leg, along with a red cross-shaped pattern on his head. Finally, a singular large shuriken made entirely from water manifested on the ninja Pokemon’s back. Ash, meanwhile, gained a tremendous surge of Aura as their bond deepened. Their bond allowed their life force to be shared along with their power, and as the two of them clasped their hands together at their sides, their Auras mixed, giving both of them a new height of power and their bond was stronger than ever.

  The two of them pointed at the dark demon holding Serena with a savage set of glares. “Necrozma!” Ash bellowed, “You’re done for! Let Serena go!”

  Necrozma turned his head over towards the duo, his crimson eye glinting menacingly as the flames of the hell he created reflected through them. “You again? Truly, you have no idea when you’re outmatched, do you? But very well. I’ll accommodate your demands.” The dark invader let out a chuckle that quickly turned into a mad cackle. Ash’s heart dropped as Necrozma hoisted Serena above his head and threw her into the flames. But then, a blur rushed up from the ground and caught her safely. Zero had regained control over her body at last.

  “I got her!” Zero reassured Ash, “I’ll keep her alive, you just focus on killing him!”

  Ash nodded to her with a grateful smile. “Thanks, Zero! Don’t worry…” His smile faded, and he and Greninja stepped forward towards Necrozma with a deathly glare in their eyes. “We’ll make him pay…”

  Necrozma extended his arms outward, daring him to try. “By all means, boy, I’ll be happy to finish the job and send you to meet that bird creature of yours. How pathetically it died, trying to save its’ master! I’m sure it will be disappointed in you once it sees you again, knowing that its’ sacrifice was useless!”

  Ash growled furiously. “His name…” Ash and Greninja flared their raging Auras, sending a cascade of yellow and cyan outward in a raging storm of crackling flames. They raised their arms upward, forming a massive Aura Sphere above their heads… “WAS HAWLUCHA!” and fired it at the demon.

  Necrozma backhanded the ball of energy, dispersing it into nothingness. Ash and Greninja rocketed forward from behind the Aura Sphere and shot their fists forward at the invader, but was met with a barrier that impeded their attack. They quickly switched gears, and Ash held out his arms so that Greninja could propel himself off of them and land behind Necrozma. Ash summoned an Aura Sphere on one side while Greninja pulled the giant Water Shuriken from his back.

  Together, they plunged their attacks forward into Necrozma, who didn’t even budge from their attacks. Ash cursed, but remained hopeful. As long as they drew breath, there was still a chance. There was still one, fleeting chance for survival...no...for victory. Even the smallest chance possible was more than enough for them.

  “Night Slash!” Ash ordered, concentrating Aura into his arm to mirror the attack. Greninja nodded and charged his own arm with crackling, Dark-Type energy. They leapt backwards, pulled their arms behind them, and rocketed towards Necrozma. Just before they impacted him, Ash pulled left while Greninja pulled right, slicing at Necrozma’s sides and pivoting around him so they couldn’t be caught in a close-range counterattack.

  Yet again, their attacks didn’t even put a scratch on Necrozma, and he merely crossed his arms to await whatever they could come up next. He chuckled smugly, sure that nothing they could do could harm him. The duo rushed forward, slicing upwards with their attacks this time so that they flew into the air after hitting Necrozma, then turned back down and fired an Aura Sphere and a Water Shuriken down and creating a large patch of smoke as they impacted the dark demon.

  Ash and Greninja leapt out of the smoke to see their handiwork. Necrozma dispelled the smoke with but the wave of his hands and rushed towards the two of them. Their bodies instinctively bolted to their sides just in time to avoid a punch from the leader of the Ultra Beasts. Ash looked awed, over what he’d just been able to do. “I dodged it!” He uttered, his mouth gaping. His surprised look curled upward into a grin, realizing that he might just stand a chance after all.

  “All right!” Ash cheered, flipping over in the air to land back onto his feet, “We might just be able to pull this off after all!” Greninja nodded confidently back to Ash, awaiting his next order. It had been so long since they had conjoined their minds that an ecstasy born from the deprivation of that power, combined with the new power of Ash’s Aura being shared between them, gave them an entirely new battle sense.

  Necrozma turned back around to the two of them with widened, flabbergasted eyes. “What?! That’s impossible!” The dark being’s shock was quick to turn to fury, and he charged a white ball of energy between his fingertips, raising over his head menacingly. “I refuse to believe it! There’s no way pathetic cretins like you could dodge my attack!” With a savage cry of rage, Necrozma shot the ball forward towards the two of them. Once again, Ash and Greninja were able to dodge it, allowing it to fly harmlessly into the sky, where it disappeared.

  Necrozma watched the ball soar into the smoke clouds and disappear with a look of pure horror planted upon his face. “N-no…” He whimpered, shaking his head to try and deny the sight before him, “It’s not possible! T-this isn’t real—this isn’t happening!”

  “Oh, it’s real alright,” Ash said as he and Greninja held out their arms and charged an Aura Sphere and a Water Shuriken between them respectively in sync, “I heard what you told Serena...you conquer countless worlds by the millions, and you call it fun! Well no more! I won’t allow my world to meet that same fate! Greninja and I will stop you right here, right now!”

  Necrozma’s face contorted from fear to rage once more, “So, you want to play hero, boy?! I’ve slain countless self-styled heroes before, and you will not be the last!” Necrozma took off like a rocket and, before either Greninja or Ash could react, they were caught in a clothesline attack in his arms. They winced, expecting a brutal force to accompany the attack, but were pleasantly surprised to find that they hardly felt any pain at all.

  Grinning, the two of them dug their heels into the dirt and were able to stop Necrozma in his tracks. Without giving the dark demon time to react, they hoisted him over their shoulders and hurled him into the sky. Seething, Necrozma righted himself in the air and fired a barrage of lasers from his fingertips down upon the two of them. Thinking quickly, Greninja created another large Water Shuriken and held it over their heads. The lasers pelted their makeshift shield like rain, but were unable to break through.

  Greninja and Ash nodded to one another, and together they shot the gigantic Water Shuriken up at Necrozma. The Leader of the Ultra Beasts’ eyes shot open, and he hastened the rate at which he fired, but still, his efforts were useless. The Water Shuriken plunged through Necrozma’s lasers as if they were scraps of tin foil. Necrozma let out a terrified scream that was cut off by Ash and Greninja’s attack impacting the dark beast, exploding in a cloud of smoke and rain.

  Serena awoke to the feeling of water drizzling down upon her face. She opened her eyes and placed a hand to her aching head. Zero was huddled over her, using Heal Pulse to undo the damage of Necrozma. “What happened?” She asked the artificial girl. Zero merely looked up at the rain and smiled. “Ash and that frog Pokemon of his—I believe it was called “Greninja”— are battling Necrozma as we speak, and it appears that they are winning.”

  “Really?!” Serena’s eyes shot open like dinner plates, and she attempted to jump back onto her feet. It was too much for her, apparently, and she was quickly forced to sit back down as a headache began ripping at her mind.

  “Don’t push yourself,” Zero told her, “Necrozma didn’t do as much damage to you as the rest of us, but you still shouldn’t move around too much right now.” Serena nodded, laying back down and admiring the makeshift rainfall.

  “So, Ash is really doing this then?” Serena asked again, “He’s winning?”

  “As far as I can tell,” Replied Zero, “Yes, he’s winning.”

  “I’m not too sure…”

  Zero and Serena turned their gazes towards the source of the voice and found Riley, who was staring off in a direction, likely towards wherever Ash and Greninja were battling the dark demon. To his side, Lucario stepped forward as well, taking his place next to his partner as always. In fact, all the other Pokemon had woken up as well, and they were stumbling around, clutching the area Necrozma struck them.

  “Necrozma...I can’t sense his presence at all.” He shook his head. “It’s similar to that Adam guy from yesterday...but more...unsettling.”

  “Huh?” Serena asked him, “What do you mean?”

  “It’s like Necrozma’s not alive at all,” Riley answered, “With Adam, it’s just that his life force was too weak for me to properly sense him...but here...when I try to sense Necrozma, I can’t see anything at all. No life force to speak of...but that’s not even the worst part.”

  Riley’s lip curled downward into a deep frown. “Since I can’t sense Necrozma’s Aura, I can’t sense his intentions either. I can sense Ash, and while his power right now is indeed surprisingly large…” His vision flashed back to the group’s combined attack. Necrozma deflected it easily, and then Riley was taken down with a single punch. “...I don’t think Ash is really winning this…”

  Necrozma let out a garbled, choked grunt as he fell down to the Earth once more. Trembling, he balled his prismatic hands into fists and pounded the ground in frustration. “Damn it!” He cursed, “How...how can this be happening?! I am Necrozma! The supreme being in the universe! I am he who laid countless civilizations to waste with but the flick of my finger! I should be crushing you like the insect you are!”

  Ash stepped forward towards the fallen Necrozma with a confident grin. He and Greninja flared their Aura, which had once again become a cyan blue with only mere remnants of its yellow form still being apparent. “So, ready to give up yet?” Ash asked him.

  Necrozma clawed furiously at the ground and leapt back up into the air. “NEVER!” He raised his hands, pointing his palms skyward. White plasmatic electricity crackled between his fingers like lightning rods, and soon, a colossal ball of white energy appeared above them. Bolts of electricity routinely burst from the ball, tearing at the earth beneath it. One of them appeared in front of Ash and Greninja, forcing them to shield their faces.

  “Fools!” Boomed Necrozma, “I am invincible! Nothing can possibly harm my indestructible body! I commend you for pushing me this far, but it amounts to nothing in the end! This is all the power I have! NOW DIE!” The black demon roared with fury and hurled the colossal ball of energy down towards the two peons who dared to challenge his conquest.

  Greninja and Ash looked apprehensive about the attack coming their way. They turned to one another, but since their minds were linked, they already knew what the other was going to say anyways. They grinned at each other, bumped their fists together, and leapt up at the ball of energy with their own. Their swirling Aura met with the overwhelming raw power of Necrozma’s full might, sending an array of sparks flying in every direction.

  The duo of Man and Pokemon grunted upon impact and winced. The energy burned at their skin by simply being near them, so every second they remained in contact with the ball of energy was excruciating. Yet still, they pushed forward. They had already lost one friend, and who knows how many people died to this monster ,with what he’s done to the Orange Islands and the burned town they were currently fighting in.

  “This cannot continue, Necrozma!” Ash roared, “I won’t let it!”

  With all of their combined might, Ash and Greninja managed to plunge into the ball of energy. Seeing this, Necrozma’s eyes widened in fear for a moment, but he pushed even more power into the ball. Ash and Greninja flinched for a moment, but ultimately, they were able to withstand the increase in the ball’s power and retorted with their own. Digging deep inside themselves, Ash and Greninja unleashed every last ounce of their power and completely tore through the ball, sending its’ energy blasting off into every direction in an array of white streaks.

  The demon who had been the bane of entire galaxies, the monster who had wiped out entire civilizations for his own amusement, Necrozma, who had ruled the universe for millions of years and tormented all who lived in it for the entirety of that time without a care in the world now looked absolutely horrified as he watched the last of his power be blown away into cinders by a mere child and a frog. He couldn’t even bring out any words anymore. He was at a complete loss.

  From behind one of the white streaks trailing up into the sky, Ash and Greninja appeared with a final attack of their own. With their hands held to the sky, Aura and Water mixed together, spinning around in circles like a razor blade. The combination attack sent small, white little glowing orbs of dewdrop spinning around the attack like lightning-bugs. A warbled sound resembling a bell and a spinning metal emanated from the attack.

  Without thinking twice, Necrozma rushed to the ground on his hands and knees, bowing to Ash and Greninja as a last-ditch attempt for survival. “Please! Don’t kill me! Please, I’ll do anything! I’ll quit my wicked ways! I’ll leave this planet forever! I swear, I’ll never harm another soul ever again! Please, just spare my life!”

  The response he received was the razor blade of Aura and Water becoming larger, causing him to shriek in fear. “As if I would believe that! The likes of you would stab us in the back the moment we showed mercy, and speaking of mercy, when was the last time you ever showed it to anyone?! This is the end, Necrozma! Aura-Shuriken!”

  Ash and Greninja launched the attack downward at the fallen demon, who scarcely got the chance to scream before he was overtaken by the attack completely, disappearing into the swirling light. A colossal explosion ensued, but it was one of water and light, not fire. As Ash and Greninja fell back down to the ground amidst the glowing rain, they reveled proudly in their thoughts.

  “We won…” Ash announced. Greninja nodded back to him. As they made contact with the ground, their Aura dispersed, and Greninja was reverted back into his original form, making them collapse onto their knees in exhaustion that had just now caught up to them now that their job was finished at last. Ash’s ears perked, and he turned to his left. Serena and the others were running toward them.

  Ash gave them a smile held back slightly by his fatigue, and he raised his hand to show them that they were victorious at last. Relief overcame the oncoming group, and they couldn’t help but allow bright big grins to occupy their expressions. Serena clobbered Ash in an embrace, squeezing him tightly while Greninja stared blankly at them. Pikachu came over, patting him on the back.

  “Thank Arceus you’re alright!” Serena exclaimed, “I don’t know what I would have done if you…”

  Ash laughed, embracing her as well and patting her hair to reconcile her, “Hey, it’s alright! We won!”

  Serena lightly pounded her fist on Ash’s shoulder, “Don’t laugh! I was worried about you...but…” She pulled her head away from Ash’s to stare him in the eye. Her own were shimmering, threatening happy tears, “...You’re right. You won...and we’re all still alive…!”

  Ash’s smile disappeared, and he took out Hawlucha’s Pokeball. Noivern flew down beside him and, seeing the Pokeball, began to weep for his fallen friend and mentor. Ever since Noivern had first been born into this world, Hawlucha was by his side. Hawlucha was his mentor, his secondary trainer, and, most importantly of all, the first friend he had ever had. Every step Noivern had taken, Hawlucha had taken another right beside him. Without him, Noivern didn’t know what to do but weep. Ash allowed his own tears to flow for him as well, putting a compassionate and knowing hand on Noivern’s wing.

  “...Not everyone…”

  The rest of the Pokemon gathered around Ash and Noivern. As they noticed that Hawlucha was not among their ranks, along with the reactions of Ash and Noivern, they realized what the Pokeball signified and hung their heads. The Pokemon Ash had ventured with through Kalos were hit pretty hard by the loss, and pretty soon, they began to weep for their fallen comrade as well, moving through the rest of the crowd to embrace Ash and Noivern together.

  Serena’s gaze became sorrowful as well. As someone who had also journeyed alongside Ash and, by extension, Hawlucha, the loss of the Pokemon was painful to say the least. “Oh, Ash..”

  Riley and Lucario gazed upon the sorrowful scene with hardened faces. It wasn’t to say that they didn’t care. Of course, they cared. Their very purpose was to protect all Pokemon, and to have failed to save a Pokemon of their friend made their hearts ache. For now, though, they had more pressing issues.

  ‘Is he well and truly gone?’ Lucario asked Riley.

  ‘If you don’t know, then your guess is as good as mine,’ Replied Riley, ‘Of course, neither of us can sense Necrozma either way, so we’ll have no way of knowing.’

  Lucario narrowed his eyes, ‘Until he reappears and kills us all instantly, that is. You and I both know he went down far too easily. Go tell the others about this.’

  Riley shook his head, ‘Look at them. I can’t tell them their efforts were likely for nothing right now!’

  ‘They’ll look worse dead,’ Lucario shot back, ‘Now go, tell them we need to leave!’

  Riley rolled his head and sighed, ‘You’re right. All right, I’ll tell them.’

  “Hey, Ash!” Riley called over, “It’s still not safe here-”

  He was cut off by a sudden violent tremor in the ground that nearly made him tip over. The others, however, weren’t quite as lucky. The tremor completely knocked them off their feet, causing them to collapse on top of one another.

  “What the?!” Exclaimed Ash.

  “What’s happening?!” Screamed Serena.

  The very ground beneath their feet began to crumble away, falling into a seemingly-endless void and leaving the group standing on one, singular platform surrounded by nothing. Their platform was dislodged from the ground with a jolt that made them stagger and was dragged up into the dark, smoke-filled sky, accompanied by a dark laughter all too familiar to them.

  Ash’s pupils shrank in fear, and a wave of choking dread worse than the smoke surrounding them came over him once more. A pulse of wind blew the smoke backwards, making it spiral around the flying platform, and out from the smoke came Necrozma, staring down at Ash in amusement.

  “What do you say, boy? My acting skills are impeccable, are they not?”

  Ash clenched his teeth and hands to the point his fingers dug into his hands. “YOU!” He roared furiously, “How are you still alive?! I watched you disappear!”

  “A mere teleportation trick,” Necrozma told him, wagging his finger around in a circle to further show his point, “Come now, you didn’t honestly believe you could have killed me, did you?” Before Ash could retort, Necrozma disappeared and reappeared in front of him, grabbed him by the throat, and flew up above the others. “You are nothing.”

  “ASH, NO!” Serena screamed, reaching out uselessly at him as he was dragged above. A few Pokemon began charging attacks to fire at Necrozma to free him, but Greninja quickly stopped them, telling them that they would hit Ash as well. They begrudgingly halted their attacks, scowling helplessly. Noivern, however, was not persuaded so easily. After the death of his closest friend, he was not about to let the man who raised him alongside Hawlucha die as well.

  With a savage screech, Noivern rocketed up at Necrozma and shot open his jaw to try and clamp down on Necrozma’s arm. What exactly it would do to the monster that killed his best friend didn’t concern him. The only thoughts in Noivern’s mind were to free his friend and kill this bastard. As he came in for the attack, he bounced off a barrier that Necrozma had created. Noivern roared savagely once more and blasted at the barrier with a Dragon Pulse attack. Without moving, Necrozma turned his eyes towards Noivern and batted him back to the ground with an invisible pulse of energy. “Sit down, pet. I’ll kill you in a moment.”

  He turned his cruel gaze back upon the boy he had between his fingertips. “As for you…” He increased his grip slightly, but it was enough to slowly choke the life out of Ash, making him squirm uselessly in Necrozma’s grasp. “You couldn’t have honestly believed you had even the slightest chance against me, did you? If so, either my acting skills are better than I thought, or you’re a bigger imbecile than I could have imagined. I’m thinking the latter option.”

  Ash tried to glare at him as some sign of resistance, but his fear betrayed his anger. Instead of the defiant glare Ash intended, he gave Necrozma some kind of one-eyed cringing look.

  “Hmph. Your attempts at rebellion are pitiful. Merely holding you in my grasp disgusts me more than words can describe. Still, you did manage to impress me. When I pulled out the old begging-for-my-life card, these ‘heroes’ usually fall for it, leaving me the perfect opportunity to stab them in the back.” He laughed, loosening his grip on Ash’s throat slightly. “But not you! No, you took the opportunity and used it to its fullest, finishing me off when I was weak and vulnerable! I love it! So, because you were so entertaining, I’ll allow you to die with your friends.” He dropped Ash from his grasp, eliciting a gasp from Serena. Sceptile quickly hopped off the ground and caught him, but to describe him as safe would be inaccurate to say the least. Necrozma floated down towards them, but instead of engaging them, he floated back towards the edge of the platform and put his finger into the black cyclone of smoke surrounding them. Immediately, the smoke lit up and bright orange flames took their place, spiraling around the group.

  Ash and the others gaped up in horror, and the realization that their possible escape route had disappeared terrified them. Their only option now was to stand and face Necrozma, but the moment they did, they were blasted by another invisible pulse of energy and sent sprawling onto their backs. “Your time has run out,” Necrozma announced. He snapped his fingers, and the fiery cyclone began to close in gradually, destroying the parts of the platform it made contact with. Serena backed up towards the center, marginally escaping having her foot, be consumed by the flames. The others steadily followed suit, but they were running out of room and fast. Zero took it upon herself to leap up at Necrozma with a Night Slash attack, but was quickly batted back down onto the platform by a halfhearted backhand from him.

  “Your resistance means nothing. You should feel lucky that I am allowing you all to die with one another instead of casting you into the fire one by one.”

  Ash rushed to his feet and was met with another invisible pulse of energy. Yet, he was able to stand his ground this time, or at least not fall back down. Another pulse hit him, forcing him to bend his knees. He winced, baring his teeth but not falling. He raised his arm up at Necrozma and fired a weak, one-handed Aura Sphere that barely had any form to it. Of course, it was dispersed by him immediately. Ash was hit with a third pulse that nearly forced him to the ground, yet he remained standing. He was hit with a fourth. Then a fifth, and a sixth, and a seventh. More and more of them assaulted Ash by the second, and each one forced him closer and closer to the ground. Even he didn’t know what he was trying to accomplish. Some kind of last-minute act of rebellion, and it was going about as successfully as the other ones did. Ash was finally forced to his knees, and he faced towards the ground, his hat shadowing his eyes.

  The Pokemon shut their eyes, awaiting the end. Zero summoned a Protect around them, but the flames swirling around them at impossibly-high speeds shredded her barrier to pieces like paper. She tried another one, holding it together with all of her might. Still, it meant nothing. The barrier, even though it remained there, was forced to close in as the swirling fire did. Riley and Lucario bowed their head and accepted failure. Serena grabbed hold of Ash in a tight hug and closed her eyes. Pikachu hopped into Ash’s lap and closed his eyes as well. Ash didn’t move, didn’t speak, didn’t even think. He knelt to Necrozma’s unbreakable power and awaited the end.

  “Farewell, Earth-dwellers.”

  Necrozma clasped his hand shut, ushering the flaming cyclone to close in as well.

  Then, a golden ray appeared that completely eradicated the flames, letting the sun appear once more to shine upon the land Necrozma reduced to cinders. The group shielded their eyes from the light. As the ray faded, Arceus appeared in its place, surrounded by a stream of golden-white energy that bounced around Arceus’s body like a solar flare would with its star.

  “I should have come here after all,” He spoke, turning down to face Ash, “You did well to last so long against him, but this is my battle now.” Before Ash and the others could reply, they were surrounded by a white glow and whisked away into the sky. He turned back towards the black demon with a glare that practically seeped with unending fury. “As for you…”

  Necrozma would have been smirking down at the God of Pokemon if he had the facial structure for it. “This day is a gift that really does just keep on giving, isn’t it? After the fodder comes the father.” The invader floated down to meet Arceus face to face, extending his arms outward as if he was inviting in a guest. “Why, hello again, Arceus! I hadn’t expected to see you again until my grand arrival at Goldenrod City!”

  “There will be no grand arrival,” Hissed Arceus, “For your reign ends here and now! You’ve taken more than enough lives!”

  “Hmph,” Remarked Necrozma with a shrug, “Quite frankly, I beg to differ. I’ve been keeping my reign quite strong for the past few million years, my good friend, and I’m quite intent on keeping it going.”

  “That is not for you to decide!” Arceus stamped down upon the air beneath him, sending a golden pulse of energy dashing across the skies. “For the lives you have taken, Necrozma, I, Arceus, will personally make you face my Judgement!”

  Necrozma chuckled and crossed his arms arrogantly. If this false god wanted action, then he would be happy to oblige. “Not for me to decide? I tire of being told the same things over and over again. Every time someone has told me that, I planted their corpse headfirst into the ground. Tell me, Arceus: You could not defeat me or even scratch me the last time we clashed. What makes you so confident in your abilities now?”

  “You fled,” Arceus taunted, “Had you stayed around, I would have smited your wretched soul!”

  “Big talk, coming from the guy who outright admitted you had no chance against me,” Necrozma retorted.

  Arceus faltered for a brief moment but was quick to regain his composure. “What madness do you speak of?! I recall saying nothing of the sort, seeing how blatantly untrue that statement is!”

  “You’re a terrible liar,” Necrozma said, tapping the side of his head with his index finger, “I can read minds, remember? I see your every thought, action, and memory. I even saw that adorable little moment you had with your sons! When five days passes, I’ll be sure to-”

  “You will do NOTHING!” Arceus flared his divine, golden Aura, sending wave after wave of white and gold bursts of energy off in every direction. The clouds surrounding the two of them were completely obliterated by the assaulting force, but Necrozma was completely unperturbed. “I told you, Necrozma, your end has come! For the lives you have stolen...for the children of mine that you slayed..!” Arceus’ fury-filled crimson eyes met with Necrozma’s amused gaze. “I have judged you and sentenced you to death!”

  “...Very well…” Necrozma uncrossed his arms. “I was planning on saving your death for the grand war I had in store in five days’ time, but if you’re so persistent on dying, who am I to deny you?”

  With a singular finger, Necrozma summoned a colossal ball of crackling red plasma above his head. In mere seconds, it blotted out the sky. He pointed down towards Arceus, and the ball followed his command, racing towards the Alpha Pokemon. The mere presence of the ball sent the land below into chaos. The platform Ash and the others were standing on previously was destroyed by the force of the wind alone, and what was left of the town was completely flattened.

  Arceus closed his eyes to concentrate for a moment, and the golden ring surrounding his abdomen turned into a dark, purple color. He raced towards the ball, surrounding himself in a golden-purple hue, and shot forward an array of arrows that tore the orb to pieces and surrounded Necrozma.

  “Don’t think you can use the same trick as before on me again!” Arceus bellowed, “I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO ESCAPE!” The purple arrows plunged into Necrozma by the thousands. A series of violent explosions ensued with each arrow, but from inside the fiery cloud, a storm of white lasers emerged that destroyed the arrows.

  A black prismatic hand dispelled the accompanying cloud of smoke, revealing Necrozma to be completely unharmed. “Useless.” Arceus scowled and changed forms again, making his ring become a bright yellow. Waves of plasmatic electricity were unleashed from Arceus’ body and tore after Necrozma, who soared away from them. The black demon swerved and spun around each electric wave, deftly dodging them with ease and chuckling all the while.

  Necrozma dipped down towards the ground below, ushering the electric pulses honing in on him to follow him. Just before each one attempted to strike him, he sidestepped through the air, causing a chain of explosions as he flew just above the ground. He lurched up towards Arceus’ underside with the remaining electric pulses in tow close behind and pulled back his fist. In turn, Arceus created a barrier around himself to block the incoming attack, but just as the dark demon was about to plant his fist into the shield, he phased through it, and Arceus’ own attack that was chasing Necrozma ended up crashing violently into himself.

  “Come on, that’s the oldest trick in the book!” Necrozma taunted with an accompanying laugh. Though, as the smoke around Arceus cleared away, he was revealed to be completely unharmed and sporting a new, light-brown ring in place of the yellow one. “Oh…?” An intrigued Necrozma spoke, “So you have some backbone after all.”

  Arceus flicked back his head to rid it of the dust from the smoke. “Come now, Necrozma. Did you truly believe I could be harmed by my own attacks?”

  “Fair enough. Now, back to it then…”

  Necrozma blitzed at Arceus and blasted a savage punch into the Alpha Pokemon’s face, but to his genuine surprise, Arceus withstood the attack and stood his ground. From Arceus’ forehead came five orange lasers that closed around into Necrozma and merged into one, swallowing the dark demon up in its grasp and sending him flying into the sky. Necrozma burst out of the side of the laser, staring up at it as it sailed into the atmosphere, and then back down to Arceus with a look Arceus could only describe as some kind of warped euphoria.

  “You sly old dog, you actually managed to catch me off guard for a second!”

  Arceus neglected to respond, instead opting to change his ring to a bright red color. Pillars of flame erupted around himself, swirling around him and warping into the shape of a ball. With a roar, Arceus shot the ball forward up at Necrozma, who backhanded it in response. Or at least, he tried to. Right before the ball collided with him, it split apart into several smaller orbs, closed itself around Necrozma, and exploded violently.

  Necrozma burst outward from the explosion and raced down at Arceus with his fist pulled back. Arceus’s ring switched to a light purple color and, to Necrozma’s surprise, was able to dodge the attack. When Necrozma tried to scan Arceus’ mind to find out how he had done this, he encountered tremendous resistance and found himself unable to do so. He couldn’t help but laugh at the whole situation.

  “And just what is so funny about this?!” Demanded Arceus.

  “I’m impressed, is all,” Necrozma replied, “I haven’t fought like this in thousands of years! But now, I’m turning up the heat, so try not to disappoint me!”

  Necrozma flexed his arms, and the crystals protruding from them flashed red for a split second. Before Arceus could blink, Necrozma raced up at him and delivered a punch to Arceus’s face that sent him spiraling through the air. In turn, Arceus righted himself, and fired a Hyper Beam at Necrozma, who barrel-rolled out of harm’s way, flying up at the Alpha Pokemon and hurling another punch his way that sent him careening into the sky.

  Arceus growled in frustration, turned his ring back to its original gold color, and charged down towards Necrozma. Necrozma’s arm-crystal flashed red for a split second once more, while Arceus’ gold Aura intensified to the point, a barrier had formed around him. Their clash was nigh-cataclysmic, sending waves of energy tearing through the sky. The ground far below them was being torn apart by the winds that ensued from the force of their clash. Around the dueling gods, flares of violent flames and plasma burst from them and swirled around them, destroying the very oxygen itself around them.

  “That’s right, Arceus! Show me the full extent of your might!”

  “I’LL SCATTER YOUR REMAINS DOWN TO THE LAST ATOM!”

  The two deities were forced back as their colliding forces became unstable, but they quickly engaged one another once more. Necrozma shot yet another punch at Arceus while the Alpha Pokemon surrounded itself in a golden light and clashed into his adversary. They swerved around in the air, colliding briefly with one another time after time as they raced back towards the ground below.

  The two of them impacted the land, blasting up an enormous wave of dust and rock into the air, which they quickly burst out of, blitzing around one another and sending sparks up as they impacted each other at speeds faster than sight could perceive. Necrozma shot a small white laser from his palms towards Arceus, which he dispelled with the mere flick of his head. The God of all Pokemon, in turn, fired an array of Hyper Beams from thin air around himself.

  The dark demon lurched forward, using his large arm as a shield as he plunged through the lasers and delivered a sharp uppercut into Arceus’ neck, making him lurch over for a short moment. That short moment was all Necrozma needed to follow up, and he pumped back both of his fists. His crystals sparked red for a split second, and before Arceus could move, he was assaulted at every angle by a flurry of punches from Necrozma.

  Even as the deity Pokemon felt pieces of his body start to shatter with each punch, he refused to show weakness to this monster that had taken the lives of so many. His eyes glinted for but a flash in time, and from Arceus’ body came an overwhelmingly-massive golden blast. Every angle around Arceus was consumed in an instant. Trees were atomized, the ground was disintegrated, the sky for miles became blindingly bright, as if a secondary sun had just been born upon Earth. Necrozma was overtaken by the blast, and he tried to shield himself with his arms to stand his ground.

  “You’re pretty good, Arceus,” He commended, “But I, Necrozma, have no equal!”

  Necrozma shot his arms out to his side, splitting the colossal golden wave in twain and sending’ the blast of energy flying past him on either side, exposing Arceus. Necrozma cracked his neck, chuckled darkly, and rocketed towards Arceus, delivering a devastating downward blow with both of the demon’s hands clasped together. The golden, all-consuming wave was cut off by the skull-shattering attack, and the ground beneath the two of them warped like a disturbed liquid.

  A sea of dirt and rock erupted up from the ground around the two dueling gods for over a mile on all sides, sending it skyward. Arceus shook his head to rid himself of the dizziness Necrozma’s blow had dealt him, along with a throbbing headache. From his perspective, he was in the middle of a void where chunks of rock blotted out almost all light as it was sent careening into the atmosphere around them. Somehow, even more rage erupted from within him than before. The land would never be the same after this. Whatever was left of New Bark Town was flying above him as nothing more than chunks of wood and metal.

  “NECROZMA!” Bellowed the deity.

  As if on cue, Necrozma rushed down at him from below, with only the crystals on his arm to indicate his presence amidst the darkness. Arceus fired a golden, swirling beam of light from the tip of his forehead up at Necrozma, managing to stop him in his tracks for a moment until the black beast pushed forward, making the beam curl outward. Arceus roared, pushing his power to its absolute limit. The golden beam overtook Necrozma completely, but he jumped out of the attack and blitzed down towards his adversary.

  Their momentary impact caused a ripple in the rising pillar of stone surrounding them, and they quickly pushed off one another. Necrozma lit up the tip of his finger and sliced through the air, causing a horizontal laser to rush towards Arceus. In response, Arceus summoned a barrier and plunged straight through the oncoming attack and into Necrozma. To the white deity’s shock, Necrozma caught Arceus’s barrier and pressed into it with his claws until it burst, leaving the Alpha Pokemon completely defenseless to Necrozma’s next attack.

  Necrozma caught Arceus by the throat, to which Arceus unleashed a barrage of white arrows into him. Yet, it availed to nothing. Necrozma held Arceus in a griplock and placed his free hand to Arceus’ face. A crimson light blasted out from the column of stone, making them drop back down to the ground in a hailstorm of meteors. Arceus flew out from the falling stones and impacted the ground nearby on his side. He winced in pain. Necrozma’s attack had left a ghastly burn mark on the side of his face, blackening a small portion of it. Necrozma, meanwhile, appeared before him without a single scratch.

  Arceus’ rage boiled over, and he roared, sending out a burst of golden energy that atomized the surrounding area completely. The deity Pokemon tore out of the golden attack with Necrozma in hot pursuit. Arceus fired a ball of white energy down towards his pursuer, to which Necrozma backhanded and dispelled the concentrated energy without effort, barreling into Arceus with a violent boom. Frustration began to make Arceus’ blood boil, and he blasted out a small golden pulse to distance himself from Necrozma.

  The demon brought his arm up to block the incoming attack with ease and cackled as he tore forwards towards Arceus once more. Arceus raised his head skyward, shooting a ball of light into the sky and then quickly bringing his head downward, causing a pillar of light to shoot down from the heavens and collide with Necrozma. The dark demon was blasted downward, but quickly destroyed the laser with a pulse of his own energy and raced back up to Arceus again. His chilling laughter hadn’t faded in the slightest amidst this.

  Necrozma barreled into Arceus’ stomach, making him double over in pain, and grabbed onto his hind legs. He began spinning Arceus around, then hurled him up farther into the sky. Quickly chasing after his adversary, Necrozma blitzed up towards him with a punch, to which Arceus, thinking quickly, used the spinning to his advantage and fired a golden laser that blasted into Necrozma’s side, impeding his onslaught.

  Arceus righted himself, shook off the mild dizziness, and summoned his power to the center of Arceus’ forehead. Arceus began drawing power from everything around himself, turning the very molecules surrounding them, into energy for his use, and fired an enormous white laser down at Necrozma that sent him, careening down into the ground. Arceus winced, as the fight was beginning to wear him down, but still, he pushed on. He roared mightily and summoned as much power as he could to finally smite the demon before him.

  “YOU’RE FINISHED, NECROZMA!” Arceus bellowed, “THIS IS THE FULL EXTENT OF MY POWER! TASTE MY JUDGEMENT!”

  Arceus dug deep within himself, summoning a level of power he couldn’t remember ever needing to use. The golden beam intensified, sending the land around it for miles blasting backward. The trees were incinerated. The rocks were turned to dust. Nothing of this world could withstand the full might of Arceus’ power, yet still, he used even more. Alongside the golden laser came a mass of shimmering white arrows that swirled down around the divine attack.

  Arceus utilized every last inch of power within himself to blast down fiery divine wrath upon Necrozma and everything surrounding him. Necrozma, who had destroyed the lives of thousands of his children and countless more across the universe. He who desecrated the lives of the Legends and everything they stood for, using him as his twisted plaything. It could not continue. Arceus would not let it!

  “HRRRRRAAAAUUUUUUUGGGHH!!”

  Arceus’ final attack was intensified even further, turning the sky itself into a blinding golden hue. Then, finally, it began to waver as Arceus’ power was drawn to its’ last. The brilliant golden beam closed in on itself and slowly faded away until, finally, it had died down completely and left what was left of the land in a state of silence.

  Arceus nearly fell from exhaustion, but managed to keep himself airborne. He panted heavily for air, exhaustion seeping its way into every inch of his body. He dared to open his eyes and witnessed the sheer level of destruction he’d caused. Luckily, he had the insight to teleport every living creature, barring plants, far away from the area. Yet even still, he felt a pang of guilt at the destruction. It reminded him far too much of what was left of Mewtwo’s home after Rayquaza had dueled Necrozma on his own. Alongside the guilt, he felt a shred of relief and even pride. Though it had been costly, and New Bark Town.along with its’ surroundings would not be repaired for thousands or even millions of years, stopping Necrozma was a price well worth the toll.

  “At last…” Rasped Arceus, “He...is defeated… I had enough power to defeat him after all…” Of course, the Legends might not be quite as happy to hear about the toll, and the remaining denizens of New Bark Town would be left in chaos, leaving Necrozma alive would have been far more costly. The destruction of a town, a forest, and a few mountains was a fair price to pay in comparison to Necrozma destroying the world.

  “Arceus...I hadn’t pegged you for a fool.”

  Arceus’s eyes shot open in horror. “No...no, this cannot be!” From the crater he’d left with his final attack, Necrozma rose back up with a smug look upon his features. What’s more, he was completely and utterly left without a scratch. Not a single modicum of damage was apparent on Necrozma’s prismatic body.

  “How?!” Demanded Arceus, “How are you still alive?!”

  “It’s quite simple really,” Necrozma answered with a small chuckle, “You are not weak, that much I concede. You alone have given me a better fight than entire planet’s worth of people attacking me at once. But…” Arceus became immobilized in Necrozma’s telekinetic grip, eliciting a choked cry of protest from the god-like Pokemon. “...This body cannot be killed, nor even harmed. I am completely, utterly invincible. You never stood a chance against me to begin with, nor does anyone or anything.”

  “N-no!” Stammered Arceus. He tried to break free from Necrozma’s grasp, but no matter how much energy he summoned, he was unable to do so, and could only choke pathetically, “I...cannot allow...you to live! You’ve hurt...so many! Killed...so many! It...must stop! I cannot allow more...to fall to you…!”

  Necrozma scoffed. “Spare me the speech. What, are you going to avenge them? Protect them? You cannot even protect yourself. Not to mention, you’ve already failed them before this duel.”

  “W-what…” Arceus coughed, “Do..you mean?!”

  “I’m sure you recall the trio that called themselves the Swords of Justice. As I dueled with them...well,” He couldn’t help but chuckle as he began to retell the tale of the trio’s demise by his hand, “They had such confidence in you. They told me over and over that you would save them, yet where were you? While they boasted proudly about how their precious Lord Arceus would come to save the day, you were nowhere to be found. As I fought them, you were nowhere to be found. When I killed them, even in death, as they claimed you would come to smite me...you were nowhere to be found. You cannot avenge the dead, nor can you protect the living.”

  Necrozma’s words stung Arceus badly, making him flinch as if he was in physical pain. “You are right...to an extent…”

  “Oh? Pray tell, to an extent of what?”

  “You are right to say that I have failed my world,” Arceus conceded, “I have failed the people of the Orange Islands...I have failed Lugia and the Elemental Birds...I have failed Mewtwo by allowing his home to be destroyed and forcing Rayquaza to fight a battle he had no chance of winning...you are right about these things.”

  The golden ring attached to Arceus’ abdomen turned a light purple, and with the last of Arceus’s fleeting power, he pushed outward against Necrozma’s grasp. “I have failed the Swords of Justice...and I am unworthy of their praise...I have failed Keldeo, dooming him to a life without a family...and I have failed the citizens of New Bark Town...but even still-!” Arceus roared, blasting outward with every shred of energy still within his body and freeing himself of Necrozma’s telekinetic grasp. “BUT I WILL FAIL THEM NO MORE! YOU WILL TAKE NO MORE LIVES, NECROZMA! NOT WHILE I STILL DRAW BREATH! AS THE GOD OF THIS WORLD, I WILL NOT ALLOW ANY MORE OF MY CHILDREN TO FALL TO YOU!”

  Arceus charged at the foul dark demon, but was promptly backhanded away, jutting the edge of Necrozma’s arm crystal into Arceus’s face and sending him careening through the air. The Leader of the Ultra Beasts then motioned towards himself with his index finger, and Arceus, caught once more in his grasp, was ushered back to Necrozma, where he hung limply.

  “God?” Necrozma mocked, “Many beings called themselves that before, and they all fell before me.” His hand began sparking, and he lifted it up to Arceus’ face. “You are no different. If a God truly exists, I have yet to see it. You are no God. You are naught but a fool with ‘God’ as a self-titled moniker.”

  To Necrozma’s confusion, Arceus merely laughed. “You truly know nothing, Necrozma!”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “I am no false, self-titled God. It was a title given to me by a force far more powerful than I, and he is coming!” He laughed once more. “Your actions have angered a force beyond me! Beyond you! Beyond anything and everything!”

  Necrozma chuckled amusedly. “And here come the delusional threats of the dying.”

  Arceus scoffed. “Delusions? No, this is very real indeed. Tell me, do you recall your duel with Rayquaza?”

  Necrozma shrugged. “The green serpent? Yes, I recall disposing of him rather easily. What is your point?”

  “Do you recall him being coated in a brilliant white sheen?”

  “Hmm,” Mused Necrozma, placing two fingers beneath his eyes in thought, “Yes, I do recall that he seemed to undergo a fairly substantial power boost for a brief moment. He even managed to take off a tiny shard of my crystals, though those break and regenerate from time to time anyways. What, was that some kind of parlor trick of yours or his?”

  “Neither,” Arceus told him, “That was the act of an incomprehensibly-powerful being. For it to actually intervene now...you truly must have angered it, Necrozma…”

  At first, Necrozma scoffed at the idea, believing it to be nothing more than empty threats of a dying creature. Then, he entertained the thought, mulling it over within his mind. If this being truly did exist, then Necrozma might have an actual battle, or at least some resistance to make his conquest of this planet more interesting. So, he released his hold on Arceus, who had to catch himself to stop his descent.

  “Very well,” Necrozma spoke, “I was going to destroy this planet, seeing as I’ve already defeated you, but you’ve managed to pique my interest. You’ve bought yourself five days to amass your forces as per my initial plan. Though, should this ‘being’ of yours fail to arrive, well...let’s just say your deaths will be far from swift.”

  With those chilling words, Necrozma shot off into the sky, soaring into the great beyond. Arceus heaved out an exhausted breath with a cold sweat running down his neck. He’d succeeded in staving off Necrozma for now, but as to whether he could uphold his promise, even he didn’t know. That being...was unpredictable. With how it aided Rayquaza, it could very well be on their side, but he had no way of truly knowing. He practically bluffed his way out of the world’s destruction. For now.

  He shook his head to clear his mind. These were thoughts best saved for a later date. For now, he had a group of very confused and startled people awaiting him. As he was about to open a portal to their destination, he noticed something about himself. Impact wounds dotted his body, and half of his face was still burnt. Appearing to the humans like this might be...alarming, to say the least. Nevertheless, they deserved an explanation, and an explanation is what he would give them. Even if his visage wasn’t exactly at...maximum capacity.

  The Alpha Pokemon opened a golden portal and flew through it. His destination was the abandoned Goldenrod City, where he had transported the humans of New Bark Town, their Pokemon, and the wild Pokemon that would have gotten dragged into his battle against Necrozma. Though he hardly received a welcoming committee. Beneath him, the wild Pokemon seemed to have become startled and agitated from their sudden removal from their homes and were rushing about, causing havoc in their wake amidst the darkening lands as the stygian night began to take over the day. The humans, meanwhile, were using their own Pokemon to try and calm them, or at least stop them.

  Arceus descended to the ground, raised his leg, and tapped the ground. A small, golden wave of energy shot out along the ground, catching the attention of everyone within the vicinity. The wild and Trained Pokemon knelt down the second they saw their creator, while the humans were a bit slow on the uptake. Riley and Lucario were the first to kneel among any of them while the others merely stared at Arceus with awed expressions. Ash, meanwhile, walked right on up to the Alpha Pokemon as if he was greeting an old friend.

  “Yo, Arceus!” Ash called out to him with a wave of his hand, “How’ve you been? Thanks for saving us back at the-”

  Riley and Lucario scrambled up to Ash and forced him onto his knees in a mad panic.

  “YOU CAN’T JUST CASUALLY WALK UP TO ARCEUS LIKE THAT!” He smacked Ash upside the head, causing the younger boy to cry out and put a hand to the stricken area, “DO YOU NOT KNOW HOW DISRESPECTFUL THAT IS?! HE SAVED OUR LIVES, GRACED US WITH HIS DIVINE PRESENCE, AND THAT’S HOW YOU THANK HIM?!”

  “Ow!” Ash exclaimed, rubbing his now-throbbing head, “What’s the big idea?!”

  “THE BIG IDEA?!” Shrieked Riley, “YOU’RE TALKING TO OUR CREATOR AS IF HE WAS AN OLD FRIEND!”

  Arceus laughed at the exchange, garnering the attention of the three of them. “I thank you, Aura Guardians. Your reverence towards me is appreciated, but please, if you would kindly get off of my Chosen One, he and I have much to speak about.”

  Riley’s and Lucario’s eyes shot open as wide as platters, looked between Ash and the deity Pokemon, and, swift as a blur, the two of them knelt down onto their hands and knees. “WE’RE TERRIBLY SORRY, LORD ARCEUS.”

  “It is of no consequence,” Arceus told them, waving them off, “Now, as for you, Ash, you and I have much to speak about.”

  Nodding, Ash got back up onto his feet. “Right. So, did you defeat Necrozma?”

  To the shock and horror of all the onlookers, Arceus shook his head. “No...I was unable to defeat him, but I’ve bought us some time. By the way, you all appear to be well. It’s surprising that Necrozma didn’t end up doing worse.”

  Ash nodded, smiling brightly up to the divine Pokemon. “Yeah, we’re fine. If you hadn’t gotten there when you did, we would have been toast…” His smile then faded, “But...not all of us got out. One of my Pokemon, Hawlucha...:” Ash’s face contorted with rage and sorrow, and he clenched his fists tightly. “Hawlucha...didn’t make it…” He turned back and motioned to the surviving citizens of New Bark Town. There were only about a dozen left. “They probably lost a lot of people and Pokemon too…”

  “...I am deeply sorry for your loss, Ash,” Arceus spoke, bowing his head to him and the others, “Truly, I am...if I had only gotten there faster...then maybe I could have saved more…”

  “...personally, I’m just glad you came to save us at all,” Ash admitted, summoning his now-cyan Aura and recalling the brief moment it was yellow, “...Without you, we would have all died.”

  “Had I acted as guardian deity of Earth like I was supposed to, no one would have.”

  A youngish female trainer stepped forward. “That’s okay!” She said, “You can just bring back everyone, right?”

  Arceus solemnly shook his head. “Had I that kind of power, your loved ones would have already returned...I can create life, but once a soul is lost, it is lost forever. Even if I created replacements of your loved ones...they would not be the same. They would have to be reborn again, and grow up again, but this time they would be born by different parents into different families, thus growing up into a different person entirely. There would be no point.”

  The girl’s face paled, and she looked down towards the ground, stepping back away from the Alpha Pokemon. “O-oh, that’s o-okay,” She stammered, “I-it’s fine...I-I’m just glad the...r-rest of us survived…” Arceus could tell she was lying. Tears began to well up in her eyes more and more with every passing second, and she was trying and failing to hold it back. It was as if she was grieving over her losses twice over.

  “I...am sorry,” Arceus told her, “I cannot give you back what was lost...and for that I truly cannot apologize enough. I, too, lost much to that monster Necrozma.” He leaned forward, illuminating his face so that everyone could see it, eliciting an array of shocked gasps from them all as they beheld his half-marred face. “Three Legendary Pokemon, a trio from Unova called the Swords of Justice...were slain at the hands of Necrozma…”

  Ash’s expression contorted with shock. “What?! That’s impossible!”

  “I thought so too once,” Arceus replied solemnly, “But Necrozma has single-handedly shattered every illusion I thought was reality. My firstborn children, the Legends, are not invincible...nor am I.”

  Ash, still in disbelief, shook his head. “I knew them...it wasn’t for long, but still...wait, is Keldeo still alive?!”

  Arceus nodded, eliciting a relieved sigh from Ash. “He is, but the loss has scarred him. He tried to find me to help, but...Necrozma cut him off at every turn and beat him to the brink of death. He only allowed Keldeo to live so that he could tell me about what happened and incite my wrath.”

  “And that’s why you fought him?” Ash asked.

  “Sort of. I had been meaning to strike him down ever since he arrived, but he proved to be a slippery one. He attacked any Legends he found and disappeared only after scarring their bodies and minds beyond repair. This included Lugia, which is why the Orange Islands were destroyed.”

  “W-wait,” One of the other survivors spoke up, “That was him?! All this time, I thought it was Lugia like the news said!”

  Arceus’ expression twisted, and he narrowed his eyes with a fury he somehow managed to suppress. “Lugia is a stalwart paragon amongst what the Legends should be. He is calm, level-headed and kind to the innocent. He would never attack the Orange Islands like that, nor does he even have power of that magnitude to do so. He fought to the last, staving off Necrozma’s wrath for as long as possible. The media is untrustworthy.”

  Serena spoke up next. “But wait,” She said, “What are we going to do, then? If Necrozma holds enough power to wipe out entire islands of that size with ease, and even has enough power to defeat you, then...what chance do we have?”

  “That,” Arceus began, rising back to his full height, “Is the other reason I have come here. I alone cannot defeat Necrozma, but if we can unite the world as a singular unit and fight back with our full might, we might be able to scour him from our home once and for all.”

  “With all due respect, milord,” Riley spoke, rising back to his feet. “But how are we going to do that? The world is in chaos right now, and this is the last place they would ever come to.”

  “I’m glad you asked,” Arceus replied with a humm, “I am going to send out a worldwide message of my own to rally the world and purge them of their fears. If all goes well, I am hoping the entire world’s population of trainers and wild Pokemon will unite here and wait on standby until Necrozma arrives with his forces. I will then deploy the entirety of the Legends of the Hall of Origins to aid in the battle.”

  “But what will you do?” Zero asked.

  Arceus turned down to the girl and his heart skipped a beat. Though her demeanor was calm, and she even had her eyes closed, her Aura said otherwise. It whirled around her in a storm of violent, raging crimson flame. It was as red as a dying star.

  “...What happened to you…?” He whispered under his breath.

  Zero tilted her head. “Huh?”

  Arceus quickly shook his head to dispel his thoughts and get back on topic. “W-well, little one, I was planning on sending a message similarly to Necrozma, and dispelling the fear he left behind as he did so. Essentially, I’d just tell the world what I just told all of you?”

  “When?” Asked Ash.

  “Right about now-ish.”

  “Wha-”

  Arceus took off into the sky and released his energy to the four corners of the world, coating the skies all across the globe in a brilliant gold sheen, and while Necrozma instilled dread as he spoke, Arceus instilled a sense of calm. It was time to start undoing the damage Necrozma dealt to the world, starting with the confidence of the people.

  “HEAR ME, DENIZENS OF EARTH! I AM ARCEUS, THE MOST POWERFUL POKEMON IN EXISTENCE AND CREATOR OF THE WORLD! OUR PLANET NOW FACES A TERRIBLE CRISIS! AS I AM SURE YOU ALL KNOW, THE ONE WHO CALLS HIMSELF NECROZMA HAS DECLARED WAR ON OUR WORLD, LEAVING YOU ALL IN A STATE OF CONFUSION AND FEAR. I AM SPEAKING WITH YOU TO SAY THAT THIS WILL NOT BE OUR END! IF WE ALLOW OURSELVES TO DISSOLVE INTO CHAOS, WE WILL FALL. BUT, IF WE UNITE OUR POWER INTO A SINGULAR FORCE AND STRIKE AT NECROZMA THE MOMENT HE ARRIVES, WE HAVE A CHANCE! I BESEECH YOU, MAN AND POKEMON ALIKE: GATHER THE STRENGTH YOU CAN AND MARCH TOWARDS GOLDENROD CITY! ONLY IF WE UNITE TOGETHER CAN WE STOP THE COMING FIRE! ONLY IF WE UNITE TOGETHER CAN WE STOP OUR DEMISE! ONLY IF WE UNITE TOGETHER CAN WE DEFEAT NECROZMA AND SURVIVE TO TELL THE TALE! SO, IF ANY OF YOU ARE BRAVE ENOUGH TO FIGHT SO THAT WE CAN LIVE TO SEE TOMORROW, JOIN US IN GOLDENROD CITY TO AWAIT NECROZMA’S ARRIVAL! MY CHOSEN ONE, ASH KETCHUM OF PALLET TOWN, KANTO, WILL ORGANIZE YOU FROM THERE!”

  With those rallying words, Arceus flew off into the sky and disappeared, dispelling the worldwide golden light. The world was once again left in a dazed stupor, but none more so than the ones who beheld the message firsthand. The survivors of New Bark Town stared up blankly into the sky with a dumbstruck sense of awe. Finally, Ash Ketchum, the chosen one of Arceus himself, who ordained for the boy to lead the entire world’s forces, stood tall and spoke.

  “WHAT DO YOU MEAN I’LL ORGANIZE THEM?! I DON’T KNOW HOW TO DO THAT!”

  Hours later, unknown location.

  The room was nearly pitch black. Amidst its’ darkness, The Man was less than pleased. Even the normally calming cigars he loved so much didn’t seem to have the slightest impact on his ire, so he dotted out the flame of the one currently in his mouth and threw it into a trash bin behind him, where it was incinerated without a trace. He then opted for a glass of wine instead. He had been trying to call his ‘partner’ ever since his worldwide declaration of war, with no luck.

  The Man knew Necrozma’s forces were close enough that communication would be no issue, which could only mean that Necrozma had broken ties with him completely if he was not responding. A holographic black screen floated before The Man with the icon of a phone ringing, and that icon had been playing on loop for the past twelve hours.

  The Man groaned in annoyance and spun in his chair back around to His desk. If this call was going to take this long, then there were other matters He could attend to in the meanwhile. A large stack of paperwork awaited him, and while he despised the sheer mundanity of doing this, he trusted no one else in his ranks to do these, well, there was one other, but he was away at the moment.

  He was nearly blinded by the screen behind him, suddenly turning white. He neglected to shield his eyes, for if it truly was who he thought had responded at last, then there was no way in hell he would show the slightest hint of weakness. He swerved his seat back around towards the holographic screen, but to his disappointment, it was not the Leader of the Ultra Beasts, but instead, his right-hand ‘man’ Xurkitree.

  “Why the hell are you here?” The Man spat, “I called for Necrozma, not his pet.”

  Despite the rudeness of The Man, Xurkitree bowed to him, similarly to a waiter all the same. “I’m terribly sorry, sir, but Lord Necrozma wishes not to speak with you.”

  “I didn’t recall asking for his permission,” Hissed The Man, “Nor for yours. Put him on the damned call!”

  Xurkitree sighed. “I’ve already told you, he’s not accepting-”

  The Man, no longer having the patience to deal with the tree-shaped freak of nature that was Necrozma’s pet, pressed a series of buttons on the holographic screen, and soon enough, the vision of Xurkitree disappeared into static and was replaced with Necrozma himself from the point of view of his crystal.

  “Finally,” The Man exclaimed, clasping his hands together on his lap, “Now, partner, where were we?”

  “What the hell are you doing?” Demanded the dark demon, “I told Xurkitree explicitly not to let you in.”

  “What am I doing?” The Man couldn’t help but laugh at the sheer irony of that question, considering what Necrozma had just done. “I should be the one asking that. The plan was to ambush the world upon your arrival, not announce it to every damned living thing! What the hell were you thinking?!”

  Necrozma chuckled down at the holographic image of The Man. “Oh, I’m sorry, were you under the impression we were still working together?”

  The glass in The Man’s hand cracked under his intensified grip. “...Excuse me?”

  “Don’t act like you never saw this coming. The moment you dared to try and issue me an order, you were a dead man waiting to be killed...though…” He laughed darkly, sending the screen into a fit of static for a moment. “I never had the intention of upholding our deal from the start. Exchanging technology for the lives of those three? Don’t make me laugh. I would have found them with or without your help, and the rust in the gears of my ship is worth more than your entire planet. You’re nothing. You never were anything, and you never will be.”

  The Man seethed in the shadow of his room, and web-like cracks began crawling up the glass of wine in his hands. “You...how dare you?! You can’t betray me! You bastard, I will make sure you regret this!”

  Necrozma laughed at him. “Petty insults are unbecoming of one such as you and your so-called power. And betrayal implies that I was ever allied to you to begin with. Did you truly believe that I saw you as an equal? Oh, the naivety of you lot.” The Leader of the Ultra Beasts leaned down into the screen. “Your world is doomed, along with everything in it. Once I take down Arceus and the Legends, I’ll be sure to personally pay you a visit before I destroy your pathetic planet once and for all.”

  Without leaving any time for The Man to reply, Necrozma cut communications and left him in complete darkness once more. The glass of wine in The Man’s hand trembled for a moment, then shattered in his hand, slicing up parts of it. Though if he felt any pain, he did not show it. He merely leaned back into his chair in his pitch black room.