Parrot Express, near Mt Battle - 0848 hours local time - Day 165 of Ash Ketchum's journey
Ash Ketchum had faced many Legendary Pokemon in his life. From Mewtwo to Celebi, from Latios to Rayquaza, from Giratina to Arceus himself, he had survived them, at great cost, usually his life or a portion of his sanity.
He WAS well-aware he was a bit nuts. Not enough to put him in the loony bin, but enough to make an impression. Such as planning to punch Yveltal in the face.
"Tell me you're not thinking of going up there." Kyoji asked as he looked at Ash, who was glaring at Yveltal. "That's the God of Death, man! The Grim Reaper Given Flesh!"
"That's exactly WHY I have to, Kyoji." Ash said. "This guy's the source of all the world's problems. If I take him down, we might be able to stop everything: Cipher's attacks, the Shadow Pokemon corruption, everything." It was how it worked in the last timeline, so why not? Take out the evil team, all the problems disappear. Simple.
"Ash, it doesn't work like-oh who am I kidding?" the soldier admitted before Yveltal took to the air, roaring like mad as it flew overhead, Shadow Lugia sticking to its' tail.
"It's heading for Citadark Island!" Robin yelled over the wind Yveltal was generating just by flying over them. "That's the only populated place in that direction!"
"Why not Gateon Port?!" Kyoji yelled back, confused as to why it was heading away from the closest settlement.
"The Port's abandoned! Everyone got out of there a few days ago and went into the desert!" she answered.
"What's important about Citadark Island?!" Ash asked, honestly confused. "Other than the obviously evil name!"
"It's Cipher's main base of oper…ations…" she said, trailing off, Kyoji grinning at that.
Ash didn't know why. "Well, Cipher's officially dead!" the soldier declared. Well, that answered all of Ash's questions.
The old phrase 'death comes on swift wings' came to mind. And if the timeline's last few incidents had anything to tell him, Yveltal's signature attack, Oblivion Wing, was about to live up to its' despair-inducing name.
Citadark Island - 857 hours local time
It was beautiful. A crimson underside with wings ending in claws, a prehensile tail with finger-like claws, talons and a black backside...it was the epitome of Orre's philosophy that death was the best service the rest of the world could give to them.
"See, Cipher! See our god take flight, his greatest servant ready to help him!" Nascour yelled, all of his Peons and Admins looking at the God of Death. "Bring us death, my lord! Death to all!"
What Nascour didn't know was that Yveltal could understand him. Problem was, while he understood, the earliest leaders of the Empire knew that Yveltal could not be controlled, only unleashed on their enemies. And Yveltal, in his madness, was rather literal minded.
And so as a sphere of energy formed, Nascour was confused. What was Yveltal doing? Why was he…
"My Lord!" Nascour called to Yveltal. "What are you doing?!"
The answer came as soon as Yveltal beat his wings, a beam of energy sweeping over the island, all of the peons screaming as they were subjected to the effects, their feet literally turning to stone as it creeped up their legs.
Nascour extended his hands as if to plead, but he could not speak the words. He opened his mouth, only to feel stone instead of flesh on his face. The last thing he would see was XD-001 charging up an Aeroblast, pointing it at them before darkness overtook him.
NS Heart of Indigo - 0859 Hours Local Time
Lance attempted to look on the bright side. What little of Cipher was left in other regions would be gone after this, as they wouldn't have the ability to resupply themselves with Shadow Pokemon and would slowly be hunted down.
On the downside… well, Yveltal just killed all of Cipher and they were next.
"Are you SURE Ash can stop that thing?" Lorelei asked, terrified out of her mind. "I mean… that's Yveltal!"
"Have you never asked why the Rotan Royal Family was nearly wiped out to a man during the War, Ash's grandfather notwithstanding?" Agatha said as they began sailing to Citadark. "Because they can purify Shadow Pokemon, open their hearts again. Their link to the Tree of Beginning is not mere sharing of Aura, but a connection to the purifying powers of the Creation Trio and the Creator! The Tree wouldn't EXIST without Arceus' permission!"
"And Shadow Pokemon?" Bruno demanded, having a point.
Agatha scoffed. "Arceus is a hands-off god. Yveltal was Giratina's responsibility." she retorted. "If something must be done, he'll do it. If not… leave it be."
The best and worst parts about the Creator: Arceus was the procrastinator from hell, content to leave things lie.
In three and a half years, he was going to regret it. (WHACK!)
"We must protect Ash." Lance declared, knowing what must be done. "If that means giving our lives, so be it."
"Then words are no longer needed." Bruno said as he glared at the Eldest of Giratina. "For now we go to war with death itself."
RMS Olympic - same time
Misty withdrew her Pokeballs, expanding two of them in her hands. That thing was going after Ash. And this would not stand.
"Hope you have room for two." Misty turned to see Serena, dress replaced with an outfit closer to her old timeline's, minus the hat, her Pokeballs on her belt. "That idiot needs our help. And I will not let that thing kill him."
Misty looked into Serena's eyes, seeing that they were a different shade of blue, more like sea water then sapphires. "You're a new one." she realized. "How many personalities does she have?"
"Including her?" the girl asked. "Six. Everyone calls me Asuka, against my will. Now get that damn snake out! Ash might be an idiot, but he's OUR idiot and I'm not letting that thing kill him!"
'Tsundere.' Astral Misty deadpanned. 'Loves him but can't spit it out. Or admit it. Kinda like me, now that I think about it.'
'Comment on it later!' the flesh-and-blood Misty snapped mentally. "You aren't a fan of them." she said aloud.
"I'll get over it; now get that damn thing out!" 'Asuka' snapped, Misty opening Gyarados' ball, releasing the sea serpent before climbing over the rail, jumping off the ship and onto his back as a response.
"What are you waiting for?" Misty taunted, her astral self whooping that she was almost normal again. Serena's answer was to do the same, Gyarados catching her on his back before taking to the air, using Hurricane to create wind and fly, Serena latching onto Misty for dear life.
"Let's go save Ash!" Misty yelled as the sea serpent roared.
"Thank Arceus for Sabrina for once." Anabel muttered as she input Ash's trainer code, transferring one of his larger flying-types (Pidgeot was with him) to her, getting Staraptor into an empty Pokeball. While he wasn't MASSIVE by any means, he was big enough to hold her on his back and fight.
While she normally couldn't do something like this, she was registered, thanks to the damned Rotans, as one of Ash's… dependents.
Translation for 'future concubine' as far as Anabel understood it, but small potatoes at the moment, as it would allow her to join the fight. And she would admit it: she actually loved him.
Too nice for his own good, wanted to protect them from things like the giant abomination wanting them all dead… terrified of disappointing them by leaving, being anything like his father in the other timeline.
And if Delia's comment about her own grandfather had any weight to it, it ran in the family in the last timeline. Ash was just trying to break the cycle.
He had to be shown that there was a happy middle ground. Anabel would see to it as she released Staraptor, who blinked and saw he wasn't where he was expecting to be. "Star?" he said before looking around and seeing Anabel, immediately narrowing his eyes.
"I know this isn't what you were expecting, but I want to help Ash. And Misty just took off on her Gyarados with Serena." she said to the bird. "Mind giving me a lift?"
Staraptor glowered at her before kneeling, allowing her to get on. "Rap." he said, showing he was not going to wait. Anabel climbed on and Staraptor took to the skies.
It was time to face death… and hopefully live to tell the tale.
Slope of Mt Battle - 0903 Hours local time
Miror B looked at the sight. Nascour would be pleased if Yveltal hadn't just killed him.
"Wel', tim' ta take out Ketchum. If what we know about the fool is right, he'll be tryin' to stop Lor' Yveltal." The discoman mused aloud as he grabbed a ball from his belt. "Idiot. Can't take out a god. Le' alon' the god o death." he released his Tropus, the grass-type bellowing before he climbed on.
Today, Ash Ketchum would die.
Robin clung tightly to Ash as Pidgeot took them closer to the rampaging God of Death. Yet Ash felt no fear.
Why should he? Death was rather cheap when he was concerned.
"Pika!" 'There he is!' Pikachu cried, pointing at Yveltal, just barely obscured by the clouds.
(BGM: Ace Combat 7 DLC OST - Alicorn)
The flying-type glanced at them, roaring before he turned to engage, charging up his deadly attack to end them.
"Pidgeot, Hyper Beam! Hit him in the head!" Ash called, Pidgoet charging the attack in her beak. "Pikachu, Thunderbolt! Let's knock him down a peg!"
Pikachu sparked before firing a normal Thunderbolt at Yveltal, Shadow Bolt being almost useless against Shadow Pokemon. The lightning bolt smacked into Yveltal, stunning him briefly and halting the charge for Oblivion wing, the giant flying-type barely shaking it off in time for another beam of plasma to hit him in the face, courtesy of Pidgeot.
"If I had flying-types, my Eeveelutions would help!" Robin cried before another Hyper Beam slammed into Yveltal, knocking him back further. Confused, Ash looked to the source, finding… a surprise.
"Hey, Ash!" called a familiar redhead, with a blonde clinging to her, her hands halfway from just holding onto Misty to something less than necessary. And both of them looked at Robin with less than friendly eyes. "And who is she?"
"A friend!" Ash answered, stressing 'friend' due to his vow. A vow he was beginning to think about reconsidering.
(In Ash's head, the King cackled about "Progress!" as a crack formed)
"Can this wait until AFTER the murderous Legendary is dealt with?!" Serena asked, Yveltal recovering from their assault, shrieking as he charged at them, forgoing using his instant kill move.
"HYPER BEAM!" Ash and Misty called out, their mounts charging another energy beam, blasting the insane legendary again. The best way to deal with one, Ash had learned, was from Shamouti and how the Titans took out their Trio Master the first time: keep hitting it and do NOT give it a chance to counterattack. Once it does, you are screwed, because usually their attacks ALWAYS resulted in extreme injury or death.
The two attacks slammed into the legendary, followed by a dozen or so missiles, all pelting the Death God's hide as a squadron of what looked like fighter jets flew in from behind them, firing on the Legendary.
But for something the size of a kaiju and with the raw power of a god, their power was naught as Yveltal literally smacked one of them out of the sky, turning it into burning scrap before literally biting down on the cockpit of another, eating the pilot.
THAT would not stand.
Superheated plasma shot past both of them and hit Yveltal, the legendary roaring in pain as it recoiled in pain, partially set on fire as it dove into the sea.
"THAT was awesome!" yelled a voice Ash wasn't entirely expecting: Iris, riding Charizard. He WONDERED why, when he was trying to transfer him in, he wasn't there. They might've had his Trainer ID code.
But why would they be allowed to use his Pokemon? 'Obvious answer, dipshit.' came a voice that sounded FAR too much like Sabrina when she was possessed by that thing. 'Rota's got them registered as your wives-to-be. They don't give a shit about you, only your blood.'
…This was the second voice in his head he'd heard and he didn't like it. Point or not.
He would deal with his growing mental problems AFTER Yveltal was given a boot to the face. Right now, he had a LOT of people to save.
"You're fucking insane!" cried Kyoji, his own Charizard carrying him and Sabrina, the latter of which was amused, if somewhat concerned. "You're lucky I LIKE crazy and honestly, that thing needs its' ass kicked!"
Yveltal emerged from the waters, screaming in fury. Not that it wasn't pissed off BEFORE. NOW it wanted to murder them slowly.
"Any bright ideas?!" Kyoji yelled at Ash, given he was the expert at this sort of thing.
"Draw him towards the volcano!" Ash replied. "We can use all of our Pokemon then!"
"I mostly have water-types, Ash!" Misty snapped from Gyarados' back. "A lot of whom don't do well out of water!"
Kyoji flew closer to the redhead, Sabrina tossing her a belt filled with Pokeballs with a device added to it. "Here you go, mom!" she called. "You're registered as one of Ash's dependants, so you can use his Pokemon!"
Misty stared before the concept of 'run now, questions later' got into her head and they headed for the volcano of doom.
It's gonna be SOMEONE'S doom. (WHACK!)
Mirror B forced his flying plant abomination towards the group heading for Mt Battle to make their stand, even as the URN task force blasted all their guns at the massive legendary, exploding harmlessly on his godly body.
Idiots. This was tried before over the last thousand years when some idiot thought he could fight a god. When were they ever going to learn it was never going to work?
Then Miror saw his enemy: Ash Ketchum, Chosen of the deadbeat Creator Arceus, Crown Prince of Rota and the only obstacle in Cipher's way. So much so, the second he landed in Orre, EVERYTHING WENT TO SHIT!
From actual success to the destruction of TWO Cipher facilities and now all of the surviving nobility that made up the Admins were dead! The Empire would never return now!
"Time ta die, ya royal bastard!" Miror B yelled before Tropus roared, charging at Ash, the rider pulling out his revolver, taking aim at Ash, intending to blow his and Robin's brains out.
But the shot would never come. A tiny bird clipped his oversized afro, knocking him off his mount and to the volcano below.
The old man flipped mid fall, his feet going first towards the ground. But ground would be somewhat of a misnomer. After all, is ground the right word for molten rock? For that is what he was falling towards: a lava flow several meters wide and deep, with red hot magma boiling out.
And his Tropus was hit with a Fire Blast from a fire monkey, so it wasn't going to save him. He screamed as his feet touched the lava, instantly incinerating his shoes and setting his pants on fire. The burning crept up his legs, his entire outfit and poke ball afro catching fire.
When all was said and done, all that was left was a small patch of rapidly remelting rock in the flow.
Monferno watched as his Fire Blast sent the Tropus to crash in the forest on and near Mt Battle, happy that it wouldn't be interfering in the battle.
ALL of Ash's team were present: if they could fly or swim and were big enough to carry at least one Pokemon, they were there. Snorlax was getting a lift, pun unintended, from the local Natus and the rest...It was very odd to learn indeed that the leader of the Tauros herd knew Surf. It was odd to learn Tauros could even LEARN Surf to begin with! Regardless, what the leader learned, he taught his herd and thus all of them had at least one of Ash's team on their back, accompanied by Ash's swimming Pokemon.
"BRRRRRROOOOOOOO!" 'Let's give this thing hell!' cried the herd leader, the rest of the Tauros all but mooing out a warcry as they moved on top of the water, heading for land to fight the massive legendary.
"Swad." 'This is going to suck.' Swadloon said as he looked at the massive flying-type.
Monferno looked at his fellow passenger, amused. "Mon?" 'Why? You can hurt it; it's part Dark-type. Not as well if it were purely dark, but…' he trailed off.
"Swad." 'And I'm not fully evolved and he can STILL kill me.' the bug replied. "Loon." 'But risk is our business. So let's get that thing and punch it in the face.'
That WAS the general plan.
Goodra rolled up the mountain, Boldore and Jigglypuff right on his heels, the rock-type digging through the ground, Jigglypuff using her balloon-like nature to almost fly while Garchomp was flying above.
"Goo!" 'Hit Yveltal as hard as you can: Ice and Fairy-type attacks, anything that he's not immune to!' he called, Jigglypuff landing on Goodra's head. The practically massive dragon shuddered slightly at the fairy-type landing on his head. He thought he got over this.
He would deal with the problem later.
"Jiggly!" 'I only got Dazzling Gleam down last night! Unless you want me to Sing it down-' Jigglypuff said before getting a look from Butterfree and Sceptile, who were just catching up and were VERY familiar with how that always ended and were STILL bitter about it. "Jig." 'That's what I thought.'
"Scep." 'When you figure out how, we'll listen to it.' Sceptile said as Yveltal approached, screeching like a madman. "Tile." 'Now we deal with this abomination.'
The bird cawed, taking another Hyper Beam to the face, the God of Death roaring before facing the aerial force Ash had assembled, charging his signature attack and preparing to kill everyone attacking him.
"GOO!" 'NOW!' Goodra ordered, Ice Beam erupting from his mouth, Jigglypuff forming light over her head before tossing it at Yveltal. Boldore grew rocks out of her hide before magnetically launching them and Sceptile started work on a Frenzy Plant construct to slow it down.
All it did, however, was just make it MORE MAD and quickly turned to face them instead. And type was not going to save any of them as he finished charging up.
"JIGGLY!" 'GO FUCK YOURSELF, YOU OVERGROWN CHICKEN!' Jigglypuff yelled at the dark/flying-type.
The energy sphere formed and prepared to discharge...then the clouds above parted and something massive slammed into Yveltal, making the attack hit the mountain FAR above them, followed by the God of Death itself.
And the attacker was none other than another god. One they were all too familiar with.
(BGM: Braxton Burks - Battle with Ho-Oh - Johto Legends)
Fire red wings beat as the Legend of Storm's End stared down the Ender of Civilizations, Yveltal roaring a challenge at the newly arrived Legendary.
"My apologies, Warriors of the Chosen." Ho-Oh said as she glared at the First Shadow. "I was delayed by fools."
Jigglypuff was stunned into silence. "Goo!" 'You're here now! Help us take this thing down!' Goodra said, his experience with this shit overcoming his shock.
Fire lit up the bird's wings, the Trio Master's eyes almost aglow with saddened determination. "As Arceus' warriors decree, so shall it be!" Ho-Oh cried before the embers of Sacred Fire launched at Yveltal with a wing beat, all of them slamming into the Shadow Legendary.
A corrupted Aeroblast slammed into Ho-Oh in return, sending her flying as XD-001 dove out of the clouds, bellowing a challenge.
"We have suffered your corruption for FAR too long, child!" Ho-Oh snapped, thoroughly PISSED at being blindsided. "Now I grant you final mercy!"
NS Heart of Indigo - 0918 hours local time
In the last 20 minutes, things had gone from bad to better to infinitely worse.
Yveltal just killed all of Cipher's leadership. Good, but since when did that thing kill just ONE set of people? Therefore, worse.
Then Ash Ketchum's Pokemon charged in, blasting at Giratina's Mistake, with Ho-Oh, the one from Johto, the one their sister ship, the Ho-Oh's Sorrow, was named after, blasting it with Sacred Fire. That, in Captain Haruo Nakajima's opinion, was wonderful. Cue XD-001 entering the fight.
Worse.
But fear was something to be conquered. "All gun crews." he ordered. "Target that abomination. We're not sitting this out!"
"Nor are we." came the voice of Lance Wataru, steely eyed and ready for war as he flew on the back of his Dragonite.
(BGM: Pokemon: Symphonic Evolutions - Vs. Red)
"Trainers, Elites and Champions of Nihon! Master your fear and hit Yveltal with EVERYTHING you have!" he ordered as Dragonite reared up, firing a Hyper Beam at Yveltal, which, despite the range, actually hit and HURT the Shadow Legend.
"All guns! FIRE ON THAT THING!" ordered Nakajima, as all of the Indigo's guns, and the guns of every ship in the fleet, for that matter, turned on Yveltal and with a thunderous deafening roar, fired.
It wouldn't matter if it did anything to hurt him. It was all on Ash Ketchum to win this.
"THIS IS INSANE!" Kyoji said as his Charizard used Fire Blast on Yveltal, briefly getting its' attention before a massive 460mm shell slammed into its' face, fired from the Arceus' Hammer, which merely annoyed it. Followed by HUNDREDS more, which actually pushed it back.
The Tauros herd then all bellowed before unleashing THIRTY Hyper Beams, all slamming into Yveltal's chest, with Ice Beams, Hydro Pumps and countless other ranged attacks slamming into the First Shadow, managing to push it back further as another volley of shells slammed into Yveltal.
"It's a battle against a god!" Sabrina said as she wished she could actually HELP. Her only Fairy-Type was a Mr Mime and if she knew this thing was here, she would've released it on the ground.
A Thunderbolt fired from Ash's Pikachu, still on the trainer's shoulder, who was also with his first and largest flying-type, Pikachu seemingly...well MORE pissed then usual.
Made sense; this was the First Shadow and he HATED being a Shadow Pokemon. Revenge was on the mind.
Ash's Charizard fired another Blast Burn, Iris' Dratini and Gible, the former wrapped around his neck and latter in his claws, fired Dragon Rages at Yveltal before Pidgeot flew above… and dumped Ash's new girlfriend on the fire-type.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Iris called before Pidgeot flew off, Robin clinging to Charizard's tail in fright.
"What the hell was that for?!" Kyoji demanded before he saw Ash release something from a Pokeball, which then fired an Aura Sphere at Yveltal. And out of all the things being fired at it, THAT actually hurt Yveltal, which screamed in pain.
"Lucario." Sabrina said, as if figuring it out. "Shadow Pokemon don't do well against Aura users! If we can weaken it enough and Ash can infuse enough of his purifying Aura into one-"
Kyoji got it. "Yveltal stops being a Shadow Pokemon!" he said, laughing. "It's insane! But insane WORKS!" A shriek made Charizard dive as Ho-Oh and XD-001 wheeled past, the Shadow Lugia biting on Ho-Oh's shoulder while the Bird of the Tin Tower's talons sank into the Diving Pokemon's belly. Ho-Oh pressed her advantage, using Flamethrower to torch the back fins of the Shadow Pokemon, making it let go of Ho-Oh's shoulder with a cry of pain.
"Charizard, Fire Blast!" Kyoji cried, his official starter and mount inhaling and blasting out the kanji-shaped attack, hitting XD-001 in the back, crying out in pain before it felt MORE heat. It barely had a moment to realize Ho-Oh's mouth had its' own ball of plasma in its; mouth, Sacred Fire merging with the attack that was clearly Hyper Beam. And sadly for it… they were almost beak to beak.
Sacred Fire, infused into a Hyper Beam, was forced down the Shadow Lugia's throat. The corrupted master of the Legendary Birds fell silent, even as Ho-Oh beat her wings, sending them towards the mountain, XD-001 only gaining enough lucidity to realize one thing.
This was going to be painful.
Ash winced as Ho-Oh slammed XD-001 into the volcano's slope, intentionally slamming the Shadow Lugia into every rock large enough to crush a small house.
There were a LOT of those.
"Lu." 'I would feel sorry for him, if he weren't trying to kill us a few days ago.' Lucario said as Ho-Oh continued to whack Lugia off the rocks hard enough to have the skull fractures XD-001 was no doubt suffering be audible.
Ash could not help but agree. "Ok, Yveltal." he said, trying to focus on the biggest threat, who was still being pelted with enough artillery fire to crack Kanto in two. "Lucario, I think I need a crash course in Aura use."
Behind him, Lucario rose an eyebrow. "Car?" 'you don't know how to use your own Aura?' he asked.
"The last time I did, another of your kind died!" Ash retorted with no small amount of heat. "Not something I want to remind myself about."
Lucario nodded in understanding. "Lucari." 'Trauma makes an impression. This will be very quick and dirty, as the saying goes.' he said, Aura glowing in his paws. "Ca." 'You have a plan?'
"I managed to purify Jigglypuff and I know my Aura was involved. No control over it." Ash answered. "So what if we did the same to Yveltal? Hit him with a supercharged Aura Sphere made of my Aura?"
Lucario looked at Ash as if he was suicidal. …Stupid statement: Ash was borderline suicidal. He just wanted to die in a way that saved the world from a genocidal madman attempting to usurp the power of the gods.
Not on his watch. But he had a point. If Yveltal could be purified, the Shadow plague would be cut off at the head. The rest could be caught and purified using the Purify Chamber once it was built.
"Lucario." 'We'll channel parts of your Aura into an Aura Sphere. But we need to get it INSIDE Yveltal's body. A surface impact won't do anything.' Lucario said as Yveltal roared, giving him an idea. "Lu." 'Medicine is always best administered orally.'
Agatha watched from the sidelines, her ghosts unable to help, not because they were ghosts… or rather exactly that. But not for the same reason: they could fight a dark-type.
But Agatha was forbidden to fight Yveltal by Giratina's decree. While not a Legendary or even a Pokemon, she had the Guardian of the Distortion Realm's blessings and was as close as a human could get to being a sibling to a god.
"All our hopes lie with you, boy, as it was meant to be." she said aloud. "Do not fail us."