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[Anistar City]



The wind whistled as the cudgel descended, giving the gambler enough of a heads up to pivot on one leg, lashing out with a kick to deflect the oncoming weapon. He was not going to have time to take in whether the Dragon claw did anything, turning towards this new and old challenge. Darts grunts in pain as the thorns from the weapon graze his leg beneath his pants, lightly scoring the skin but only doing superficial damage as it tears the cloth above it. His eyes lock with the crystallized teardrops of his apprentice’s mask, only taking mere seconds to appraise what was happening. Ogerpon’s head was shaking violently above her body, thrashing around madly as she tried to cast off whatever was happening to her from the Ziton, but the rest of her wasn’t responding, and it was on a mission to end their teacher-student relationship.

She was on him in an instant, his arms crossed in front of him to withstand the flurry of cudgel blows Ogerpon brought, each hammer blow smashing his guard as he winced, splashes of water flicking off left and right from each impact due to the chosen mask. He didn’t bother screaming ‘What’s going on Ogerpon?!’ ‘Why are you doing this?’, they had been on the road together long enough to know why. Wherever this animosity had come from, it was artificially manufactured to some degree. Considering they were in the presence of the Ziton and what he now knew about it, it didn’t take a math genius to put two and two together. So, instead of that he counterattacks, knowing that if the Ogerpon truly got out of hand he wasn’t positive the rest of the team would be able to stop her.

Darts slips the last cudgel strike instead of blocking, weaving his body to the side and giving a little Outrage juice into his shoulder muscles as he throws a right hand, putting enough mustard into it to send his ward flying. She skips across the cobblestone of the pavilion in front of the sundial, slate tiles flying up in the air as her body pinballs like a smooth stone on water, matching her mask. The Giratina hybrid is right on top of her, following up with another flurry of punches but to little effect as the Cornerstone mask swapped mid impact grins up at him, his golden fists pinging and ricocheting off his ward’s now-impenetrable defense.

“Oger.... Pon...” She growls, confirming his theory that something else was in charge of her faculties right now. Since coming from Kitakami, Darts had never heard Ogerpon say the ‘Oger’ part of her name. She might mix part of the word in, but the Ogre of Oni Mountain had been called that enough in the deepest and darkest points in her life that she would never voluntarily utter it, clipping her speech to the point where it wasn’t necessary for her to talk. It must have been painful re-writing the way your brain had to think about language, but that only spoke to the deeper pain underneath the undertaking. You weren’t there, Darts. The sentence comes out in a low growl, ogreish to match.

The Legend drops to the ground, almost mocking Darts as it slips his punch in the same manner, flowing and spinning into a Low Sweep, long vines extending as she rotates with the liquidity that was a hallmark of the Wellspring Mask it swapped to mid-blow, flinging his legs out from under him. His back hits the ground and drives the air out of his chest cavity with a sharp exhalation, even though he didn’t need to breathe. Which was a good thing because Ogerpon was on top of him in an instant, fire accompanying the twin stomps to his midsection as it viciously Double Kicks his ribs, landing atop him with Hearthflame burning. Darts’ hands clench the ground beneath himself, cracking the ground as he struggles with self-control. His instinct to get out of being prone was to warp to the Distortion World, but, as the fancy watch on his wrist reminded him, doing that risked the stability of this world. Otherwise he might have tried that on the Ziton first.

“What are you talking about?” He asks instead, grunting as Ogerpon hefts its flaming Cudgel skyward. “I’ve only known you for a little over a year. I wasn’t there for what?” The brief pause while Ogerpon and/or the Ziton thinks about it is all the gambler needs, his wings materializing out of his back. Normally incorporeal and invisible, the flexible ailerons push Darts upright suddenly, catapulting the Pokemon on his chest up and forwards as well as pushing him to a standing position. He didn’t have any time to hesitate, wrapping a golden hand around the base of a nearby lightpost and yanking it out of the ground bodily, tearing it away from the mass of wires and infrastructure below it before giving chase to the airborne pupil, Outrage fully pumping gouts of blue fire out of his body as he swings it up and over his head and then down onto Ogerpon in midair.

The ogre parries with its own club, molten flames licking the lamp post as it ricochets off. Darts doesn’t give an inch, attacking again and again as the two engage in what would look like a mock swordfight of sorts, the Giratina hybrid twirling the streetlight awkwardly like a baton as he strikes out at the diminutive Pokemon. Each and every attack is blocked, struck away, and deflected as Ogerpon spins their own weapon, by comparison, expertly, to match Darts. Shards of metal and glass scatter with every devastating exchange, the concrete cracking below the pair’s duel as debris from the lightpost exploding against her guard flies hither and thither. Ogerpon’s mask has shifted again, to the familiar Teal Mask that constituted their most balanced and natural style in order to have more finesse and control over the Ivy Cudgel. And this was the opening that both Darts and her, Ogerpon, had been waiting for.

The gambler hurls the remains of the lamp skyward with a one-handed toss, spinning end over end like the world’s biggest aerial in a color guard routine. As his opponent looks upwards, reflexively for a brief instant, Darts pushes as much Outrage as he can safely stomach into his legs. The remains of the ground beneath him shatter and explode away as he launches himself forwards like a missile, wings extended to actually take him airborne and straight into Ogerpon’s midsection.

“Oger.... pon pyo! Ogerpon!” You didn’t do anything! None of you humans did anything! The ogre screams at him mid-tackle, as her vines and limbs wrestle with the Giratina hybrid’s attempts to restrain her. “Ogerpon!” You just let him die!

“You’re right, I wasn’t there!” Darts shouts back, as the pair skid across the plaza following the line of their momentum, the jacketed man on top this time. “But this is his mask! He wouldn’t want you to carry this hate deep in your heart anymore, and you know it! But you can’t stop indulging this greedy little dark pit in your soul that thinks you could have changed something! And that’s how the Ziton got its hooks in you, just like Pecharunt did!” Blue fire wraps his arms as he pushes through Ogerpon’s struggles, placing his palm on the forehead of her mask. They had talked some about the Masked Pokemon’s past, but Teacher had been very insistent that dwelling on the past was only going to lead to more suffering for both of them. As usual, here was his wisdom manifest.

What the hybrid was going to attempt in the heat of this fight was something he had never considered before now, but desperate times called for desperate tactics. Closing his eyes with a deadly adversary mere inches from his face, he breathes in deeply, calling Calm Mind up from the back of his brain like Laoweng had taught him. But this time, instead of quenching the raging blue inferno inside himself, he projects it outwards into Ogerpon. Cocentric circles of peace radiate through both of them, Psychic energy tinged with draconic teachings that was completely foreign to the Ziton forcefully injected into the Pokemon’s prefrontal cortex.

Her thrashing keeps up for a few moments, struggling below her trainer, until it slows and stops completely. Ogerpon’s head lolls back, the teal mask toppling away to reveal a set of dazed-looking golden star pips. The ogre was back in the bottle for now, and his companion had returned.

“Pyo pon pyo....” She gasps, breathing heavily as Darts hugs her close upon hearing no stray ‘Ogers’ in her speech. “Pon grrr pon...” Thank you, Just Darts... you gave me the ability to break that creature’s horrid control... The gambler lets go of the embrace and scoops her mask up off the ground, turning it around to face her for an instant before offering it back to her. “Pon pon...” And for reminding me about him...

“I was hoping all it would take was a little mental nudge... you told me before that you had gone through something like this before and broke that with the help of your mask... with the connection you shared with your best friend who had left this to you.” Darts confirms, as she gingerly reaches out with a vine winding around the face covering to take it from him. “There was no question to me you were being controlled, you don’t normally act like that. But I don’t think we have time to lie here and talk about the power of friendship together.” The Giratina hybrid stands up, brushing debris off the fringes of his living jacket. It had been twitching back and forth agitatedly from the pieces of rock irritating it and he obliges it by cleaning as much of the slate off as he can. He hauls his student up and to her feet by the scruff of her neck with one hand, placing her down next to him.

“Pyo po po pon...” She scoffs, brushing herself off as well as she places the Teal Mask back on her face with the vine that had picked it out of Darts’ hand. I would have hoped you knew I was being controlled, a warrior such as myself would obviously have vanquished you easily with your sloppy fighting style...

“You wiiiish.” Darts grins underneath his crest as the pair turns back towards the Ziton, Ogerpon twirling her club reflexively to demonstrate the return of her full facilities, Darts cracking his knuckles as they move up from a light walk into a run approaching the gelatinous blob, unspoken need for reparation of their pride linking them both as they move to attack as one.

Knowing he was pushing it to the brink after his fight with Ogerpon, Darts twists the last little bit of safe Outrage in his guts and spools it out to his limbs, leaping into the air as he threw himself bodily at the Ziton, passing Cera as he jumps, pulling something from his jacket as he goes. He throws both arms behind himself before exhaling, the sapphire fire licking around his entire being as he repeats the only safe offensive move in his arsenal, but with every last bit of power he could reach for. Ephemeral draconic energy winds around his arms like tornadoes, resisting him as he pulls the pair together slowly, the base of his palms meeting to get cocked back under his armpit in true Blizzard Ice Beam fashion, a Dragon Fang he had received years ago tightly gripped in one hand. The outline of the head of a presumably Dragon-type Pokemon coalesces center mass where his hands meet. It wasn’t a Rayquaza or even a Giratina, it seemed to take the undulating form of The One Dragon, the fusion of Reishram, Zekrom, and Kyurem from which all later Dragons would spawn as a result of their split, a mighty beast with elongated jaws and rows of killing teeth encircling the Snagem’s hands made of blue fire as he flies in towards the charging second beam, wings spread.

“The Dragon Clan sends their regards!” Darts shouts through gritted teeth, thrusting the mass forwards in an enormous Dragon Claw strike, inherited from Drake, honed through years of training, and amplified by the Dragon Fang secured in his golden hand. The One Dragon’s mouth opens wide, and a roar from beyond time and eternity blasting through the courtyard as he redelivers his attack from before, but amplified a thousandfold into a singular lance of destructive energy

Now, all of that might have been impressive enough but realistically the gambler didn’t have a lot of faith in it working, the Ziton probably had something up its sleeve to try and stop it. But it didn’t have to... because he was really just the distraction for his beloved apprentice.

Ogerpon comes flipping over the top of Darts, wreathed in his blue fiery Dragon Claw to end all Dragon Claws as he headed for center mass of the Ziton. The gemstones in her mask radiate, emitting a gentle tinkling sound that reminded her of a time before the relentless torrent of life happened. Wind chimes weren’t uncommon in Kitakami, and Ogerpon and... him had spent many lazy weekends lying in the woods listening to them ringing out in the valley in the summer sun. Memories pour in, unbidden, as Ogerpon glows bright green and a lattice work not dissimilar to a cut gemstone spreads across her skin.

The Teal Mask flies forwards off her face, enlarging and crystallizing as the two separate, until the face covering dwarfs Ogerpon in size, gleaming gemstone horns sprouting from the mask’s forehead. A trail of energy links The Masked Pokemon to her namesake, unbidden memories unlocked by Darts’ Calm Mind flowing through the last keepsake left to her by her original friend and engaging her Embody Aspect as she Terastallizes. Both fly past Cera as well, Ogerpon with her face exposed on the left and her massive vizard wreathed in the power of nature on the right. Cera would never see Ogerpon seem to speak, but she would hear in her heart as the warrior went overhead: This one’s for you, grandmother. We are here for you, together.

Then she was gone, in the fight alongside Darts as the Embody Aspect boosted her speed to unearthly levels. Her and the disembodied mask moved as a unit, separating and flying through the Ziton’s body over and over again, her gemstone Ivy Cudgel cleaving huge swathes of the tentacled mass in front of them while the mask rammed straight through like a battering ram. It was a dizzying spectacle, a little like a bombing run from a fighter jet as the pair took advantage of the Ziton’s initial focus on Darts and passed through it up, down, left, right, sometimes meeting in midair with a burst of Grass energy as they reconnected. Every time they clashed all of the Snagems nearby would get a burst of unerringly positive energy, almost like a glimpse into the small Pokemon’s life. Living out in the countryside sunshine, eating candy apples at the festival, meeting Darts and becoming his partner. The two halves of Ogerpon slice a grid pattern through the Psychic maelstrom, and as tentacles attempt to find purchase on her mind and heart they flinch away, rebuffed by her crystal outside and the pure emotive energy of her mask.

Darts’ attack still oncoming, he glances to the side where he could see Crystal nearby Cera, from where she had crunched down. He was barely able to speak, energy rattling his entire body. But the Solgaleo hybrid would hear one thing crystal clear as he came towards impact, spurring on her fighting spirit from moments before, all thoughts of their feud a few short months ago buried in the past as he trusts his teammate. “Crystal! Do it! Now!”

[Anistar City]

Crystal's roar and Ogerpon's rallying cry would see Cera pause for the briefest of moments, barely even a second, giving just enough time for her to see the hand of her newfound companions snatched away from her and snapped in half. Eyes wide as the hand dissolved into the ground, a psychic screech would resound in the minds closest to her, horror and an immense fear of what was about slip out of her grasp. "What have you done!?" Would be all the Mew got to scream before the shockwave from Monique carried her backwards, the Night Daze acting as a dampening blanket against her psychic abilities. Her vision would be cut as it swept through her, the face of the other Mew dissolving into it but not before a sudden shift into a pink mass flashed in and out of her vision. She'd find herself not far from where Chum had landed, her senses and bearings rocked as the Night Daze waned as quickly as it sent her to safety.

"Why...? I was so close to-"

Panicking at the sudden flashes from the Ziton, the Sharpedo next to Cera would suddenly muster enough energy to slam into her with an Aqua Jet, physically trying to shield her eyes from it. The jolt would finish what Crystal's call and the Night Daze had started, reminding her that there was still a fight, existential thoughts and desires be damned. "...the Ziton... how'd it...?"

"Shar ***** shar shar!" Whatever the flash did, it hadn't affected Chum at all aside from blinding him for a couple of seconds. But he needed this lass to pull herself together yesterday.

Right behind it would be another voice whispering into her mind. The Ziton again? No, the voice sounded different, its source didn't feel like it was coming from it with the flux of psychic power from its twin beams. She found herself turning towards where Olympia laid. She was still unconscious, but she was certain it was her voice. Just as she was trying to fathom how, it'd be spelled out. The envelope... it was still near her too. Was that why she spent those few extra seconds before letting her take it? There wouldn't be much time to think further, hearing the crash of the twin beams impacting the sundial.

Olympia's explanation needed to wait, no matter how bad the Mew wanted it right now. Get Monique to the sundial... but how? Outrunning the Ziton or its attacks wasn't that likely. Or, worse yet, it might go after her again. And maybe succeed this time.

"...in the meantime, all we have is this moment right now – so fight!"

Cera might not have been to take in most of what Ogerpon had said earlier, but one part rang in her head. Fight and do it anyway. She could still sense the energy from Chum too, and that another attack was building up from the Ziton. And an awful lot of animosity from a lot of the others' Pokemon... it was all about to overwhelm her when Ogerpon came back to her senses and flew past her, mouth agape at what she saw between her and the now massive mask. The shard on her seemed to react too, a hint of energy being felt from it as she tightened her scarf, but there wasn't time to think about what any of that meant.

Fight.

And do it anyway.

She'd fling herself onto Chum's back, sitting her back against his fin before managing to Mimic the same Aqua Jet that crashed into her a moment ago, hands and feet coming together to brace her tail as it wrapped around. With its tip as the focal point, she'd use it to aim towards Monique and send both of them in the air towards her. With the Ziton having to worry about the others, this might be their one chance to keep the sundial safe. "Monique, we need to get to that sundial! Grab on!" She screamed, hoping the verbal 'mews' would reach her before the careening shark-and-Mew missile did. "Chum, if and when she does, fling us even further with another Aqua Jet!"

The Sharpedo was ready, forced to accept that his sudden question at Cera using the same move herself with seemingly no practice wasn't getting an answer right now. Let alone, had he a way to gesture around him, everything else that was happening.

[Agate Forest]

"And stay off!" Sol added after the second Archeops was thrown off Amaranth and found itself back into the trees. "Here." He'd be quick to help Amaranth to her feet, both of them seeing the divot in the ground.

"Thanks," Amaranth remarked with a sigh of relief, dusting herself off and scooping up a few more of the berries on the ground, keeping an eye out for the alpha to pop back up. "Leave this one to the few of us. Whatever's up ahead's probably even bigger."

"Right. Be careful, all of you." With that, Sol raced off after the others that gave chase to Leslie, and while it'd take some time to catch up, he'd notice the flashes of green light in the distance. "The hell is..." He'd quicken his pace through the woods as much as he could, no amount of brush or roots or Pokemon in wait deterring him from getting to the others... just in time to see them advancing further themselves. But that wasn't what caught his eye so much as Ambrosia's prescence defying that she was left at Trainer Hill. And she was fighting Aden. He had questions about the state he saw him in now, issues Aden was unfortunately on his own about despite the wishes to do something about it or mend the broken bridges. Being the enemy or disowned by said enemy didn't make him any less his son, even if accepting the decision he made was a bitter pill he was still swallowing alongside other, maybe even more bitter ones.

By the time he was fully caught up, it was in time for another flash of emerald green and a harsh, almost literal demonstration of time flowing like a river. For the second time, he found himself rushing forth to take the brunt of the rapid growth and expanse of time. As he did, he heard the sounds from before and had a better look at their source just before the hypergrowth obscured it. He wasn't sure, but... "Hey!" He shouted out at Celebi, hesitating to try and burn any of the growth lest he raze the entire forest and everyone else with it. "You- gah! ...the Celebi that was following him around, aren't you!?"

Tristen walked a few steps forward after the lightning strikes came down and stared in confusion. It was far beyond Zebstrika, and presumably Aile’s Paradox Pokémon, to just make a opposing Archeops evaporate from pure electricity coming down on it. But then he noticed…loose soil. “…wha…” He quickly snapped around once he started to see Deo’s Steelix get caught up in a sinkhole and getting dragged down. “Oh come on, these things can dig too!?” Tristen asked. Tristen had to back up with Aile, guiding Zebstrika back lest they fall to a similar fate to Steelix. As Aile tried to make the attempt to get Sandy Shocks to pull Steelix out by magnetism, Tristen would call out to Deo. “Deo! Try to recall Steelix!” Tristen shouted to the Luxray hybrid. “Before he gets pulled under!”

Tristen didn’t have much more that he could do at this point other than be on high alert. Certainly, this thing wasn’t going to stay underground forever and was poised to go after someone else, never mind him. He also didn’t really have any Pokémon that could actually help in this situation without actively making it worse. Sure, he had Pokémon that could summon an Earthquake attack and try to flush this alpha Pokémon out, but Tristen feared it was going to be at the expense of the two allies that he had right at the moment. He had to be patient and wait for his shot.

[Anistar City]

It had actually been true. The Ziton had been the thing to assail all of the Psychic presenting Renos. And he had just tapped into the vast pocket of them within the entity. Now all he had to do was steer them....wait, what was that whole anchor thing? He barely had time to consider the word on its own before it became a rallying cry, the signal for a swarm of fishing hooks to lodge themselves into his mind and begin to try pulling. And as the effort coordinated itself better, the word gained clarity and purpose. The anchor. Reno was the anchor and all of his alternative selves were angered by this.

Turning all of his strength to keeping himself from immediately being dragged inside, Reno could hear Rome jolt fully aware within their shared mindscape. But as much as Reno wanted the help with pushing back against the rebellious portion of the Ziton he had created, Rome would be processing the information provided. 'The anchor. Of course. That's why you were the one that woke me up, not any of these ones. You....somehow either from Snowpoint or your interaction with the Ziton at the temple, managed to bind it and constrain it from freely jumping around reality.' Reno would feel the extra pull as Rome slowly began to join the effort to pull free of the hooks, but a final thought from him came across. 'But...if you existing is what keeps it bound....why isn't it seizing the opportunity here?'

It was a good point. Even though he could feel the collective effort of the individual minds attempting to drag him in, it lacked a certain weight that the full brunt of the Ziton would bring. In fact, with the little amount of awareness that Reno still had of the world around him, he could see it was preparing to force a channeling move for a distraction before attempting to free itself.

It was fleeing. The second Reno had woken the others that were dragging him in, the Ziton changed tactics from prey on the gathered Snagems and Gym Leader to get out of this situation as fast as possible.

He needed to figure out why. And he needed to put all of his focus onto that. ‘Rome, keep my body safe. I’m gonna try and get some answers.’ Reno informed the passenger in his mind, a small mental pulse giving Rome’s agreement to the idea before they split to focus on their particular missions.

Rome would come into control just as the lights finished pulsing, gaze bouncing around between the possible victims for whatever move it had just used. It took only a moment to land on everyone’s Pokemon that had been out were slowly beginning to look towards their trainers, including…only Reno’s Alakazam that was slowly aiming towards him with a purple and void-like swirl around one spoon. The Reuniclus would have a small moment as he glared towards Rome before giving a pause and shaking itself for a moment, glancing back towards where they had placed Olympia’s body and where a small Wynaut was struggling to get back around to where the action was. Giving a nod of acknowledgement to the allegedly Baby Pokemon, Aleister would chamber his arm across his body before lashing out directly to Kaiden’s face. Catching the surprise Hammer Arm, the Shadow Ball that he had been preparing to throw out against Rome would sputter out and fire wildly into the air.

Leaving those two to their scrap, Rome would see how the others were faring and if the Ziton needed any personal attention in the physical realm. And while he didn’t have the reaction time to intercept the first beam, deducing its aim for a second hit was childs play. “Harleen! Prepare for intercept!” Rome called out, giving a quick twirl of the bat still in his hand before bringing himself into a traditional batting pose. While the altered tone would throw her for a moment, Harleen had enough experience to understand precisely who it was doing the asking currently and to trust in that. Scrambling along the concrete of the Gym, she would stumble and have to dive through the clashing Kaiden and Aleister as they brought fists of flame and ice smashing together. The small explosion of steam from the rapidly melting ice would send her flying into the air with a minor amount of control on her part, the Wynaut steering herself to pass through Rome’s strike zone.

The bat would swing and connect squarely with the small Psychic type, her giving only a small “Wy” before she was sent pinwheeling through the air. Looking towards the now very reflective Wynaut, Rome would give a small huff. While he had some measure of confidence that the flurry of blows that Darts and his ward were currently rending through the Ziton would do something to it, he was not confident it would be enough to halt the second Twin Beam from still firing off towards the Anistar Sundial. With a Mirror Coat-affected Wynaut now occupying the only firing solution it should be able to come up with, that should prove stymieing enough for Reno to continue on with direct contact.

Reno would still be fighting the attempt to pull him into the Ziton, but he wasn’t pulling his full effort into the pushback. While he was telling himself that it was simply to keep the connection active and attempt to steer things in the Ziton, it wasn’t the only reason. After all, he knew as much as all of them knew: he was the direct cause for their inclusion in this monstrosity. If he hadn’t opened that box, ruined that attempt to seal it away, the Ziton wouldn’t have become such a problem and it definitely wouldn’t have been leashed to the existence of Renos. Maybe he should let them pull him fully within the Ziton. It would satisfy their own efforts and maybe make them more amenable to his attempts to talk with them, he would likely be able to escape thanks to Rome, and he would be much better condition to fight back directly than many of the other minds that had ended up in there.

It wasn’t like there would be much of value lost anyways if he couldn’t actually leave. One street urchin or the entire cadre of people and Pokemon around him? They would be foolish to waste effort trying to get him out. Especially with how many of these poor souls he had directly doomed and demonstrably had done so.

And while Reno was tempted to dwell on the thought, go with the urge, and see if reality’s little joke of keeping him alive despite it all would continue on, a small voice brought his attention back. It was a whisper, a small errant thought. If all of these Renos share so much with you, why wouldn’t they share this too?

While he didn’t take long to debate it out, Reno would find himself unable to argue against it. ’Everyone! I get it!’ Reno bellowed into the mass of minds. ‘I am the reason you ended up here! I’m the one who made this thing only have enough leash to reach us! I’m the anchor! But I need your help!’ Giving a small pause as he braced for the inevitable tug they would give in response to being asked to help him, Reno would give it a few seconds before continuing. ‘You must hate this thing as much as you do me. And it is currently trying to run away, trying to slip away so it can do this again and do what it did to you to so many others! And…if you’re like me, you didn’t take that lightly the first time. Might have even sacrificed yourself to this thing so it would leave, so that everyone else in your place would stay alive. So are you going to let this thing make more of us have to make that choice? Become the anchor you claim I am, weigh down this monstrosity and force it to stay, steal its power away from it, rage against it trying to keep doing this. And, if you still desire it, you can have me as recompense. One final mind taken in to make it so no other minds end up here.’

[Agate Forest]

While happy that her plan had somewhat succeeded, it was hard to call it a complete success when it had ended with Leslie plummeting towards the river and also….the Scyther that was coming to intercept her? Well, it was going to end with both of them in the river. At least the slower plummet with the attempt to fly should keep them from smashing too hard into the water beneath them. Which, of course, is when the ecosystem decided to do a pivot into an expanse of plants and vines for their landing pad.

Muttering wordlessly to herself, Leslie would manage to find a pair of Pokeballs….or at least one Pokeball. Rolling her eyes at the other ball in her hand, she would throw it off towards the waterfall before digging out her intended second Pokeball and opening both. Looking at the Doublade and the Pawniard that were now falling alongside her, Leslie would quickly grab onto the Doublade’s sheath and wrap her legs around the Scyther to try and give them some additional lift and steer them towards the source of the vines. “Alright, we need cutting. Chulainn, use Aerial Ace! Guts, just keep using Fury Cutter until we’re through! Scyther….do whatever cutty moves a Scyther knows.” Feeling a blast of heath beneath them from Sub’s Heat Wave, the mild updraft gave them just enough lift to fully turn this barely controlled fall into a divebomb towards the location the fight was happening at. And as the flurry of slashes came through the vines, she hoped that the path they cleaved would give everyone else a chance to get through and see what the heck was going on with Aden, Ambrosia, and Celebi.

[Anistar City]

Darts' Dragon Claw would strike the eye just as it was firing off its eye beam causing the beam's trajectory to change just slightly, the beam failing to strike the middle of the sundial as it had aimed and instead would strike its side, blasting off a piece of the sundial however leaving the majority of it intact. As the Snagems fought their Pokemon a calming chiming bell sound would echo out, OIdd's Chimecho utilizing Heal Bell to try and mitigate the effects of the Ziton's influence and while it did seem to help as the Snagems began to get through to their Pokemon it wouldn't be enough to prevent the Ziton from getting its hooks in them again, having already done it once. That was until a piece of the sundial fell at Odd's feet. Odd would feel it immediately, the pull of the crystal fragment as it resonated with his frayed spirit. The crystal shard would begin to glow as it pulled some of his life force into it before passing it onto Chimecho creating a link between them causing Bass to glow itself. There would then be a bright flash of light, a cocoon of crystalline energy encasing Chimecho and shattering and before anyone knew what was going on Bass had changed, Mega Evolved. The Chimecho was not the only thing that changed as the shard of the sundial at Odd's feet had become a smooth round orb, primarily yellow with pinks and blues inside of it. It had become a Chimechite Mega Stone. With its new Mega Evolved form Bass' Heal Bell would become further amplified, completely dispelling the Ziton's lingering influence over the Snagem Pokemon and insuring it could not do that again.

The Ziton would be briefly caught off by the amplified Heal Ball as it seemed to shiver and warble, taking seconds longer to charge up its next shot which was just enough time for Ogerpon to find its own resolve once more and tap into its latent power only to turn that power on the Ziton itself. Each pass through the Ziton cleaved it in twain, leaving gaping 'wounds' in the monstrosities form as it struggled to quickly reattach itself, the Ogre of Oni Mountain's assault just too swift, too severe, coupled with its trainers own attacks as well. The joyous energy Ogerpon was putting out was amplified further by Mega Chimecho's song, truly overriding the aura of malice and dread that comes with the Ziton's presence, in fact it filled them all with purpose.

~~~

While this was going on Reno was mentally still inside the hivemind, communing with the other Renos it had devoured before. As he did he could feel everything happening in the physical world, the damage his friends were doing to the Ziton, the fear it made it feel and while this was a pleasant surprise he knew something else; it wouldn't be enough. The Ziton could not be physically destroyed, it would always repair itself, always find a way back. There was plenty of material inside here for such a task, it had eons to gather resources after all. No, the only way to truly put an end to the beast was to dismantle it from the inside, to deny it of these resources.

After Reno spoke to the other Reno minds they would fall silent, considering his words. While they spoke nothing at first Reno could sense their feelings, after all he was them and they were he. They did hate the Ziton just as much as him, wanted it gone, had sacrificed all they had to defeat it only to end in failure. He could feel their resentment towards the creature, the despair and regret, all of it. He didn't need to receive an actual response, he knew now that he calmed the Reno mind maelstrom they wanted nothing more than to do exactly as he implored, to weigh the Ziton down, to cease its madness once and for all.

One by one, inside the mindscape that was taking proper form, Reno would see the previous orbs of life that were these minds take on physical appearance as they allowed themselves to be individuals once more. All of them Reno, some looking almost identical to him, some slightly different, others vastly different. Two would join hands with Reno, one for each hand, and those would join hands with another as the Renos formed what seemed like an endless Reno chain that stretched on into the expanse of the Ziton. As the chain grew longer and longer Reno would feel the weight of their psychic presence as it bore down on him at the middle of the chain, making his mind feel heavy, like an anchor. He felt it, he could hold the Ziton still, just for awhile, with the help of his other selves. But that's all they needed. Through his link with Harleen he could see what Rome was planning and that the Ziton was aware as well, preparing to get out of the way. Not if Reno had anything to say about it.

~~~

Rome was correct in his assumption however that rending the amalgamation of minds would not truly put an end to the second beam firing, having plenty of minds to spare to keep that task running. The second Twin Beam would fire off but not before a certain Wynaut was put directly in its path. The powerful beam of concentrated Psychic energy would strike Wynaut and immediately ricochet off of it but not before doubling in intensity. Though the beam was now heading back to sender it would not be without a victim as the sheer force of the attack would send the tiny Wynaut flying, no doubt it would be reeling from this little reflection for a few days. The attack was deflected and now flying right back at the Ziton. Immediately after firing the beam a new face would appear on its form, one familiar to some Snagems as the Xatu hybrid Horus, the Ziton preparing a Teleport as its disconnected pieces began to shift and fade. It couldn't leave Anistar City but it could move around the place, enough to avoid being on the receiving end of its own attack. However, Reno would not allow it, the Snagem's machinations inside the beast causing its teleport to sputter out and fail. It could still avoid the beam, it just needed to shift its form and...

Crystal and her Charizard sunk their claws and teeth into it.

Something happened in then, perhaps it was the sheer amount of Dark energy, or maybe Crystal's own unique inter-dimensional abilities, or a combination of the two, but in that moment the Ziton seemed to become 'solid'. Grounded. Corporeal. All its broken pieces would slam together suddenly into a smooth orb about half the size of the Ziton's usual form, Crystal and Demon Wing holding onto it. But that's not the only bizarre thing, in this brief moment, only possible because she was actually touching it, Crystal could sense something truly unexpected about the Ziton; it felt fear. There were no more options for escape, it had lost control over the situation.

Its fears would be realized as the reflected Twin Beam slammed into it with a furious explosion of Psychic energy sending all Snagems and Pokemon flying off in every direction, also destroying a piece of the cement ground and leaving a crater behind in the process. Once any of the Snagems regained their wits they would see the Ziton was 'gone', pieces of what resembled pink broken 'glass' strewn about the ground and an ever shifting cloud of pink mist floating in the air in its place. The mist would shift and bend inwards as it began to resemble something like a fetus. Was this the Ziton's true form? When Ogerpon laid her eyes upon this mist she saw something more than the others.

Cera and Monique were on their own mission as the others fought the Ziton, rushing for the sundial as instructed by Olympia, the pair only briefly troubled as the Twin Beams flew over their heads, the first one that hit the sundial causing some pieces of the giant crystal structure to fly towards them but they would make it to the sundial safely for the most part. As they arrived Olympia would speak to Cera once more.

"Your friend must make an illusion, shroud the sundial in it. It must be an illusion of your leader, Sub, standing in the sundial's place. She can't do it on her own, it's too big of a task. You must aid her, Cera. You have the power, you've done it before, harness as much Dark energy as you can." Olympia instructed Cera once more.

"GYAAA-NEH-NERNEEEEET!!!" A horrible screeching sound would come from the 'mist' before a gravitational force was manifested with its self at the center. The force would pull in rubble and anything not screwed down to the ground until a massive ball of cement, metal, bits of the sundial, the remains of the Anistar Gym and so on formed around the swirling mist. This ball of rubble wouldn't remain as such for long as its physical make up began to partially shift, matter being altered. The Ziton would form from all this trash something of a proper physical body that now stood at least thirty feet tall and towered over the Snagems. The form it took, while still partially looking like random material though some now looked flesh-like, resembled something of a composite Pokemon. It had the body plan of a Mewtwo, the face of a Lugia, the arms of a Metagross, and so forth. It was a grotesque combination of flesh, random material and everything in between.

With its new physical form the Ziton went on the attack, slamming its Metagross-like arm down at the four nearest it; Darts, Ogerpon, Crystal and Demon Wing. Its attack would not end there as it fired off psychic eye beams in a sweeping moment aimed at Odd and Terashi and their Pokemon. It would also lash out with its twin tentacle blue and orange 'tail' at "Rome" and attempt to snatch him up. And finally random 'spoons' would launch out of its back and randomly rain down on Anistar City. The Ziton was on a mindless rampage, no longer focusing on anything other than destruction. Hopefully Rome or someone else would continue to protect Olympia's body.

[Agate Forest > Lumiose City]

When Sub pulled up to Ambrosia on his Hydreigon alongside Lykas he would find that Aden had already escape, cutting his loses and cutting a tear in time itself to flee. The man wouldn't stare at the tear revealing Prism Tower for long as it shut behind the fleeing hybrid. Sighing he recalled his Pokemon. Before he could say anything about the situation he come into Ambrosia gave him the Time Flute, Sub letting out an 'ooh' as he accepted the item. Looking down at the flute then at Ambrosia he nodded. "Right. Don't worry we can take it from h- ack! Hey!" Sub would react with a protest as Ambrosia snatched the Time Flute away from him, leaving him confused considering she had just given him the artifact. Any questions he had as to why she did that would be dispelled as she utilized the flute to tear open her own portal in the same spot Aden did and to the same when. Sub would note her intentional movements, clear that this was something of a lesson.

"So how- whoa! Wait!" Again Sub would be caught off guard by Ambrosia as she shoved the Time Flute into his hands, the Snagem leader attempting to ask for a moment of pause only for the alchemist to shove him through the portal she had made. Immediately Sub's senses were all thrown into disarray as his mind and body struggled to discern any sort of direction, Sub filled with a sense of vertigo as he stumbled through and into the streets of Lumiose City. Again Sub would have no time to react to anything as he was pushed out of the way and into a wall, the man letting out a gasp as he clutched the Time Flute against his chest out of instinct, his body knowing to protect it before his mind did. Finally registering what the Kalosian said Sub looked around with a leery high, thoughts buzzing in his mind like an angry swarm of Beedrill.

"We're in Lumiose...and I think I know when." He commented as his eyes settled on one of the many banners. "We need to find Aden and fast." He said, glancing around, trying to not get caught up in the flow of people. "Maybe he got caught in the crowds as well, if so we might find him in Centrico Plaza. It would be nice to have a bird's eye view right now but if we are when I think we are that could be dangerous..." The man pointed out, looking at a banner out of the corner of his eye, as if it made him uncomfortable. "Damn it all. We don't have a lot of options."

[Agate Forest >>> Lumiose City]

Aile gave Kuat a few solid smacks on his side as she watched the spectacle unfold with the Archeops, a bit of a smirk on her face. “Nice. That’s how we do it! Aye Tee, Kuat, great work!”

“BZT BZZZZ!”

“Steee….” AT looked proud of itself as the Mega Steelix looked actually impressed at what happened, looking back from his trainer to the abnormal Pokemon on his back. Maybe he could like this thing after all, as long as it didn’t try to strip him for his metal. He would be startled by the feeling of someone else jumping onto him, looking back once more to see his trainer now joining them.

“Sorry Kuat, we should hopefully wrap this up soon.” Nodding to Tristen, she would turn her attention to her Paradox Pokémon, who was contemplating hanging from Kuat’s lower jaw like a beard. “Let’s focus here and make sure we don’t have to deal with this thing anymore. Aye Tee, Zap Cannon!” The Sandy Shocks would stand up straighter after being called out, turning its eyeballs around quickly before bringing its attention back around to the prehistoric bird blasting off for the first time, or about to be. Charging up, it would fire off the beam of electrical energy once more to blast this living fossil and free them up.

As long as the bird was out of their hair, she would give the punk rock Magneton a pat on one of its magnets before recalling it. “Take a break for now, Aye Tee. And as for everyone else here, all aboard to join back up with the others!” Patting the steel snake when she made it to his head, Aile smiled again. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to try and extend the Mega Evolution this time, nor will I ask you to shed some of your metal. We just need to play catch up, not escape authorities. I will ask for a Magnet Rise, though.” Nodding and waiting for a moment while any others jumped on, Kuat would soon take off after creating his own magnetism to help him float off the ground, now that his use as a counterweight was no longer required. It probably didn’t take them long to get there, watching the last of the previous Snagems enter the time rift. And what she saw through the rift made her stomach fall. Lumiose City. The last place she was expecting. And some familiar banners and streamers were on Prism Tower, too, telling her that it was during some sort of celebration. Wasn’t she told about this though, about returning to her hometown? Well, here it was, in one of the… more unexpected places she could think of.

“....Merde. Alright.” The woman would get down off of Kuat, recalling him as well while feeling more hesitant than ever. Aile stared hard at the portal, taking deep breaths to steel herself as the others probably went through before her. “Right. I need to do this, too.” Her gaze would turn to Ambrosia, nodding. “Stay safe, Ambrosia.” With one final deep breath, Aile would go through the rift, arriving in the middle of a crowd of people.

The heat would hit her, though she honestly wasn’t terribly uncomfortable, even in her bomber jacket. It was at least less humid than the jungle. She ignored the people acting rudely as they passed, narrowing her eyes as she took in the sights. If she had her internal timeline right… “Sub, I’m going to go get a different vantage point. There are some rooftops that are easy to access, and it’s not unheard of for people to use them if they’re near any of the Plazas for something like this.” Aile looked around, frowning. “Also, it’s not like I haven’t done this sort of thing before.” Aile would pop open a Pokéball and bring out Poggle, who immediately went to rest on her shoulder. The smaller creature would attract less attention than say, Kayvaan, even if he could immediately camouflage himself. Aile would keep herself near the wall until she identified a nearby ladder to climb. When it was located, she would weave her way through the mass of people, returning any retorts made to her right back, varying levels of sass given back, until she arrived and climbed up the ladder.

“Merde…” Aile would dust herself off when she arrived at the rooftop, closing her eyes for a moment and once again needing to steady her nerves. “Why the hell did he come here?”

“Nin?” Poggle would look at his trainer, concerned. He could tell that she felt more tense than normal, even taking into account the travel into the ruins. This was… a different type of tension?

“It’s nothing, Pogs,” she lied, opening her eyes and putting on an air of determination. Her chest felt tight, and her breathing was slightly quickened. She had to admit to herself, she was rather nervous returning here. She couldn’t let it affect what they did, though. She needed to fight through that anxiety. She had no option to let herself break down, even for a moment. Looking around, she'd use her vantage point to start hunting through the crowds to find any trace of Aden, moving from building to building if she needed to. He shouldn’t be able to blend in very well… Unless that’s what he might have been going for. She wouldn’t have been surprised with how things were going for them and the history changing.


[Anistar City]

The pair wouldn’t relent on holding down the Ziton, even through the sudden ‘solidification’ of it taking them both by surprise. Within Crystal, though, another feeling would rise up as they held the hivemind down- glee. A part of her was enjoying the knowledge that the creature that instilled so much fear in her was now getting their own medicine thrown back at them. “How does it feel to be scared,” she snarled, right before the Twin Beam hit.

The next thing she could recall, she was on her side, sore after the blast had sent her and Demon Wing away. Looking around she could see the Charizard shaking his head and working his way to his feet as well. Following his lead, she would look around and up, seeing the glass and mist, the latter forming into some sort of…baby, maybe? She couldn’t quite tell, but it was something small.

Both Demon Wing and Crystal would grab their ears as soon as that strange, horrible screech erupted from that psychic form, watching as it pulled in anything and everything not living or bolted down to create a new monstrous form. Well, what did a scared Pokemon do when it had no place left to go? It fought. So, this made an amount of sense. “Light burn us,” the interdimensional lioness muttered, attempting to make sense of this form. As soon as the arm started moving towards them, though, Crystal would nod her head to Demon Wing, the black Charizard taking off immediately afterwards. Bringing to bear as much of her psychic power as she could, she would attempt to catch the arm and arrest any momentum it had. Eyes glowing bright as she struggled, Crystal would call out to Demon Wing. “Demon Wing… Your… move!”

The black pseudodragon would nod and charge forward in the air, the flame on his tail growing until it engulfed him. When he got close, he’d twist his body to shoulder check this arm with his Flare Blitz, trying to break up this part of the junk construct.

[Anistar City]

Reno could feel and see so much more of the area all at once, not needing to devote everything he had to keeping a horde from dragging him in deeper and severing his way out of the Ziton. He could feel the fear running rampant through the beast, a mildly satisfying sensation even as his senses could finally adjust to something besides pushing back and he saw it. The white-hot glowing core of minds, power, and talents that it had stolen from so many for so long. Even with as much was being put into assaulting the thing, it wouldn't be enough. It would just result in the same thing as had happened in Galar and Paldea: the thing using the power and gravity it had at its core to force the universe to tear open an Ultra Wormhole for it to slip out of. And even without that, it still had so much power at its disposal that it would regenerate and thrash around again for centuries before a brute force method would truly bring it down. But it still needed to be countered physically before he could truly set to work on breaking it down and it seemed to be aiming a massive attack at the one thing keeping it anchored into this neighbourhood.

Thankfully, his senses freeing up also let him feel what his body was doing under its current commander. And watching Harleen sail in for the intercept, the beam catching her shimmering body perfectly, he could feel the Ziton drawing up a mind. And while he had only the barest interaction with it, he recognized the hybrid. But he couldn't address that immediately, not when that mind being called up meant the Ziton was going to teleport within its Sudial-forged cage to evade. Perhpas it was time he drew inspiration from this thing. Latching onto the extended hands of the two Renos closest to him, he watched as all of the now calmed minds began to join the chain, their psychic weight and power funneling towards the middle of the chain, towards him. And he would immediately make that weight physical within the Ziton's form, a true anchor forming within it and throwing off the Teleport it had been preparing as the weight's formation stole energy and threw off the innate calculus for such a manuever. The maneuver only resulted in a waste of energy as it wasn't enough power in the right place to move anything. And before he would have to attempt forcing the body to stay formed in the line of fire, Crystal and Demon Wing swung in and it disrupted whatever ability or psionic trait was allowing the Ziton to dissipate its form and weight of energy throughout the cloud.

While in normal circumstances, the disruption would amount to a blip, the dimensional power behind it erased whatever momentum everything had from the Ziton's own efforts to keep itself dispersed. And immediately slammed everything into the rogue anchor that Reno had formed, still attached to the claws and teeth of the assailants that had caused this.

While everything went white on impact, both Reno and Rome would remain where they had been mentally. Which, for Reno, meant confirmation that the Ziton was liable to start thrashing around in a tantrum after it had been scared so thoroughly. 'Rome, I need names. Who else can you remember being in this thing? I'm gonna do something real dumb.' Reno asked, slowly feeling the Renos he had been holding slowly coming back to their own senses.

'I assume you have decided to see how many others you can awaken within the confines? All I can offer are three names. Ita, a woman who channeled via an Orbeetle. Qyldor, they were a Starmie hybrid. And...Puahi, who I believe was an Alolan student of your master if her origin and the Oricorio she had were anything to go by.' Rome said, slowly picking himself off of the ground where he had been blown to after impact. Harleen was still connected for channeling but the Wynaut was likely to be missing for a while with how that beam had hit her. Aleister and Kaiden had toppled over and were close to the statues where they had placed Olympia's body before their brawl had initiated.

'Thanks. I've got a few of my own I can name offhand, but more's better. And since I don't need everything just to keep myself here...hows about you run most of the channeling right now.' Reno said, slowly drawing himself together before he started his next effort at awakening.

First was the one who had inspired this move. 'Horus! You stuck-up, overgrown Pidgey! Are you going to let this thing be the last act for you!? You fought a legendary hybrid to a standstill! Whats this thing compared to Blizz? And what about your partner? Don't you want me to give her a message for you?"'

Next, the one who had started Reno's own mixed feelings surrounding Sub and who had offered aid, knowingly or not, through other encounters with the Ziton. 'Subbarao! I know you're still here! You want to help out Victor!? Then WAKE. UP. Fight! Scream! Make this thing have to notice you and stop trying to hurt Victor's friends.'

Thirdly, Rome's offerings. 'Ita. Qyldor. Puahi. I have never directly connected with any of you before, but all three of you apparently were notable for the other mind in my head. That tells me you all will want to fight back and make the Ziton regret ever messing with you. So, I need you all to fight! To leave your mark on history as having taken down a god!'

Finally, the one even he had forgotten. 'Tesei! I know I forgot about you for so long! But I'm here again and I need you! We all need you! So please.....' Reno came to a halt as the weight of asking the one person he had seen directly sacrifice themself for him bore itself. What gave him the right to ask anything, when Tesei had already sacrificed himself for Reno? Wasn't that enough? '.....you don't have to. But I just hoped you would still want to help out a waste like me. So please....at least let me say goodbye.'

----

Having given Reno the names, Rome would watch as the surroundings began drag themselves towards the slowly coalescing form of the Ziton, a physical amalgam of material and parts forming around the psionic amalgam. As much of an issue as the construct he could see being made would be, Rome let himself breath out a calming sigh. He could feel the scrapes and abrasions from the explosion knitting themselves back together, a membrane spreading across his body, and the sensation of power welling itself from the pain that was still inside him.

Opening a few more Pokeballs, Rome would look towards the Alolan Raichu and Metagross before pointing towards the unconscious body of Olympia. "Phemes, assume defensive position above Olympia and be prepared for intercept. Kaiden, Light Screen and Reflect around that position and prepare to teleport clear if it becomes too much for both of you." While the two Pokemon might not be as used to commands from Rome, they had felt his presence and his voice in Reno's commands enough times that they went with the call, setting to work establishing a psionic bunker around Olympia's comatose form.

Looking towards Nalu and Aleister, Rome gave a small nod. "Nalu, an Electric Terrain would be ideal. Aleister, follow along. I will need you to make a cavity with Hammer Arm before I can do my idea." The commands would send the Reuniclus and Alolan Raichu into action, the ground slowly beginning to glow with a static charge while Rome got a new companion floating next to him as the tentacle closed in on them. Rolling his eyes, Rome would quickly channel a Meteor Masher into his shoulders and let the attack erupt out at the slightest poke from the slime armor surrounding him.

As much as the move was meant for adding impact, it still took a small amount of energy to cut the recoil. But if you wanted the recoil and had no friction because you were floating above the ground? It resulted in a powerful dash to the side, Rome leaving the slime armor behind for the tentacle to encircle before making the slime condense around the tentacle end and attempt to crush the limb. Not wasting time even as his focus was on constraing the tail, Rome would divert the power to his levitation and force a Meteor Masher out of the soles of his feet, the recoil this time sending him flying into the air with Aleister trailing behind him. "Prepare for switch and swing....now!" Rome called out, watching as he sped towards the back of the construct and where the tail was from. As he finished his call out, a pink flash would envelop both Rome and Aleister before the two would switch position, the Reuniclus' Hammer Arm slamming home and attempting to drive a large dent into the thing on the opposite side from where it was being cooked by the others.

Another pink flash, Rome would once again be right next to the dent with the ebonite bomb in his hands and the pin taken out of it. Throwing it towards the hole and firing off a small piece of slime, Rome would once again rocket away as the bomb was adhered and had the slime form a shaped wedge of material. Righting himself into the more controlled movements that ATPE normally conveyed, Rome would skate along the ground to where Aleister had ended up as he watched the homebrew shaped charge prepare to go off. Between the attempt to form an alcove, the new dense back plate, and the ramshackle nature of the construct, all of it would force the bomb's explosive energy and ebonite shrapnel straight towards where the Ziton was contained within this thing.

Back with Phemes and Kaiden, the two Pokemon would be hard at work smashing and blasting away a few of the random spoons that looked to be flying their direction, attempting to take them out of the air using Shadow Balls and Flash Cannons before they could threaten them, their protected person, or anyone who might lay beyond where they were stationed and Darts could not reach to protect in time.