'As per the wishes of the original author, Glacia Eonia, we'd like to end this story on a dialogue concerning the final battle and aftermath. This is completely unedited, for reasons discussed within the dialogue. All of the recordings were taken (more or less) with permission.'

- Benison Neitria, more well known as 'Neitra'

Legend:

Italics: Glacia - Inverted Eevee

Italics and Underline: Merla - Giratina Drone

Italics and Bold: Vinia - Gardevoir

Italics, Underline, and Bold: Shiny Celebi

Part 26: The Ending.

Glacia here. You might be wondering why this in a different format than any of the other chapters. Well, there's a reason for that.

The events at HUMANITY'S headquarters… is where it all ended. The Ahriman, the Miasma, our searches, our worries, our grievances… it all ended on that day, for better or for worse.

If you're like me, you're feeling a strange sense of disconnect. It looked like we were straight in the middle of the conflict with Zoro- sorry, the Ahriman - he was gaining power, and Tom would have to gain power that was equal to it or greater than it faster than the Ahriman strengthen himself. Legendaries were fleeing for their freedom. Tom was supposed to have a long way to go. It felt like it was supposed to be… harder, for some reason.

But… no.

The Ahriman died that day.

Lady Glacia… please get to the point - and that sense of disconnect is from you dictating this because you twisted your paw from writing too much.

Merla, please.

That mega-chapter - it was twenty-seven thousand words, wasn't it?

I split it up in three later, okay? One chapter for our battle in the dream world, and two for Tom's search in Vismiana and eventually, the rediscovery of Corona in the Distortion World.

Lady, Glacia, the story?

Right, right...

In some strange turn of events, we reunited. It was strange how fate coincided - everyone and everything meeting in the same place at the same time. Teams Vinia and Tom, Rax's armies, all of the members of HUMANITY, the Ahriman (considering the stakes in the battle, he would naturally be here)... everyone and everything.

That day, five weeks from the battle of the prison, was when everyone collided. The four of us - Dusknoir, Naetle, Sky, and I - had gone to Ring 8, on our way to Jeden to find Vinia. We stopped, though, when we saw the carnage going on in the chasm.

Dotted throughout the valley were bloodshed and death. Rax's forces fought to the death against the Inverted Pokémon of HUMANITY, who fought surprisingly well. A small stench of death rose up into our nostrils as we surveyed the carnage.

Then Dusknoir saw her - Mage. Within seconds, Dusknoir fell into the bloodthirsty trance all Miasma-Inverted Pokémon faced when encountering an X-Variant. He tore through the dense sea of fighters, not even bothering to pause once. The three of us could only follow in his wake as he broke through to where Grovyle was. I don't know how I managed to remain lucid.

Grovyle turned, and his eyes widened upon seeing Dusknoir, who was gearing up for an attack. His arms, he later told me, were trembling - he didn't know whether he could actually go through with attacking Dusknoir since they were friends.

He probably could, you know. Grovyle isn't afraid to beat people down when the time calls for it.

Probably, Merla. Either way, the battle never really started. Before the blades and fist could clash even once, Tom sent that light - the Corona - directly at Dusknoir, paralyzing him within his tracks. Within seconds, Dusknoir was writhing in pain, the Corona and Miasma battling it out in his soul and flesh.

Then… several seconds later… Dusknoir relaxed, the Corona settling deep in his soul.

"My apologies," he said, before bowing to Tom. "What would you like me to do, Master Tom?"

There was a stark silence at this proclamation.

"Just… take care of the enemy forces, alright?"

Just then, Merla had finished taking care of Catal, who she had found and quickly defeated.

He hadn't gotten that much stronger than when we were all learning to be Venturers together - it was remarkably easy.

Don't brag, Merla.

Sorry.

Anyway, Merla then looked at me, there was a bunch of realizations, yadda yadda, reunions. It lifted some strange weight from my chest, knowing I wasn't the cause of your death.

You were, Lady Glacia - it was just that the death wasn't permanent.

Semantics!

Can you get back to the story, Lady Glacia? I'm starting to tire of this - how long will this story be?

Merla, we're getting to the end, please be patient.

Alright, but hurry it up. Vinia and I will be going to the past soon to get more books.

I know, I know.

After the reunions - we were battling, so they were a little fragmented - we started to make our way into the base. Their original goal - be a distraction - was already accomplishing itself thanks to Rax's little crusade. At that point, we all decided to head inside - all except for Ken, who was off somewhere else, having spotted Captain Falcon.

Later, we learned he had evolved into a Blaziken in the battle - and that he finally managed to defeat Captain Falcon, though he had fainted as well. The two are getting along well now, aren't they?

In a sense. Falcon holds respect for Ken now, and Ken isn't the kind of person who holds lifelong grudges - he only wanted catharsis, as far as I could tell. They're cordial, certainly.

While we were running, Tom took the time to purge me of the Miasma that was in me, from Zoroa- ugh, the names are still a little hard to keep track of.

Tom purged the rest of the Miasma from within me. A tiny weight pulled itself off my chest… though, strangely, it didn't disappear.

It hasn't disappeared at all.

…

…

Lady Glacia, would you like to resume this at anot-

No, no, I can finish.

After a while, we got closer and closer to the inside of the headquarters. At this point, we split off into two teams. Half of us went off to go to the holding cells, to help Lotus with whatever she needed, and the other half went to go take care of Nyx and the leader of HUMANITY.

You know, you could just call him Pyre.

But it didn't feel like Pyre, you know? He was that nice guy we met in the Base, before the breaking - I'm still having a hard time believing he was the one who created HUMANITY.

Regardless, Lady Glacia, you weren't there to witness our jailbreak, as you were with the other team. I insist you take a break - drink a glass of water or something - while I narrate what happened in the holding cells

Don't mind if I do!

…

...

… good, she's taking a break… to be honest, she needs to take it easier on herself. She's spent the last few weeks working on this book, and she's been spending day and night working on and perfecting it. Thankfully, she only just broke her paw.

Merla, I can hear you!

Back to the story. So, the teams split up into Mage - that weird Braixen girl - Naetle, Sky, and I going after Lotus and Peng, while you guys went after Vinia and Alice.

It took some time for us to navigate the holding cells, but once we found a weakened Inverted Pokémon, all we had to do was beat him up and have Mage inject some of Tom's Corona into him. Once he was securely on our side, he told us where Lotus's mom was being kept.

Then he fell unconscious due to his injuries.

So, after we followed his directions, we found the two - Peng and Lotus - battling for their lives against two Pokémon I didn't recognize at first.

Later, we found out they were Shift and Jenga - though since we didn't know that, I just assumed they were some of HUMANITY'S or Rax's soldiers. So we fought. And we won.

Merla, it sounds boring when you put it that way.

It's true, isn't it? By the time Naetle realized the Klinklang he was beating into submission used to be Shift the Klink, he had already fainted. And, to be fair, if Shift had learned it was us, the fight would have been a lot more dangerous.

How's his deprogramming going, by the way?

Slowly- Neitra's amazing at his job, but he can't undo what he did to Naetle easily. Though, he is definitely making progress.

Ah…

Anyway, Jenga didn't recognize us either, and while he was obscenely strong, we managed to take him down.

Merla… couldn't you describe the battle a little bit? You know I like having a bit of kick to them, make them more interesting.

Merla used Dragon Breath! Jenga used Steamroller! It wasn't very effective! Merla used Shadow Force! Jenga used-

Alright, alright, I get it. Fine, you managed to beat Shift and Jenga.

Yeah - so, after that, we freed Lotus's mom from her prison. She's still a little shaken from the whole thing, and she's worried about Lotus, considering how the Corona has affected her mind.

Merla, focus - didn't you want to be somewhere?

Then let me speak.

After we rescued Lotus's mom - we kept her with us - we looked at who else HUMANITY had captured - and guess what? Kavol was there, too.

He's made a full recovery, hasn't he? From the starvation?

He said he'd accidentally starved himself longer than HUMANITY has - and since they let him make stuff for them, it wasn't all bad. He built this dictation machine, didn't he?

Yeah, but do you know how often he complains to me about the troubles he had to go through to build the radar? He never stops!

He's right, you know - and we never got to use it.

It didn't work, anyway - it has too many false positives to be reliable.

Look, Lady Glacia, do you really want to finish the story today?

Yeah, why?

Well, it's getting rather late in the evening, you look tired, and I'm done with my segment since all we did then was just wait out the battle to reconnect with you guys. Can you finish all of it?

…

Lady Glacia, that wasn't a challenge.

Well, I'm taking it as one.

Lady Glacia-

So, after we separated, we started walking through the facility, trying to find our way to the center of the complex and Alice and Vinia. We made it to an atrium, eventually, where we found them barely hanging on.

Remind me again how they survived?

Vinia just teleported them around a lot - neither Tim nor Zoro- sorry, the Ahriman- could land a solid hit on them.

You know, you could just call the Ahriman by Zoroas - it was his name.

But that would be telling the story out of order, Merla. And I haven't named the Ahriman as Zoroas yet or explained it.

When will you?

… okay, the Ahriman isn't just named 'the Ahriman'. His name, before everyone just called him 'the Ahriman' was Zoroas. Giratina was the one who told me. Happy, Merla?

Yes.

You know, I'll probably alter this in editing, make your end a lot more interesting and impactful - and I'll explain the whole 'the Ahriman is Zoroas' thing a whole lot better in it.

Good luck doing that with a broken hand and poor writing skills - I've read the draft for the last few chapters, and you keep jumping back-and-forth in perspective and time.

Merla, what's taking you so long? Celebi's waiting for us.

Oh, hey Vinia. Lady Glacia's decided to finish the story tonight.

You're already finishing it up? Where are you guys right now?

The final battle - you know, where the six of you took on Zoroas and Tim.

You're that far?

Can you take it from here? It might be a good idea for us to just take turns?

Well… I'm fine with it, as long as we can do it quickly. Celebi has a date - sorry, a 'small dinner' - with Grovyle later, so she wants to get it over with.

Make sure the battles are interesting, okay? Merla's battles are as boring as watching a Slowpoke try to run.

Hey!

I'll do my best, Glacia.

The four of us - Peng, Lotus, Alice, and I - split into two teams. Half of us went to find Hessia-

Who?

Lotus's mother, Glacia. Remember people's names when they introduce themselves, please.

Fine, fine.

Peng and Lotus went to find her, while Alice and I went to find Nyx. After we made it roughly 600 meters farther into the Base, we found our way to the center.

After encountering Nyx-

What were they doing?

What?

What were they doing? I assume they weren't just standing there, like statues, were they?

No?

So say what they were doing, then.

Glacia, you don't have to be so pushy. Nyx was talking telepathically to someone - I don't know who. I don't remember if she was saying anything either.

We should have Neitra get the memory of the encounter- if he can pull the memory from inside your head, we'd have all these answers.

He's on a trip, Glacia.

Where?!

To Jeden - he's at a meeting to decide what the Venturers will do about the Untwisting, together with Rax.

Figures.

Focus, Vinia.

Sure. We took that opportunity to barge in. We slammed her to the ground with psychic powers, then locked her in with Imprison. At that point, we started another chain of attacks, where I would routinely lock her into place with Imprison, while Alice attacked with Shadow Balls. It took us five minutes to wear her down enough so she couldn't use her powers.

… better than Merla's, but it was way too brief. You need to explain each of their moves and their effects.

Doesn't that just waste time?

It's flavor!

None of my business.

After we had beaten her down, we started asking our questions. Then, after we asked the questions-

Describe those questions.

What?

Describe the questions, Vinia.

But they aren't important, Glacia - not anymore.

Those questions are the entire reason you wanted to infiltrate, right? What are they?

But don't we have more to talk-

Vinia, answer the question!

…

… sorry.

… very well. I had asked her about the truth behind HUMANITY - namely, where they came from, what started it all, etc.

Didn't you already know that?

It was more to confirm than anything. The one I wanted to ask questions from was Night… but there's little-to-no hope for recovery for her.

You're treating her, right?

Neitra and I are doing our best… but it's not going that well. We might have to get Uxie to help her… though, that's the last resort.

Why?

We don't want her to remember the wrong memories - memories of the prison, of the happiness she gained from it.

Ah…

We want her to be a normal person now… no crimes, no prisons, nothing. I'm sick of the very idea.

I asked Nyx the questions - though she seemed to enjoy the pain, more than anything. At least, that's what I sensed with my horn. There wasn't that much I could get out of her, so we knocked her out.

Then you went after the leader of HUMANITY.

Right - Grandfather. Though, we didn't get to talk to him. Hard to talk to someone who's dead.

But he's a Ghost-type, right?

That doesn't mean your physical form can't be destroyed, or that your soul is invulnerable. It just means you don't need food or sleep or have most of the biological functions.

… I don't get it.

It's not important. The important thing was who else was there.

Zoroas.

Well, yeah - though we didn't know it at the time. I thought he was just some Sableye at that point - he could've been any of Dusknoir's former underlings.

What's with them, by the way?

After Tom cured them, they went back to serving under Dusknoir. It's not like they had much loyalty anyway, one way or another.

Repulsive.

Anyway, Zoroas and Tim were standing over Pyre's fading corpse.

Why did they kill him, again?

Do you want me to finish?

I want the readers to experience what happened. That means going into the details.

No wonder you broke your paws writing.

I don't know why they killed him. If I was to guess, it was probably to get rid of loose ends and have Zoroas sate his urge for destruction. There was also the chance that Pyre would have been able to resist Zoroas' control - and Pyre would have opposed him entirely.

Their goals were mutually exclusive, right? Since Zoroas ended all of humanity and Pyre wanted to resurrect them.

Right - and Giratina and Necrozma were right about one thing - Tim and Pyre had remarkable control over the Miasma, and from what Tim has been showing us, the Corona as well. If Tom and Tim had managed to work together, I would think the conflict would have ended faster. Either way, Pyre had become a threat to be eliminated. I suppose Zoroas took the invasion as an opportunity.

The two of them - Zoroas and Tim - were waiting for us. Zoroas had used his spy network to figure out we were coming for him.

Still can't believe he was using me like that.

You should have known by that point - the fact that Zoroas had already 'borrowed' your body during the expedition into the World Abyss and that he telepathically dispersed the Miasma around you should have clued you into that fact.

All I knew was that he could communicate telepathically with his subjects. How was I supposed to know the Miasma let him know everything we did?

Simple deductions, Glacia. Simple deductions.

If I may offer a small suggestion, Lady Glacia.

Merla?!

Did you forget I was here?

…

… you should probably explain to the readers what you guys are talking about.

What do you - oh, right, we're recording this!

Did you forget that too?

ANYWAY! *cough* Let's skip forward for a second. After everything was all said and done, Tom let us know that the Corona was an extension of his senses - namely, that they could report on their surroundings and the events that occurred around them.

It didn't take much thinking to realize it was how Zoroas kept himself so informed. He showed it, too - the instant we entered the room in the back of the atrium, he locked me down with an Imprison.

Why didn't Tim lock Alice down too?

I don't know-

Never mind, I remember! It was the day we left for the Breaking - Chapter 13 for the readers (see, I remember!). Alice showed Tom she could break out of an Imprison with her Ghost-typing - Tim was there, in the back of Tom's head!

Then Tim would naturally know since he could see everything Tom saw - and Alice didn't even bother trying doing it either since she knew that he knew how to do it.

So, while Tim and Alice began their battle - one that was against Alice since she was hesitating more than the ruthless Tim was - Zoroas tried to get under my skin since he wanted his kill to be fun.

How do you-

My horn - it senses emotions and particularly strong desires.

Right.

Of course, he couldn't - all I had to do was mask my emotions with his own. We played a 'fun' game of alternating between anger and happiness since sadism is weird like that. He must have felt like he was wasting time at that point, though, because he decided to go in for the kill.

And then you-

Evolved. It shouldn't be too surprising - it's not like I was a weak Kirlia. The final struggle for my life enabled me to evolve and escape.

I wish it was that easy for me.

Look, once we find Hoopa, we'll have them undo the dimensional distortion around you. Then you can evolve into whatever you want.

Urgh, that's going to be such a big decision. Any suggestions?

Focus, please, or we'll never get through this all!

Well, after that, Alice and I did our best to dodge their attacks. They almost got us a couple of times, but my teleports managed to save us more than a few times.

Ooh! This is where I come in!

Yeah - you want to take care of it while Merla and I go with Celebi?

… you could stay here, while I finish?

Glacia, we don't-

We should stay, Vinia.

You too, Merla?

…

…

… fine, I'll stay. Make it quick, though - Celebi must already be wondering what's taking so long.

Thanks, Vinia!

Hurry up, okay?

Sure thing.

So, once we found you guys fighting against Tim and Zoroas, we immediately joined in, splitting again. Alice and I went after Tim since I had Ghost-type moves that could deal super-effective damage and a Normal-typing to protect me from retribution, while you, Grovyle, Dusknoir, and Tom went after Zoroas.

And we won.

I mean, it was probably really close, on the wire, three seconds away from death-

Glacia, Zoroas couldn't even touch us. Tom burned away any Miasma faster than he could make it, Grovyle and Dusknoir's tag team is strong enough to take down Legendaries, and I just kept on Imprisoning him to stop him from even moving! Meanwhile, Alice was almost as strong as Tim was - you were more than enough to tip the scales. It was barely a contest.

…

Glacia, I know you don't want Koga and Pillar's deaths to seem pathetic, that you don't want to make them look weak, but this is a history book! Once we recreate schools, colleges, and universities, this will be taught to everyone! You can't alter it to match your wishes!

Vinia, I-

You will not be editing what I said out of this - I will break your bones if I have to!

What about the Hippopotacrat-

Finish that sentence, Glacia. I dare you.

… sorry for interrupting, but can you guys explain why there were no Legendaries there?

Huh?

The readers will probably be wondering, 'Why didn't Zoroas bring any Legendaries with him? He had Darkrai, Cresselia, Uxie, Manaphy, and Giratina on his side - why didn't he get them to help?'. You should probably explain that.

Oh, that. Well-

You should also mention that he got Manaphy as well.

He's not that important, okay?

Manaphy won't like to hear that, you know.

Celebi?!

Vinia, Merla, I've been waiting for an hour!

Sorry, Glacia's just asked us to help her with the finale. I tried saying no… it didn't go well.

I can tell. You're going to make me late for my dinner with Grovyle!

We're writing a history book - that's more important than your date!

It's - it's not a date, okay?!

Regardless, Celebi, were you there during the battle of Legendaries?

Yes - though, it wasn't a battle - it was more of a curb stomp.

Could you explain it to the readers, please?

… alright. *cough* You see, children-

Celebi, quit it with that saccharine voice. They're not babies.

Can this contraption even convey tone?

I don't know, ask Kavol - he's the one who built it, after all.

Well, fine, spoil my fun. Zoroas forgot to take one thing into account when he concocted his plan to Invert Uxie. One tiny little thing. The other two Lake Guardians. Uxie, in the final few seconds before the Miasma overtook him, sent a telepathic message to Mesprit and Azelf.

Wasn't he asleep?

Uxie's the Being of Knowledge - something like that wouldn't stop him.

Under Zoroas' control, he sent another message saying the first message was a joke - but Azelf and Mesprit didn't believe him.

Probably from the latent negativity and malice Uxie had within him at that point.

They then spent the next month gathering forces. Dialga, Palkia, Necrozma (once he ran away from the dream world), Mewtwo, Mew, Groudon, Rayquaza… as many as they could find and convince. That included me too, once Dialga managed to get a telepathic connection with me.

Then, during the final battle in HUMANITY'S headquarters… we launched our counterattack on the Legendaries under Zoroas' control, while they relaxed in their fortress in the dream world. They didn't stand much of a chance either.

So, in other words, all of Zoroas' forces were simultaneously crushed.

Yes - though, we were worried, since we couldn't get rid of the Miasma inside them. That, and Zoroas himself remained unaccounted for.

Yeah, well, we took care of both of those things. Why didn't you kill Zoroas before, though - you guys are strong enough.

Other than the fact that he kept himself hidden for the majority of the month? We didn't know if we could kill him this time around - we failed, all of the previous times.

Wait, what?!

We tried before. When Zoroas Major started killing all of humanity, we Legendaries naturally had to intervene. Mewtwo went and killed him by twisting his neck, and we thought that would be the end. But no, he just wouldn't die - lopping off his head, throwing away his heart, chopping his limbs and throwing him into a-

Okay, we get it! He was immortal!

… Zoroas 'Major'. Celebi, you should probably explain what you mean by that.

Oh, right, the book. *sigh* Fine. There are two of Zoroas - one was the Ahriman, the one we tried to kill over and over again.

The other, meanwhile, was Tom - Zoroas Minor.

… I'll explain this one.

My explanation was perfectly understandable!

Okay, I'll clarify, then. The Ahriman and Tom used to be a single person, under the name of Zoroas - except when Zoroas was killed for the first time, a chunk of his soul was ripped out. Necrozma and Giratina rescued that chunk of the soul - Tom.

He's not a 'chunk of the soul', Vinia!

Okay, then think of it as Zoroas splitting into two - one, the large half, became Zoroas Major, or the Ahriman. The other became Zoroas Minor - Tom. Is that better, Glacia?

… slightly, though that still makes it sound like Tom's some sort of 'accident' or whatever.

Giratina and Necrozma rescued Tom when Zoroas was killed for the first time. But Zoroas didn't die - instead, he just kept on living. His body just kept moving, regardless of what we did to it.

Then Mewtwo decided to end it all and just fire a Hyper Beam straight through Zoroas' body. That killed him since he didn't have a body to return to - he was vapor, at that point.

But then….

Then Zoroas returned in another body - a Pokémon this time, and continued his destruction of humanity. No matter how hard we tried, no matter how many times we got rid of his body, it never was enough to finish him.

Eventually, Xerneas decided to just make him immortal and stick him in a dungeon for the rest of eternity. No way for him to escape, at that point. Then we received the final nail in the coffin - Zoroas could just jump out of his body, whenever he chose to.

I got firsthand experience of that when he threw me away for a shiny new Henka body.

And… he destroyed everything. We could only delay him, barely. The best we could do was save some humans who showed promise. Those eventually became Sky and the other heroes, who eventually turned into Pokémon themselves. Eventually, his activities slowed - at that point, he was still around, but since there was nothing we could do about it, we just did our best to continue life as is.

Then how did you guys kill him, Vinia?

Well, it was a little hard. Every time Grovyle or Dusknoir landed a finishing blow, he would just regenerate from it. We figured that he was using Recover, switching to different Pokémon to do so.

Oh - quick interruption - while you were trying to kill him, Alice and I took down Tim.

Yeah… well, eventually, we stopped trying to kill him. I was holding him in place with an Imprison, and Dusknoir was holding his soul in place so he couldn't get out of his body as he had with yours. But we had no idea how to kill him.

Then I had my bright idea!

Huh?

When Zoroas killed Koga and Pillar, he turned into a Chandelure to finish them off. A Chandelure's flame destroys the soul itself - nothing remains.

We tried that too - but Zoroas' soul wouldn't burn in the flames. It was as invulnerable as he was immortal.

We tried it, too - Tom pumped Corona into Tim until he was practically begging Tom to give him an order. When Tim tried to burn Zoroas' soul away, it just didn't work.

Okay, so how did you do it?

Tom jumped into Tim's shadow to get a Chandelure form. Then he tried to burn Zoroas' soul away himself.

And?

And it worked. We finally killed him - his soul burned away into nothingness.

… wow. So Necrozma and Giratina were right - Tom was the key.

Yeah - too bad they messed everything else up.

That reminds me, Celebi - do you know why Necrozma screamed I had 'ruined everything' back in my old time? I've only just remembered him screaming that at me.

No - though, I think it was because you messed up his analysis of Tom's soul.

Was that what that was? It just looked like a personality quiz.

*shrug* What else is there left to talk about?

Well, there is the matter of Rax, Fey, and everyone else that tried to get in our way and/or kill us.

I'm pretty sure just saying, 'Tom used the Corona on them all' works.

Okay, yeah, but I had built them up as villains and-

You built up Fey as comic relief and the rest of the Temporalists as fools.

They're stupid!

I'm confident they'll use your textbook in the future as an example of religious racism.

No, they won't - and they're wrong! All the Temporalists are wrong!

Glacia, just because they're wrong-

Dialga himself said that they were wrong to their faces! How stupid could they be-

There's nothing you can do about it, Glacia. People will believe what they want to believe, and there's no need to mock them about it.

You can't stop me.

I'll be editing the book after you're done with it, you know.

What - who permitted you?!

I did - and there's nowhere you can hide the manuscript where I won't be able to reach or find the location.

…

Neitra likes me more than he likes you, Glacia - he won't alter my memories.

… you win.

Are they always this intense?

You get used to it after a while.

So, what else do we have to cover?

Well, Tom cured the controlled Legendaries as well as all of the Miasma-Inverted Pokémon.

I'm pretty sure they can all figure that out for themselves.

The Mystery Dungeons all disappeared.

Use the proper name, Vinia - 'the Untwisting'.

That's a dumb name and you know it.

Well, what else would it be called? It's a Twisting when a Mystery Dungeon is created, and an Untwisting when it disappears.

Okay, but that just happened randomly - it was only a few days ago. It's been months since the battle at the headquarters - they can't be related.

They probably are - the Mystery Dungeons only first started showing up when Zoroas was killed, and he was the only one with the ability to control Mystery Dungeons. Why wouldn't his death be the cause of it?

Another question to answer for the readers - what about the reason why Zoroas appeared now, of all times?

I already covered that, Merla - it's because I woke him up by calling him by his title.

Okay, then why was he in you, to begin with? What's the origin of the Miasma - it wasn't around when Zoroas was still a human, right?

Right - though, I don't know the answer to that. Does anyone here know?

How can we? There's no way to find out.

What about that explosion of space-time that Hoopa was talking about?

That was probably some last-ditch effort by Zoroas, when he was controlling Darkrai, to destroy everyone in Dark Crater. It failed miserably, didn't it?

Okay, why did you three - Grovyle, Dusknoir, and Celebi - come to the future?

Merla, do you want to keep this farce going?

I want it to be complete, Celebi.

Fine. I asked Dialga about that, and he admitted to sending us to this time, with all our abilities intact - though he gave Grovyle a rough landing, the monster. Giratina had asked him to help too since he wanted Tom to have all the help he could get when taking down the Miasma. Anything else, Merla?

There is the prophecy that the Temporalists were talking about.

Another one of Hoopa's pranks.

… did Tom get his game of tag-

Does that matter?!

No, not really. Glacia, is there anything else you want to talk about?

… no, Merla. The three of you can leave.

Well, see you.

Good luck, Glacia.

Let's go!

…

…

…

They're gone again… I'm alone…

… why does this hurt so much…

… if you want to know more… well…

Naetle, Sky, Dusknoir, Grovyle, and the Sableye have returned to their respective times.

Shift and Jenga are going through treatment by Neitra to undo the damage he caused.

Alice has gone back to Venturing to find herself. Though, she visits now and again to spend some time with Tom. She and Tim don't get along very well anymore.

Lotus is spending time with her mom - Tom told the Corona to leave her entirely. She's recovering from the mentals effects the Corona caused.

Neitra and everyone else are all working to rebuild society to something presentable instead of the shambles it has been since the fall of the Kingdoms. Tom and Mage have been traveling together since Mage doesn't have anywhere else to go.

Peng wants to find Gel - both Rokka and Kol died in the final battle, to Inverted Pokémon. She wants to make sure that she's not the only one of Team Link left.

Celebi, Vinia, Merla, and I have been working hard to advance education. We're going back in time to take books away from Eonia's soon-to-fall libraries so that we can get a richer view of history, taking us from the Passage of Time in what used to be Ring 17. Today, I would have gone with them, if my paw hadn't been broken from writing too much.

That's why we're recording this with a machine, instead of writing this down.

…

This is where the story ends. No more questions left to answer, or at least ones that I can answer.

…

If you're wondering when I'll return home, now that I can travel back to that time… I won't. I can't.

I'm not who I used to be.

I'm half a year older… Inverted… different. They wouldn't accept me the way they used to.

And there's no telling how the timeline will change if I go back. That's what Naetle and Sky wanted… but we can't afford to lose the victory we have right now.

We can't afford to change the future.

So… I'm stuck here. No physical barriers… just the knowledge that I'll probably doom thousands in the process.

…

It's torture… seeing my past self study while we steal books. Knowing that she'll have to go through the same struggles I did… make the same mistakes… trust the wrong people… everything.

It's torture… looking at my brother and sister, knowing they'll be the first on the chopping block during Lord Black's failed takeover. Knowing that there are only so many of their bright smiles.

It's torture… having to look at the final lesson we had. With all of my other time-traveling selves… some older and evolved already… all knowing that we won't change our fate… that we're stuck in this prison of time.

…

I'm tired… I want all of this to end… I know I won't die anytime soon, but… but…

Why does it hurt so much… to be alone?

…

… I'm tired… I think I'll take a nice… long… nap…

… please… anyone… help...

…

"Sharfa… Sharfa… hold on!"

Eletek's step-sister Benisharpha had gone off her rocker. She had run out of Siemna Town after they had finished their lesson with Mr. Desmiande. She practically ran over the passerby as she did so.

"Sharfa… Sharfa… please, stop! Where are you going?!"

Then Eletek stopped in the middle of his run. There, right in the middle of the hillscape, was something bizarre. A tree, one that he had never seen before, was standing there, in a bizarre way.

Then Eletek slapped himself. He had to stop Benisharpha before she did anything reckless. Eletek remembered the sponge bath and gasoline incident quite vividly… his fur was never quite the same.

He quickly ran past the tree and, within ten minutes or so, caught up to her. She was practically bouncing on the balls of her feet at this point.

"What took you so long, Tek?!"

"Sharfa… what… what's this about?!" He finally managed to get out. "Are you crazy?!"

"Nope - take a look at this!"

She shoved a book in his face. Eletek barely managed to register the cover - the textbook they were reading in school, the Shades of Honor - before she flipped forward fifteen chapters.

"Here it is!" she shouted, pointing to one of its pages.

Eletek blinked as he read it out loud.

(The Shades of Honor; Chapter 15: A Prison Visit)

"I tapped the side of a tree on the side of the hill. If I was lucky, I'd get some signal from the Dimensional Scream on where to go. A literally sickening tool, but drastic times call for drastic measures.

As my telltale nausea started up again, I closed my eyes. With a flash…

'... Sharfa, wait up!' A panting Electabuzz leaned on the side of the tree, having caught up to the anxious Fraxure. 'Are you sure this is the best option?'

Sharfa stared at the Electabuzz. 'Tek, do you understand what's happening? They're recruiting for the army! We're finally fighting against those awful… demons! They'll need everyone to fight, Tek.' Sharfa punched the tree in excitement. 'This is our chance to secure our future! Onwards, Tek, to Siemna Town!' Sharfa made a mad dash to the north, almost forgetting entirely about Tek.

Tek panicked. 'Sharfa, wait up!' He too ran to the north.

… I reopened my eyes.

'Okay… to Siemna Town!' With that, I shot northward. I had to get back to Treasure Town so that Naetle and I could defeat Darkrai."

Eletek's eyes widened as he read the passage of the book.

"Do you get what I'm saying, Tek?!" Benisharpha excitedly babbled.

"There - there's no way it's us. It's talking about the Shiny Wars, obviously, and we aren't that Fraxure and Electabuzz-"

"That's what I thought too, until earlier this morning!" She explained. "I was training here as usual when I saw a tree appear out of nowhere, like magic! It has to be a sign from Arceus - it's going to happen today!"

"But there's no demon war!" Eletek decided to point out the obvious.

"So?!" went Benisharpha's astute reply. Before Eletek could point out more of the holes in her argument, she was already off again.

"You - you can't be serious!"

Eletek ran back the way he came, trying to catch up to her. Strangely, she ran in a winding path and kept up pace longer. She was more athletic than he was, after all.

Eventually, though, they made it to the tree. She was bouncing back and forth as she waited for Eletek.

"... Sharfa, wait up!" Eletek leaned on the side of the tree, relaxing for a second as he tried to collect his wits. "Are you sure this is the best option?"

Wasn't there a better way to do all of this - like doing nothing!

She stared at him. "Tek, do you understand what's happening? They're recruiting for the army! We're finally fighting against those awful… demons! They'll need everyone to fight, Tek." She punched the tree in trembling, nervous excitement. "This is our chance to secure our future! Onwards, Tek, to Siemna Town!" She made a mad dash to the north, back to Siemna Town.

Eletek panicked. "Sharfa, wait up!" She was crazy - who knows what she was going to do? He ran to the north, tailing her closely.

Then, as they ran over the crest of the hill, he just realized what had happened.

She looked back at him, slowing down. "I - I can't believe it!" she babbled. "Everything felt so natural to say - even though there's no demon war or any of that!"

"Figures you would memorize the speech." Despite his proclamation, Eletek was also astounded at how easy the words came out his mouth.

It was almost as if… he was born to say those words, at the tree.

"... now what?"

"Now we check out the tree," she boldly proclaimed. "Trees don't appear out of nowhere - I want to see if it's still there. It might have divine properties or something!"

Then, before Eletek could say anything, she ran back in the direction of the tree.

"Sharfa… you're insane," Eletek finally managed to get out, before following her again.

As they came over the crest of the hill, they froze.

The tree was gone - and in its place was a pair of Pokémon. An Empoleon and a Torterra, to be more precise.

The two fully evolved Pokémon turned to the two of them, waving. "Why, hello there."

"... did you happen to see the tree that…" She looked at the tree on the back of the Torterra. "Hold on…"

"You punch hard," the Torterra praised. "It took a lot of my effort not to flinch."

"... who are you…?" Eletek asked, looking at the two sharply.

"Take a guess - we're in that textbook." The Empoleon said.

It took a second for it to click in.

Then Benisharpha squealed, rushing toward the two. "I - I can't believe it! Naetle - Sky?!"

The Empoleon rubbed his back. "Didn't take you very long, did it?"

Eletek gaped. "I - buwuh - huh?!"

"Time travel," Naetle explained, taking a seat. "We decided to look at the future - though, we're here specifically to engineer that Dimensional Scream."

"Wait, so-"

"Don't ask me how it works," Sky waved a flipper. "I've had it for the entirety of my life, but my guess as to how it and time generally work is only slightly better than yours."

"How - how was it like?! Facing the Ahriman?!" Benisharfa had stars in her eyes as she pranced around on Naetle's shell. "Was it awesome? What's it like being a hero? How do-"

A couple of vines shot out from Naetle's shell, before wrapping themselves around her waist. Eletek only barely managed to think of shouting a warning, before Naetle lifted her into the air.

Then he placed her onto the ground, and Eletek remembered he was dealing with heroes, not villains.

Though, the two of them had frowned

"You… you generally have an idea of what it was like, facing the Ahriman, or Darkrai," Naetle told them. "That year… battling for my life and the safety of the world… it wasn't the most pleasant part of my life."

Benisharpha blushed. "Sorry, it's just that… you guys are heroes!"

Naetle sighed. "Yeah, I suppose we are."

"We didn't contribute much to the events in the book - we took part here and there, but I was only important enough to get one section for myself - you know the one." The two of them nodded.

"That, and you didn't like Neitra's methods. That was the only way I could get first-person information, you know."

A sophisticated voice rang out from behind the two of them. They turned to find an Espeon, with a strange white Pokémon they'd never seen before on her back.

Sky sighed. "Glacia, even if I did like it, there's no other section that Naetle wouldn't have been able to handle better. I'm just not that important."

Then Benisharpha rushed forward, before falling at Glacia's feet.

"I'm - I'm not worthy!" She exclaimed. Eletek sighed in embarrassment.

Glacia frowned, her eyes glowing. "Hm… Benisharpha? I'm just going to call you Sharfa, okay?"

She nodded. "Of course!"

"Sharfa, I'm not a hero."

…

"Huh?"

"Sit down," Glacia commanded, sitting down and letting the strange white Pokémon off her. That Pokémon didn't do anything but study the two of them. For some strange reason, Eletek felt a strange force judging him.

"Arci, don't do that, they don't like it. Use your intellect instead of your powers," Glacia off-handedly said to him. Arci didn't say anything, but Eletek felt the strange judging presence go away.

Glacia turned back to Benisharpha. "Sharfa, tell me honestly - what was so heroic about what I did?"

Benisharpha scratched her head. "Huh?"

"Why were my deeds so heroic, Sharfa?"

Benisharpha stood there for a second.

"I'll wait for you to come up with an answer." She turned to Eletek. "Any questions?"

"... a couple, yeah," he admitted. "So… why are you here?"

Glacia smirked. "Curiosity, for the most part. I wanted to see what the future was like - what developments in technology Naixe had managed to create over the last hundred years or so. That, and it was my vacation time."

"Vacation time?"

Glacia swished her forked tail. "I'm a schoolteacher - one of the first ones in our new Naixe. The richest Pokémon are practically handing over their fortunes to get me to teach their brats. I needed a break from that, so here we are."

"Madam Glacia?" The white quadruped - Arci - finally stated in a monotone. "May I leave for the city?"

Glacia considered it for a second, before nodding. "Yes - though, stay by Shift, if at all possible. He'll keep you safe."

Then a small black portal appeared underneath Arci's legs. Within a second, he dropped through.

Eletek stared, his mind whirring.

"M-Merla?" He finally managed to get out.

"She doesn't have a job, so to speak. I've told her to find something worthwhile to do with her life, and this is what she considers adequate." Glacia sighed. "She really couldn't find anything else." Despite that, there was a small smile on her face.

"Where is she?" Eletek looked around, trying to find her - she had to be close by. But Glacia shook her head.

"She's in the Distortion World. She and Giratina have nice chats, now and again."

".. can I see her?" Eletek asked hopefully.

Glacia didn't respond. Instead, a gigantic black portal appeared next to her. There were several booms after that, and a mammoth of a Pokémon walked out.

Eletek gaped.

The gigantic Giratina Drone - no, it had to be Giratina himself - looked at him.

"Hello."

The booming female voice nearly knocked Eletek back.

Then, with several large steps, Merla walked back into the portal, and out of sight.

Glacia sighed. "Her ability to carry on conversations has atrophied," Glacia noted. "She only talks with her close friends - namely, us." Glacia gestured to all of them with her tail. "It's her choice, though."

Eletek was silent for a second. Then, voice trembling, he spoke. "I - I thought she was normal-sized."

"Correct."

"... but that-"

"She was normal-sized. Then she grew." Glacia explained simply.

"Huh?"

"Over the past few decades, there have been a lot of experiments with Drones, after the knowledge of them became widely known. A few things are now known - for instance, Legendaries are the only ones able to make efficient Drones, as ones made by normal Pokémon are simply too weak to function."

Eletek nodded. "Okay, but the size?"

"Yes, that. Giratina's DNA encodes for a massive size, and massive power to support that. For a decade or so, Merla was the most ravenous Pokémon in the world - she outstripped Snorlax easily. But, when that growth spurt ended… she was the same size and strength as Giratina. Functionally, a Legendary."

"But - how? Why her? Didn't Giratina have other Drones - did they grow as much?"

"Studying hard, haven't you?"

"Sharfa's insistent," Eletek mumbled, blushing. He took a look at her - she was still mulling over what Glacia had asked her.

"To answer your question, yes, he did - and the key difference between the two is that Merla had a soul. The other Drones were practically living corpses - there was no need for them to grow. Merla, on the other hand, is well and truly alive, and that's what caused her to grow."

Eletek slowly nodded.

"Arci is another Drone. Now, tell me, Eletek, who is he a Drone of?"

Eletek definitely could see Glacia as a teacher. Already, his mind was at work, trying to piece together.

Then, ten seconds later, he remembered what was around Arci's waist - that wheel. His brain practically fried itself as he realized the implications.

"Arceus, yes." Glacia read his thoughts - literally. "And not in terms of expression - he will grow to be a full Arceus."

"T-t-t-"

"Arceus was curious. He wanted to see if he could create something on his level. He succeeded - though, I shudder to think of how much food Arci will need during his growth spurt. Arci's a good kid, though."

"And Arceus is not the only one. When the other Legendaries realized they could have kids, well… currently, I'm teaching a Dialga Drone, a Mewtwo Drone (he's hard to deal with) and a Necrozma Drone. Nicki, by the way, is easily the loudest girl I've ever met."

"Oh, and you can come out, now."

There was a rush of air behind them, and Eletek turned to face two more Pokémon. A shadowy figure, with two orange pinpricks for eyes, faced him - and a tiny version too.

It didn't take too long for Eletek to figure out who it was.

"You're Tom, aren't you?"

It was at this point that Eletek had finally guessed wrong - and he could tell, from the wounded looks everyone was giving him. Naetle looked away, unable to meet Eletek's eyes. Sky closed his eyes in sorrow. The Marshadow's eyes were downcast.

And Glacia… her eyes went stony and hard.

"... I'm sorry," Eletek apologized. "Are - are you Shade?"

Shade nodded. "Yes - and this is my child, Tommy." He bumped Tommy's back. Tommy waved, giving Eletek a gummy smile. "He's named after… you know who."

"... what happened to him?" Eletek asked.

No one answered him.

Then Glacia spoke. "If at all possible, I'd like to answer that question last of all."

"Alright," Eletek nodded. "Then… who else is here?"

"In this little reunion trip through time?

"Well, Vinia is off surveying the hospital - she wants to see if they've developed new procedures she can borrow back in our time. She is the head doctor of the main hospital, after all.

"Shift is busy touring the cities. It took a few years, but he's recovered completely from what Neitra did to him. It helped that Neitra has access to all of the memories he's taken. It took a bit of retraining, but he's back to normal. Arci is with him right now.

"Kavol has gone off to study modern technology. He's planning to jumpstart technological development again, reverse-engineering any machines he comes across and incorporating it into our technology. Hopefully, that'll cause this timeline to have better technologies available, through a ripple effect.

"And… not that many other people. Strawberry's here - she ran away from her brother, once he started to go insane due to paranoia. He's back to normal thanks to Vinia, though not in good condition. He doesn't like interacting with us anymore, out of guilt and shame or anger, no one can tell."

"Um… thank you," Eletek turned to Sky. "But why did you come here specifically?"

"To create the circumstances for my Dimensional Scream. After this, we're going to go back to when I first appeared on Naixe, to have my younger self use the Dimensional Scream on Naetle. Then he'll get the vision, and our job will be done. Other than that, we wanted to thank you."

"Thank me?"

"Your vision helped me find my way to Siemna Town. While it was a trap, it still helped me get closer to Naetle. Thanks for that."

"Oh… okay."

Then a thought occurred to Eletek. "Say… there was a question in the ending dialogue, one that Merla asked. About why the Ahriman - sorry, Zoroas (Zoroas Major?)-"

"It's confusing for us too, at points."

"Yeah. About why he was in Glacia, and what the origin of the Miasma is."

Sky laughed. "Oh, that? We already figured it out. It took a while, but when I used the Dimensional Scream on Glacia, the vision came to me."

"... so what is it?"

"After the Temporal Explosion that sent Naetle and I careening into the future, Zoroas was still around - though much weaker. He wasn't sent to the future like everyone else there was. Instead, he kept on jumping bodies, until he found his way into an Eevee."

"Glacia?!"

Glacia smacked the top of Eletek's head. "No! Use your head, will you?!"

"But I can't talk telepathically."

…

Glacia laughed, her eyes lightening. "Using my book against me? Clever."

"No - instead, he tried to possess Hoopa. Get another Legendary, you know?"

"Then…"

"Then Glacia's ancestor protected Hoopa and was possessed instead. Hoopa took the chance to use a much harder variant of mental blocks to lock Zoroas's spirit inside the Eevee, preventing him from getting out or doing anything."

"Then that Eevee had kids. Then grandkids. And Zoroas, after the ancestor died, was passed onto them, in a sort of cursed inheritance. Every child was forced to partially bear the seal, which wouldn't break until every bearer died."

"And that meant me and my family," Glacia said. "There are two differences we had from our ancestors. First, everyone except me was killed in the revolution - even my uncle Mentali, who Lord Black betrayed. Second, the strength of the seal degraded over time, meaning that my seal was the weakest.

"The result? After millennia of holding together, the seal finally broke for me - not too much, just enough for him to send me into dreams, almost get me killed twice, then send me forward in time with his space-time powers."

"And when Necrozma decided to wake him up… well, you know what happened."

Eletek nodded. "O-Okay? And the Miasma?"

Shade took this one. "Remnants of a ruptured soul - though Zoroas and Tom were the only ones able to make it. The Ahriman couldn't die, even then, and when he was locked into place by the seal, he couldn't escape. As a result, he exploded, morphing into the quasi-sentient Miasma."

"That explains him… but what about Tom?"

"His soul was already ruptured, from the time he was split from Zoroas. Nowhere near enough, considering the smaller size of the rupture, but it was still a rupture, and so the Corona was born."

"Ah."

…

"I'm still confused. This just doesn't seem coherent or logical."

Glacia swished her tail again. "Don't try to think about it too hard," she advised. "We were barely able to piece it all together as it is - it might not even be accurate."

…

"I'm sorry," Eletek apologized. "But no matter how hard I try, I can't help but wonder what happened to Tom."

Glacia didn't say anything. Then she returned her gaze to Benisharpha.

"Have you figured it out, Sharfa?" She gently asked. "Why I'm not a hero?"

She shook her head. "N-No. I just… everything you guys did was so heroic and I can't figure out which deed to pick."

"How about a non-heroic thing. I insulted Alice."

The clearing they were in went quiet.

"I had debated whether to put that in the Book or not… but before the last Breaking, I snapped at Alice for not believing in me. I insulted Tom, time and time again. I've insulted the Temporalists - which I don't regret in my heart, but seeing the ghettos and such in this time made me realize it was a mistake to inundate the textbook with the racism. It ruined their destiny, who knows for how long?"

Every word was a blow to Benisharpha.

"The 'heroic' things we did… most people would have done the same," Glacia admitted. "The most heroic thing I did was purposely falling to the Miasma to barely manage to warn Necrozma. Everything else was motivated by selfish actions."

"Even saving Merla?"

"Even that. That was more out of curiosity than anything else - though I have to admit it was one of the actions with the best outcomes." Glacia frowned. "I didn't even try to be a hero - most of my concerns were with returning home. Everything else was just friendship, good luck, and teamwork."

"That's… I…"

"Thank you for the compliment, Sharfa," Glacia smiled hollowly. "But your flattery will never be true - not since, when I wanted to be a hero, I failed to be one. Not when it mattered the most."

"... Tom?" she asked.

"Merla?" Glacia instead called.

Another black portal appeared out of the ground.

"You know what to give them.

A book - a textbook - fell out of the portal and landed by their feet.

"Look at the end of this book," Glacia commanded. "Then you'll find the answers you seek."

Glacia turned to them all.

"It's high time we left. Tommy still has his playdate with Petal, and I don't want to leave Flower waiting. Let's return to the past."

The five time-travelers huddled up. Before Benisharpha or Eletek could say anything, they fell into a black portal.

They simply stood there, for a couple of minutes.

"... they're gone," Benisharpha said, half in a trance.

"You know… it still feels like a dream," Eletek finally said. "To meet them, and… Sharfa?"

Benisharpha had opened the book that the heroes - no, the time travelers - had given them. She leafed through the book quickly, studying it.

"Sharfa, what are you doing?"

She didn't answer and instead continued to leaf through the book.

Then, at the very end, past the dialogues between Glacia, Vinia, Merla, and Celebi, Tek saw a new passage - something that wasn't in the original. Something that must have been removed during revision.

Benisharpha placed the book on the ground and started to read.

…

I'm tired… I want all of this to end… I know I won't die anytime soon, but… but…

Why does it hurt so much… to be alone?

…

… I'm tired… I think I'll take a nice… long… nap…

… please… anyone… help...

…

…

… testing… testing… 1 2 3… good, words are appearing. This… I wish there were other people here, so I could talk to you directly… but fate has other plans for me.

First of all, sorry, Glacia, for borrowing your body. I don't have that much time - Arceus is pushing hard.

If you're confused as to what I'm talking about… well, considering that every other hero has gone through this at some point, it shouldn't take too long to figure out.

I'm leaving - forever.

…

If you're wondering why… then the answer is simple.

The Corona.

I've spent the last few months traveling around Naixe, curing every single Inverted Pokémon of the Miasma and destroying any ambient Miasma I can find. It took a while, but with everyone's help, I managed to get rid of the Miasma completely. None of it is left. Every other legacy the Ahriman left will now fade with time, now that Arceus is planning to restart human civilization.

But then there's the matter of me. Let me put it succinctly.

Arceus is afraid. And I am too.

The Corona… over the past few months, I've become familiar with it and its power. It's both a part of me, and it isn't. Because of Shade's biology, I'm immortal, so there's no way I can die of disease or old age or starvation or anything like that. And with the Corona, the only way someone can 'kill' me is in my sleep.

Arceus has already tried.

And I didn't die.

It didn't take too long to figure out I'm as immortal as the Ahriman was - and I had no counterpart to burn my soul alive. I didn't split when I died - I knew that wouldn't happen, since it wasn't the initial killing that separated me and the Ahriman in the first place.

Regardless, Arceus and I agree that something has to happen. The Corona doesn't necessarily make someone good - it just makes them my perfect subject. Willing to obey every order - no, wanting to obey every order, in love of me, holding all of my morals… they become good people only because I like good people more than I like bad people.

The Miasma and the Corona are two sides of the same coin. The only real difference between the two is the master in control.

So, if I ever decide to change my mind… if I ever decide I want to become a ruler in more than just name… nobody will be able to stop me. I'll come back, again and again until I'm simply another Ahriman.

I have higher faith in myself… but then fate works in strange ways, doesn't it? There's always a chance, and any chance is too much.

So, Arceus and I have decided, together, to send me to Azathoth.

…

Oh, right, you have no idea about Azathoth.

Azathoth (no relation to Lovecraft) is the cause of all this - of everything. He had no other input other than starting the chain reaction. He's watched the chain of events unfold for his entertainment.

I don't come from this world… this universe… this multiverse… it's all a fake, created by Azathoth for his own amusement. He's higher than Arceus on the hierarchy of power.

One day… when both the Ahriman and I were Zoroas… Azathoth killed us and summoned our soul. He split Zoroas into me and the Ahriman so that we could compete against each other.

Then he gave us a task - take over the multiverse, or at least engineer it so that the other couldn't take it over. He made our souls vulnerable only to each other so that the contest wouldn't end until a victor had been decided.

That victor eventually being me.

He then reincarnated us into a single body. As you already know, only one soul can control a body at once - and the Ahriman took the opportunity, shoving me to the back of the body, just like I did with Tim. He forced me to witness the atrocities he committed. Azathoth warping one of our souls to make the game more interesting. He forced me to absorb all the pain for him.

When he died, we separated. The Miasma and the Corona - something I hadn't named until Vinia gave me the idea - battled in our body, and when we separated, it did too. Now that we were apart, it could manifest - though, it couldn't really do anything. There was only an iota of it, so we didn't even know it existed.

…

If you're wondering how I know all this… I always knew it. I never forgot. I never had amnesia - it was never more than a convenient lie to stop people from asking me where I came from. I manipulated the memories I gave to Neitra, turning into a Beheeyem to do so. I made it so the chapters you wrote made it seem like I had amnesia. I managed to keep up the ruse - though, I slipped up once by mentioning zombies or something.

I don't know why Necrozma and Giratina allowed me to live. I would have probably killed myself, just in case I was working with the Ahriman… no, I wouldn't.

But they have mercy too, then.

…

Arceus is sending me into exile. The game, the contest… is already over - the Ahriman is dead, so the victor is me. There's no point in waiting - it'll simply be a matter of time before the eventual heat-death of the universe, where I become the eventual ruler by being the sole inhabitant.

After this message, Arceus will send me away. To my old world, to nonexistence… who knows? The game is over, the conflict resolved.

…

The parting hurts… but thank you.

Thank you for everything.

Thank you, Glacia, for your relentless drive.

Thank you, Merla, for your unwavering loyalty.

Thank you, Vinia, for your kindness.

Thank you, Naetle, for leading us forward when we were lost.

…

I could give thanks all day, to everyone, but Arceus is pushing me to end it. I think I won't be able to delay any longer.

I don't want to leave - the Corona is proof enough of that. Right now, it's taking all I can to stop it from taking over Arceus, to protect either me or itself I don't know.

Shade, thanks for letting me borrow your body. I hope you have a good immortal life - make sure to take care of them all for me, okay?

I'll be stopping the recording here. For all the readers of this book… I hope I was entertaining.

…

Chapter 26: END.

Eletek and Benisharpha read the last words on the last page with trembling hearts. All the joy… all the happiness they had upon meeting their idols… gone in the blink of an eye.

Deep within them, deep within every Pokémon in the world… an old power, separated from its master, cried out in remembrance.

Tom and Azathoth faced each other.

"So… I've won the game, haven't I?" Tom said listlessly, Azathoth summoning him after his banishment from the world of Pokémon.

Azathoth nodded. "You know, Mithra-"

"Don't call me that."

"It is what you are, just like Ahriman is."

"You forced me into that role… you split us into two… he accepted his role with passion… and I didn't. I'm not going to be the Mithra. I'm just Tom."

"Fine. Tom, you won - though, I honestly thought you had no chance, not until the very end."

Tom shrugged. "My friends did most of the work for me - I was just there to land the finishing blow. I didn't have any chance - they gave it to me."

"Well, I'm proud… this is so boring, can we just get on with it?"

Tom sighed. "Sure. What happens to me now that I've won the game?"

"You can return to your old world, if you so choose," Azathoth offered. "I can place you where you died, in a new body. You could reconnect with your old friends and family."

"Azathoth, I don't even remember their names. It's been millennia upon millennia since then - I have no desire to return."

"Well, you're not staying here with me," Azathoth said, point-blank. "You're an incredibly awful company."

"I wouldn't stay here even if you forced me to."

"There's nothing you would be able to do, Tom, if I forced you to." Azathoth reminded him. Tom ground his teeth together.

"There are other universes and multiverses - would you like to visit them?"

Tom shook his head. "No, I have no desire to go exploring. I want to return to the Pokémon multiverse - to my multiverse."

Azathoth laughed. "Arceus will just send you back here. What's the point?"

"Arceus will never have to know. No one will."

"Elaborate."

"First, you sever my connection to the Corona. Then, erase all of my memories and reincarnate me into a new body - one that Arceus won't suspect, one close to my friends."

Azathoth thought about that.

"Then, finally… leave my soul to be vulnerable again, so that when I wish to die, I can die. I want to spend the rest of my life with my friends… and no more."

"... alright. Your story is over, so if that's what you want, that's what you get. I won't be dealing with that multiverse any more, so it's no skin off my back." Azathoth snapped translucent fingers several times, and the changes were underway.

Tom began to glow.

"Enjoy your ending… hero."

"Come on, Tommy!" Petal raced ahead of Tommy, making sure that she wouldn't be caught. Flower smiled indulgently, playing tag herself.

Next to them, Shade and Glacia rested, enjoying the sight. Things had gone poorly, things had gone well, things had changed… and now things were as they were now. It wasn't the best way things could have ended, but it was the way things turned out. And they had worked to the bone to see this, for their entire lives, so they wanted to enjoy it.

And as for Tommy…

… something deep within him smiled.

It looks like he got that game of tag after all.

GOOD ENDING

BAD ENDING

TRUE ENDING

So... that's it.

If you have been here from the beginning... sorry for the long, bumpy ride. Let's just say my first PMD fanfic - actually, my first fanfic, period - isn't the best quality. The lore is confusing at best, discontinuous and paradoxical at worst, the characters are egregiously terrible... you get the point.

I've been writing this for what, 1.5 years? 2 years? The idea came to me when I had no access to the internet and was bored - I had just decided to write something in my notebook to pass time. I had tried publishing fanfiction before, but I could never get past more than a couple of pages before I gave up/lost interest.

And that mentality stayed with me for a while. I started writing Chapter 1 in October of 2017 - and it took until February for me to publish it. Now I'm able to pump out a full-length chapter one week after the other.

And you know? While this is a terrible fanfic, my heart was still spasming when writing the conclusion. Somehow, my characters struck a chord in me. It's something else, to give your characters their final lines and final actions.

Thanks to Just-A-Reader0Love, TheEverPresentNocturnos, and my beta for pushing me through to complete the story, even when I had lost all hope in it. Several times, I realized how awful the fic was, and wanted to just put it on indefinite hiatus like two of my other stories. They helped me push through that mentality to deliver this (unsatisfying, but complete) finale.

For the characters, the ending wasn't a perfect ending, nor the worst ending... but it was the ending that they had got, that they brough upon themselves through their actions. And this isn't a quality ending, nor an ending that makes you want to throw up... but it's the ending I felt somewhat appropriate, for the story I spent so much time writing.

Thank you, for everyone who stayed.

And now...

If you're interested...

... soon, I'll be publishing my next PMD fic. Here's a little taste of what it's based off/what I'm ripping off (Hope you like anime:))

www youtube com / watch ? v= faqmNf_fZlE

So if you're interested in that, stay tuned.

Goodbye.