Hey guys, this is Insane Dominator. Before I get started with this story, I want to say thank you to all who have been supporting the Pokémon/Fairy Tail crossover series since I first started it back in 2015. It may have taken a lot longer than I hoped for, but the time has finally come for the final installment to The Fairy Contender series. It was a long time coming, but now, enjoy the final segment, called The Contender's Ascent!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon nor Fairy Tail, they belong rightfully to Nintendo, Satoshi Tajiri, and Hiro Mashima.

Time and space. Two forces that were at a constant equilibrium. They were what made everything take shape and form, as well as an age, progression, and more importantly, wonder. For time, there was a past, a present, and a future. They say one must learn from the past and move forward into the unknown future, but those stuck in the past fail to learn that time is ever so short for their lives. For space, it's everchanging, ever revolving. Shapes and dimensions take form when space becomes more than just a void.

And with all entities, there were personifications. Everyone was the personification of a word or meaning, and like them, time and space had personifications.

Within the Space-Time Rift, the dimension was distorted in darkness. The energy of the domain was constant. It was black and gray in the background, like someone's conscience, but there were lightning flashes of pink and blue every so often within the darkness.

In one flash, a pair of feral, intense eyes seared daggers ahead, matched with another. The personifications known as Dialga and Palkia were glaring daggers at one another, with Palkia starting off the shrill cry of battle. Dialga opened his mouth and did the same. Their various vocals sent ripples of pink and blue throughout the void, where they blew away thousands of unknown like they were flies.

"(It was your doing. You were the one responsible!)" Dialga retorted.

Palkia reeled his head up and gave an intimidating posture. "(The blame is no one's! You hold responsibility for your powers, as I do mine. You just happened to lose strength as I did…to Acnologia.)"

"(Because of you!)" Dialga snapped. "(If it weren't for your weakness, the two worlds would never have almost collapsed upon themselves. Time is one thing, but space is far too dangerous! Palkia~!)" In his rage, Dialga went flying into Palkia, ramming his thick head into his chest. Palkia grabbed his head's horns and prevented Dialga from gaining any recoil space. They shot back to a stop, where Palkia restrained him good.

With a powerful strain, the Spatial Pokémon let out another shrilled battle cry as he turned and threw Dialga behind him. The Temporal Pokémon doubled over to a stop, shaking his head.

"(If you want to settle this with force, fine! But it won't change what happened to us!)" Palkia explained. He brought his claws back, generating a bright blue sphere that was glistening like a searing gem. Launching Aura Sphere, the claws thrust forward, projecting it at machine gun speed at Dialga, hitting him in the neck. A smoke cloud erupted, and he emitted a shrilled cry of pain and floated backwards. With the smoke as cover, Palkia went rushing through, tackling Dialga and shoving him away in surprise. "(This doing is not even ours to blame! Making excuses against ourselves when we didn't know Acnologia would attempt such a thing. Yes, I admit that caught us off guard, but roaring out our weakness and inability to fix our dimensions was-!)"

"(Silence!)" Dialga opened his mouth, surging streaming light spirals into it. Once it was charged, a Flash Cannon was launched. It ripped through the air with a white ripple, beaming into Palkia's forearms that he used to block. Streams of the Steel-type move went all around him, but the momentum was shoving him back. The beam soon dissipated, allowing Palkia to remove his arms to show little damage. Both seethed daggers at the other.

"(If what you say wasn't our fault and we still take responsibility, what could possibly be blamed otherwise? We weren't able to do anything, and we let him fix it for us!)"

"(Would you rather not be in debt to a human then? Is that it?)"

"(You don't understand! We were helpless twice now! First Giratina and his lackies, and now that damn dragon from that planet. Time and space were out of control, and we didn't have the power…)" He faced Palkia with a deep glare. "(We're supposed to rule and govern all of time and space, wasn't that why we were created?)"

Palkia receded backwards, his pearls beginning to glisten. He didn't find a point arguing about it when Dialga could've just went back in time, but the sense did come to light when there was only one of him out there. If they had known, they never would've done so, but the special case was those two instances being irreversible, due to time and space out of jurisdiction. In a way, Dialga wasn't wrong. Palkia felt a little shame in not being able to stop Acnologia before, but he'd rather not deal with the dilemma a second time.

But this was therapeutic, to some degree. Palkia's pearls began to shine brightly, as did Dialga's diamond. Sparkling, pink energy began to flow into his arm, while Dialga's frilled backside was expanding. The two Pokémon were bringing their arm back and mouth opening, their respective attacks ready to be unleashed.

"(GGGRRAAH!)"

Both Pokémon unleashed Spatial Rend and Roar of Time. The dark blue beam and pink crescents distorting space went beaming into the other. Two attacks, representatives of time and space, blasted like bullets into one another.

Upon impact, a pure white shockwave went in all directions. Pink and blue forcefields surged everywhere within the void to no end. The flow of time slowed down within the combined energy, and the space itself was convulsing. Both Dialga and Palkia covered up as best as possible to sustain themselves until the energy dissipated. Once it was used up, both looked at the other with their glares fixed on one another.

Within their stare off, between them was forming something small, but slowly expanding. It was a distorted frame, and yet it was like a light blue galaxy that was starting to expand.

"(Huh?)" Palkia looked down.

"(Hm?)" Dialga hummed.

The distorted energy was expanding slowly. The energy gradually brightened into a spinning whirlpool of light that got brighter and brighter, the energy it was building up beginning to unnerve the two Pokémon. They both turned to face the large, gleaming light, awfully curious as it was eroding some enigmatic force from within.

"(Did we cause another spatial surge?)" Dialga questioned.

The light began to muffle a deep, devilish growl. It was almost bloodcurdling.

"(You hear that?)" Palkia questioned. "(The light is…speaking?)"

"Grrrroooh…"

Dialga and Palkia could feel something off about it. It wasn't just that the light stopped expanding in place, but more like how it was solidifying. It looked like a shiny galaxy with a foggy entrance. Slowly a feint shadow appeared on the other side, giving a very bizarre shape. Once again, it growled low. The two beings looked at each other and back at the odd dimension, both getting defensive with loud shrieks of challenge.

The dark silhouette on the other end of the foggy entrance slowly retracted. It all seemed calm for a moment, until a giant, black claw jutted straight through the entrance, shattering the space it covered like glass. Once again, Dialga and Palkia were at a loss for words as they saw the clawed hand grabbing one side of the shattered wormhole, and then another exact copy reached ahead, grabbing the other side. Slowly, a pitch-black creature was beginning to reveal itself, his blood red, white eyes looking up from the very strange top it carries.

"(Giratina…?)" Dialga inquired.

"(…light…)" it muttered.

Palkia braced himself. "(No, it's not Giratina. That's not his energy!)"

The pitch-black creature began to slowly come out of the hole, giving the two a deep, searing gaze. His edgy figure was shuddering as he saw the glowing pink and blue aura the two gave off. "(Light…)" his voice arose as his entire body convulsed in anguish and anger.

Dialga and Palkia readied themselves for the worst. They glared at the creature as everything around them shook with the menacing beast's roar.

"(LIIIIGHT!)"

The wildlife forest was vast with so many trees that seemed to have stretched for miles. The silence was nice, but the birds chirping was but another vibrant tune many could abide by. However, as birds chirped, they fluttered out of the branches and into the skies.

The tree branches and canopy of the forest were sound, almost too sound. A swift blur leaped from one branch towards the next. It raced with grace of a ninja and the stealth of a ghost. Silent as a grave it was, the only thing heard was the sound of leaves rustling and branch bark bending with every ounce of pressure applied from the blur's steps.

With another leap, the figure drew closer towards the opening to the tree line. It reached the light of the clearing, where it beamed out of the tree and into the sunlight high in the air. The figure's silhouette inside the sunlight was bleak and hard to tell who it was, but as it descended, it had very short, kempt, spiky black hair that reflected sun rays. It landed on its heels and immediately went into a drop-roll to reduce the shock. Once out of the tumble, it shot back into a slide next to a pair of dark brown boots with black rings on the top.

"Is it coming this way?" the person in the boots asked. She appeared to be holding a sword in readiness.

The figure bent up from his crouch, getting to eye level facing the direction he came from. "Yeah, this is where he'll show up."

"How are you so sure?"

"It needs a lot of space to surface. You know how big it is after all."

"And you're sure you were able to drag it out of that grove?"

The figure smirked. "How about we find out and save the questions for another time." His blue eyes narrowed. "Get ready."

Nic Pularis, now 22-years-old and looking the part as well. He sported a new attire, one that was less conservative in terms of parts showing. As of now, he sported a long, open black coat with dark purple edging, with the sleeves folded at the elbows. The dark purple ends of the sleeves had a Key Stone stitched into the left sleeve. The coat was open and loose, revealing his bare chest and abdominal region, which included the scars he's ascertained. He had baggy gray pants that were held up by a thick, golden sash. The pant legs went all the way to the bottom to the black shoes with golden lacing and gray shock absorbers. He also appeared to be slightly taller, now almost an inch taller than the person standing beside him.

The person next to him was Erza Scarlet, or formerly so. Now these days, she is known as Erza Pularis. Her red hair was as beautiful and long as ever, with her right eye covered by the bangs. Her right shoulder was covered by a silver pauldron with gold accents on it, while the left was bear with her guild mark showing. Her chest armor was also different, having a golden Heart Kreuz and silver plates over her navy-blue skirt that stopped above her knees, held by a brown belt. Her own Key Stone was engraved into the gauntlet of her left forearm.

Today, the duo was out on a job together, and it was no exaggeration to say it was a big one.

The ground began to vibrate, rattling madly. Nic crouched in readiness. "Here it comes!"

Erza braced herself next.

The ground far ahead of them began to crack apart, spitting out dirt and rock. The terrain vibrated as the dirt hole opened wide. As dirt fell like rain, a massive monster bellowed high into the sky before it came down on its two front feet, shaking up the ground. It moved its head about with a loud shriek, signaling its resurfacing.

Now having a good picture of it, the creature was a quadruped monster that stood at 20-feet-tall. It had red, ridged scales all over the body with bright purple spikes over the back. The arms and underside were cream colored, with the arms and claws being thin, and the hind legs were bright red like the body but bent like a frogs' legs would be. The creature had bright blue eyes with pupils, and the most shocking and scariest part of it was its tusks. The maw was cream colored and gargantuan, with tusks twice as thick as a Mamoswine's tusks would be. It also sported a long, club-like tail that fell to the ground, making an indent into the earth. This was their target.

"There he is." Erza said.

"And right on time. This time, he won't escape so quickly." Nic bent his legs and gave the monster a glare.

"Mean Look!"

His eyes glowed bright red as a ghastly aura surrounded him. The monster continued to munch on dirt and rock in its mouth as a ghastly aura surrounded its body, making its attention avert towards Nic once more. The monster opened its mouth, roaring out dirt like spit in front.

"That'll keep him from going anywhere, for now that is." Nic evaluated. "Remember the plan?"

Erza requipped in a glow, her form changing into her Black Wing Armor. Her sword was poised with her posture. "Aim for the legs, avoid the tusks, and watch out for its rough back." She reiterated.

"Right…" He glowed a bright light, turning into his Fist Form. In this form, Nic now had a bright orange coat with darker orange edging. The sash was orange, and his pants were now white. The lacing was bright orange, while the shoe was dark orange. The soles were also now white. He got into a running position and was set. "Let's wear him down!"

The monster snarled, ready to go at them.

Nic and Erza went speeding off towards the tusked monster, with Erza gliding, and Nic dashing. The monster raised one of its arms and began to crawl towards them in retort. Once they were close enough, the huge, long beast arose on its hind legs, ready to crush them from claws above. Nic and Erza ducked to the sides, avoiding the sundering slam of the two joints that billowed dust in front, fading quickly. On the right side, Nic took a leap and clutched his glowing fist, via Power-Up Punch. The bright orange aura enveloping the fist slammed into the hind leg, sending a shock that made the monster snarl and turn towards Nic's direction. The whole body turned towards him, leaving its other hind leg wide open for Erza to slash at.

The beast grunted loudly in pain and turned its head towards Erza, giving a low growl. With him distracted, a red aura enveloped Nic, the effects of Power-Up Punch empowering him.

"Bulk Up!" Nic balled both fists as another red aura enveloped him, empowering his Attack further, as well as Defense. Before the beast turned back towards him, swinging the tusks, he dove and rolled underneath the monster, getting to its underside.

Erza narrowed her eyes and glowed again, this time requiping into her Flight Armor. The creature raised its club-like tail and swung it down onto Erza. She disappeared in a quick blur, evading the ground-crushing blow. With the monster seeing his opponent gone, it heard something zip, and then turned to see Erza running in an arch. She started running circles around the monster, keeping him in one place and looking left and right. With him looking about, he was unaware of someone beneath him.

Nic looked up, eyes narrowing as he balled his fist again.

"Superpower!"

A shockwave exploded beneath the creature's humungous body. It shot off the ground skyward as Nic was seen in a thin crater, fist up as a blue aura enveloped his body, lowering the Attack and Defense again. Erza stopped running circles and stood beside Nic as they watched the beast flail in the air and shriek before smashing into the ground on his back. The land shook violently from the impact, the huge monster crying out in pain and distress. It tried to claw at the air, but like a turtle, it was helpless on its back.

Nic didn't waist time as he glowed again, turning to his Meadow Form. His coat was now jungle green with bright green edging and sleeve cuffs. The sash was a grassy green, with the pants being jungle green. The soles of the shoes were brown, with bright green laces and jungle green shoes overall. He clasped his hands together and folded the fingers.

"Grass Knot!" Around the huge monster, the ground sprouted thick roots that glowed bright green. The roots twirled and folded over the thighs, anchoring the monster's legs. Next, glowing, twirling roots entangled the claws. Next came the tail, being held at the base of the club to keep from moving.

The four limbs were all anchored to the ground, including its secondary weapon, the monster growled and stirred, trying to toss and turn to no avail.

"Do you think that's enough?" Erza asked.

Nic narrowed his eyes. "…no. Get back!"

Just as he had thought, the monster began to turn some more. As it turned onto its right side, it slowly began to pull at the roots of the Grass Knot on one side. The roots extended and extirpated until at last they snapped. The monster flipped back onto his underside and shook its head. The whole body turned back towards Nic and Erza again, the Grass Knot holding the club tail down keeping the best from moving fully. With it struggling to face them and yanking its tail out, this was their chance again.

"Leech Seed!" In a hurry, Nic puffed his mouth, spitting out a single seed that went at the monster's back. The seed missile fired dead onto it, planting itself and opened. All around the body, ropes of vines with leaves on them sprouted from the seed. The attack entangled the beast further, making red electricity envelop it. Once again, it shrieked loudly in annoyance and pain. Its head swayed left and right, the tusks moving as viciously as the beast's temper.

"It's not giving up. It's sturdy, I'll give it that." Erza said.

The monster let out a louder shriek that made the air distort around it in volumes on end. With one more pull, the Grass Knot on the tail was pried apart, freeing the club-like tail. Facing the two in full attention again, its blue eyes narrowed, huffing like a snorting bull. Its gargantuan mouth opened as it plunged its head into the ground below. The maw and tusks were burrowed deep, and then they were flicked back up, making a massive plate of the clearing and its soil beneath overturn. The massive space was tipped further by the tusks, sending it tilting down towards Nic and Erza.

This time, Erza got in front of Nic as she requipped again. Now standing in her Adamantine Armor, she put the two shields together and got to a knee. Nic ducked beside her behind the shield as it created a magic seal. The seal remained stationary as the broken land went crashing down onto them. The soil and the rock in the hardened ground broke upon impact with the shield and showered debris everywhere around the duo as they were untouched. Once all the debris had fallen and settled, Erza separated the shield to get a view of the monster. It howled and clawed at the ground again, making marks in the earth beneath. Using its hind legs and hopping like a frog, it lunged with great force at them. They both leaped backwards to avoid the ram and tusks, getting a small distance between once again.

Once on his feet again, Nic looked ahead wearily. "You weren't kidding when you said it was sturdy." He watched as Leech Seed zapped it again. "It was painful enough getting him out of that cave, and then that grove. We'll have to dig deeper than him if we're going to capture and detain him."

Erza glowed again, requipping back into her default armor. "And I suppose you have a plan for this I take it?"

Nic nodded. "Yeah…let's knock off those tusks. If we can remove them, then his defenses will shorten."

The monster went crawling towards them once more, hurrying with gusto. The land thundered with every step taken, such as a Bulldoze for every thud, palpitating heartbeats if possible.

"I'll keep aiming for the legs to slow him down!" Erza yelled as she requipped a sword. She went sprinting in an arch around the beast, getting its attention once more.

"Then I'll handle the tusks." Nic offered. He reached into his pocket in his coat, pulling out and enlarging a Poke Ball. Spreading his feet, he threw the Poke Ball at the monster.

"Garchomp, go!"

The Poke Ball went flipping in the air until halfway. Once at high kinetic point, the Poke Ball popped open, sending the energy onto the ground. The ground caved in from a great pressure emitted, and stones jutted up as the weight of the energy was pressed in hard. Summoned from the Poke Ball, the menacing, battle-hungry Garchomp was curled up and flexed out, releasing a powerful, loud roar that shook the ground beneath. The stones around shattered to bits and pieces like crackers. The rippling dust waves turned over soil debris, reaching the monster ahead who craned its head about in a growl.

"You ready, Garchomp?" Nic rhetorically asked with a determined grin.

The Mach Pokémon glared daggers ahead. "Don't worry, I'll break him like glass." He threatened. He reeled his head back and released another bloodcurdling roar into the air, distorting space with the deep volume that was projected.

With the monster now facing Garchomp, that was the opening Erza took up. "HRAH!" With a loud shout, she slashed at the right hind leg of the monster, making it cringe once more. It glared back at Erza, seemingly irritated by the blindsided attack. It rose on its hind legs once more and turned to raise a claw on her with a dep snarl.

Garchomp narrowed his eyes. "Gotcha."

Nic swiped his arm. "Stone Edge!" he commanded.

Garchomp raised a claw and roared out viciously once more. Getting to a knee, he stabbed the ground, and shooting in a singular line were pillars of thick, jagged rocks that prodded from the earth. They raced at intense speeds at the quadruped freak of nature and swiftly stabbed it in the left hind leg exposed. The stab, as well as the impact, generated a small but dense explosion that made the creature holler in severe pain. It fell onto its side rather than on Erza, thudding with the severity of a massive Magnitude.

As he thudded, the quaking made Erza jump, but she used that and spun in the air, diving and cutting into the left leg further. The beast cried for the umpteenth time in distress, coupled with the Leech Seed zapping at it yet again. Erza landed and retreated in a large leap back near Nic.

Watching carefully, the redhead's eyes narrowed. "Is he going to try and retreat like before?"

The monster growled weakly in pain before raising its head, giving a small shriek. It suddenly began to crawl away from them, quite fast remarkably. Erza opt to go on, but Nic reached out to her using an arm. They both just watched as the beast kept crawling towards the edge of the clearing.

Once it reached the edge, it raised to its hind legs and tried to burrow, but the left leg instantly gave in, causing it to slip and land on its underside once more. The beast groaned as its tactics were thwarted, and it instead had to make do to scurrying. However, it didn't get to the next step when a ghastly aura reappeared around its body, forcing it to jerk back towards Nic with a distraught shake of the head.

"Mean Look won't let it escape and regroup this time." Nic said. "He's gonna try and get desperate now. Stay on guard!"

"Right!" Erza bent her knees, sword ready. Garchomp stepped forward, releasing yet another vivid roar.

The monster roared again at them in challenge. It dunked its head back into the ground, but this time the front legs digging into the earth. They watched as it dove back into the earth, burrowing deep.

"And underground attack?" Erza speculated.

"We'll see about that." Nic reached out. "Garchomp, use Dig!"

Once again roaring, Garchomp made the airspace shrivel as he curled a little and plunged into the ground. The earth shook violently as he ploughed into the bedrock, leaving his dorsal fin out and cutting a trail into the field.

"You can't hide from me, creepface!" he announced underground.

The dorsal fin went deeper as he went outwards, soon vanishing into the ground like a shark plunging to attack. The ground went stale for a few moments, where all went silent. Moments later, a ripple spread throughout the terrain, where it was followed by a huge explosion of dust and rock like a volcano. The air was expelling tremendous debris as the monster was seen in midair, uppercut by a maniacally laughing Garchomp.

The monster cried out once again as it flailed downwards, smashing painfully into the earth. Another eruption of dust exerted from the impact the monster suffered from the second backland now, and Garchomp landed in front, he, too, rattling the earth beneath.

Erza turned towards Nic. "We have to get those tusks."

Nic looked towards her and nodded. "Okay." He turned and went racing again towards the now-leveled debris field. "Garchomp!"

The Dragon/Ground-type looked back towards him. "Okay!" He sounded so excited as he leaped ahead towards the fallen monster, landing besides its club tail. He held it tight with his sturdy claw. "Now…let's go for a whirl!" Straining as he was, Garchomp was using every ounce of supernatural muscle he had in him. The Mach Pokémon unleashed a loud growl as he pivoted and dragged the tail over his shoulder. The gargantuan monster was dragged out from the crater that was made and roared in distress again as it flipped over Garchomp slowly.

Nic closed in from below, reaching to where the monster's head was supposed to come down. His left arm began to glow once more, but was enveloped in bright green instead. A stump-shaped hammer molded over the left fist, large enough to mallet a Golem.

With a leap into the air, Nic swung upwards with all his might into Wood Hammer.

WHAM!

The instant the stump struck the downward right-sided tusk, time slowed down to get a picture of Nic passing the beast's side, falling slowly as the fractures of the bony tusk went flying everywhere. The tusk itself went flying skywards as the huge monster cried out.

Time sped up again as Nic landed on a knee beside Garchomp at the same time the monster finally smashed chin-first into the ground. Nic's arm was coated in red static, but he showed no visible care for the recoil damage. He and Garchomp regrouped at the monster's base and faced it together, their backs turned to the huge tusk that pierced the ground right behind them.

Nic grunted. He tallied the one tusk in silence. Better to save his breath for battle.

The monster was once again electrocuted by the Leech Seed effect, making another annoyed cry of pain. It lethargically tried getting back to its feet, managing some with a shaken head. Its head swaying more forcefully was no doubt from the lost of balance from the tusk lost, but it was by far unwilling to surrender.

Erza faced the beast, a frown on her face. "Stubborn, aren't we?" She brought her arm back. "Well here! Face this, scoundrel! Prepare yourself!" She threw the Poke Ball skyward, where it rotated overhead to a stop. Opening up, the energy popped out, sending another Pokémon into battle.

Standing beside Erza was her Aegislash, summoned with Shield Form set and ready. "I'm ready. Just tell me where to strike!" The Royal Sword Pokémon dutifully said.

The monster let out another mad roar at Erza and her Aegislash. In anger, the maw opened again and it plunged into the earth. The head flipped back up once again, holding a huge boulder in its mouth. It jerked up some and readied to hammer Erza with the rocky mouth.

"King's Shield! Now!" she ordered.

Aegislash zipped in front of Erza, where light blue hexagons formed to create a barrier. The monster went crashing its mouth down and smashed the rock onto the shield. The rock completely broke into pieces that went flying everywhere, and the dust settled, revealing Erza and Aegislash unhinged as King's Shield was still up. The monster recoiled back onto its four legs, its head shaking from the shock of the shield to its face. A blue aura enveloped its body, lowering its strength further.

Aegislash looked back towards Erza, the redhead nodding in confirmation. "Yes, let's make this work!" she announced. "Swords Dance!"

Aegislash did as told and levitated in place while illusionary blue swords circled around her. Once gone in a full loop, the swords crossed over her head and faded. A red aura enveloped her body, which prompted her Attack to enhanced further.

Erza dashed forward. "Let's go!"

Aegislash opted to comply and dislodged her sword out of the shield. While in midair, Erza passed and seized both the shield in one hand, and in the other was Aegislash's pointed head. Thick her grip was as she darted for the monster. The monster roared once again as the two bolted in, and in an attempt to stop them, it tucked its head in and lunged once more.

"Sacred Sword!" Erza commanded.

Aegislash's blade glowed a bright blue with a shimmering hum towards it. The blade lengthened into an expanded version, almost twice the usual size. Erza closed in and slashed Aegislash into the monster's head in diagonal fashion. The impact left a trail to flow in its massive wake. Within the impact's perimeter, the monster recoiled and shrieked as its head raised, whereas the other tusk went missing. The monster fell back on its feet and shook its head violently from the pain it felt, while Erza stayed positioned, with the last tusk smashing into the earth some feet behind the Requip Mage.

Garchomp reappeared from above, dropping in besides Erza with Nic hanging on. Nic jumped off the Pokémon and looked at the monster ahead of them with a serious face. "Garchomp, let's end this."

Garchomp stepped forward. "Couldn't agree more."

The monster unleashed another bloodcurdling shriek towards them. It went crawling at them in one last desperation to mow them down, only to spring meters closer into full-force destony.

Nic swiped his arm again. "Knock him down with everything you've got! Use Dragon Rush!"

Garchomp brought a foot back. "This is my favorite part…" With a grunt, he leaned forward and shot off the ground towards the monster. The shockwave from his lunge made the space behind him blow some dirt off the ground. His head appendages glowed bright blue and expelled a draconic energy all around him, shaping into a dragon that roared with a mouth wide open. "SAY AH~!"

The monster lunged into Garchomp, but in midair, Garchomp blasted into the face, creating a massive energy wave to shoot air ripples everywhere. The grass beneath flattened as Garchomp sailed in a long arch over the clearing, pushing the huge monster with full throttle into the ground. The smashing force expelled dust and shockwaves so loud and so high that a small dust cloud could've been seen from miles away. As the dust dissipated, Garchomp reeled back into the sky with another bloodcurdling growl towards the air.

When the dust cleared, it revealed the monster in a deep crater, deeper than the one previously from the Dig. With it not moving, they knew this was their chance.

With another glow, Nic transformed into his Stone Form. In this form, Nic's coat was dark brown, with grayish-brown edging and cuffs. The pants had a gabbro-like look to them, and the sash was a mudstone color. The soles of the shoes were mudstone color as well, with grayish-brown laces and an obsidian color to them. He folded his fingers together as before, this time summoning pillars of rock around the fallen monster. As it continued laying on its back in the dirt, the rock pillars arched over the limbs and tail, anchoring the beast, this time for good.

The Leech Seed around the body of the monster began vanishing like vapor, signaling that it could no longer fight nor had energy to spare such an ordeal.

"Looks like our work here is finished." Erza speculated.

Nic nodded. "Yeah." He replied as Garchomp landed beside him. He turned towards the dragon creature with a soft grin and approached. "Garchomp, good work. I can't thank you enough for what you do best." He scratched the neck region behind one of the head appendages, much to Garchomp's welcoming. The Mach Pokémon growled lightly with chagrin.

Erza approached her husband with fortitude. "We should make way back to the village. We'll have to report this to them as quickly as possible."

Nic nodded. "Right." He turned towards the captive monster. "But that stamina was impressive. I wouldn't be surprised if it got back up soon. We'll need good measure just in case matters go awry." He turned ahead and glowed once again, this time into his Toxic Form. In the form, Nic now adorned a dark purple coat with light purple edging and cuffs. The sash was a Byzantium color, with pants being an orchid color. The shoes were dark purple with bright purple laces and had orchid shock absorbers.

He opened his mouth, where a sphere of purple arose from the throat. "Toxic Spikes!" He aimed for the sky, where the orb was launched. It spiraled into the air with four streams of purple smoke following beneath. Once it reached a high enough point, the orb exploded and sent several purple comets with dark purple smoke trails down around the monster. They all sunk into the ground, leaving rings of magenta to fade into the grass.

"There…" Nic glowed yet again to change back into his usual self. "That'll keep him from getting far in case he gets enough strength to move."

Erza smirked. "You know, it's almost cruel if you ask me."

Nic looked towards her, smirking. "You sound like you're enjoying this."

"I'd be a liar if I said this was going to be far from jovial for the beast from now on."

"I can't argue there, but it's not like doing nothing about it would help the problem it's been making either." He looked back at the fallen beast as it laid with a raspy, unconscious breath. He reached into his pocket and waked closer towards the monster, where he placed a Sitrus Berry in front of its mouth. "We're sorry…"

After such a long afternoon, the job was finally accomplished.

A hand reached out, shaking with Nic's. "We're truly grateful for all that you have done for us."

"You have our humblest meanings, it was part of the job after all."

Nic and Erza soon returned to the village to where the client was. The client was the leader of the village. The village itself was rather local and small, much like the geography of Camphrier Town to a degree, if not more rural. It was further out in Fiore, hence its disclosure. The village leader was someone with gray hair tied into a bud and held in place by a pair of yellow sticks. He had a white long-sleeve shirt on beneath a red toga, and for shoe wear he wore brown sandals.

The job was a monster capture mission. They were assigned to capture and detain the monster that was panicking the villagers for weeks on end. The sub-quest to that would be a huge bonus to their reward, which was to de-tusk the enormous monster. The pay wasn't much, but the experience was needed, plus it helped a lot of people out in the long run.

"That large beast has been wrecking up the land around these parts for a long time now. Frankly, that's been scaring many locals and travelers in these parts." The leader said. "We were starting to get worried it might actually come for us to expand its territory."

Erza held her hands to her hips. "It won't cause anymore trouble for you, that's what we made certain. I trust that once you find the creature, you'll be most humbled by our work."

The leader chuckled. "You Fairy Tail mages certainly have your work cut out for you."

Nic frowned. "If it doesn't bother you, what do you intend for that beast? I wouldn't think putting it down would be justified. It's been through enough."

"You can rest easy, Nic Pularis, we've just contacted the Rune Knights. They should be here soon to relocate the creature to a safer environment it can adapt to."

Nic nodded. "I see."

"Do they need us to stick around to help in relocating?" Erza asked.

The elder shook his head. "No, that won't be necessary. Really though, you've already done more than plenty in your service alone. You can leave the rest for us to handle."

Nic grinned. "Sounds like everyone's going to sleep soundly tonight."

Erza chuckled. "Well let's not jinx it just yet, Nic."

"But I do say we can count our blessings." The elder prodded with a smile. "We'll at least feel safer thanks to you two. Please, do take care."

"As we you."

Nic and Erza bid the leader and the villagers farewell. They walked out of that village with 800,000 Jewel in their savings. It was originally 500,000 Jewel, but the bonus came from the tusks they brought back with them. Nic and Erza were still feeling bad about what they did, but it came with the job. That still didn't mean they had to like it.

"Do you think we should've handled relocating it ourselves?" Nic questioned his wife on the trail.

Erza looked at him. "The job was to capture and detain the creature, nothing more." She smiled. "But it's still generous that you worry about your opponent's condition."

Nic shrugged. "I guess. I mean at least with wild Pokémon, you don't have to worry to such degrees because their conditions heal as fast as their health after some rest. But these kinds of jobs really push boundaries for me. Still, it was causing trouble, so it's not like there wasn't anything wrong with what we were doing, I suppose..."

"It's okay to feel like that." Erza reached for his hand, holding it in her own as they walked. "Your sympathy is truly admirable."

Nic smirked at his wife. "At least this makes up for the job you and your team did yesterday. How many buildings collapsed again?"

Erza fell silent at the embarrassing memory. She knew Nic was messing with her, but if it wasn't for her and Natsu running buildings through to find scavenging thugs, then maybe they could've saved a few good Jewel. At least they had some grocery money to last them a week.

"Let's just hope we have enough time to get home for dinner." Erza tried to deflect the matter at hand, thankfully it worked out.

"Well that depends, you think taking the train and sleeping in a cabin sounds cozy?" Nic questioned back with a smile.

Erza chuckled back. "I have a feeling you have a much better alternative…although lying down for a while certainly sounds refreshing after today."

"My thoughts exactly." Nic pulled out another Poke Ball, throwing it skyward. "Go!"

The Poke Ball popped open, summoning another energy that went in an arch into the sky. From the energy released Nic's Charizard, who roared out as he arched in a turn towards Nic and Erza. They jumped in midair, landing on his back and base of neck as he arched back into the sky.

"Charizard…let's go home!"

Charizard roared to the skies, flapping his wings harder before shooting higher into the skies of Fiore.

Six months had come and gone since Nic and Erza finally tied the knot, and despite some changes that were still getting used to, the couple were fairing with them quite moderately. Their daily routine hadn't changed much, and everyone treated them the same as before, and that was how they liked it. Some of the few changes was Erza's moniker; when she was at home or meeting new people, she referred to herself as "Erza Pularis", but she often used Scarlet when on jobs with her team or out alone, although lately that moniker has been used to a lesser extent. The importance to her and Nic was that they were married, so to her, Pularis sounded more suitable these days.

As for Earth Land and PokeEarth alike, things have been getting back to normal, or rather as normal as they could get. After the devastating war against Alvarez Empire's forces and what followed soon after, most of the towns have been repaired, and guild jobs have become stable again. Fairy Tail has been the bell of the ball in just about everything in everyone, especially with how they were centerfield with the war, and how it started to begin with. It wasn't so much of a win-win as it was a draw.

Some guilds questioned why Fairy Tail was the reason it started, and when they found out they had infinite magic held as a captive secret, some forces backfired. Suffice to say that got the council's attention. Of course at the time, it was just the present Wizard Saints, and some were more inclined as to why they'd uphold such a "weapon". After many of testimonies and witnesses of the war and the survivors were willing to let it pass over since it was history now. The council wanted to blame Fairy Tail, but in the end it was nobody's fault, at least that was what Nic argued. It was a fundamental disarray that soon got fixed, but now Fairy Tail didn't have anymore skeletons in their closets.

As for PokeEarth, things were getting by as well as expected. People and towns were recovering from the aftershock with the legendary battle against Acnologia. The damage that was caused left a massive crater in the valley where the whole battle had taken place. In fact, locals and maps being remade actually dubbed the memoir "Valley of Daunt", or the "valley of the brave" if one wanted to get simpler. It's been visited quite often by researchers, and has been getting attention from trainers, tourists, and popular folk alike from around the world. They wanted to see and feel the energy that howled in the wasteland that rivaled Route 13. It was crisp as one could describe. Otherwise, the real attention went towards Nic. Oftentimes, Nic would come back to his world to train, meet his foster family, or just look around the cities or towns for Trainers to battle or something to get his sister or his new wife. He always got a lot of attention from people, and media soon followed, but he always ignored them and the questions thrown at him like they didn't even exist. If they got in his face, he'd be sure that one glare would shrink them away.

With the couple just finishing up their job, they flew in over Magnolia, closing in on the guild hall. "There it is, I see it." Nic referred to a small brown cottage made out of logs far up at a hill, far away from the city.

"Let's stop by the guild first. We need to check in with the others first." Erza said.

"Okay."

Charizard flew the two into Magnolia. He descended and tilted his body sideways towards the ground, allowing them to jump off and land in front of the guild hall. Charizard landed, allowing Nic to thank and pet the underside of his chin. Once recalled, he and Erza stepped into the guild itself.

"Hey, look who's back!"

"Hey, it's Nic! How've you been, buddy?"

"Nic's back? Boy, that didn't take long."

They were greeted with smiles from their fellow Fairy Tail friends, new and old. Max and Warren were beside the other, drinking and cheering with the others. Macao and Wakaba were already within drunken stupor, much to Romeo's dismay. Bisca and Alzack were nowhere to be seen, no doubt on a job of their own, but Asuka was beside Romeo. Jet was eating a buffet of meat stacked in front of him and has been doing so for hours while Jet has been despairing over his friend's eating habits. Overall, things looked just about right.

Mirajane walked through the guild with a tray of food she was serving. "Well look who's back!" she smiled. "So the job went well I take it?"

"Hello, Mirajane." Erza greeted. "The job took longer than we thought, but bared fruit nonetheless."

Lisanna waltzed nearby, holding up a serving tray of her own. "Hey guys, you're awfully late. We were worried you weren't going to come back today."

Nic smiled. "Don't worry about it. At least we're back now." He took another look around the guild hall again, seeing as how it was as boisterous as could be. A lot of chatting, a lot drinking, and many more still overall the same…well, almost.

Gray looked over his shoulder to see Nic. "Hey, look who finally decided to show up."

"Nic and Erza are back?" Juvia looked over her shoulder with a smile.

Wendy waved to them as Carla sat in her lap. "Hey guys, over here!"

"You both know how to make timing work out it seems."

"Nah, I call that good old-fashion luck." A chuckled came from Natsu as he crossed his arms.

"Aye, sir!" Happy agreed.

Lucy tilted over, smiling at the married couple. "Welcome back, guys."

Erza's team sat where they usually sat, with the added Juvia to the mix. Things with them were all patched up after the wedding, especially between Natsu and Gray. The two were able to stitch up their broken bond thanks to what Nic told them before, although to an extent. There have been subsequent fights between them every now and again, but really, it wasn't the same. They weren't physical anymore, but more like verbal arguments over plans and opinions. In fact, ever since the incident with Zeref and E.N.D, their fight tally was…zero.

It alarmed so many members that they didn't occasionally squabble like they used to, but things were never the same. Some said they scarred themselves in that last fight on the battlefield, and some say it was a miracle, but really, Nic could see through this, and he didn't pry. Fight wise though, Fairy Tail had held back so much broken furniture thanks to fights diminishing, although not entirely. Even if it wasn't Natsu and Gray in the center ring, it was still other pairs who start fights, like Gajeel or Elfman, or Natsu against a flustered Gajeel when embarrassed about cases of Levy. It was all still stable in the end, and that's what mattered, though the "sanity corner" hasn't had company for eons.

When Nic and Erza looked at them and greeted back, they could see how Gray wasn't so agitated. He hasn't been for a long time now, and Juvia's taken appreciation towards it. Natsu was the same to Lucy, although not much of the dynamic has made it so that he violated her room almost every morning go away. In fact, with those groups as close as glue, Gajeel and Levy were pretty much inseparable now, as inseparable as Nic and Erza were these days, much to Jet and Droy's dismay. Evergreen and Elfman have been seen about, although they're often seen bickering than talking. Plus add in Evergreen's duties along with the rest of the Thunder God Tribe and you get things turned on their heads.

"Why don't you go with them? I'll check with the Master." Nic told Erza.

"Okay, just don't take too long." Erza went and sat with her team, where she took her place next to Gray. The group started catching up, and Nic went on about towards the Master's office.

From the bar, a barrel was swaying up and down until it bobbed down at last, revealing Cana. She sighed heavily and noticed Nic passing. "Huh, hey, Nic buddy-boy! Ya miss me?" the brunette yelled.

Nic smiled as he passed her. "Nice to see you too, Cana."

Sitting not far away at a nearby table, two girls were sharing a large house salad with pineapple dressing. One girl turned her head to see Nic approaching. She smiled. "Well look who finally showed up." She teased.

"Hey, Sophie."

Sophie, now 19-years-old, and she looked more than just the part. Sophie's hairstyle had once again changed. She had two massive bangs running on either side and down each shoulder and hanging over each of her green eyes, which had eyeliner. A blonde bang hung over her forehead and down the bridge of her nose. She had on pink, sugary lipstick that made her look like her kisses could leave marks. Her attire now was also more loose. Her top was a pink dress with yellow edging, with an open hole in the center to expose the bellybutton. It showed much of her ample breasts to boot, which had also grown larger now thanks to her fitness. The sleeves were almost see through pink short sleeves with yellow lines going down the sides, same included the sides of the dress from the ribs down the waist. At a yellow belt it stopped, and down below was a tight black spandex that hugged everything above the knee, which was covered up mostly by a brown sarong with yellow edging. She adorned silver boots, had pink nails, and had forearm sleeves similar to her sleeves attached to her dress.

The other girl smiled. "Glad you made it back safe."

Nic grinned. "You didn't have to worry. It wasn't a big deal. We got the job done, that's what's important."

Vanessa Pularis, now 18-years-old, the age her brother was when he came into this world. Much like Sophie, she gets attention for her beauty. Vanessa's own assets had grown much more considerably, practically as big as anybody else's. Her attire was much simpler. Her hair was the same as ever; long, with the bright yellow bang over her right eye and over the ear and down the shoulder; Poke Ball earrings didn't change either. She now adorned a white shirt that exemplified much of her chest as well, and had a thin dark blue, short-sleeved jacket that stopped at her waist. She sported black armbands at her wrists, as her Key Stone was now tied to hold up a neon green belt on the other large hip where her Poke Balls were kept. She adorned brown pants that hugged her nice legs, and her black boots fit the whole ensemble.

"Are you going to see him now?" Vanessa asked.

"Yeah, it shouldn't take long. You okay for dinner? I'm sure Erza and I can save a plate of you'd like."

Vanessa declined. "I just ate, but thanks."

Nic understood and continued on with his trek. He went to the door far to the wall where the bar was, far opposite to where the Job Request Board was on the other side of the guild for all to pluck flooding jobs. He got closer to where a long, wooden desk was beside the door, and there was the Thunder God Tribe.

Freed was writing papers, making sure every syllable was perfect. "Almost done…just a few more…and done! All set!" With that, he placed the piece of paper in a neat pile next to him. "I'm certain Laxus will be thrilled knowing all these apology papers have been fully edited and spellchecked." He beamed with pride.

"Heh-heh, well I wouldn't be thrilled if I had to write them to begin with." Bickslow chimed. "Hey, Ever, anything else knew?"

Evergreen walked back from not far. She had a few more papers in her hands and adjusted her glasses. "Got it all here. Don't worry, boys. They aren't more apology or collateral funds…this time thankfully." She said.

"Is that so? Let me see." Freed was handed the papers, where he spread them out before his eyes. "Let's see…reviews of mages sent…job requests…magazines…"

Bickslow turned away to get a notice of Nic standing before him. "Huh? Oh, hey Nic, what's up? Haven't seen you all day."

"Is he in at the moment?" he asked carefully.

"Yeah, the big guy's in. But I gotta warn ya, he's been having a headache today." Bickslow warned.

Freed balled a fist, his body shuddering. "This burden of Master responsibility is too great for one person to stomach. I kept on telling him that, and yet he still pushes on so boldly to write and read all these files. What a brave soul he's become, but murdering his conscience in the process!"

Evergreen sweat-dropped. "I wouldn't go that far."

Nic reached for the knob, nodding at the three. "I'll be quick." He opened and entered the office.

Inside, sitting at a desk facing away from the window was a blonde-haired man, who looked about 29 or rather 30. He had spiky hair and a lightning bolt-shaped scar over one of his eyes. This was yet another change that even the Master that getting used to. "What a pain in the ass…" he groaned as he pressed his aching forehead against his folded fingers.

Laxus Dreyar, Fairy Tail's Ninth Master after Makarov's passing. Laxus finally got his wish and got the guild now, but things were still new for him. He wasn't like that punk who tried to overrun and kick out weak members. No, he was much better now, and better at consideration. But the weight of responsibility was making him sore in places he didn't know he had.

Nic entered the office. "Laxus?"

Laxus looked up as Nic stopped several meters before his desk. "Huh? Oh, Nic, it's just you."

"Is this a bad time?"

Laxus leaned back and crossed his arms with a groveling sigh. "Not really, though I gotta say thanks for taking care of that monster capture job. I didn't mean to press the job onto you like that. You know how things have been…"

Nic chuckled at Laxus' trailing off. "I get it. It's no trouble, really. That should be the last of them, right?"

Laxus shrugged. "This time around."

Nic put a hand to his chin, pondering. "But what's been bothering me is how all these monster-related jobs. We've been getting emergency requests for the past month, which has been around the time these monsters have been showing up and causing havoc."

"You think there's a pattern to all this?"

"A catalyst perhaps. Have there been reports on the past monsters from other guilds?"

Laxus put his forehead on his fingers once more. "…" After some careful thinking of the many reports Freed debriefed him about, he could only remember so much. It was making his headache turn his brain to putty. "I think so. I read up a report on how a lot of these findings have been foreign. I asked Freed if he could find their origins and found out just recently they originate from Bosco."

"If that's the case, why are they casting out their species? Is it to get more room for slave trade?"

Laxus shook his head. "Not since the war's end. Slavery's been stopped dead by the Council, they made sure Cruzer got that message through to them. But back to the matter at hand, I think we're all low-key with the monsters this time around. There should be a steady flow of those kinds of jobs now."

Nic nodded. "Alright then." He watched as Laxus sighed. "You feel alright? You look pale."

Laxus grieved in another sigh. "Yeah, well, this is what happens when you stay up late at night organizing all these letters and crap. Can't believe the geezer did this for a living."

"Well you have Freed and the others. They sure don't look bothered."

"Somebody summon me?!" In a rush, Freed scooted into the doorway with a salute to the Master. When he saw him groaning, he got an implied signal of wear. "My goodness, Laxus! You're looking awfully pale. Hang on, allow me to fetch you some cold water to refresh your system!" As quick as he came, he sped off, leaving Nic and Laxus back to square one.

The two looked back, completely silent for a moment.

"…good grief." Laxus groaned.

"He means well, if that counts for something." Nic persuaded.

Laxus smirked. "Yeah, guess you're right. Anyways, I'll ask somebody to look into the Bosco case, you just keep doing your thing for the guild, okay?"

Nic nodded. "I will. Take it easy." With that, Nic turned and left the office.

When the door finally shut, Laxus looked back down towards the few papers on his desk, the ones Freed and Bickslow gave to him just a few hours ago. For the umpteenth time, he sighed in grief. "Something tells me I'm gonna need more than a few good drinks of water today..."

"Hold up, so let me get this straight. You guys spent the whole day chasing down some big tusk monster, finally got it to a clearing, and then hammered away?" Natsu summarized what Erza had explained about their job request, and she nodded in confirmation while he irritably scratched his spiky pink hair. "Aw man! How come we get to miss out on all the fun?!"

Happy patted his back in comfort. "Better luck next time, buddy."

"Well it sounds like you two did a lot of heavy lifting for something that small." Gray teased with crossed arms. "And here I thought you'd be back in half the time."

"Gray, darling, be nice." Juvia pleaded.

Erza kept a straight face, seemingly unfazed by the remark. "Well our apologies. I didn't think our time alone could mean so little to you. Do you care to say Nic and I should've taken the train to make things more accommodative?" By the sound of her tone, she was challenging Gray's teasing. By the uneased look on his face, he got the message loud and clear.

Wendy sweat-dropped with a nervous laugh.

"But it sounds like the Pokémon helped a great deal in your quest." Carla prodded in.

Erza looked towards the white Exceed. "Yes, they've been most appreciative for us. The feeling's more than mutual. I'm not sure I'd be where I am if it weren't for their support. It really means a lot to me."

"Man Erza, now you're gonna start making me jealous." Natsu said.

"Natsu? I didn't know you had a thing for Pokémon?" Lucy replied with wide eyes.

The Dragon Slayer beamed with his trademark smirk. "I don't. But I gotta say though, sometimes I got this feeling that if I get my own Pokémon, we'd be kicking butt to the Earthland's backside!"

"But the world is round." Happy pointed out.

"And if you ask me, all you'd be doing is reducing everything to ash." Carla sniped. "Really now, if you cleaned up your own messes, then maybe I'd believe you."

Natsu continue to beam. "Oh yeah? Gray?" He looked towards him, the Ice Mage turning away out of the conversation.

"Don't drag me into this."

"Ha! See?! That makes it two to one!" Natsu cheered.

"I seriously doubt that's how it works." Lucy chimed nervously. "But whatever."

Erza chuckled in amusement. In a way, she kind of found Natsu's determination refreshing. "I know what you mean. In a way, I guess you can say I felt like you did, when Nic and Vanessa were the only ones who had Pokémon."

The team looked towards her, falling silent as she looked at the reflection of her face in the teacup sitting in front of her.

"Before Honedge came around, I was oftentimes pegged with jealousy over the two. They had such admiration for their Pokémon that it made me only improve further." She looked up, a glimmer of passion in her eyes. "I think someday, if it's ever possible…maybe we all can learn from Pokémon. We've made it this far, haven't we?"

From the table not far from the group, Vanessa was picking up bits and pieces of Erza's little monologue. It brought a small smile to her face, much to Sophie's interests. The Memory-Make Mage chose to finish up her diet for the day rather than pry in her roommate's fantasies.

Nic came walking back towards the table, looking a little more relaxed than before. "Hey, guys." He greeted with a smile. "Sorry about that."

"Oh don't worry, it's not a big deal." Wendy dismissed happily.

"Yeah, take it easy man. Erza was just telling us about the job you two took." Gray said.

Nic closed his eyes, looking down with a raised brow. "I…guess we could've planned further ahead to save time. But excuses aren't really what anyone wants to hear."

"Speaks from the heart as ever." Lucy said.

Natsu sat back, crossing his arms. "Nah, cut the guy a break. Bet he just needs a few good rounds against more of those big guys and he'll be as tough as I am at it!" He laughed triumphantly.

Everyone around him sweat-dropped at his boasting. 'Seriously?'

Nic raised a brow, chuckling meekly. "Well if you're adept to being a Trainer like me, you can't exactly capture beasts using a Poke Ball you know."

"It'd be interesting if you could though. That'd save a whole lot of trouble in the long run." Happy commented.

"Well you're not wrong there." Carla chimed. "Now that I think about it, wasn't that monster capture job we took two weeks ago take as long as Nic and Erza's?"

"About 2 days on my count. The thing really was slippery." Erza chided. "We should've been better prepared." She cursed to herself.

Natsu smirked. "Something tells me we got a lot of training to do. Feels like we've been taking it easy for a while now…" he shot up, balling a fist. "I say we kick back into the high gears and get some serious jobs and fights going again!"

"Aye, aye, sir!" Happy jumped with him.

Gray chuckled. "Well that's one way to get out of a slump."

Juvia turned towards Gray. "Gray, darling, you care to go on a job with me tomorrow?"

Gray looked to her. "Can't really say no anyways, can I?"

Nic looked at Erza's team with his own smile returning. In his own way, he could feel how the others felt. It wasn't like he was slipping or anything, but he had to admit he's been lagging some. By normal standards, that job shouldn't have taken long. It wasn't that he and his Pokémon were weak, but the truth underlying Fairy Tail was that ever since the battle against Alvarez, there wasn't much of a motivation. But now that there have been much more demanding jobs for their statures, they had to stay in shape, and that meant facing tough opponents to keep themselves in check.

As Erza agreed with her team, she was suddenly yanked from her seat by Nic. He dragged her along without warning. "Nic?!" she shouted.

Nic looked back over his shoulder, a confident smile on his face. "So how about it? Wan to share the battlefield in the front yard or the backyard?"

Erza was caught surprised by Nic's abrupt offer, but she recovered as quickly as the implication sunk in. A smirk of her own anticipation fell on her lips as she followed beside him, exiting the guild hall and into Magnolia's streetlights turning on.

"…the front yard." She answered.

On PokeEarth, in one of the regions, there lied a land far, far beyond reach. The land of Sinnoh was a place that was near the northern hemisphere, hence its eternal winter up in the northern realm. The climate was equally as bad once people climb Mt. Coronet. Snow fell at terrifying rates, a land befitting Pokémon like Abomasnow and Snover that inhabit the landscape. With the habitat being nightfall even, it was hard to tell where one could be going. The most sensible thing would be to wait in the caves or dig one to wait until morning. But there was a silhouette that was walking through the snowy trail like it wasn't anything he couldn't tread on.

Fellow Snover hiding themselves in the snow were staying quiet as the figure dared to walk through the tall grass. Each crackling step made ears twitch and Chingling to silence. They could feel a strong and disciplined energy nearby.

As the figure in a long-sleeve coat kept marching on through the snow and tall grass, a Noctowl hooted as it descended in front of him. It cawed louder in warning, as if daring the figure to get further.

Obliging to the code of encountering wild Pokémon, the Trainer reached into his coat pocket, pulling out an Ultra Ball. The mechanism was tossed up into the air, where moments later, a popping sound with the energy flowing into the shape of a Pokémon appeared in the snow. It was hard to tell what the creature was through the howling snowstorm, but it looked bipedal with a large body, with a wispy head and shoulders.

As it stood in place, it gave off a searing seat signature, once that made the snow at its feet melt a little until the thick grass was visible.

The Noctowl craned its head in wonder at the Trainer, but it was ready. The Trainer casually reached out ahead, giving an unvoiced command to the wispy silhouette. It instantly jumped into the air, its shadow casting over the surprised Noctowl. The Owl Pokémon looked up to see the arm up high, generating fire in one of the canon-like arms. As it turned and grunted, the fire trailed in an arch, following the punch's flow in knocking Noctowl into the head. The impact sent it smashing into the snow, where frost billowed everywhere around the area.

Once the snow was blown away in the snowstorm, the Noctowl was lying on its face, and yet it was seen struggling to make a stand. A pair of feet planting in the snow caught its attention, getting it to look up as the huge figure from a very unflattering angle. The creature leaned down, opening its mouth excrete a voluminous blast of white smoke from its mouth. The smoke rushed towards Noctowl as it went wide-eyed. Unable to move, the Normal/Flying-type went flying from the smoke wave, pushing it back into the side of the snowy mountain. The Noctowl slowly slumped towards the ground on its bottom, eyes being spirals to signal its defeat.

The Trainer's figure looked at the Noctowl in defeat and looked back at the trail that lied ahead. His frown didn't seem to waver as he cursed at how fruitless the battle seemed to be. He reached out and returned his Pokémon before taking a moment to put the Ultra Ball back. Once settled, he marched on, like nothing happened, and only to run into manty more obstacles along the way until he reached his destination.

Farther away in the familiar Kalos region, the land was quiet, or at the very least it was in Lumiose City. The city was as lively as ever at night, even with a different crowd to accompany the streets than those who occupy the day.

For those who went to school, or those who have just graduated, they stay up late doing whatever they saw fit. Sometimes they did the more hysterical antics that get them arrested, and some stay idly at home with nothing but the company of silence. But within the top floor of one of Lumiose City's most exquisite apartments, a window was flickering with multiple colors, and the shouts of two voices were evident.

"Come on, Persian! Don't let me down now!" one of the voices inside the room yelled.

The room was an average sized one, if not a little more spacious than regular ones. The rooms gone fishing colored walls had pictures of two friends side by side, with one looking jumpier than the other. In another part of the room, there was a large-scale poster of Nic Pularis with a serious expression and in the attire before his marriage in a black background with a white shone at his feet. In fact, on the dresser were collectable items of Nic Pularis, standing with his six Pokémon all aligned perfectly and not out of place. The whole room had a few posters of either Nic or even his Pokémon, including the Mega Evolutions of Charizard and Garchomp.

"OH! How did that Play Rough miss?!" the same voice from before exclaimed. "That like 90% pain dealing there!"

The one screen showed the player's Persian staying stationary on a screen while the Primeape on the opposite end used Cross Chop, at least by what the screen said. The attack animation was made critical, and the HP gauge of Persian dropped from full to 0 in one blow. "OH COME ON MAN!" He cried out as he watched his Persian fall over and recall.

The screen went dark revealing two avatars apparent. The left side showed all the Poke Balls dark, while the other side still had 1. When it showed the winner and loser, the losing player sulked in despair.

"You know, you really do get worked up over this game." The person on the other end of the room said. "You sure this is going to help us, Joey? You know this ain't even close to the real deal."

The person now revealed as Joey raised a brow. He was an 18-year-old man who had a very…inetersting flow of design around him. He was a person who was above average height with blonde spiky hair partially slicked back, though one strand of hair was hanging over his right eye. He had blue eyes with a nice smile as many would put it. His ears dangled a large, golden hoof-like earring on each lobe, with the left lobe having gray piercings. He adorned a white short-sleeved dress shirt that was button up, with blue jeans and brown shoes. He looked towards his associate with slight disgust. "Dereece, are you implying that playing this does not help you begin to compute how battling works? Must you get a brain scan or something?"

Dereece, the winner of the battle, groaned at the tendencies of his pal. "Ugh. Well I guess you got a point. Still, don't you need actual battle experience if we're really going through with this?"

Dereece, the same age as Joey, and the long-time best friend who had his back. He was a dark-skinned man of average height, although he was slightly hefty in terms of weight and a little fat in the arms and abdomen. He had brown eyes and a dark goatee and moustache combo to accompany his sideburns and facial hair. His head had a thin cut black towards it. He adorned a big white t-shirt, with black lounge pants and dark boots to match.

Joey waved him of dismissively as he turned off his handheld game console. "Oh don't be so daring Dereece, even I'm not that insensible. Besides…" he got up from his gaming hair with a pounce. He started to stretch his arms out around him, getting the tendons loose. "How do you expect us to get out there, if we're just borrowing experienced Pokémon from someone else? It's not cool."

"I know." Dereece chimed. "But, uh, remind me again why we're doing this?"

As he stretched his back, Joey arched so far back that his head and eyes looked at Dereece. "Well why else?" He twisted his body and flew right out of his shoes, spiraling on top of his magenta sheets. He smiled wide at the ceiling. "What greater pleasure is there to go on a journey, knowing that you'll be following in the footsteps of someone who has stomped and triumphed over the world-no! The universe!" He put his hands to his mouth, his eyes shuddering as he thought of himself on a forest trail, and not far ahead was a figure with black hair. Already, he was getting weak in the knees, even though he was lying down. "If I wanna be as great as a Trainer as him, I have to do what he did! I have to step up, and maybe one day, he can look me in the eyes…" He began to feel hazy as he saw the figure turning around, his own blue eyes showing with a soft but quelled smile. Even his fantasy-self fell over into white. "AAAAHH! I CAN'T EVEN WAIT TOMORROW, I HAVE TO GET STRONGER RIGHT NOW!" He wailed.

A loud stomp came from outside the door, immediately freezing him in place. "Joey! You better not be playing that game this late! Go to bed!" a feminine voice shouted.

"Sorry, Mommy~." He chimed.

Dereece rolled his eyes with a groan. "Well, I get where this is going." He stood up and pushed his gaming chair out of the way. He reached for the closet beside him and pulled out a smooth comforter at eye level. He grunted as the rolled-up bulk was stretching out as he dragged it out. Once settled onto the ground like a sleeping back, he went around it and looked inside the closet, where a polyester blanket of an Arbok pattern on it was taken out.

"Gotta say, Joey. I'm proud of you taking a big step like this." He praised as he laid on his side. "Just don't let all this excitement get ahead of you and-you're not listening are you?"

True to what he said, Joey was looking up at the ceiling with a big smile on his face. He was beginning to lose himself in his fantasies once again. He was beginning to see himself in the future, where he had a whole dance floor to himself where he and Dereece were taking the big walk with potential Pokémon behind them. Within the cheering crowds and the hysterical fangirls calling out to Joey, the party was stopped cold by the door pushed open. People scooted out of the way as Joey looked ahead with a heroic stature as a horde of Sawk entered the dance floor with leather jackets. The Sawk all lined up as Joey spit off to the side and took a kung fu stance, urging them all to come at them. They all went at him, in which Joey dashingly unleashed a variety of kung fu attacks in a dance-like fashion, parrying punches and kicks, while Dereece stood off to the side with a confident and knowing nod of his head. As all the Sawk piled onto him, a few seconds spontaneously built anticipation to where all the Sawk were blown away by Joey popping out with a regal and awesome-looking attire like those of kings with crowns would wear. With the threat thrown out, many cheered again as the music turned to a beet again as Joey danced in hollow victory, with Dereece and the fellow Pokémon bowing before his awesomeness.

Joey muffled squeals as he was completely zoned out. Dereece groaned and laid on his side, getting shut eye for what tomorrow had in store.

Once again going back to the Sinnoh region, in Veilstone City, the sun had long since set, and yet one of the buildings still had occupancies in them.

In a dark room, the lights had recently been shut off and all the fellow employees went home for the night. In the head office, there were large-wide-frame windows that showed the starry night sky. The light from the sky entered the room onto a single desk in the middle, where a silhouette was continuing to write something on documents. He seemed so quiet, yet it was hard to tell what kind of emotion he was giving off given the light.

The door to the office opened, revealing a young woman around Levy's height, if not a little taller. Despite her height, she had surprisingly large hips. She had narrow blue eyes that were seen through black-framed glasses. Her black hair was brought back behind her head into a neat bud on top, with a thick black bang hanging off to the right side. She sported a blue blouse beneath a long-sleeved professional black suite top with a white collar. The long sleeves had huge white lines trailing all the way down to the white cuffs, where white gloves covered her hands. She had on a black work shirt that hugged her thighs quite well far above the knees, where as her socks stopped the same length below the knees, wearing black dress shoes with heels. She sported a nametag on her left side, spelling out "Marie" between two blue horizontal lines.

"Mr. President, are you ready to go?" she asked. "It's rather late, are you really intending to stay up this long again? You ended up falling asleep on your desk until the sun came up."

Getting a closer proximity, the president of the estate was seeming to have white kempt hair. His face was still covered by shadows, but his posture tightened. "Sorry Marie, is it really pass closing already?" he chuckled. "My, time sure slipped from me again, didn't it?"

Marie sighed at her associate's obliviousness. She's had to remind him constantly, and at this point there was no stopping him. "You should really be more responsible for your own schedule, sir. What if something bad happened to you? No one of us would be able to come to you in time. We worry about you, you know."

The figure smiled. "I know." He moved one of his left fingers on some control panel to the armrest. The entire chair began to move backwards in remote control. It scooted back to where it was far out, and then the whole thing turned and maneuvered around the desk. The chair closed in on the assistant, who stepped forward.

The man in the chair was now closer in view, though the shadows faintly dimmed some to reveal his light fair skin. The man was tall with a courteous smile. He had white eyebrows and short white hair, white as snow even. The hair was kempt and slicked back, save for the thick white bangs that nearly covered his left eye. Be sported a clean white dress shirt and gold tie beneath a black tux and work pants combo, with the tux itself having gold lining on the arms and shoulders. Engraved into the golden layers were deeper golden carvings that flowed into the other like water. The brown dress shoes laid comfortably on the rests that were his electrical wheelchair. On the right middle finger was a black ring, and on the left was a white ring. "I shouldn't have kept you waiting, Marie. I'm ready to go now." He nodded.

"Yes, sir." Marie walked towards and stepped around the electric wheelchair. She latched onto the handles and assisted in pushing him out of his office. She didn't mind pushing him; in fact, she felt privileged. Not a lot of people get to be allowed to push the president of such a growing enterprise, but the two had a history, so that counted for something.

"I have to say though, the stars are twinkling quite brightly tonight." The president chimed. "Just what are the heavens doing you think?"

"Probably that you actually chose to cave in and give it a rest." Marie deadpanned.

The president chuckled. "You really think so?"

With the amusement in the air cut off with the door closing, the two went down the hallway, heading off back home.

A shockwave of pure energy bolted in all directions throughout the rift. The attack was so powerful that even with the Unown far out, the chaotic energy ripped out ahead and blasted them into unknown regions of the domain.

As the shockwaves diminished, Dialga was seen sliding back, as was Palkia. Both Legendary Pokémon were surrounded in their auras as they glared daggers at the perpetrator of their now-distant dispute. Their attention was far away from the other, diverted towards the black creature that was still hardly moving from its place.

"(Grrrrroooaaaah!)" The malevolent feeling grew as the black creature bellowed out. The shrieking of his voice sounded like he was in pain, but one could've mistaken it also for rage.

Dialga glared ahead, his uneasiness rising. "(We'll ask again. Who are you?!)"

The creature unleashed another pained groan out to the void. It brought its massive bizarre arms in front and reached out, generating shimmering energy that materialized into gems. It swiped its arms again, sending all the gems in bright, streaming comets at Dialga. The Temporal Pokémon opened his mouth and generated a filament energy around his mouth again. Swirling light empowered into a sphere that was unleashed in Flash Cannon. The attacks met rather close to Dialga, bellowing massive smoke waves everywhere. Dialga emerged from the dissipating smoke, seemingly unfazed by the whole ordeal.

The black creature released another groan, ready to strike yet again.

"(Can he even understand what I'm saying?)" Dialga questioned. Within his shock, Palkia blitzed in his way skyward.

The Spatial Pokémon diverted the creature's attention. It looked up as Palkia ascertained enough height and dragged and Aura Sphere with him. Once at a peak, he threw the Aura Sphere down at the intruder. The angle it shot down was a sure hit, but as it drew closer, the black creature, stood in front of the fractured wormhole. It nonchalantly brought one of his claws around and slashed in an arch back in its direction, making a shimmering purple trail, via Night Slash. The two attacks met in the beast's face, generating another powerful explosion that expelled smoke and energy everywhere.

Palkia descended next to Dialga, staring coldly ahead. Both Pokémon awaited for the smoke to clear, seeing that the black creature was still not moving from his spot. It reached out again, creating glimmering lights before its path. Realizing it was that same attack as before, both Dialga and Palkia ascended above to avoid the comets of gems shooting like meteors. They blitzed off into the distance, exploding like bright fireworks while the two descended back into place once again.

For the umpteenth time, the black alien scowled loudly.

"(What is this guy? Is he even a Pokémon?)" Dialga questioned.

"(Hard to tell, but he's not human either.)" Palkia rebuffed. "(If it isn't human, and if it isn't Pokémon…then what could it be?)"

"(I'm not sure at all…)" Dialga's glare hardened as he looked at the dimensions the creature had. In some parts, it looked like it sustained some damage throughout their fight. It was dragging on for the longest time now, but for some reason, something felt wrong.

Palkia then leaned forward, his senses going crazy as he glared ahead with uncertainty. What he said next triggered something. "(Can it…even feel pain?)"

The figure's glare went up towards them, showing bare disgust. "(Pain…)"

The two legendary creatures looked surprised.

"(I've always felt pain…without light…always…always…!)" Its body began to shudder incredulously in sheer tension. The convulsing energy it was giving off was refracting off its body like light. The light shimmering from the wormhole was glistening against its back and prism-like body. It was growling low as the energy was starting to glisten like flashing cameras for every particle of light it was giving off. This alarmed the two beasts greatly out of fear.

"(What is he doing now?)" Dialga questioned.

"(No…not enough light…)"

"(There's no time! Let's hurry and force him back into the wormhole!)" Palkia's pearls began to glisten once more as he reeled his forearm back. Slowly, pink particles began to surge into it.

Dialga opened his mouth. "(Agreed!)" The diamond on his chest began to glow bright blue. The same kind of temporl energy began to surge into his backside's membrane once more. It began to surge and expand with a bright blue energy.

Seeing the bright force the two were giving off, the creature's eyes were reflecting their images. "(No…not enough light…no light…)"

Spatial pink energy followed Palkia's arm, as Dialga's maw opened wide with surging dark blue energy roaring into a massive energy.

"(This light…)" the monster's head lifted, revealing hos eyes and forehead now shining rainbow colors. Everything for a moment pulsed with a heartbeat.

Roar of Time was unleashed at the same time Spatial Rend was. The two powerful and deadly attacks went blitzing and ripping through the airspace at an alarming rate towards the monster.

"(IS NOT YOURS~!)"

The creature let out a mighty, bloodcurdling roar that shook everything within the entire area. The atmosphere of the void was deprived of all light, turning pitch-black for a singular instant that the two combined attacks met the exploding light the creature was giving off. It was like an interstellar star erupted. A bright ripple of the combined energies expelled outwards all throughout the Space-Time Rift at lightspeed. The energy waves inside the shockwave had distorted frequencies to it. For some reason, bright specks went everywhere, shooting like a meteor shower in rays of thousands everywhere.

Winds were as hollow as a ghoul. The energy that was emancipating was extreme to unparalleled dimensions on end. The highest of all points in the Sinnoh region, and it was here, at long last, the place abandoned had finally someone visit. This was Spear Pillar, the domain where Nic's ancestor defeated Giratina so long in the dawn of man.

Several pillars were left untouched, and many more were still standing. Far up ahead, within the confines of the free space where there was battle, there was a howling wind. A pair of feet stepped up from the cavernous entrance to the point of little to no oxygen. The energy immediately tickled his spine, but the man kept going on. Now that he was out of the snowstorm, there was a better view of him than before.

He was a man of light fair skin with a serious narrow vision with dark eyes. He had a black goatee and deep sideburns that ran from his black hair that was kept underneath a bulbous with hat with a black cap to it. He had a gray t-shirt tucked into a yellow belt that held up his blue jeans. He also sported some shoes of his own, being white and black, like casuals. He also sported a long, dark brown long-sleeved coat with a foamy white bottom, like waves that went up and down. As bizarre as it also was, he also seemed to carry something in his right hand, and it looked like either a bamboo or some type of wooden kendo stick.

Walking up the small flight of stairs, he glared ahead with a deep frown as he made way closer towards the clearing. He cared not for the way his spine tingled and passed glances from every pillar he came across. Each of them seemed to have emitted a powerful force that was catching his attention bit by bit. He's reached his destination.

Once he made it to the clearing, he stayed still as the winds blew violently, shifting his clothing in the process. The wind was surprisingly far more brutal than before, managing to get through his jeans even. His eyes were hidden under the cap's shadow, but they showed a slight uneasiness.

For some reasons, winds began to distort all over. A distorted vacuum expelling strong winds erupted, causing him to grunt and cover using his arm. He thought he could've held himself together, but the shockwaves from the distortion in front of him were surprisingly strong. Too strong.

Slowly, the distorted wave before him began to shine bright, like some small star. For a moment, his guard was down. "Hm? What the-?!" Just then, the light brightened.

It was a massive point-blank star that expanded at an alarming velocity. The whole top of Spear Pillar was a hemisphere of distorted light that could've been seen all over the Sinnoh region. Distortion waves went all across the skies, rippling and pulsating at speeds that made them lightspeed. Ripple upon ripple expelled everywhere, traveling over stormy skies and making clear skies vibrate waves. Those still awake were looking up to see odd distorted shockwaves flow up their heads, and some looked alarmed. Others were asleep, and even some Pokémon didn't notice. Those engaged in battle were also postponed from looking at the energy waves in the sky.

"What's that?"

"I don't know."

The phenomenon made many monitors in some labs spontaneously go off. Energy levels miraculously spiked to the red zone. Professor Rowan looked at his monitor with wide eyes and an astonished expression. "Hm? What is this…?"

In Veilstone City, the clear sky was rippling unknowingly to Marie as she pushed her boss in his wheelchair down the street. She seemed calm while the head honcho himself suddenly frowned. He looked up, seeing the distressing scene.

Marie tilted her head down. "Is there something wrong?" She turned her attention up towards the sky, where she gasped in wonder about the distorted waves passing through the area. "What is that?"

"I don't know…you think something happened?" he questioned.

"I'm not sure. From the looks of it, it looks like its radius is expansive." She sounded so worried. "Mr. President, we really need to get you get right away!" She hurried her pace down the street, moving at an alarming rate for someone who was in a wheelchair.

The pace startled the boss himself. "You're gonna wear out the circuits if you go at that speed, Marie!" he scolded. "Huh?" He heard something off that rung in his ears. He looked back up towards the sky.

"What now?" Marie looked back up to see what was happening. A small but sharp light flowed through the sky, and it didn't look like it was alone. In fact, it looked like thousands of them were flowing with the currents of the shockwaves.

"Are those…meteors?"

"A meteor shower? I didn't think this was in the news." The president narrowed his eyes again in wonder. "Something's wrong…"

As they were stopped cold by their wits and confusions, one of the meteors in the meteor shower flying over their heads was arching downwards. The shooting spear of light was distorted and zoomed in at a miraculous level towards their backs. Both of them looked back as something sounded like it was flying towards their backs. When Marie and her boss turned around, they gasped before everything went white.

The meteor shower was spreading with the shockwaves all over the world. Not only were some raining down into the land and sea, but some were even starting to vanish in thin air, as if they were fading or vanishing. However, the problem didn't just carry over the planet, something sporadic went wrong elsewhere.

Over Earthland, the sky was rippling the same energy. It was flowing all across the skies, stormy and good. It flowed vibrantly with several shockwaves hardly visible to the eye. If people were awake, they would've felt a few thumps every now and again.

Every so often, a meteor of distorted light would shine down, sending something crashing into the Earthland landscape. The meteors were flowing like rain, droppings so many everywhere and hitting random places.

The shockwaves and meteors shot even over Nic and Erza's house. As the sky had a few whistles towards them, Nic began to stir in Bed. As he woke up facing Erza on his left wide, upper body bare, his body was beginning to feel tingly. He couldn't explain it, but something was getting on his nerves. 'What's going on?' He looked away from his sleeping wide as he looked at the thin curtains shielding them from the outside world. He slowly lifted his head, staring at bleak images that made him narrow in bloody suspicion. 'This energy…'

Within the bright, radiant light that bolted massive energy waves throughout the rift, Dialga and Palkia gave out loud, shrilled cries as they tried to hold out to their own momentum, but even they were starting to get pushed back.

The shockwaves of bright light had eventually subsided, easing slowly with every minute that passed within the zone. The flow eventually faded to nothing, allowing Dialga and Palkia to look ahead at what happened. To their utter disbelief, both the black creature and the wormhole it came from were both gone.

"(What just happened…?)" Dialga questioned.

"(He's…gone. Did he use the explosion to get away?)" Palkia replied.

Both legends looked around to see if there were any visible signs to the creature's disappearance but there was nothing left. It was like it vanished or never existed at all.

They looked at each other, bewildered with what just happened before facing the empty rift once again. "(I feel something went wrong, do you?)" Dialga inquired.

Palkia nodded. "(In more ways than one…)"

They both floated in the rift, their minds and bodies alike completely wayward of what really happened with that monster.

The trees to the forest were shimmering with condensed dew as early morning was beginning to settle into the land. The sun arose as brightly as ever on the new morning of Earthland, and for what it perceived it be a casual morning.

As Nic and his six Pokémon were busy doing pushups with massive piles plate-like boulders on their backs, they were breaking great deals of sweat to build up their stamina and concentration. Nic's eyes were focused on the ground as he was bare-chested for the morning training. It wasn't just the diamond pushups they were doing that made it a lot harder, but for Nic, he was really having trouble concentrating after last night's little disturbance. He shook his head beneath the head and glared at the ground, returning to training hard and pushing the thoughts away for now.

Meanwhile, in the front yard battlefield, two pairs of swords crossed in front of Erza in her Rabbit Armor, blocking a searing blast of fire from her Slurpuff. The Fairy-type was unleashing Flamethrower continuously, but Erza continued to slash into it, trying to force her way through. When she closed in, Slurpuff ceased the attack and jumped, dodging Erza's crossed attack. As Slurpuff hovered over Erza, the Fairy-type showed a sloppy smile, while Erza flashed her own grin as she requipped in her Lightning Empress Armor. She twirled the spear surrounded by lightning skywards. "HRAH!"

In the forest just outside Natsu's home, a pair of bare hands grabbed a tree branch and pulled Natsu's chin right over it. "1…2…3…4…5…6…"

As he counted away at his pullups, Happy cheered on the ground. "You can do it, Natsu! Keep pulling up!"

"11…12…13…14…15…"

"I bet you're feeling the burn buddy! We're gonna work ourselves up one heck of an appetite this morning!"

"19…yeah…no doubt about that…" Natsu answered between each pullup he did. "I can feel…the burn alright…but still…not good enough! Gotta make sure…I don't slag behind…23…24…2-…" He stopped when he rest his chin on the branch again, his eyes wide in curiosity.

"Huh? You okay, pal?" Happy inquired.

"Aw man, I lost the count!" Natsu let go of the branch, dropping to the ground on both feet. He hoisted himself up and brushed his shoulder off. "Aw well, guess I better see about running these damn numbers off! Happy!"

Happy shot into the air with his Aera Magic. "Aye, sir!" The Exceed was seen next with three ropes in hand. He flew around Natsu's waist and tied them up really good to make sure they were fastened. Once complete, Happy backed away and watched Natsu take a running start.

"Okay then, time to get fired up!" He yelled loudly out towards the forest trail that he paved for himself a few months ago. He dashed on with a powerful shout of fortitude. All the hopes carrying four hefty tires were being dragged in the dirt with such vivid force. Natsu went on like they weren't even there.

"Hey, wait up!" Happy chimed, following him.

Natsu kept his run on throughout the morning. As the sun began to rise higher than before, the Dragon Slayer went deeper into the woods with fists higher and sweat pooling down his face. Kilometers passed as he zoomed on. 'I ain't sitting down today, no sir! Today I'm getting my butt in shape again! I can feel it, even from here! Nic and Erza are training extra hard to pick up on their skills today.' He leaned forward. "Well I an't falling behind! I gotta get even stronger!"

His cries of determination shrilled through the trail, making a dirt trail follow in his wake. Not far behind, Happy was following, though he seemed worries Natsu might tire himself out too quickly.

The rambunctious human being hurried through the woods and worked up his sweat further. He was bolting as fast as possible, but upon reaching a certain point, something was off.

"You're doing great pal, keep it up!" Happy shouted.

Natsu's nose wrinkled at some weird smell. His senses turned off as he began to slow down. He slowly turned his head and looked left and right but found nothing. That still didn't mean something was close by. His stop soon came to a close, allowing Happy to catch up.

"Huh? Hey, why'd you stop?" he questioned. "You were doing so great."

"I smell something." He said in a curious tone.

Happy tilted his head in confusion. "You smell what?"

Natsu got a whiff of something in the atmosphere. Something weird was around, but he knew it wasn't anything he was familiar with. Once he locked on, he turned his head sharply towards the underbrush on his right. "This way!" Without thinking, he jumped into the underbrush.

"Hey! Natsu!" Happy dove in after him.

Natsu landed on his feet, making a beeline straight for the source within the mid-March forest. It was still winter, so the air was still rather cold, and trees were in bloom. He passed bark after bark, getting closer towards the smell. "It's gotta be around here…I know it…" He zipped over a large tree branch that had since fallen off years ago. He continued along until he made it to a deciduous bush with buds in it. He stopped cold before it.

"Natsu!" Happy called from behind. "You had me wo-!"

"Shh!" He hushed Happy suddenly. His faced showed sheer seriousness. "Keep your voice down, Happy."

Happy was a little shocked by the abrupt hush, but he got the feeling why. He looked ahead at the area where Natsu was creeping up to. He could see how Natsu was being very careful in how he approached what was ahead.

Once knelt to the bushes, Natsu stayed quiet as Happy floated next to him. The two looked at each other to see the anxiety they carried. Nodding in confirmation, they steeled themselves and Natsu had the honors.

He moved the underbrush slowly, allowing his head to peak out. Once it was out of the way, his eyes widened in curious shock. Happy poked his head above the underbrush, his ears stiffening as he saw something that surprised him as well.

"…what is that?" Natsu muttered. The object he was looking at was very weird, but what freaked him out further was something that would panic anyone: The creature's tail tip had a small flame on its tail.

"Hey guys, did you hear about that meteor shower that happened last night?" Jet asked. He was talking with the rest of the guild about the events transpiring last night while they were asleep.

"Yeah, I heard that there were thousands of them, and it lasted for some time, too." Vijeeter said.

"Well I didn't hear anything about it." Macao commented. "Heck, I'm pretty sure I was asleep the entire time."

"Man, what a bummer." Romeo groaned, rubbing his head in shame. "Would've been nice to see that."

"I don't know. I heard people say they've been seeing it periodically over last night up to this morning." Wakaba said. He turned towards Cana. "Hey Cana, you know anything about this?"

The brunette shrugged with a sober grin. "Don't look at me, I was too drunk to care."

"Surprised you're not in a hangover." Macao and Wakaba voiced in unison.

The guild was up and at it as always. Mirajane was at the bar, cleaning glass with her sister. For the most part, the spectacle left many of mages unfazed. They were still wondering what was going on, but that didn't stop them from making the best of their day still.

Gajeel yawned loudly, having awoken only recently. He rested his head on his elbow. "Man, does everybody have to get so worked up over something they didn't see?" He cared to his own delights as he chomped on scraped iron he's been saving from a job he got back from recently.

"I take it that your own chomping doesn't grate ears either then?" Pantherlily rebuffed.

Levy had her glasses on as she scrolled through a small book calendar. "It sounded like a spectacle. Still, I wish I had seen it. It would've been nice, wouldn't you think?" She looked towards Gajeel for his own opinion. The Iron Dragon Slayer folded his arms and half-grinned at his little lady.

"Guess so…"

"Sophie, did you wake early enough to see one?" Vanessa asked the other blonde.

The Memory-Make Mage smirked with eyes closed. "I'm not that much of an early bird." She looked in another direction. "I'm sure Nic might have something."

Speaking of Nic, the man was looking down at the table he slumped in. He had one leg folded over the other as he sat idly in place, thinking. Beside him was Erza, and the look of worry she had was alarming.

"Nic, is there something wrong?" she asked.

Nic jerked his head up, finally realizing his wife was talking to him. "Sorry…I was a little disoriented. What was the question?"

Erza turned fully to face him, deeply frowning. "You've been acting spacious all morning. Is something the matter?"

Nic wasn't going to keep secrets from his wife. Lies don't make relationships bare fruit. He looked back down at the table, continuing to look worried. "There was something I felt off about last night. I could tell it was something abnormal; my body tingled because of it."

Erza blinked and tilted her head. "Was it a nightmare perhaps."

Nic shook his head. "No, it's like…I can feel something all torn." His eyes narrowed. "I could be wrong…but I think something very disturbing just happened."

Erza looked at her husband with awe and winder. It wasn't like Nic to look so worked up. Normally, he'd cast a calm composition and face problems with the experience he's gained, but when Nic got like this, she knew something big was going on. And in most cases, it was never good news.

He turned towards her, grinning in comfort. "Don't worry. We'll manage, right?"

Erza nodded with her own sincere smile. "Yes." She placed her hand on one of Nic's crossed hands. "We both will."

Gray looked around, once again without a shirt. "Huh? Hey, has anyone seen Natsu? He's late."

"Good question." Lucy looked around the guild hall, hoping to find Natsu present. "Doesn't look like he's here."

"Not even at your apartment, Lucy?" Wendy asked.

As disturbing as the thought was, Lucy was actually surprised the thought didn't happen. "No…"

"Perhaps they overslept, or maybe the boys got all worked up in fishing up some big catch they can't leg go." Carla figured.

"That's a possibility." Wendy pointed out.

Juvia put her hand to her chin. "How very mysterious. You think one of us should go look for him just in case?"

Gray cast a glance aside. "Well if he doesn't show up soon, we oughta."

A pair of feet went running down the street, huffing as it moved closer towards the guild hall.

"First the unexpected meteor shower, and Natsu running late?" Erza looked down at the table. "This must be either a really bad coincidence, or that gut feeling you've been having, Nic."

"We'll just have to see." He voiced.

The guild doors busted open, revealing a certain someone with a big smile on his face. "Hey guys! Guess who's here?!" he shouted loudly with arms up.

"Huh? Hey, there he is. About time you…huh?" Gray was about to go on, but he fell short when he saw something off.

The guild turned towards him, seeing and greeting him as usual. However, some were caught slightly surprised by something else, and it wasn't something Natsu had on his face, or anything on him. Rather, it was something on his person.

Gajeel looked up from his snack. "Huh? Hey, Salamander, the heck you got there?"

Natsu smiled wide. "Oh this? Just a little something I found. And guess what, it has fire!" He lifted his arms higher, showing the creature's flame-lit tail.

Sophie looked up, as did Vanessa. The latter's eyes widened as she got a good look at what Natsu held, it almost made her heart skip a beat. As for Nic, when he looked at Natsu, his own eyes shot wide in horror and disbelief. Both Pularis siblings were completely stuck cold in place as their lips were parted, while everyone else looked at Natsu dumbly.

"Natsu…?"

"Is that…?"

Vanessa and Nic had no words to say. Even though Erza had limited knowledge on Pokémon, even after vast experience, she had a feeling of where this was going. Seeing the shock on Nic's face, she knew what this meant. She looked at Natsu's object with shock equal to everyone. "Don't tell me…"

Natsu showed everyone his friend that he made. The creature looked like a bipedal orange lizard with a yellowish-creamy underside and belly. It had big blue eyes and a mild but playful smile on his face. "Hi!" he chimed.

Natsu's smile was equally as bright. "Ain't it cool?"

Fairy Tail was stumped, but Nic, Vanessa, and Erza were staring ahead like they've seen a ghost. While they realized what happened, everyone else had no idea of what changes were going to come starting that very morning.

My peoples of FanFiction – and whatever else floats your boats I guess – I welcome you to the first chapter that has blown every ounce of shock out of your noggins! Didn't expect any of that to happen, right? I know many were probably looking forward to seeing Nic and Erza far later on in the future with their kids, but I chose this course instead. It's much more interesting, plus a good bridge to what I can say be a massive point where Nic would really have to step up his game for the worlds alike. And now it looks like Nic, Erza, and Vanessa won't be the only ones who'll be having Pokémon now!

With these new OCs, I have been dying to get them out there! It may feel weird at first, but I am hoping for the best for these OCs and how I project them. For the record, I'll be posting their art on Deviantart later down the road, but if you want references so far, the blonde one looks like Kazumi Ida from Magical Warfare, and the guy on Mt. Coronet looks like Trafalgar Law from One Piece if you wanna look at it that way, save for minor tweaks I've made.

So now that The Contender's Ascent has finally taken off, I'll be sure I didn't do what I did with the sequel and power through. This time, I have to critically think with all this original stuff, and that means long chapters to write. Plus, I am working simultaneously on From Depths We Rise, my new Bakugan story, and each are long due to my writing style. Do hope you understand if they take time.

But as of now, I hope for the best, and for those who liked the first chapter and are willing to see Nic and Erza to the end, throw in your favs, follows, and reviews of how you thought this first chapter went! Until then, thanks for welcoming me back! :)