Chapter 36 – Promise

The flight was not as easygoing as any of them had hoped.

As Roaring Moon flew to Temporal Tower with Lexxi, Rickety, Glyph and Pixie all on his back, they’d been getting tailed by a swarm of Iron Moths coming straight after them, shooting bursts of flames and poison stingers at the party, which Roaring Moon had to swiftly twist and turn to dodge, causing the team to have to hold on tighter than ever before.

Roaring Moon angles his head back, opening his maw and firing a burst of Dragon Breath straight at the swarm. Some of the Iron Moths fly out of the way, others take the full brunt of the blast, ceasing to function and falling down into the abyssal waters below.

“Rrrrgh, I won’t be able to take you up to the Rainbow Stoneship, not at this rate, at least.” Roaring Moon says, glancing back at the Pokemon it carried on its back. “The closest I’ll be able to take you is the ancient ruins just outside. It’s too dangerous to lead them all to the Stoneship.”

“As long as you can get us there, it doesn’t matter where you drop us off.” Pixie says, glancing back at the swarm quickly approaching. “It would help if we could pick up the pace at least a little bit though…”

Rickety scrunches his eyes shut, holding on tightly for dear life, his paws grasping onto Roaring Moon’s massive wings with all his might. _{“I think I’m gonna be sick.”} He mutters, his voice drowned out by the rushing wind from the speed they were flying.

Just up ahead, a floating land mass in the sky had appeared on the horizon, along with another tall, looming shape further off in the distance. A tall, looming shape that slowly, ever so steadily appeared to be crumbling.

Pixie’s expression falls at the sight, her feather-antlers drooping as she holds on tighter. _{“Gosh, I hope we’re not too late…”}

Roaring Moon, seeing the first signs of land off in the distance, begins to pick up his pace, his wings flapping harder and propelling him forward much, much faster, narrowly avoiding being struck with a Poison Sting from another one of the Iron Moths that had caught up with them, this one far more relentless than the last, its wings glowing brighter than the others.

“Can’t stop for a minute otherwise they’re gonna catch up!” Roaring Moon shouts back at the party. “I’ll try to get as low to the ground as I possibly can, but you’re going to have to jump!”

“WHAT?!” Lexxi shouts back, eyes going wide. Sure, cats were nimble! But at this speed?!

“You heard me! I’ll count down for you! Brace yourselves!” Roaring Moon shouts, flapping his wings harder and accelerating their speed. “Three… Two… One!” He charges towards the entrance to the ruins, getting just low enough so that the ground was in view.

All four of them jump off at the same time, some taking the landing much better than others. Pixie’s wings manage to carry her smoothly, Glyph lands firmly on the ground, meanwhile, Lexxi and Rickety tumble against the ground for a while, rolling into the walls of the ruins before coming to a full stop.

Roaring Moon course corrects and flies above the ruins, the Iron Moth continuing to follow him, shooting after him. He flies off into the distance, using himself as a distraction for the Iron Moth, the two eventually vanishing from sight, leaving the party completely on their own, left to their own instruments.

“Uuugghh…” Rickety groans, his body dropping to the ground, having rolled onto his head before hitting the wall, letting his body slump, laying there. “Now I feel sick and I hurt all over.” He groans again, slowly picking himself back up off the ground, shaking his head, attention turned to Lexxi.

Who didn’t have as bad of a landing as Rickety did, but was still laying on the ground, dizzy and trying to recover. Rickety helps her back up onto all fours, keeping her steady until she regains her balance. She smiles, leaning up and nuzzling against his cheek in thanks.

“Alright.” Glyph says, readjusting himself. “Is everyone okay?”

“A little sick to my stomach,” Rickety nods his head in response. “But yeah, I’m fine.”

“Same here.” Lexxi responds.

“Do you even have to ask, Glyphy?~” Pixie responds with a quiet giggle.

“Good.” Glyph nods affirmingly, gesturing for the others to follow him into the ruins. “Let’s move.”

---

The Ancient Ruins were truly a magnificent sight to behold. Dozens of ancient murals and hieroglyphs painted onto the walls, most of, if not all of them depicting legendary Pokemon. Lexxi and Rickety couldn’t help but stare in awe as they made their way through the ruins with Glyph and Pixie, taking in the sights.

“These have all been here since long before Temporal Tower had been constructed.” Pixie says smiling back at the two. “I’ve never personally been here myself, but I’ve heard lots about this place!” She says, taking a bit of time to look at the murals herself, eyes landing upon one depicting a mew, eyes closed, bits of sparkles flowing from its hands.

More legendary Pokemon covered the walls the further they went on, one mural depicting a trio of Pokemon. A majestic blue deer with vibrant antlers sprouting from its head, a deep red, ferocious looking bird Pokemon with its wings and tail outstretched, black markings covering its entire body. Looming above them, a black, snake-like Pokemon with shimmering green scales, five pillar-like appendages sprouting from its back.

Another mural, this one depicting the creation of the oceans and the continents, Groudon and Kyogre, in their battle from years long gone… Or years yet to come?

And yet another mural, depicting Dialga and Palkia themselves, the overseers of Space and Time, backs turned against each other, standing atop massive stone pillars amidst a starry night sky.

The final mural at the end of the ruins though, something seemed different.

It was a depiction of the creation of the world, the planet Earth the sole focus as it drifts through space. Looming above the Earth was a Pokemon. But not a legendary Pokemon like all the previous ones had been, though. In fact… It was a Ponyta.

A Ponyta with deep, purple fur, its body covered top to bottom with eyes, a brown horn atop its forehead, a white stripe in the middle, its mane and tail a blend of green and blue. Its hooves outstretched, wrapping around the Earth as if it were hugging the planet itself, gazing down at the Earth with a warm, loving smile.

Lexxi and Rickety stare at it, minds wracked with confusion. The depiction would imply that this was the creator of the world. But that couldn’t be right. Every legend they had ever heard of had all said that Arceus was the creator of the world, the god of Pokemon.

But… That wasn’t Arceus.

“…Pixie?” Lexxi calls over, glancing over to her. “What is this?”

“Hmm?” Pixie hums, turning back to face Rickety and Lexxi, but her face also seeming to grow surprised when she gazes upon the mural. She flutters her wings and moves closer to get a better look herself, eyes staring up at the mural in wonder, in confusion. “I… I’m not sure. In all my years of time travel, never in my life have I ever seen any Pokemon that remotely resembled this one.”

“I-It looks like a Ponyta,” Rickety says, his voice stammering. “Not a usual Ponyta, probably from some other region, but I know enough that Ponytas just… Don’t look like that. N-Not even just the colors, the fact its covered in eyes, I…” He visibly shivers, slowly backing away from the mural. “I feel wrong just looking at it.”

Pixie’s brow furrows, wings fluttering. “I guess it does invoke an… Intimidating feeling. It isn’t usually like me to find something on its own frightening, but it feels so unnatural and goes against everything I’ve learned in my years of time traveling.”

Glyph stares up silently at the mural from behind, his glowing eyes slowly scanning it up and down. He doesn’t bother trying to process it, he simply gazes upon it, taking it in. “…Perhaps we should move on. We shouldn’t stay here any longer if its causing these kinds of feelings in us.”

“Y-Yeah, good idea, Rickety says, turning his gaze away and heading back down the path through the Ancient Ruins. Pixie and Glyph go after him, but Lexxi’s gaze lingers on the mural for a few seconds longer. She stares at the eyes adorning the Ponyta’s body. It was a Ponyta, but it felt more than that.

Otherworldly. Beyond comprehension. There had to be more to this. More to what it meant, more to its implications. It was said that Arceus had created the world, to be the god of Pokemon. But then… Who created Arceus?

…No, Glyph was right. They needed to get a move on. She couldn’t think about stuff like this.

Not when they were so close.

---

Making their way to the exit of the ruins, they all stumble upon a tall staircase, leading up to a temple residing right at the top. From here, they can see the shadow of Temporal Tower looming in the distance, its structure slowly, but surely crumbling under the strain of the collapsing timeline, the attempts to induce a time paradox only accelerating its collapse.

In the floor was the markings of a strange, distinct pattern, painted a shade of blue. In the center of the floor, though, it appeared as though something had been cut out and taken from it, the edges of the hole jagged and uneven.

It seemed to strange, but at the same time… It looked vaguely familiar. Lexxi’s eyebrows furrow, eyes sweeping over the pattern in the ground. “Is it just me, or have we seen this before?” Lexxi ponders aloud, trying to make sense of the strange pattern.

“Hmm…” Pxie furrows, tapping at her chin. “…Oh! Rickety! The fragment Flutter Mane gave you! I think it fits into here!” She exclaims.

Rickety blinks a few times, quickly setting the Wonderbag down and digging through it, Lexxi skittering over to his side and helping him rummage through the bag. Finally, he digs it out, looking over the pattern on its smooth surface, glancing between it and the pattern on the floor. “…It does!”

Rickety gets down on his knees, ready to place the fragment into the floor.

But before he gets the chance, the group is ambushed when a powerful Shadow Ball strikes the platform, knocking them away and sending them falling down the other flight of stairs. It knocks them down to another platform, the four of them groaning in pain, confused, hurt, trying to pick themselves up. Just as the side of the platform, a Dimensional Hole was open, the space around it distorting ever so slightly.

“That’s as far as you go.” A deep voice comes from atop the staircase, a single eye glaring down at them with clenched hands, an all to familiar ghost Pokemon floating at the top of the steps. Dusknoir. “I refuse to let you interfere with my plans any further.”

“Dusknoir?!” Lexxi exclaims, grunting as she struggles to get back up on all fours. Rickety, by her side, growls angrily at him as he picks himself back up off the ground, hands clenched into fists, still holding onto the stone fragment.

“That… That can’t be!” Pixie dusts herself off, frowning as she stares at him atop the steps. “How did you get here?! This place isn’t supposed to be accessible without Roaring Moon’s help!”

“You’re forgetting something.” Dusknoir chuckles menacingly, slowly making his descent down the flight of stairs. “Harvesting the power of the Time Gears granted me the power to go to anywhere, at any time.” He smirks at them. “And that includes right here. I knew you’d be coming, did you really think I hadn’t done my research?”

Glyph scoffs, picking himself back up, arms detaching, leaves spinning around quickly. “So, you did your homework. I can’t help but notice you’re completely alone this time.” Glyph smirks faintly, still a bit injured, but able to stand. “Low on forces? And where’s your guard dog? I thought they’d be here for an occasion like this.”

Dusknoir sneers at them. “I don’t know where that clown has gone off to. After you all fled back to your time, they started acting strangely, ignoring me when they had no history of doing so! But I don’t need them, not here and certainly not now.” The mouth on Dusknoir’s stomach opens up, energy churning wildly from within. “I will take you back to the future and deal with you all myself!”

Before the party has any time to react, a fierce, violent blast of shadow energy blasts from Dusknoir’s stomach, sending them all careening back into the Dimensional Hole, desperately trying to get their footing and find a way out.

But time slow down. Further… Further…

…

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“!flesym lla uoy htiw laed dna erutuf eht ot kcab uoy ekat lliw I” .nihtiw morf yldliw gninruhc ygrene ,pu snepo hcamots s’rionksuD no htuom ehT “.won ton ylniatrec dna ereh ton ,meht deen t’nod I tuB !os gniod fo yrotsih on dah yeht nehw em gnirongi ,ylegnarts gnitca detrats yeht ,emit ruoy ot kcab delf lla uoy retfA .ot ffo enog sah nwolc taht erehw wonk t’nod I” .meht ta sreens rionksuD

Rickety gasps, eyes widening, eyes darting around.

Dusknoir sneers at them. “I don’t know where that clown has gone off to. After you all fled back to your time, they started acting strangely, ignoring me when they had no history of doing so!”

Rickety’s eyes dart back to Lexxi, Glyph and Pixie, still standing back up. He’s still not sure why these powers seem to activate, why they happen outside of his control, but he needs to take advantage of this. He whispers to them all. “He’s gonna try launching a surprise attack on us. When I say go, we deflect it right back at him, okay?”

The three, while a touch confused, all nod understandingly, turning their attention back to Dusknoir.

But I don’t need them, not here and certainly not now.” The mouth on Dusknoir’s stomach opens up, energy churning wildly from within. “I will take you back to the future and deal with you all myself!” He blasts a burst of shadow energy out at the team-

“NOW!”

And Pixie, Lexxi, Rickety and Glyph all strike that energy at the same time, sending it straight back at Dusknoir, who clearly wasn’t expecting this, causing him to crash back against the stairs, letting out a loud cry of pain as he then proceeds to roll and tumble down the stairs, the group moving out of the way, as he lays there, breathing, but not able to move much. _{“Gwooooohhhh…”}

“And stay down.” Glyph huffs, glaring down at Dusknoir, glancing over to Pixie. “You okay?”

“Never better.~” Pixie smiles, nodding in response. “That felt soooooooooooooo satisfying, I’ve been waiting forever to do that!”

Glyph chuckles, his attention turning back to Lexxi and Rickety. “You two. Carry the fragment back to the top of the temple and activate the Rainbow Stoneship. Pixie and I will keep watch over Dusknoir so he doesn’t try any funny business.”

“Got it!” Rickety and Lexxi nod understandingly, both of them rushing back up the steps to the top of the temple.

“Urrrgghh…” Dusknoir groans, lifting his face up from the ground, just barely, glaring at Pixie and Glyph. “Why… Why must you do this? Such a perfect future, just within reach… And yet you try to deny its existence?”

“Your perfect future doesn’t exist, Dusknoir.” Glyph sneers down at him, still in an offensive stance. “The carelessness of your actions has caused reality to collapse in on itself. The timeline can’t comprehend the weight of what you’re trying to do. A change that big, on such a drastic level, it can’t happen!”

“It CAN be done!” Dusknoir shouts back, groaning as his hands scratch against the floor. “The Global Reconstruction Project was a failure of humanity! For such small portions of the world to be recovered and advanced to such a state is unforgivable! With this, the whole world can be of the same level as The Veil! Everything will be the way it was supposed to be!”

“Do you even hear what you’re saying?!” Pixie shouts back, scowling down at Dusknoir. “Do you really believe that’s what’ll happen?! Maybe in an ideal world where everything would work out, it would! But what you’re doing is destroying the world! Not recreating it! “

Dusknoir’s eye narrows at them. “No… You’re bluffing, trying to throw me off course! Trying to deter me!”

Just off to the side, a light begins to come from the stairway, growing a bright, vibrant blue, the ground faintly rumbling and tremoring.

Glyph looks off to the side, smiling a bit, seeing the Rainbow Stoneship seeming to have been activated. Finally, almost there, just a bit longer until this all comes to an end. He glances back at Dusknoir, frowning. “We’re trying to stop you, plain and simple. You can try all you want, but you’re fighting a losing battle.”

“No… NO!” Dusknoir shouts, quickly getting back up and swiping at Pixie and Glyph violently, sending them both careening back, Glyph’s arms clattering down to the ground, before quickly trying to re-magnetize themselves to his body. “I refuse to be defeated! I refuse to let my trainer down!”

Dusknoir attempts to charge at Glyph with all his power, but Pixie throws herself in front of him, channeling all of her power that she could to bolster her strength against Dusknoir, keeping him from going further. “I won’t- Grrgghh, let you touch my Glyphy!”

“Get out of the way! This instant!” Dusknoir shouts, groaning as he tries to push back against Pixie, but her force, despite being as small as she is, is just overpowering enough to where he’s getting pushed back, and back towards the Dimensional Hole.

Glyph, quickly recovering, rushes to help Pixie, grabbing Dusknoir and pushing him further and further back, a powerstruggle that seemed to be working in Glyph and Pixie’s favor, at the very least, but Dusknoir was still pushing back against them.

Rickety and Lexxi rush back, eager to tell Pixie and Glyph that the Rainbow Stoneship was ready, but their eyes widen upon seeing the three engaged in a struggle, slowly pushing Dusknoir back into the Dimensional Hole.

“Glyph?! Pixie?!” Lexxi exclaims, Rickety at her side as she rushes over to them.

“T-There’s no time to explain! You two need to go!” Glyph shouts back, grabbing something from his side, tossing it to the floor. The Time Gears he had collected all tumble out on the floor, sliding over to Rickety and Lexxi.

Rickety stares down at the Time Gears, quickly picking them up, but staring worryingly at Pixie and Glyph. “W-We’re supposed to do this ourselves?! But-“

“You two are strong enough! We know you’ve got this!” Pixie gives a strained Smile as she keeps pushing back against Dusknoir. “You know what to do! We’ll see you after this is all over!”

“T-This won’t… Be… GRAAAAAAHHHH!” Dusknoir screams out as Pixie and Glyph finally push him back into the Dimensional Hole, falling into it with him. And just like that, the Dimensional Hole vanishes, leaving Lexxi and Rickety on their own.

The two sit together, still taking everything in. The area around them had fallen silent once again, save for the faint humming of the Rainbow Stoneship. They both stare at the Time Gears in Rickety’s hands.

“…Time to go, huh?” Rickety asks softly, glancing back at Lexxi a bit.

“Yeah.” She nods in response, her voice quiet, beginning to put the Time Gears back inside the Wonderbag.

Quietly, the two make their way back up the stairway. The pattern on the floor is glowing brightly, vibrating, getting ready to take off.

The two stare ahead, getting into their places on the Sonteship as it slowly begins to lift off the ground, rumbling, the area around them quaking.

They know what they have to do.

As they begin to make their way to Temporal Tower, inching every so closer, the area around them seems to distort.

Everything grows dark.

They can’t even move.

Everything gives way to darkness.

…

But they hear a voice.

A single voice coming through the darkness. Like multiple voices speaking at once.