Although the world was consumed by darkness…

It existed as light.

A ball of light, radiating with warm, sparkling energy.

Swirling patterns flowed through it as it hovered, adrift on celestial seas.

A pair of hooves gently wrap around the world of light, cradling it carefully, as though if they made one strong move, they would harm this ball that was once a thriving world.

The hooves hold the world gently in their embrace, hugging it against the body it belonged to.

The being gazes down at the world, smiling lovingly at it.

Normally, it would allow itself to be adorned in its hundreds of eyes.

But not this time. This was important.

As the being’s horn begins to glow with magic, two large wings sprout from its sides, outstretching, as the world begins to glow brighter, brighter.

It whispers gently, soothingly, a loving tone in its voice as it cradles the world in its arms, holding the world close to them.

“Close your eyes, Precious One…”

“And you will see your life has only just begun…”

---

…

Ocean.

H-He can hear the sounds of the ocean.

Chatot’s eyes slowly peek open, still hanging onto the guildmaster for dear life as his eyes dart around the now ruined quarters of the guildmaster’s room. “…We’re alive.” He says, letting go of the guildmaster and trying to gather his bearings. “We’re alive?!”

Wigglytuff’s eyes slowly look around the room, peeking out the window. There was the ocean, but something was… Different outside. The sky was a different shade of color, a blend of blue, green and orange that stretched across the horizon. The ocean was still there, yes, but it seemed that far off in the distance, a new landmass had appeared. It was green, but the green looked rather faded, in an odd way…

The guildmaster glances back at his room, which was in shambles, all of his belongings strewn about the place. “Aww… This is gonna take forever to clean…” He says with a sigh, expression fallilng.

“Of course you’d-” Chatot shakes his head, clearing his throat. “Errmm… Guildmaster, about that moment, when we thought we were going to die. Was that-“

“Of course that was genuine!” Wigglytuff perks back up, wrapping an arm around Chatot and pulling him close, the bird squawking in surprise. “You don’t think I would’ve smooched ya if I didn’t meant it, hmm?~”

“W-Well! I- Uhhmmm-!” Chatot’s cheeks blush a deep red, visibly obvious on his dark colored face. “….I suppose not! But if you would be willing to explore t-this relationship further, guildmaster…”

“Why wouldn’t we?~” Wigglytuff giggles, nuzzling Chatot’s head, eliciting more embarrassed, flustered squawking noises. “We’ve already explored the world, but we can explore ourselves a lot more!”

_{“You could’ve phrased that so much better, guildmaster…”} Chatot tries to recompose himself, glancing back at the open door that had been torn off its hinges. He could hear the chattering of the guild members outside, gesturing for the guildmaster to follow him back out.

“GUILDMASTER! CHATOT!” Loudred shouts, making the guild rumble, a few stray rocks falling down. With everything that happened, the guild was lucky to still be standing. “…WHAT happened?”

Everyone was gathered around on the lower floor, some holding each other and comforting each other, some still processing everything that had happened, some still trying to get their emotions out. Sunflora held on tightly to Bungie, who was still crying and blubbering incomprehensively, Xero tending to Zorora, who seemed to have a fresh new scar on her head.

“We dunno!” Wigglytuff exclaims, still smiling. “But we’re lucky to be alive, aren’t we?”

“Hey hey! We appreciate the enthusiasm, Guildmaster,” Corphish speaks up, expression a bit nervous. “But… Should we be figuring out what just happened? I surely thought we were dead! Didn’t we just live through time collapsing? Why are we still here?”

“We… Aren’t exactly sure, to be honest.” Chatot says, scratching at his head with his feathers. “We’re just as confused as the rest of you are. By all accounts, we shouldn’t be here right now, especially after what just happened. I should consider it a blessing, but something still feels awfully strange about all this…”

“D-Do you- Ghhh!” Bungie stammers through choked sobs, peeking his head out from behind Sunflora, who was still comforting him. “D-Do you think… L-Lexxi and Rickety are okay…?”

Chatot’s eyebrows furrow a bit as he briefly glances at the guildmaster, before returning back to Bungie. “We’re not sure. We can only hope they’re fine, but-“

“P-Pokemon detected!” Diglett’s voice calls out from the sentry post, shocked and surprised. “Pokemon detected!”

“WHOSE… Oh, forget the formalities, WHO IS IT?!” Loudred shouts, running over to the entrance to the sentry post.

“…I-It’s Jigglypuff, I think! It looks like Jigglypuff’s footprint! But it’s got paws! B-But Jigglypuff don’t have paws!”

_{“Why there loud voice coming from hole?!”} A voice shouts from the sentry posts, rather loud. _{“Scream Tail not see Pokemon with that voice! Is voice hole itself?!”}

“…The footprint belong to Scream Tail! Apparently! W-Whatever a Scream Tail is!”

“Hmm… LET ‘EM IN! LET’S SEE WHAT THEY’RE ABOUT!”

The entrance to the guild opens, and a peculiar looking Pokemon floats down the ladder. It does look like a Jigglypuff, but with a wild haircut. “What happening?!” The Pokemon, Scream Tail, shouts, her voice matching Loudred’s, maybe even louder. “World go breaky and cracky! Scream Tail get eaten by dark! Scream Tail wake up in front of strange, friend shape tent! And-!”

Scream Tail’s eyes land on Wigglytuff, tilting her head confusedly as the guildmaster stares back at her, perplexed, wide-eyed. “…Why is other Scream Tail so long and tall?” The Pokemon asks, hopping up to Wigglytuff. “And what other Scream Tail do to hair?!” She exclaims, staring in shock at the little, curled tuft on Wigglytuff’s head. “Long hair perfect! Why shorten it?!”

“I… Was born with this hair! It was never long!” Wigglytuff says, shaking his head. “You feel very familiar, though!”

Chatot’s eyes glance between the guildmaster and this strange, bizarre new Pokemon. Scream Tail.. “It could just be me seeing double,” Chatot says. “But the two of you both have the same energy… Identical, even.”

“Same energy, Chatot?” Wilggytuff tilts his head, turning back to Scream Tail, who had also tilted her head in response. “Hmmmmmm….” His eyes light up an idea coming to mind. He slowly spreads his arms apart. “Yooooooooooooooooooooooooom…”

Scream Tail, her own eyes widening, smiles happily as she too begins to do the same. “Yooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom…”

CLAP!

“TAH!”

_{“Oh dear lord, there’s two of them now.”} Chatot shudders at the thought. He could barely handle one guildmaster! Now he was expected to handle two? He shakes his head, quietly groaning to himself. “Erm… How did you say you got here, Scream Tail?”

“Oh!” Scream Tail turns her head back to Chatot. “Scream Tail said she wound up here after world go crack! Scream Tail saw big city in distance, but decided to investigate long Scream Tail tent first!”

“Big city?!” Chatot exclaims, his eyes wide as he turns to the Guildmaster, then back to the rest of the guild. “…You all stay here and make sure you’re all okay. We’re going up to check things out.”

---

What a strange sight.

The sky, a myriad of colors, the stars visible through all of them. Off in the distance, beyond where the beach normally lay, a massive, sprawling city stood out far in the distance. Chatot and Wigglytuff stare, Chatot shocked, but the guildmaster, and Scream Tail by extension, were both still smiling.

“What in blazes is going on here?!” Chatot exclaims, wings pressed against his head. “Did.. Did something happen when the timeline collapsed?! Where did all this come from?!”

“Yoooooooooooooooou’d be surprised!” A voice, not too unfamiliar to Chatot, but most definitely familiar to Wigglytuff and especially Scream Tail. Coming up from the path was Pixie! Her wings flutter as she flies up, smiling sheepishly she flies in front of the three. “What a view, huh?”

“PIXIE!” Scream Tail shouts, hopping on over in front of her. “Scream Tail happy to see you okay!”

“And I’m really happy to see you’re alright too, Scream Tail.” She smiles and nods, her gaze drifting back up towards Chatot and Wigglytuff. “As I am to see you okay too, Chatot, Guildmaster.”

“Hiya, Pixie!” Wigglytuff waves his little hands in greeting with Pixie, bowing his head in response.

“Ah, you… I think I saw you back at Brine Cave, yes.” Chatot ruffles his feathers a bit. “Would you happen to know what’s going on?”

“Time has apparently converged from all possible angles.” Another voice, Glyph, walks up the steps behind Pixie. And behind him, Dusknoir, though he seems to be rather ashamed, not wanting to look the rest of them in the eyes.

Wigglytuff and Chatot stare at Dusknoir worryingly for a moment, to which Glyph smirks a little. “Don’t worry about him. He’s planning on paying his due.”

“I… See.” Chatot clears his throat, turning his attention back to Pixie. “What do you mean, time has converged?”

Pixie taps her chin curiously. “From what we’ve seen… It seems as though the past, present and future have all been connected together. It hasn’t seem to have happened seamlessly, there’s still some strange oddities, but all three of the major time periods seem to have blended into one large time period.”

“The lay of the land seems to have been changed, and while things aren’t exactly the same, it seems as though everything has been kept mostly intact.” Glyph says, glancing back over towards the city. “Never thought I’d see The Veil within eyesight of Wigglytuff’s guild…”

Chatot eyes Glyph curiously. “So, if Scream Tail woke up in front of the guild, where did you all wake up?”

“Treeshroud Forest, when I first came back to the past. Or present, I guess would be more accurate.” Glyph responds. “We’re not sure what the connection it, but it seems like some of us have woken up in peculiar places significant to us.”

“…Which means that if Lexxi and Rickety are still okay,” Pixie says, her expression perking back up.

---

…

The Skitty and Riolu lay on the beach, their arms still holding each other, slowly breathing, unconscious.

The water rushes up against their bodies, slowly stirring them awake.

“Mmnuuugghh…” Lexxi groans quietly, her eyes peeking open, seeing Rickety’s face right up next to her. She gasps, having not expected to see such a sight right away. Or… Any sight at all. Her eyes dart around the surrounding area, immediately recognizing the beach. For the first time since she’d woken up as a Pokemon, the Krabby were blowing their bubbles, floating across the horizon, the new colors of the sky reflecting off the ocean.

“Rickety!” She places a paw on his shoulder, shaking him. “Rickety! Hey, Rickety! Wake up!”

“Wuughh…” Rickety groans, his eyes cracking open a bit, staring up at Lexxi. “Lexxi…?” He mumbles, blinking a few times, before his eyes suddenly go wide in realization. The Riolu quickly sits back up, looking around the beach, looking out into the ocean. “We’re… We’re okay.” He says plainly, dumbfounded.

“Are we in some kind of… Purgatory, or something?” Lexxi wonders aloud, sitting closer to Rickety. “It feels real, though. But… How? We saw it happen. The timeline collapsed, Temporal Tower was destroyed. Did that just… Not happen? What’s going on?”

“TEMPORAL TOWER IS INDEED GONE.” A familiar voice rumbles across the beach, Rickety and Lexxi turning around to see Dialga-

In a brand new body… This one a much darker shade of blue, much bulkier in the front, the gem in his chest much higher, and a deeper, more etheral shade of blue, and seemed to stretch out to two other gems that spread out from his chest. His legs- And the rest of his body for that matter, now lacked the armor Dialga had before, but they were much bulkier, his hindlegs much skinnier.

He wore some sort of belt around his waist now, four divots stretching out, resembling the hands of clocks. “BUT TIME SEEMS TO HAVE BEGUN TO FLOW LIKE IT USED TO. THE TIMELINE IS NOT ONLY MORE STABLE THAN IT WAS BEFORE THE DESTRUCTION OF TEMPORAL TOWER, BUT NOW, IT SEEMS TO BE EVEN STRONGER THAN IT EVER WAS BEFORE. I HIGHLY DOUBT TIME WILL COLLAPSE FURTHER.”

“So… We did it? Or- We did it but we had nothing to do with it?” Rickety tilts his head, confused.

“What happened?” Lexxi arches an eyebrow. “We… We saw you die. We watched you fade away right in front of us. And… What’s with your body?”

“I AM NOT SURE.” Dialga responds, looking down at himself. “WHEN I CAME TO, I WAS ALREADY IN THIS FORM. WHAT IS ODD, IS THAT THIS IS NOT MY FIRST TIME IN THIS FORM… I HAD DONNED THIS FORM MANY, MANY EONS AGO, WHEN ARCEUS HAD MADE US IN HIS IMAGE. I THOUGHT I LOST THE ABILITY TO CHANGE INTO IT DURING THE YEARS. BUT NOW…”

“You make it seem like some kind of miracle.” Rickety says, his eyes curiously looking over Dialga’s new body. “Do you have any idea how this could’ve happened? If the timeline collapsed, then how are we still here?”

“IT WAS NO MIRACLE, OF THAT, I AM MOST CERTAIN.” DIALGA SHAKES HIS HEAD. “IT SEEMS AS THOUGH THIS NEW TIMELINE HAS BEEN… CONSTRUCTED. PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE HAVE ALL BECOME ONE. SUCH AN EVEN SHOULD BE HIGHLY, INCREDIBLY UNLIKELY, OR FLAT OUT IMPOSSIBLE. EVEN I, WITH THE POWER I POSSESS, COULD NOT POSSIBLY HOPE TO PERFORM SUCH AN ACTION.”

Dialga looks out to the beach. “A BEING HIGHER THAN MYSELF… PERHAPS EVEN HIGHER THAN ARCEUS, MY CREATOR, THAT’S BEING’S POWER… COULD HAVE DONE IT.”

“A being higher than Arceus…” Lexxi thinks to herself. She turns to Rickety, curious. “You don’t think that Ponyta we saw…”

Rickety’s brows furrow, looking down at his necklace, still wrapped safely around his neck. “…All it does it bring up more questions than answers.” Rickety rubs at his head. “So… What do we do now?”

Lexxi glances over at the path to the beach, seeing a few familiar faces coming their way, namely Glyph and Pixie. She smiles softly, turning back to Rickety. “We live. We find those answers for ourselves, no matter how hard it is to find them.” She places a paw on his cheek. “And we do it together.”

Rickety chuckles softly. “Together, yeah…” He leans into her paw, sighing happily. “…I don’t know what happened, but it’s so wonderful to be alive… Especially if it means getting to spend even more time with you.”

“Mmmhm.” Lexxi helps Rickety back onto his feet, the two beginning to run over towards Glyph and Pixie. “Together, through everything.”

“Even through the end of time itself.”