Chapter 65: Caught Up in the Particulars

The Butterfree Effect.

On paper, it’s a logical fallacy. The idea that a tiny change in the past could create a giant ripple effect that unravels the future. The mathematicians who created the theory didn’t account for legendary pokémon.

I’ve gathered all the material I can think of surrounding our legends and myths. The Butterfree Effect assumes that Dialga and Celebi are not keeping a constant watch on time. When a ripple appears, they can patch it. Thus, a flawed theory.

But what if we applied that argument to space. Legendary pokémon can display tremendous power, sure, but can such immense might spread across space itself? I’m not sure.

I think it’s reasonable to believe that there’s a limit. Consider this: a ripple at one point in space beyond our legends’ control — perhaps another world entirely — grows to such a degree that, by the time it reaches our world, space is unravelling. And since space and time are so intricately connected, time begins to break down as well. But because the ripple originated somewhere beyond the legends’ control, they cannot fix it.

Yes, I like this theory. It could explain several things. Like why I’ve seen him and his togekiss in archival photos of Jubilife Village when it should be impossible for him to be in two places in time at once. Or the dreams where I’m not a researcher, but some high-level pokémon trainer who researches myths on the side as a hobby.

It could even explain the artifact I found in the forest outside of my lab the other day. A crystal sphere with a golden wheel, like the broken symbols scattered around the Spear Pillar. It feels almost otherworldly. Lucario is transfixed by it whenever she sees it.

I stumbled across something big. With this theory and this artifact, the Space Globe, I can finally solve all these mysteries. Unravel every myth and legend.

The results of my research will offer humans and pokémon infinite possibilities.

“Aaaaaaand that about sums it up.”

Nikki leaned back in her chair and put her feet up on the table. Noctum frowned at her, too far to force her to put her feet back on the floor where they belonged. Fortunately, Igneous had it taken care of. The grovlazzle elbowed Nikki’s feet.

“C’mon, we’re in public,” he said.

“Tch. Fine.” The toxtricity slouched over, resting her right arm on the table and laying her head in her right hand. She glanced at the others, Noctum in particular. “Okay. You look like you have questions. Shoot.”

“Yuna told you she’s Chiron?” The black charizard tapped his index claws together.

“Yep.”

“And that Chiron is— or was Bahamut’s wife?”

“Yep.”

“This can’t be right! The Aeon Himself… had a family?”

Noctum’s tail flame sparked. He looked over his shoulder to find Yiazmat floating behind him, ectoplasmic tail rippling. “I don’t understand,” she whispered. “The scriptures mentioned nothing about Bahamut having a family.”

“They probably also didn’t mention him blowing up other civilizations, either,” Nikki said, lazily twirling her left index finger around. Scarlett frowned at her. “What? I thought Princess had already dropped that truth bomb on her mom.”

“Your Highness.” Noctum got to his feet and offered an arm in support. “It’s as much of a surprise to me, too, but—”

Yiazmat turned away. “I’m sorry.” She took a shaky breath. “I need some time to myself. To think.” She zipped away before Noctum could say anything else.

Dejected, the black charizard sank back into his seat and put his head in his hands. What was he supposed to do about this? Yuna was practically family, yet he couldn’t think of anything to do to support her. Or Yiazmat, for that matter.

He tensed from a cold, scaly arm on his back. Noctum glanced at Valkyrie.

“It’s out of your control,” the garchomp said. “Not worth letting it eat at you.”

Noctum looked at the floor. That… sounded like advice, but Noctum wasn’t sure what he could do with it.

Igneous cleared his throat. “So, what was the point of Gene’s training, anyway?”

“Oh, that?” Still resting her head against her right hand, Nikki tapped her left index finger and thumb together, generating a few sparks. “Boss Kitty had me work on Nuzzle.”

That was enough to get Noctum to look up. He mouthed the attack name.

“What’d he have you learning that baby attack for?” Kyoko wondered, mimicking Nikki resting her head on an arm she lay on the table.

“Not learning. Improving.” Nikki pushed herself up, hopped out of her seat and walked over to a nearby metal pillar. “Check it.”

Noctum wondered if she was about to hug the pillar when the toxtricity hopped into the air. Yellow electricity crackled around her feet. Nikki swung her legs up. The lightning tickled the metal pillar and, within seconds, Nikki had landed on it like it was the new floor.

“Tada!” Nikki held her arms out, then flipped a couple of birds toward the ceiling. “Gravity can kiss my ass!”

“… what.” Igneous stared blankly at Nikki.

“That— I don’t think that’s how gravity works,” Noctum muttered. But the black charizard decided it wasn’t worth harping on it any further. “Congratulations, I guess?”

“Thanks, Zardy!” Nikki hopped off the pillar and strode confidently back to her seat. “I bet this’ll come in handy for the next place we visit.”

Noctum wasn’t convinced, but kept that thought to himself. Instead, he asked, “So, are you going to apologize to Yuna?”

The toxtricity froze in the middle of sitting down. Her mane shrank a bit. “Ah. Er…” She glanced at the others, who were still staring at her. “I thought I already did?”

“Seriously?” Igneous shook his head in disbelief. “Sounds to me like you brushed her worries off as nothing.”

“Whaaat?” Nikki sat down, holding her hands up innocently. “No way! Boss Kitty stepped in and explained it. It makes sense and stuff.” She scratched one of her horns. “There wasn’t really much for me to add. Of course she’d be scared.”

The grovlazzle frowned. “And you told her that?”

Nikki’s mohawk shrank again. The silence told Noctum the answer.

“Hello. Guzzie hopes he is not interrupting. Your food is ready.”

Noctum looked up to see the large guzzlord looming over them with a food tray in each hand. Guzzie passed out their respective meals, ending with Noctum’s burger. It had a pretzel bun styled to look like an eevee with its pointy ears and tails. He thought it cute, but it also stirred something deep inside him. Charizard predator instincts, perhaps?

“Oh. Guzzie did not realize another friend had come.” The guzzlord stomped over behind Nikki. “Can Guzzie get you something?”

“You got chili fries?” the toxtricity said.

“Guzzie can make chili fries.”

Nikki snapped her fingers. “Swell. Let’s go with that.”

Guzzie nodded and stomped away, leaving Noctum to take a big enough bite of his burger to remove the entire eevee face that had been grilled into the bun.

“So, Nikki, you going to say the right thing to Yuna?” Igneous pointed a forkful of lettuce at her.

“I, uh—” Nikki looked down guiltily. “Look, Twiggy, I ain’t the best with touchy-feely stuff, but when I said ‘it doesn’t matter,’ I meant it.”

Noctum swallowed his large bite of food, then took another, protracted bite as if that somehow illustrated his displeasure at Nikki’s attitude. She must have caught on, because she flinched and looked away with him.

“It’s just… I don’t care if she was Chiron. Or is Chiron.” Nikki waved her left arm around. “She’s always been Yuna to me. She’ll stay Yuna to me.”

The toxtricity smacked her hand on the table. “The way I see it, if I don’t give the Chiron part of her the time of day, it won’t take control. What’s so bad about that?” She looked around at the others. “C’mon, I can’t be the only one who’d rather keep Princess than lose her to some stuffy moon bat.”

At that, everyone’s gazes rolled to Noctum, who was still chewing. He hastily swallowed, grunting. Nikki did have a point. Sort of.

“Of course I don’t want to lose Yuna. She’s family.”

But what right do we have to try and stop Chiron reawakening? he wondered, though he couldn’t bring himself to say that out loud. Still, Noctum knew Yuna wouldn’t drop this subject. She’d try to figure out the why behind all of this no matter what anyone told her.

“See?” Nikki sat back in her seat. “C’mon. Maybe I botched the execution, but my heart was in the right place.”

“Then what about me?”

Nikki sat up straight, trying to avoid making eye contact with Scarlett. Igneous glanced nervously at the dragonair. “Um, are you okay?” he whispered.

“I’m fine.” Scarlett held her head up. “I just want to know if you’re still mad at me, Nikki.” Her neck bauble flickered. “I may not be, y’know, running into the fire like you, but I think I deserve to know if you’re going to hold a grudge or not. Because I know you like your grudges.”

Silence. They were practically locked in a staring contest, expressions unreadable. Noctum didn’t like the tense silence. He leaned over and tried to sip the last of his water, but there was so much ice his straw made a loud schluuuurp and everyone’s eyes fell on him.

“Sorry,” the black charizard mumbled, sliding his snout off the straw with a sheepish grin on his face.

“Dork.” Valkyrie elbowed his belly, but his armor protected him.

Finally, Nikki sighed and slouched over a bit. “No, I’m not mad anymore. Simmered down or whatever.” The toxtricity shrugged. “You told me your reasons. I don’t agree with them, but staying pissed at you doesn’t fix anything.” Nikki squeezed the lapels of her leather jacket. “And I want to fix it. You’re my sis and stuff.”

Noctum gulped. There was a “but” coming.

“It’s gonna take time.” Nikki’s mohawk dimmed. “The lying… it hurt. Not the kinda hurt that we laughed at in Blightsmuth. This one’s deep. I gotta… feel like I can trust you again.”

She pivoted away from the others. “Maybe that’s not what you want to hear, but it’s the best I’ve got.”

Scarlett’s wings drooped. Igneous was about to put his hand on the dragonair’s back, but stopped. Perhaps the grovlazzle caught the same determined glint in her eyes Noctum did?

“I understand.” Scarlett bobbed her head. “I appreciate you being honest with me. Hopefully, I can return the favor soon enough.”

“Yeah.” Nikki’s mohawk rippled faster.

Silence fell over the group, until Nikki abruptly swiveled back around on her seat. “All right, no more touchy-feely sentimental silence.” She smacked her right arm down on the table. “I dished on the anomaly stuff. What happened in Casaroja?”

Noctum recalled the pizza truck onslaught… and all the midair spinning that went with it. The black charizard’s tail flame dimmed. “I think I’m full.” He pushed his plate toward the middle of the table.

“No fooling?” Nikki eyed the last third of his burger and fries.

“Take it,” Noctum said. He rolled his eyes while the toxtricity dragged his plate in front of her.

“Seriously? Smiley face fries?” Nikki dangled one in front of her face. It resembled a pikachu head. “I thought this place catered to adults.”

A scaly arm between Noctum’s shoulder blades made him sit up straight. “Our resident dweeb asked for them.” Valkyrie laughed. “Apparently, the big guzzlord keeps them around for his son.”

Noctum pouted. “Smiley faces make me happy.”

Nikki looked at the pikafry and ate it in a single bite. “Ah, c’mon, Zardy. No need to be ashamed. It’s okay to want to feel like a big apex predator from time to time.”

Noctum’s cheeks burned. He curled his claws around the edge of his seat. “So! How about that big train chase in Casaroja, huh?” he practically shouted. A few tables looked over in his direction. Valkyrie and Igneous shot them dirty looks and they returned their attentions to their own food.

“You chased after a train?” Nikki ate another fry in a single bite. “How?”

“In a pizza truck,” Valkyrie replied. The toxtricity stared blankly at her. Noctum watched the realization slowly set in.

“And they didn’t even make you a pizza after?” Nikki shook her head. “Raw deal.”

“It was Cyril’s fake pizza truck,” Igneous said between bites of salad. “At least, I have to assume it’s fake. No pizza-making stuff inside.”

The conversation devolved into a recap of the train chase. Nikki was amused for most of it, while Kyoko looked confused and Scarlett silently slurped up pasta noodles lathered in white sauce.

“You gotta be kidding me.” Nikki leaned over, pointing a chili fry at Igneous. “Shimmer mutated by distortion? And actually strong enough to cause you problems?”

“I can’t think of any other explanation,” Igneous said, stuffing in one last forkful of salad. He set his fork down. “Same tone of voice. Same smugness. But not actively making things worse.”

“But he’s gonna be a problem,” Valkyrie huffed, slouching against the table. “Gonna have to tell Sakaki, aren’t I?”

“Maybe we can take Scarlett next time and have her sing Shimmer a lullaby?” Nikki mused, scarfing down a couple of chili fries. “Those, uh, Starlene powers of yours could get through even that dumbass’ thick skull.”

“Right.” Scarlett’s wings drooped.

“Aw, c’mon.” Nikki’s mohawk dimmed. “That wasn’t an insult, it was a genuine suggestion.” She put her hands on the table, tapping them rhythmically. “Your singing did stuff back when people were fighting that giant centiskorch robot, didn’t it?”

“It did.” Scarlett wriggled nervously.

“Nikki, I think you should drop it,” Noctum said, before realizing what he blurted out and smacking his hand over his snout. “R-Respectfully. She looks uncomfortable.”

Awkward silence. Scarlett slurped up the last pasta from her bowl. “It’s fine.” She took a heavy breath. “I was… thinking about that. A lot. At the safe house.”

Igneous sat up straight. “Because…”

“Because the idea of controlling people with my singing feels… terrible.” The dragonair shivered. “I know I, like, invigorated you guys, but—”

“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to,” Igneous assured her. He was going to put his right hand on her back but noticed Nikki and Kyoko staring at him and put his hand back down.

“No. I… I want to help.” Scarlett sat up straight. “I helped make things worse for Radiance, so I should at least try and fix this mess.” The dragonair looked at the others. “So, like I said, I was doing some thinking back at the safe house and… I think I came up with something. A way to ‘reboot’ Starlene.”

“Reboot?” Noctum raised a brow. He didn’t think Scarlett had a machine inside her.

“I’m sure there’s a better word for it,” Scarlett said, laughing nervously. “Anyway, uh, we workshopped it while you guys were… joyriding.” She tucked her head down. Her horn and neck bauble glowed. Blue and red light trailed out of them…

“Huh?” Noctum sat up straight. “Th-that’s… wait.” He blinked a few times. “Saint Latias?”

But she had a headset around her head, mechanical wings, and a blue music note on her chest where Noctum was sure a triangle should have been.

(Art by Ferdy)

“Hi, guys.” Latias waved, then flourished with a little twirl. “What do you think?”

Silence.

“Wow.” Latias frowned. “Not all at once.”

“Robo-wings, huh?” Valkyrie sipped some water from her glass.

“I think it’s great!” Igneous said. The grovlazzle used a bit too much enthusiasm by Noctum’s standards. “She’s got parts of your, uh, look in her.” He twirled a claw around the side of his head.

“Aww, thanks!” Latias chirped. “That was Scarlett’s idea.”

“So, we still calling you Starlene, then?” Nikki wondered.

Latias nodded. “That’s the plan, Jan.”

“Nikki.”

“Right!” Starlene shot the toxtricity fingerguns. “I was rhyming.”

They locked eyes until Nikki tilted her head slightly. “She reminds me… of when we used to perform together.”

Noctum’s gaze darted between Nikki, Scarlett, and Starlene. Maybe this was… the start of them patching things up for real?

Any further developments would have to wait, however. A familiar blue rift opened in front of the table. A screeching Gilbert flung right past them, crashing into a table behind them filled with other space pirates.

“Oof! Easy, Boss Kitty!”

Cyril came next, plopped down at the head of the table seconds before Gene stepped out. “All right. Anyone still eating needs to box their food up and take it to go,” the shadowy mewtwo declared, clapping his hands together. “We’ve got a situation.”

Everyone sat up in unison. “Go… where?” Noctum asked.

“To…” Gene’s voice trailed off and he looked down at his feet. “No, wait. Rewind.” He twirled his left hand around. “Anyone still eating needs to grab their plates and follow me down to Cyril’s workshop. Team meeting. I’ll go… grab the group chilling with the monks.”

“Can you at least tell us what this is about?” Nikki said, scooping up her remaining chili fries as she got to her feet.

Gene threw open a different rift and stepped toward it.

“I found another Red Chain fragment.”

Yuna lay draped over a handle of one of Cyril’s open toolboxes, staring intently at the brown, crusty rocks in Gene’s right hand. The drakloak squinted. “That’s supposed to be a Red Chain fragment?”

“Yep.” Gene’s yellow-tipped tail lazily swished back and forth.

“How did you even find it?” Yuna wondered, shifting a bit on the handle so she didn’t fall off onto the grated floor.

“Well, I was giving Gilbert a little talking to… and I saw this strange flicker of red light out of the corner of my eye.” The shadowy mewtwo waved behind him with his left arm. “It was coming from… a closet I put Nova’s stuff in.”

“Oh.” Yuna looked down at the gears and pistons moving under the floor. That brief hesitation in Gene’s voice… he still wasn’t over Nova, was he? Or did bringing up Xeromus renew the pain of losing him?

“So, you opened up the closet… and found a rock?” Widget sat behind Gene. The cosmic silvally leaned over and sniffed the rock. “Ew.” He pulled his head back. “Smells like mildew on top of mildew on top of mildew.”

“Thanks, bud. Real helpful,” Gene deadpanned. “Point is, we can prove it’s the real thing, can’t we?” He pivoted left. Jaeger was propped against the wall opposite Gene, holding the handles of Sigurd’s wheelchair.

“We can.” Sigurd moved the chair forward while Jaeger let go. “I suspect, if that’s really a fragment, it reacted to mine. After I removed it from its capsule.”

“Seriously?” Jade stuck her head up from the corner of the room. “What would that dinky little capsule have to do with it?”

“The capsule is meant to block the energy the Red Chain emits,” Sigurd explained. “Stop it from reacting to its surroundings. Jaeger, if you would?”

“Right.” The lycanroc mutt stepped up to the back of Sigurd’s chair and pressed the top of the capsule. A hiss followed, then Jaeger held up the glowing red fragment.

Again, Yuna tensed. She took deep breaths, trying to keep the shadows at bay. Stop them from pushing against her ectoplasm and trying to escape.

“Ah! Gene’s rock!” Jade’s feathers bristled. “It twinkled!”

By the time Yuna steadied herself, Jaeger had already stuffed the fragment back inside the capsule.

“Seriously?” Nikki crouched down, eyeing the back of Sigurd’s chair skeptically. “One little red flash and you’re convinced?”

Jaeger nodded. “‘s good enough for me, mate.”

Sigurd moved the chair closer to Gene’s outstretched hand. “I suspect… that fragment is fossilized. Hard to tell the age based on its appearance, of course. But it is a fossil that has stayed pristine through the ages.”

The toxtricity rolled her eyes. “Great. Another nerd.”

“Sorry. My family has a thing for rocks,” Sigurd said.

Leo hopped off Yuna’s head and floated in the air, eyeing the rock. “If what’s inside’s important, then shouldn’t we break it? Fighting trumps rock, right? I can break it!”

“Leo, wait!”

Yuna couldn’t get off the toolbox handle fast enough to stop Leo from… buffing up.

“Whoa, there, kiddo!” Gene held his hand up and Phantom Warped on top of Cyril’s workbench, knocking over a few schematics. “It ain’t as simple as breaking it.”

The cosmic zoroark dropped to his knees to gather the scattered papers on the floor. “Oh, sure, yeah, just walk all over my workbench. When was the last time you showered, by the way?”

Gene hovered a few centimeters into the air, whistling innocently.

“Pffffffft.” Nikki held her hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing.

“Um, did Leo learn Bulk Up?” Noctum tittered, glancing between the cosmic arceus and his own, pencil-thin arms.

“Tch. It ain’t about muscle size. It’s about using what you have.” Valkyrie threw an arm over Noctum and squeezed his shoulder. “Ain’t that right, dork?”

“Ow! Wing joints!” Noctum’s tail flame flickered erratically.

Leo returned to normal in an orange flash. “Then how do we free the chain fragment?”

“Well, last I recall, fossilized pokémon can be restored with machines.” Gene glanced at Sigurd, in particular. “Earth’s chock full of them.”

“Those are for once-living creatures,” Sigurd pointed out. “You can’t expect the same technology to work. No, I imagine you need another way.”

Gene tossed the fossilized fragment to himself. “Consider the floor open for ideas, then.”

Silence followed. Yuna didn’t know the first thing about fossils, and judging by the blank expressions on everyone else’s faces, they didn’t, either.

“Why not find, like, a pickaxe to chip away at the fossil until you find the good stuff?” Nikki tapped her right index finger against her left fist repeatedly.

“Brute force it, eh?” Gene held the rock up to eye level, closing his right eye and twisting it around. “Dunno. Kinda feels like this’d be the fossil equivalent of heart surgery. One wrong cut and…” He dragged his left thumb across his throat.

“Seriously?” Nikki flicked her right hand dismissively. “If a pickaxe could tear through it that easily, how are there even fragments around in the first place? Why didn’t it just, y’know, turn to dust or something?”

“Red Chains are quite powerful,” Jaeger said, scratching the tip of his nose. “When their power is active, they do not crumble so easily. It takes someone with a mastery of space or time to unmake the Chain. Whatever happened to it… was not that. So, it broke into functioning fragments instead.”

He pointed his right index digit at the fossilized fragment. “But that one’s gone inert. Can’t do anything with it. And that also makes it… frailer than it should be. Unless you can find a way to recharge it, then it’s useless.”

“And if it does break?” Yiazmat asked.

“The rest of the Chain crumbles to dust,” Jaeger responded, expression grim. “Leaving us up a creek with no paddle.”

“Great! We’re walking on damn eggshells, then!” The toxtricity threw her arms up. “No brute force means I’m out of ideas.”

“Space-time relic. It’s a space-time relic.”

Muttering, Cyril finished gathering his papers and stood up, placing them under an empty coffee cup that read “I went to Cyril’s Café and all I got was this lousy mug.”

“That’s right.” Leo wagged his starcloud tail. “Do you have a space-time lockpick?”

“No.” Cyril scratched the back of his head. “But we could try putting it in a particle accelerator.”

Yuna blinked. She rubbed her rectangular head. “Um, what’s that?”

“Does what it says on the tin,” Cyril elaborated. He twirled a lock of his starry mane. “The empire has a super collider on Kalidron IV. You hear about it so often it’s practically a tourist attraction.”

“Kalidron IV,” Cid mumbled, hovering by the door to Cyril’s workshop. Yuna glanced at the orbeetle as he shut his eyes in thought.

“That could do it.” Jaeger snapped his claws and pointed at Cyril. “Or it could cause a chain reaction with the fragment and blow open a big hole in the fabric of this dimension.”

Everyone’s head whipped in Jaeger’s direction.

“That’s, um, a joke, right?” Yuna squeaked.

“Only if it’s false.” Jaeger shrugged. “No idea, shiela.”

Multiple people belted out a “Seriously?!”

Valkyrie stuck her right claw out at Jaeger. “Didn’t you call it inert and fragile? You walking that back on us?”

“If I may interject?” Sigurd said. “I believe the fragment is inert. It should be safe to try the super collider on it.”

“You believe it’s inert?” Yiazmat flew toward Sigurd’s chair. “With all due respect, sir, I would like a little more than belief if we’re to attempt something that sounds dangerous.”

“Very well.” Sigurd’s breathing tube hissed loudly. “Perhaps Leo can test it for us, then.”

The cosmic arceus tilted his head. “Me?”

“Yes. See if you sense any energy from Gene’s fragment.”

“Okay.” Leo eyed the rock in Gene’s hand. He squinted. Then his mouthless face scrunched up a bit and his starcloud hair dimmed. “Nope! I only sense rock!” Leo chirped, then looked at Yuna. “Is that a bad thing?”

Yuna shrugged. She figured it proved Sigurd’s point.

“It’s really outta cosmic juice, then?” Gene tapped the rock with his left index finger.

“Yep.” Jaeger rested his paws behind his head. “So, like I said before, needs a spark. Betcha a recharge will unrockify it lickety split.”

Yiazmat fidgeted nervously. “And this super collider device could give it that spark?”

“Correct.” Jaeger paused. “No quips this time, mates. ‘s my honest assessment.”

“Glad that’s settled.” Gene tossed the fossil to himself. “Then I’ll pop over to Kalidron IV and be back in a jiffy.”

He snapped his fingers and a rift opened behind him. “Meeting adjourned, I suppose. Go team.”

Yuna sighed in relief, ready to get out of the crowded workshop, when Cid’s eyes opened and his spots lit up.

“No, Gene, wait!”

But the orbeetle wasn’t fast enough. Gene’s rift swallowed the shadowy mewtwo up and Cid stopped in the open air where Gene previously stood.

“What’s wrong?” Seifer raised a brow.

“I thought the name Kalidron sounded familiar. Because I heard about it on the news here!” Cid turned to Cyril. “Do you have an EV in here?”

“Yeeeeaaah.” The cosmic zoroark pressed a button underneath his workbench. The wall behind Cid parted to reveal several different monitors. Cyril grabbed a remote from the top drawer of his workbench and pointed it at the largest monitor in his collection. It switched on to show the Eterna empire’s sigil while music blared from an unseen speaker.

“And now… a message from your emperor!”

“Cripes!” Nikki squeezed her hands against the sides of her head, mohawk frazzling. “Turn that shit down!”

Cyril mashed a button on the remote and the backing music quieted to a reasonable volume as the shot shifted from the empire’s emblem to footage of… scattered fragments of rock, twisted metal, and all manner of scattered debris surrounded by a starry sky that brought Eternatus’ insides to mind.

“My people, I come bearing unfortunate news,” Paradox said while the shot panned around to show more debris.

Yuna’s ectoplasm shriveled. Some of the debris looked… distinctly like parts of big, metal buildings. She watched horror spread over Cid’s face.

(Reference from Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment)

“Kalidron IV, home of the famed Eterna Super Collider, has been destroyed.”

Several of Yuna’s teammates shouted “What?!” in unison. Valkyrie stepped toward Cid, arms crossed.

“Why didn’t you say something earlier?” the garchomp growled.

“I was trying to remember!” Cid raised his hands innocently. “But the news was about a rift, not a destroyed planet!”

“I know. I am as heartbroken as the rest of you.”

The feed shifted to Paradox in his office, placing his hand on his chest and shaking his head. “News outlets had reported a giant rift appearing around the planet and we have just learned that the rebel, Gene, manipulated a rift’s energy to overload the super collider, blowing the planet to smithereens!”

As the deoxys spoke, a hologram of a planet appeared next to him. Distorted red and purple cracks wove their way through the hologram until it broke apart into tiny bits of orange light.

“Oh, great.” Cyril rolled his eyes. “Just what we needed. Paradox pinning another one of his screw-ups on us.”

A blue rift opened behind the cosmic zoroark. “CYRIL, WE’VE GOT A—”

Gene popped out of the rift, only for Cyril to grab his head and jerk it in the direction of the EV screen.

“But rest assured.” Paradox clasped his tentacles together and holograms of spaceships appeared all around him. “Thanks to your beloved grand emperor, the people of Kalidron IV were safely evacuated with minimal issues.”

Gene blinked slowly. “Ah. I see you’re on top of it already.” He stepped out of the rift, which shut behind him.

“Yep.”

“Is Paradox blaming me for it?”

“Yeeeeep.”

“In light of the rebel’s alarming attack on our Benefactor,” Paradox continued, holographic stacks of paper money appearing beside him, “I would like to inform you all the bounty for his capture or annihilation is being raised to one squijillion eternabucks!”

“Psst. Mom.” Leo blipped onto Yuna’s head. “How much is a squijillion?”

“Uhh… a lot?”

“I don’t even think that’s a real number,” Reshiram mumbled.

“Shut it off!” Gene growled, to which Cyril obliged. The shadowy mewtwo pinched his brow. “Great. Wonderful. So, no collider and I can’t go poking around the planet’s ruins.”

Seifer groaned. “You expect some of us to go there, don’t you?”

“Well, it can’t be me.” Gene rested his hands behind his head and glanced at Nikki. “Yep, the coach is benching himself this time. You want the rock? It’s all yours.”

Nikki’s mohawk sparked. “Why should any of us go out there? You saw it for yourself. There’s nothing to salvage!”

“‘cept the crystals, shiela.”

The toxtricity whirled on Jaeger. “What crystals?”

“You didn’t see ’em? The supercharged lustrous ore.” The lycanroc scratched his chin. “S’pose I should’t’ve expected you to know what that’d look like.”

Yuna frowned. Why did lustrous ore sound familiar?

“The monks!” Reshiram blurted out. “Brother Kora said Chakran is chalk full of lustrous ore.” He paused. “Or maybe it was Alder.”

Who told them hardly mattered. “The monks mentioned that stuff, I think? Something about dimensionality,” Yuna said.

“That so?” Jaeger’s snout twitched. “Yeah. I s’pose that dusty mountain—”

“Mesa,” Nikki cut in, earning several frowns. “What? You guys did it to me!” she huffed.

Jaeger shrugged. “Then I s’pose that dusty mesa did have a… lustrousy scent about it.”

“Oh, so you can smell lustrous ore but you can’t sense sticks?” Jade leaned in Jaeger’s direction. “Talk about getting short changed as a dog.”

“Guys, focus!” Seifer stamped a forehoof down. “What’s so important about lustrous ore in the planet’s remains?”

Jaeger crossed his arms in thought. “Well, I can’t say for certain… but if that deoxys was telling the truth, then the glowing crystals I saw are solidified fragments of the giant rift that overheated the collider.”

Nikki tugged at her jacket. “Grrr. Quit the fancy science talk and spell it out in a way we can understand! What does that mean for us?”

Cyril’s mane dimmed, then brightened. “I think I get it,” he whispered. “You’re telling us the lustrous ore could take us to whatever’s on the other side of the rift that used to be there.”

Jaeger grinned. “Exactly.”

Yuna’s teammates muttered to one another. Asking what good would that possibly do for the team. And the drakloak agreed with them.

Or, at least, she wanted to. But Leo was listening intently to all of this. And if everyone was describing the planet-destroying rift as a giant one, then…

“It wasn’t just a rift,” Yuna whispered, folding her hands over her Soul Dew. “It was an anomaly. An anomaly screwed up the collider and destroyed the planet. And now it’s all… chopped up inside that lustrous ore. If we don’t seal it like we did with the other one, all that ore could cause a huge problem.”