Top of the World

Roz hovered in front of a mass of cloud shaped into a tower. Despite the fact that the “ground” the people accompanying her stood on was also made of clouds, it supported their weight without issue. Everyone took a moment to adjust to their surroundings. Roz floated over the edge of the cloud and gazed upon the world below. She made out the Great Canyon, Mt. Freeze, and the seaside cliff they’d teleported from. Seeing the whole continent spread out like this somehow gave a feeling of finality.

“So that’s the power of teleport stones,” Archimedes marveled.

“I’m guessing Rayquaza’s at the very top,” said Terry.

“Normally, yes,” Zygarde answered.

Roz craned her neck, but the summit was obscured by a layer of clouds higher up the tower. “Let’s not waste any time then.”

The six of them entered a gap in the tower. Roz touched her hand against the structure experimentally. Its texture matched what she expected for a cloud at first, but as she pressed harder, she found it grew increasingly firm, reminding her of thick rubber.

The group entered a circular atrium of sorts. It was positively massive–at least 100 meters in diameter. The ceiling was only 5 meters or so above their heads though, and Roz couldn’t see any obvious way higher, even with her ability to fly.

The fluffy walls were otherwise textured as one would expect for an ornate building, complete with grooves, ridges, and even windows overlooking the planet. Two statues, made of cloud and resembling Altaria, stood side by side in the middle of the room. Archimedes approached them.

“Fascinating,” he muttered. “They look so well-made.”

“They’re not half-bad,” Flint admitted. The Charizard touched a claw to one of their beaks. The moment he made contact, puffs of cloud blew off of the statues, revealing what appeared to be pale colored Altaria. The two dragons flapped their cloudy wings and lifted off the ground.

“What?!” Cliff gasped. “What’s going on here?”

Zygarde’s eyes glowed bright green, and a volley of arrow-headed energy streaks fired from its body, striking both Altaria and knocking them to the ground. The same energy crackled around their wings.

“We’ll need to overcome the obstacles on each floor to advance up the tower,” it answered. “Defeating these statues is the first test.”

“Got it,” Flint coated his claws in dragonfire and raked them across the same Altaria he’d awakened.

Archimedes meanwhile raised a hand toward the other. The air rippled around it from his powerful Psychic attack. Finally, Cliff reared back his head and roared. Dust over the Altarias’ heads coalesced into large rocks and fell on them. Both dragons dissolved into fog.

Part of the ceiling similarly faded. The resulting fog fell to the ground and rematerialized into a staircase leading to the next floor. A similar room to the one before waited at the top of the stairs, though this one held “statues” of four Drifblim instead. “Hmf. I don’t know whether to feel grateful or insulted,” Archimedes remarked.

The Head Rangers got into position while the other three stood back. Archimedes awakened the Drifblim with a Shadow Ball, after which they were dispatched with little effort. One of the Drifblim did explode when Flint tore at it with his Shadow Claw, but the Charizard gave no response other than a small grunt.

The next several floors went much the same. Archimedes and crew sustained minor scrapes and bruises along the way. “Is this just meant to waste our time?” Flint griped.

“It’s a test of both skill and endurance,” Zygarde answered. “Rayquaza doesn’t want to be disturbed by anyone it considers unworthy. You might want to consider letting us handle some of these and saving your strength for the higher floors.”

“These are barely an inconvenience. We’ll take care of it,” Cliff boasted.

“Suit yourselves.”

The next floor, the 13th by Roz’s count, held a bit of a twist though. When Archimedes attacked the Togekiss-shaped cloud in the middle of the room, it immediately dissipated. Instead of a new path appearing however, 4 cloudy Duskull and 4 Dusclops entered through the walls.

“Tch, I should’ve known the rules would change at some point.” Archimedes lobbed a Shadow Ball at one of the Dusclops, staggering it.

“Those Dusclops will siphon your energy as you attack them. Try to hit several at once,” said Zygarde. Green hexagonal tiles rippled through the ground toward two of the Dusclops. The ground beneath them changed into the same tiles, which their feet sank into, locking them in place. The Duskull on the other hand, simply hovered over the effect.

One of the Duskull emitted a wisp of ghastly flame toward Cliff. The Tyranitar grunted as the burn took hold. Roz crossed her arms in front of her, palms extended and placed psychic barriers around everyone. “They’re trying to wear us down.”

Terry placed himself right where three of the ghosts were converging and waited, club drawn. Just before they struck, he filled his bone with dark energy and swung it in a full circle, hitting all of them at once. Flint flapped his wings and finished them off with a Heat Wave.

Roz, momentarily distracted, didn’t notice the one unrestrained Dusclops emerge from the shadows and punch her in the back, though her Reflect absorbed a good chunk of the damage. She turned around and blasted it at point-blank range with a Psybeam. Thankfully, it was the one Archimedes had already weakened, and it dissipated, though she felt its Pressure ability siphon her energy.

Zygarde destroyed the remaining two Duskull with more arrow-shaped beams. “Careful. Things only get harder from here,” it warned.

“Yeah, thanks for the heads up,” said Cliff, eating a Lum Berry from his bag.

Sure enough, the next floors were more complicated. One was completely empty. The solution, as Roz figured out, was to go out one of the windows to a stairway on the outside of the tower. Another floor held rows upon rows of cloud statues. Everyone braced themselves for a brutal fight, but it turned out only a few of the statues came to life. They encountered a similar floor later where each of the “real” statues was triggered by another one somewhere in the room.

A second seemingly empty room already had a complete staircase opposite from where they entered, which none of them trusted. Flint took the lead, slowly making his way across. Without warning, the floor underneath him gave way. There was a room below, but it was a drop of at least 10 meters. The Charizard caught himself and flew to safety. “Hah! I knew something like that was gonna happen!”

“Good for you,” Cliff snarked. “Now how do the rest of us get across?”

“I wonder how durable this floor is?” Roz wondered. The Elgyem landed and began walking across the room. Whenever the floor gave way, she effortlessly floated and started walking again until eventually, she had traced a path that led to the other side.

“Terry can probably cross the same way I did, but we might need Flint to find a way for everyone else.”

The Charizard grumbled. “Wish flying was that easy for me.”

Terry followed after Roz. The Elgyem floated alongside him in case he fell, but he made it without incident. Flint tried the same route and only broke through the floor twice. Still, that confirmed that heavier Pokémon would have difficulty crossing. As Cliff was about twice as heavy as Flint, this raised concerns.

Even though levitation didn’t come as naturally to him as it did to Roz, Archimedes decided not to take any chances and simply floated across the room. Zygarde followed Flint’s path easily enough, leaving only Cliff. In theory, Archimedes could telekinetically levitate him, but the Tyranitar’s Dark-typing and immense bulk made it difficult. At best, the Alakazam might be able to catch him if he fell.

Roz smacked herself in the face. “Why don’t we just teleport him across?” Terry snorted.

“Well…” Archimedes started. “I, I used quite a bit of my energy on the battles earlier and wanted to conserve it.”

“And you thought levitating a Tyranitar was a good way to do that?!” Flint guffawed.

~~~

Something in the atmosphere changed when they reached the next floor. Where before, the cloudy walls were a clear, cheerful white, they changed to an ominous stormy gray. Thunder rumbled softly all around them. When Roz looked out the window, she saw only the cloud layer she’d noticed when they first arrived, creating a feeling of isolation.

“We’re really here, aren’t we?” Terry observed.

“I mean, yeah?” said Flint.

“No, think about it. We’re in the sky, above the clouds on our way to talk to one of the most powerful gods in the world. I guess it never really sunk in until now.”

“If you want to call it quits–” Cliff started.

“That’s not what I’m saying at all! It’s just kind of a big moment, you know?”

“I know what you mean,” said Archimedes. “Despite all of our adventures together, none of us have ever seen one of the major gods in person before, or been somewhere quite like this.”

“Even I’ve only seen Rayquaza a few times,” Zygarde admitted. “It’s among the most reclusive of all the gods. These last floors will be the most challenging yet. Take your time to heal up and we’ll advance.”

“What about this floor?” Roz asked.

“This floor serves as a transition to the highest levels of the tower. It’s a place to catch your breath before the final stretch,” Zygarde explained.

Oran and Leppa berries were passed around. “So, what will we encounter from here on?” Archimedes asked.

“I don’t know,” Zygarde admitted. “Rayquaza changes the tower’s layout every so often, adds or removes obstacles. I’ve never personally had to navigate it since it usually lets other gods see it whenever they want, but for some reason it hasn’t acknowledged me.”

“What does that mean?” Terry asked.

“I don’t know, but I don’t like it.”

Once they finished eating, the group made their way to the next floor. Three statues waited in the middle of the room, but these statues looked like no Pokémon they had seen before.

“What are those?” Terry asked.

“Aerodactyl,” Roz answered. The others looked at her to explain. “It’s an extinct species of Pokémon,” she continued. “Humans managed to figure out what they look like through fossil reconstruction, but no one knows what they were truly capable of.”

“In other words, we need to be ready for anything,” said Cliff. “So be it.”

“Wait,” said Roz. “Based on their appearance, we think Aerodactyl likely relied mostly on physical attacks and speed.” She set up a Reflect barrier around everyone. They’d figured out by now that attacks that hit the statues before they activated had no effect, so Cliff approached one with sparks already crackling along his bared fangs. 

He grabbed the Aerodactyl’s forelimb and clamped his electrified jaws down on its neck as soon as it came to life. The Aerodactyl convulsed for a moment before fading into mist.

Flint blasted another with Flamethrower, but the move seemed to have limited effect. “Okay, so they’re resistant to Fire, great.”

Terry materialized a stone in his hand, tossed it up, and used his club to send it at the third Aerodactyl. He scored a direct hit, knocking it to the ground.

The Aerodactyl Flint hit suddenly sped up, allowing it to dodge Archimedes’ Psychic. The one Terry knocked down did the same thing, avoiding what might have been a Dragon Pulse from Zygarde. 

Roz threw a stun seed at one, but it dodged out of the way and sped toward Archimedes with incredible speed. The Alakazam tried to blast it with Psychic, but it sank its jaws into his arm before the move took hold. Roz’s Reflect weakened the attack but it still had a lot of power behind it.

Still, while it was occupied, Flint managed to hit it with an Air Slash, which it also resisted. “Oh come on!” A spire of rock erupted from the ground right into the Charizard, who roared in pain and fell to the ground. “Rock-type. Of course they’re Rock-type.”

Terry pegged Flint’s attacker, the Aerodactyl he’d grounded, with his Bonemerang. It dodged Roz’s follow-up Psybeam, which led it right into the path of the returning bone, defeating it. That only left one more, still airborne. It circled the room at high speed while both sides looked for an opening. Finally, Flint aimed a Heat Wave in its general direction. The move didn’t have a huge effect, but it slowed the Aerodactyl down enough for Archimedes to hit it with a blast of psychic energy, pinning it to the wall. Cliff decided to return the favor its fallen ally had given Flint, and speared it with Stone Edge.

The next several floors held similarly challenging fights. Sometimes, they were attacked without warning. Other times, a statue would fade to reveal an entirely different species. Each encounter would’ve been perfectly manageable on its own, but resources were running low. Everyone silently hoped they wouldn’t have to try and fight Rayquaza.

On the ninth floor since the transition to new scenery, they encountered yet another peculiar Pokémon, though this one at least looked somewhat familiar.

“Is that a Mega Salamence?” Flint asked.

Roz studied it closer. “No, I don’t think so. Unless I’m mistaken, this is another extinct Pokémon called Roaring Moon.”

“What kinda name is that?” said Flint.

“We’ve found a few fossils that bear strong resemblance to modern Pokémon,” Roz explained. “We’re pretty sure they’re ancestral forms. Ancient Pokémon that would eventually become the species we see today. Roaring Moon is obviously an ancestor of the Bagon line.”

“So it should be a Dragon/Flying-type, right?” Archimedes asked.

“Maybe, maybe not. There’s no reason a Pokémon’s type can’t change over evolutionary time. It’ll likely have similarities to modern Salamence, but there’s no telling exactly what it’ll be like.”

“Evolutionary time? You mean how Pokémon can change type as they evolve?” said Cliff. “Because everyone knows that Salamence gains the Flying type when it evolves.”

Roz shook her head. “Metamorphosis would be a better term for that process. True evolution is something else that happens over a much larger timescale. Instead of a Shelgon becoming a Salamence within the lifetime of one individual, it’s how a subset of Roaring Moon gave rise to the modern Bagon line over millions of years.”

“So, is Roaring Moon evolved from some sort of Shelgon ancestor as well?” Terry asked. “And what about Aerodactyl? What did it turn into?”

“I don’t know if Roaring Moon was a metamorphosed Pokémon or not,” Roz answered. “That’s probably a question better left to Zygarde. Aerodactyl’s lineage likely died out and it has no modern descendants.”

“So it’s just…gone?” Cliff said.

“As interesting as this discussion is, we’re wasting time,” said Zygarde. “We can continue when Groudon and Kyogre aren’t imminent threats to the world.”

“Right. My apologies,” said Roz.

Cliff decided on the same approach he’d used against Aerodactyl: getting a preemptive hit with Ice Fang in as soon as Roaring Moon activated. After all, as long as it retained at least once of Salamence’s types the move would be effective. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say Salamence retained Roaring Moon’s type?

But he never got the chance. Before he even got close, the clouds outside the room cleared, allowing sunlight to flood the room. True to its name, the creature in the middle roared to life. It wasted no time rushing past Cliff and slamming into everyone else with a high-speed turn. It then turned its attention back to Cliff.

Archimedes raised a hand and focused his psychic energy on it, but it shrugged the attack off with no effect. “Curses. A Dark-type.”

Cliff couldn’t summon a Rock Slide without hitting everyone else, so he readied another Ice Fang, but couldn’t react in time to prevent Roaring Moon from locking its jaws onto his shoulder. The move had limited effect, but the primal Salamence followed up by firing scales into Cliff’s face at point-blank range. He roared in agony, trapped in place by Roaring Moon’s grasp.

Zygarde maneuvered into position and fired the not-quite-Dragon Pulse it had used earlier. Even though the attack seemed highly effective, Roaring Moon didn’t let go, though it looked like its grip slackened ever so slightly.

“I don’t know what that move was but it looks like you made it weaker somehow,” Roz noted.

“Core Enforcer can suppress a Pokémon’s ability,” Zygarde said. “Whatever this thing’s ability is, it seems to have been making its attacks stronger.”

“I’m gonna chance it,” said Terry. “I don’t think it can move as long as it’s attached to Cliff.” The Cubone charged forward and leapt into the air with his club high above his head, then slammed it down onto the small of Roaring Moon’s back with a Brick Break. It howled, finally forced to release its grip. Cliff seized the opportunity and bit into its shoulder with frost-coated fangs, right where it had been holding him. With one final cry, Roaring Moon went limp and collapsed into fog. The stairs to the next level appeared.

“I believe this is the last floor before the top,” said Zygarde. “Make your final preparations now.”

~~~

The Tower’s summit rose above everything else. A whole planet lay beneath. The sky above wasn’t even sky, but the vastness of space, even though it was only around midday. Coiled in the center of the tower’s peak was a green serpentine dragon. It didn’t acknowledge them, focused instead on the stars. Its head turned slowly as if searching for something.

Zygarde stepped forward. “Rayquaza.”

No response.

“Rayquaza, we need your help.”

“It can wait,” the dragon mumbled.

Roz breathed a small sigh of relief. The fact that Rayquaza at least had the ability to speak meant there was a chance it wasn’t corrupted.

“Kyogre and Groudon–” Zygarde started.

Rayquaza turned at last to face them. “Do you think I am unaware of their activities? Do any of you presume to tell me how to do my duties?” It loomed over them as if to emphasize just how insignificant they all were. “I have quelled those two before and, when the time is right, I will do so again. Now leave. You are distracting me from more important matters.”

“And what is more important than your primary duty, pray tell?” Zygarde demanded. “Do you know anything about what’s been happening on the surface while you wait here stargazing?”

Rayquaza lowered its immense head to gaze right at its fellow god. “Do not dare to lecture me about my responsibilities, Zygarde. Would that I could hurl you from this tower for such insolence.” It raised its head back toward the stars. “There is something out there which does not belong. I have watched as it circles the planet this past moon, slowly drawing ever nearer. Its orbit is not natural.”

“No way…” Roz muttered. “There’s no way.”

“Do you have something to say, mortal?” Rayquaza rumbled.

Roz jumped. “I…might know what it is…Lord Rayquaza.”

“And what might that be?”

Roz gulped. “I…I could be completely wrong, and even if I’m right–”

“Stop stalling and speak!”

“It’s a monster! An invader. The creature responsible for all the natural disasters. I don’t know what it wants–”

“Enough. If it can be destroyed I will destroy it.”

“Be careful. It can–”

“DO NOT TELL ME WHAT I CAN AND CANNOT HANDLE, MORTAL!” Rayquaza roared.

“If you’d swallow your pride for a moment I could tell you she’s right!” Zygarde countered. “This creature has already taken hold over multiple gods, including some as powerful as Groudon and Kyogre! It is a true threat, and should not–”

“It approaches.” Rayquaza turned its attention skyward again.

“Even if this entity is as powerful as you claim, I shall utterly destroy it.” A crystalline shell materialized around Rayquaza’s body. Beams of light shot from cracks that appeared in the shell. Finally, it burst apart, revealing Rayquaza in a new form.

“Witness the glory of my Dragon Ascent!” The mega evolved god of the sky shot upward, beyond the limits of the atmosphere. Then, slowly, a meteoroid came into view from beyond the curve of the planet. Rayquaza adjusted its angle, putting it on the collision course with the stellar object.

The impact made no sound. But the meteoroid blew into pieces, which either burned away to nothing upon entering the atmosphere, or flew off into space. All except one, which hit hard enough to be heard even from the top of Sky Tower.

“So, is that it?” Terry asked. “That space rock was the problem?”

“Seems a little anticlimactic to me, but hey, if that takes care of the disasters, I’m not complaining,” said Flint.

“I…I don’t know,” said Roz. “I guessed 386 had something to do with that meteoroid. Let’s just hope I’m right and Rayquaza really did destroy it.”

“Of course I did. You saw the evidence yourselves.” Rayquaza flew down to the top of the tower. Its body flashed a bright red. When the light faded, it was back in its normal form.

“There was one piece that made it to the ground,” Roz noted. “I’d like to take a look at it just to be sure.”

“If it will put your minds at ease I will fly you down there on my way to subduing Groudon and Kyogre.”

“With all due respect Lord Rayquaza, I do not believe you should go anywhere near that meteorite, just to be certain,” Roz said.

“Hmph. Fine. Then I shall take you nearby. The sooner you are all off my tower the better.”

Even Flint knew better than to decline this offer, and everyone climbed on board. Admittedly, getting a ride from a god was a once in a thousand lifetimes experience. Zygarde, unable to hold onto Rayquaza’s back, had to be carried by the great dragon instead.

Rayquaza cut through the skies, undulating slightly as it made its way to the surface. The meteor had crashed in the middle of the Elegant Gorge, so the group got off on a mountainside overlooking the impact site.

“Thank you, Lord Rayquaza,” Archimedes said with a bow. “It was an honor to meet you,” Everyone else, except Zygarde, did the same.

“Hmph. Remember next time that I know what I am doing. Nevertheless, I hope that solves your problems.” With that, Rayquaza spiraled off toward the west.

“Well it was a delight to be around,” Terry stated. “Anyway, let’s see what we’re dealing with.” The group hiked down the mountain and made their way to the edge of the crater. A lone chunk of rock sat at the bottom, embedded in the ground.

Even as they made their way toward it, nothing jumped out at them. Maybe it really was nothing more than an ordinary meteorite. Had the meteoroid been a ruse? Was 386 intelligent enough to plan something like that?

“It looks like a normal rock to me,” Terry said upon inspection. “Roz, maybe you should make sure?”

The Elgyem nodded and activated her presence sense. Naturally she picked up on everyone around her, but… “I think you’re right, it’s–wait. It’s faint. Maybe I’m imagining–” The presence’s intensity spiked. Even Registeel was nothing compared to this. When she’d studied Subject 386 back home, she’d never felt this much sheer power. “Get back!”

The meteorite split in half. It was hollow inside, and contained a purple orb made of an unknown material about 10 centimeters in diameter. The orb rippled and started growing. A torso formed around it, though the orb itself remained exposed. Next, a pair of legs, then a head. Its face had two eyes, but no other features. Finally, two pairs of tentacles where arms would be on a human.

“No,” Roz gasped. “No no no no no no no.” The Elgyem slowly backed away. “Run.”

Everyone else started backing away. Roz turned and flew away as fast as she could. The creature materialized right in front of her. Roz screamed and veered to the side, but it teleported into her path again. “Get away from me!”

Terry’s Bonemerang spun through the air and scored a direct hit on the creature’s upper chest and its back on the return flight, but it barely flinched. It did, however, turn its gaze to the Cubone and let out an otherworldly laugh that echoed through their minds.

The creature extended a tentacle toward Terry, who rolled out of the way. Cliff lunged toward the tentacle with his jaws agape.

“NO! DON’T” Roz screamed. The Tyranitar bit down, severing the appendage. The creature merely looked at the oozing stump left behind in annoyance, but Cliff grasped at his throat, choking.

“Don’t let it touch you!” Roz warned.

386 looked at Roz, let out another eerie laugh and vanished. It appeared behind Flint and wrapped its remaining tentacles around him, using one to hold his mouth shut. The Charizard thrashed, but couldn’t break the monster’s grip. It raised the severed tentacle, which regenerated right in front of everyone, and touched it to Flint’s forehead, where it seemed to phase through his skull. Flint roared, mouth still held firmly closed. 386 vanished again and the Charizard fell to his knees clutching his head.

“What type is it?” Archimedes asked, sensing his surroundings.

“Pure Psychic,” Roz answered. She placed a Light Screen over everyone, but doubted it would do any good. Archimedes formed a Shadow Ball in his hand. Dark energy gathered around Terry’s club as he readied a Brutal Swing.

386 appeared right in front of Archimedes, who shoved his Shadow Ball in its face. 386 recoiled with an unnatural-sounding grunt and vanished again. This time it chose Roz as its target. The Elgyem sensed an attack from Zygarde and teleported to safety. A wave of green hexagons surged toward 386 and locked it in place.

“Perfect!” Terry leapt forward and swung his club. The shockwave of darkness hit 386 without forcing him to get right next to it. Archimedes fired another Shadow Ball. 386 teleported just before impact and appeared right in front of Archimedes, who also teleported.

386 laughed again and teleported to the center of the crater. Its body rippled and split in two, creating a copy that looked slightly different from the original; sleeker, with only two tentacles.

“Roz…” Terry called. “Is it supposed to be able to do that?”

The original 386 disappeared while the copy flew straight at Archimedes with blinding speed.

“I don’t know! I never saw this thing in action!”

The Alakazam lobbed a Shadow Ball at 386’s clone. It zipped out the way, but Archimedes teleported just before it reached him…right into the waiting tentacles of the original. As with Flint, it held him in place while it touched a tentacle to his forehead, leaving him writhing on the ground when it teleported again.

“Zygarde, get out of here!” Roz yelled. “You can’t let it capture you as well!”

386’s copy flew to the center of the crater, where the original reappeared and recombined with it.

“I don’t think any of us can escape at this point, Roz.”

Zygarde fired a beam of draconic energy, but 386, predictably, teleported behind the Legendary. Zygarde, however, anticipated this and attacked with its hexagonal waves again, temporarily trapping 386. Zygarde hopped backward, and Terry’s Bonemerang flew at it again.

Once more, 386 split itself in two, but created a different clone, this one bulkier and more compact. Terry’s bone hit the clone twice, but it seemed even less affected than the original was. Meanwhile, the original wrapped both of its right tentacles together, combining them into a human-like arm. 

It extended its palm toward Zygarde and crushed it with telekinetic pressure. Roz’s Light Screen weakened the attack, but it still caused Zygarde to stumble. 386 teleported next to it and pressed its hand against the god’s face. The green of Zygarde’s eyes faded out and it went still.

“Roz, whatever happens, I’m glad I got to know you,” Terry panted.

386 appeared next to its clone and recombined.

“Never say things like that Terry. We’ll…we’ll figure a way out of this.”

386 looked between its last two victims and decided to take them both on at once. It split again, this time producing a more jagged, aggressive-looking clone. The clone merged its tentacles into arms and flew at Roz, while the original casually drifted toward Terry.

Terry waited for 386 to get close, then feinted. In an attempt to dodge the attack, it teleported behind him, but the Cubone unleashed a Brutal Swing. The full circle attack smacked it right in the face. 386 staggered backwards, but could clearly take a lot more punishment.

Roz meanwhile, faced down 386’s copy. Desperate, she threw a sleep seed. The creature’s eyes drooped momentarily, but it quickly shook itself awake. The clone’s arm extended toward her. She teleported out of the way, but it simply swung the elongated limb in an arc and caught hold of her anyway. Roz screamed.

“ROZ!” Terry cried. “Let her go!” The Cubone raised his club to swing at 386, which took the opportunity to reach out with its hand and grab him. Terry dropped his club and struggled in the creature’s grasp.

“TERRY!”

386 used one of its tentacles to pry Terry’s helmet off slightly, and the other to touch his forehead. The Cubone howled. 386 dropped him unceremoniously and slowly made its way toward its clone, still holding Roz.

A part of her screamed at her to teleport away, but she knew it was futile. 386 had her right where it wanted her and there was no escape. It almost seemed to delight in antagonizing her in particular. Perhaps it recognized her?

She looked around her at Archimedes, Flint, Cliff, Zygarde, and Terry, all either unconscious or curled up on the ground. She had failed them. She had failed this world. The best thing she could do at this point was accept her fate. At least she didn’t have the power gods held to ruin everything if 386 took control of her.

386 drew up next to her. She closed her eyes, waiting for the end. She felt something against her forehead and clenched her jaw, shuddering. Piercing pain shot through her head and she screamed.

~~~

Logbook entry #0000

Morphology: Subject 386–Psionic alien viroform. Target possess unparalleled powers of teleportation as well as psionic abilities unmatched by any known Pokémon. Avoid engaging in combat.

Unable to determine the origin of Subject 386. Behavioral analysis suggests a malevolent intelligence that enjoys toying with its victims. Because of its immense destructive powers and regenerative abilities, 386 is considered effectively invincible. Do not engage.