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Unova University, Main Lab – Unova Region

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"Work, damn you." Eric Redwood muttered to himself as the fabrication machine, which usually produced Pokéballs, attempted to create yet another plasma sword hilt.

The screen before him flashed green, all the components were in place, but once more it all shifted to red, and gave an error message. The probability of the finished product exploding on ignition had lowered by three percent, but unfortunately the whole number remained in the low eighties. An almost assured malfunction. Unacceptable for war.

The younger Redwood sighed, and ran the faulty blade through the machine dedicated to deconstructing the parts, and it spat them back out in small reusable piles. The rest of his team had long since passed out, and the sun was rising on a new day. He knew his brother would likely be done soon, one way or another, and he was determined to not be completely outshone.

A loud, powerful, and yet somehow calming mental baritone thundered in his skull, "How goes the work?"

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Eric didn't need to ask who or what was speaking, as this was at least the eighth time the Dragon God of his homeland had asked. All night he'd been putting off giving up completely, but he was at his limit now. The last configuration had failed.

He knew it was no coincidence that Tao had reached out to him moments later. His understanding of focusing the power of Chargestones had helped reduce the probability of failure from the ninety-nine percent that had demoralized his team into mental exhaustion after almost a day of consistent failure to create a suitable hilt.

Beyond that though, the dragon's knowledge ended. Eric responded in his head, somewhat familiar with it by now. He could almost vaguely sense the same feeling he had when in the dragon's presence, but in his head.

It was a strange feeling, and he had no idea how his brother had gotten used to it so quickly. It was almost too calm. "I'm out of ideas, great Dragon. The Tesla lenses are converting plasma fine, and the crystals can handle the energy flow. The insulators keep overheating though, and we simply don't have the kind of heat sink necessary to handle focused plasma. The emitters are fine, theoretically, but with such limited insulators we haven't really been able to test them. As it stands, they'll blow apart in our hand after roughly five seconds. The containment field has the same heat problem."

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The dragon seemed to rumble in his head, a noise he'd come to associate with pondering. "I think I know how to give you some aid. Only one other, that I know of, has wielded a weapon like this before."

Eric waited patiently, but Tao remained silent. Five minutes passed. Then ten. Eric began to drift off, and soon, he'd joined the rest of his team in deep slumber. They were all awoken by a thunderous bampf from the back of the lab, near Gelauros' old pen. Eric groggily made his way towards the noise, and his brow rose to Spockian heights as he beheld the smoking form of the figure that had appeared in their lab.

He was a thin man, skin as pale as snow, which almost matched his hair. That, however, was tinged with the golden color of a pale blonde. His clothes were a strange mix of white, cyan, and whitish-gold, and as he rose from the three-point stance he'd landed in, he raised a fist in the air.

"You'll pay for that, you pompous lizard! Bloody arrogant Dragon Ty-" His words paused, as he saw the five nerds standing before him, half asleep. "Hmm. So you're the 'group of experts' trying to cash in on my expertise, eh?" His eyes settled on Eric. "You must be the little brother. He wasn't kidding when he said you were total opposites. Same eyes, though."

The man sighed, then glanced skyward. "Fine. But you owe me, Dragon. You, and your whelp. Twice now I've had to get involved in his affairs." He paused, as Tao presumably responded. A genuine smile came over the man's features. "Now that is the kind of gratitude I deserve! Very well." His gaze turned back to the Brain Trust, and he gave a flourishing bow. "Percival von Guterstein Velhavende Locuples the Third, at your service." He grinned up at them, golden eyes alight with mischief and maybe a hint of madness. "But you can call me-"

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"Percy." Eric said, breaking the 'spell' the charismatic figure had over them, that had kept them silent through his shenanigans. He gave a bow in the Unovan style, and the other members of the Brain Trust did the same.

Alex had, in recounting his frankly ridiculous trip to Norstad involving demigods and giant dragons, mentioned the aid and irritation the 'fairy king' had given them. He'd also mentioned that he was Xerneas' Tamer. That likely meant that he was immortal. Eric only knew of one other such Trainer, blessed by the Legendary hind's Kalosian counterpart, the once more enthroned King AZ.

Percy's unsettling grin focused on Eric, and the younger Redwood again wondered how his brother kept meeting such ancient beings. And befriending them. "So, my fame runs before me. Alright little Redwood, show me what you have so far, and I'll make it work."

Eric's brow rose higher. "Just like that?"

Percy nodded. "I am now extremely invested in getting the lizard's minions properly outfitted, though, if you ask me, you're all doomed. Pravus's troops carry mass-produced weapons that are essentially advanced, portable versions of what they used to keep all of Unova from retrieving the Original Dragon, in the middle of New Tork City. Pravus may be madder than a hatter, but he's been preparing for this. By the time Unova is ready, assuming you get even that far, you'll be in for a long, bloody, war."

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Eric pushed his glasses up with one finger, and let the fluorescent lighting hide his eyes. "With respect, 'Fairy King', we're not going to lay down and let him conquer us. This is Unova. We bow only to One. Before we're through, the Fornians will remember why."

Percy's grin widened. "Even if that One is your brother?"

Eric flinched, but nodded again. "If even half of what he told me about Norstad is true, he can…handle it. With the Dragon's help."

Percy chuckled softly. "Fighting spirit in the face of hopeless odds. I like it."

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By now, they'd walked over to the machine responsible solely for testing the components that would make up the blades. Percy's golden eyes flew over the data, and he smirked. "Having heat trouble, hmm? I ran into a similar problem. And Chargestones? Interesting choice...but it works. I guess. If you like blue."

A tired looking Frankie yawned, and joined the two, followed by the others. "Can you fix it?"

Percy's grin returned. "Do Ursaring defecate in forests? I have a solution, little nerd, but you're not going to like it."

The group looked at him expectantly, and he continued. "There exists on this planet a type of metal suitable for handling high powered currents of energy. It's actually quite plentiful...if you know where to look."

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Eric spoke up then. "And where, exactly, would we find this metal?"

Percy chuckled. "On this continent? Only one source exists, and Caleb Pravus has been...thorough... in keeping it all for himself. Where do you think he got so much for Sacreus' bunker city? His troop's armor and weapons? Where do you think all that ore the Church has been mining goes?" The five tired nerds stared at the Fairy King, too tired to deal with this kind of high-energy pep at the break of dawn.

Percy raised a finger, and gave his best impression of a Professor. "There exists a special Pokémon, in some parts of the world, worshiped since ancient times for giving Humanity the means to rebuild their towers that scrape the sky. On this continent, they exist only in one place, and any others that are discovered, or that manage to escape, are rounded up by the Prophet's own Hands."

Eric pinched the bridge of his nose. "Muk."

They'd all heard the stories, of course. Of the supposed living fields of metal that the Arcean Church used to build their infrastructure so quickly. Naturally, such absurdities were common amongst the many conspiracy theories made by those who claimed to have successfully left the Church, and were convinced that they needed to 'spread the truth'. The problem, was that the Church had countered them by releasing pretend conspiracists, until any and all rumor involving them was seen as most likely baseless. They'd buried the truth behind nonsense. It was common tactic of theirs, to flood the 'zone' as it were, with BS.

The Church had, of course, denied the existence of such efforts, or people making them. Now though, much of what had once been considered 'hate speech' from 'disgruntled thieves, unworthy of the Church' now rang with an unnerving air of truth.

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Percy gave a dark chuckle. "The word came from the Church's own members. At Unova's peril, you all ignored it. I mean, even I knew about the metal fields, and I've been locked in a tower for thousands of years." He glanced at the main monitor, and smirked. "Here. Pictures will do better than words. You lot have at least one satellite, aye?"

"Yes..." Eric said, recalling how Alex had spoken of the reason Percy had been in his tower. "But they don't like us using it..."

Percy immediately began typing commands into the console, grinning like a madman. "Please. They won't even know I was in here." The screen flashed, as he easily bypassed the passwords both for the computer, and control of the satellite. Usually used by students whose goal was to one day report the weather with some accuracy, it didn't have the best zooming-in capabilities, but Percy made do.

The screen lit up with the University's campus, and then moved thousands of miles in the space of a few seconds. They gasped, as they saw Fornia, and the thin man swore in a language that none of them knew. "Draaf. I knew it was bad, but…" Fornia was, in a word, on fire. The entire northern part of the region now burned, with the exception of a few small patches of green, due to water Pokémon no doubt.

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The problem, was that most of the sky was now covered in smoke, for the winds favored Pravus' plan, and were blowing in a southern and eastern direction. They were winter winds, and they had come early this year. Once over the Stoney Mountains, the air currents brought it all east, in an ever-encroaching blanket of ash-filled darkness. The cloud avoided the populated areas of the regions under Arcean control, namely the cities, but as it moved ever eastward it would, eventually, cover Unova as well.

After zooming in through the ash clouds, they witnessed a scene straight out of one of old Earth's fairytales. It looked, for all intents and purposes, like a scene from tales of Armageddon, or Ragnarok. Fire, smoke, entire herds of local Pokémon heading in whatever direction they thought would provide safety. Too many hadn't escaped the flames, but thankfully, the region's many ground types seemed to be capable of extinguishing the wounded, and clearing temporary paths in the flames.

"Enough." Eric finally managed, after noticing the looks on the faces of his team. Those images would likely haunt them, but as Percy shifted the camera, a new horror covered the screen. Fornia's southernmost peninsula, to the west of their half of Texico, was mostly desert and scrub.

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The only city of note that far south was Arcino, but with their aerial view, they spotted something else, silver against the reddish brown of the ground. Percy zoomed in, and again, the group gasped.

While a relatively new discovery, the Hex Nut Pokémon had exploded in popularity…on other continents. Unovans, amongst others, had eagerly waited for more to appear in their regions after their discovery in Alola, and yet, very few had. Within a few years, the Meltan had all seemingly vanished completely, even from the islands. Now, from an aerial view, they saw where they'd all wound up.

Meltan had a tendency to explode in population, and their evolution was, in some places, considered a mythical Pokémon. The large silver pools, visible from orbit, appeared to be filled with hundreds, if not thousands, of the species, all forced together as molten ooze, stuffed in giant craters upon the ground. Unable to form singular bodies, the nuts that passed for their heads floated helplessly in the pools.

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Percy's tone was grim. "This, is where the Arceans get their metal from. I have it on good authority that, through means I'll leave you all to imagine, they've managed to make the Melmetal produce something much stronger than iron. In my day, such a thing was accomplished by a bond with a Tamer, and an appropriate diet. They just toss in the ore, and these pools produce a building material on par with ceracrete."

David spoke up then, looking just as pale and disturbed as the other four. "S-so how are we supposed to get what we need?"

Percy chuckled. "Leave that to the professionals." He set the satellite back to its original position, and left as tracelessly as he'd entered, even going as far as deleting the logs of the machine's use and movement. He turned then, to the fabrication machine, and examined the in-progress schematic. "I'll handle it, at any rate, but first…let's adjust this…"

His fingers flew over the keyboard, and the other five watched, somewhat amazed, as the strange man with the fancy clothes and hat reduced the percentage of failure upon completion to acceptable parameters. Once they had the materials they needed. "The holy lizard wants you five focused on armor, now. The east has great Trainers, and strong Pokémon, but they keep dying because their opponents are far better equipped. Solve that, while I get your metal."

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"And how do we do that?" One of the nerds asked.

Percy chuckled again. "Speak with Rayquaza. The older one…er, you may know it as the 'eastern one' as well. He's the one in charge of supplying your…materials. Get to it!"

Percy gave another flourish with his hat as he bowed, and then vanished with a flash of energy the five had come to associate with those who could Teleport. "Bloody psychics…" Eric muttered, still eyeing the schematic, and what changes had been made. He couldn't argue with the fact that Percy was either brilliant, or knew what he was doing. Or both. He glanced at the others. "You heard him. Back to work. I'm going to take a nap."

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The Dragon Emperor's Palace – Unova Region

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Tao, thankfully, was not so weak as to go down from one Outrage attack. His scales were scorched, but he managed to right himself over the ruined, empty buildings of Undella, only to find that the focus of his awakened fury was already going claw-to-claw with Shruikan, in a rematch both had evidently wanted. A Tyranitar and the Swampert called Hydrus were engaged as well, trading titanic punches. Both were surrounded in a shield of aura, but the Tyranitar's was blackish purple, and shocked to the touch. Thankfully, Hydrus was part ground type, but it still stung with every hit.

Alex had been surrounded by seven multicolored lights once the mega evolved Noivern had struck Tao. His team had popped free on their own, their power surging as their Trainer's did. He split his mental focus with ease, and helped each of them fight simultaneously as they moved to engage the Hand's team, including his younger members, who had teamed up, and taken on a group of black clad Arceans that had made their way onto the remnants of the beach.

He'd worried, for a moment, until he sensed Ictus. Evidently the surge of power, and fresh victory with Fell Stinger, had been enough for the crimson scorpion to evolve. Between him, Gelauros, and Cenomons, they could handle things.

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Alex's eyes were still burning with golden light, and the Sages each withdrew a crystalline spherical 'Pokéball' that was evidently common to their era three millennia past. They had called out their revived partners once the Arceans had begun charging the palace. Evidently, they were here for the new 'Dragon Emperor', but capturing the newly risen seat of the Empire would deal a telling blow to morale.

The nearby Trainers perched on the cliffs above Undella, who'd sensibly hauled ass once the ground started shaking, were now engaged as well. From seemingly nowhere, the Hand had appeared with a small army of elite Trainers. Blaze joined Shruikan in the sky, and the three dragons cartwheeled over the former bay, lighting the area up with their flames and beams of energy.

The Seven Sage's Pokémon went forth to help as well, only to be met by three figures who appeared seemingly out of nowhere, in the blink of an eye. Evidently, the Shadow Triad had found new employers.

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Lux spoke then, eyes widening at what he sensed. "Go to the dragon! Merge your power with his. That will…handle this." The ghost flitted back into the hilt, which Alex then ignited, as he sailed through the air towards the Original Dragon.

The Hand of Death chuckled, appearing before him from seemingly nowhere. Alex shifted in mid-air, and zipped past him, but he followed behind, shouting, "What is it with you, and running from Battle? I bet N never turned his back to his enemies this often!"

Alex ignored the obvious goading, meant only to distract him from uniting with the dragon. He was Tao's Tamer, and it was time Fornia understood exactly what that meant. It was a lesson Unova had learned long ago, and it was one that had stuck in their cultural psyche.

Spiraling through the air towards Alex, the two met, and the human landed atop his icy crest, that made up his horns, and formed a ridge down his back. Ice swirled up around his shoes, holding him in place. The dragon snarled, glaring at the sky. "We're too low…"

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Alex was busy focusing on his plasma sword, as the base opened to admit his Draco Plate crystal, when an ear-splitting screech tore through the sky. His focus was broken. There was power in that cry, that could only have been a Hyper Voice. From above the clouds gathered by the lightning that had struck the still-glowing lighthouse atop the palace, a figure straight from pre-history appeared.

Where the east coast had Tao, the western coast also had a Legendary Guardian of their own, in the distant past. Some claimed it had been Ho Oh, but the most infamous Legend was the Pokémon known as Ignavis, though whether that was its nickname or its species name, no one was sure. Ignavis had been the product of 'dark sorcerers' in the western regions, evidently created by infusing Shadow into a Moltres egg via ancient and lost magical arts from another region. The stories claimed that Tao had slain the bird after it scorched half the Empire, but evidently, it had risen again several times through the ages.

Where once flames of red, orange and white had covered the wings, purple now dominated. Alex could see the resemblance to Moltres in the gold and red feathers, now tainted with blackish purple, but this creature was now far beyond that species and seemed more similar in appearance to the Galarian variant of the Legendary bird, cursed to an existence of constant and painful rebirth if the legends were true. The enormous bird's blue eyes were, even from this distance, filled with pain. The dark form of the Hand of Death appeared atop the bird's head, and he guided it towards the pair. It let out a shriek of rage as it spotted Tao, and once more, the dragon and the firebird dueled in the sky.

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Ice formed in a protective block around Alex as he knelt low to avoid the massive flaming razor sharp beak of the Legendary bird. "Focus on empowering the crystal." Tao's voice came, calm as ever, even though he currently was whirling and slashing about in the clouds so quickly Alex could hardly follow his spiraling movements. "It will take much for me to achieve the next level."

Alex smirked. He'd figured as much. He began chanting low, in the dragon tongue, hilt grasped with both hands as dark fire met the three elements at the dragon's command just beyond his icy protection. Finally, he felt Lux give him the signal. It was ready.

His eyes shifted from gold to blue, though he hardly noticed, as he raised the hilt, ignited it, and sliced through his icy shield. Tao had just forced the Shadow-infused bird back with a torrent of fire that sparkled with blue electricity, and the hilt flared as the Original Dragon's Tamer finished his incantation, and activated the power with a final Shout.

"Dovah Envok!"

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The Light energy that had been surging through him now transferred into the Original Dragon though his sword's hilt, and his form turned pure white as the infinite power of the Alpha remade him. A second pair of wings jutted out from above his hind legs, looking more akin to Reshiram's than Zekrom's. An aura of brilliant gold formed around Tao's altered form, which was significantly larger in size, at almost a hundred and fifty feet in length. His facial tendrils now constantly sparked, and a pair of blue flames that looked suspiciously like eyebrows now adorned the dragon's scaly brow.

The most notable change however, aside from a noticeable increase in size, was his tail. Where before it had resembled a lizard's save for the icy crest on the end, it now was entirely encased in sparking ice, and took the shape of a wicked looking serpent-like appendage that resembled a tail with the sharp head of a lance. Despite the ice, it seemed to move as fluidly as his regular form's appendage. His wings were covered on their edges with icy spikes, and his claws were now much the same as the crest running down his back, in that they too burned with fire.

Tao gave a roar that echoed across the former bay, as he ascended to his Mega Form, the symbol of Infinity flashing briefly above his head, before he refocused his attacks on his quarry. That roar got everyone's attention, and many paused to stare in awe at the dragon above them. The Unovans cheered, and the tide began to turn as Tao's tail rearranged the ice surrounding it, momentarily obscuring the deadly weapon that was the tip as a mix of Zekrom and Reshiram's tails formed around the serpentine appendage, and roared like a rocket engine, sending the dragon and his Tamer straight towards the dark bird at unmatchable speed.

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Like Alex, Pravus's Hand had come prepared, and while each of their teams were battling, the two of them were yet perched atop their Legendary partners. That is, until a powerful Air Slash, which was also somehow sporting dark purple flames, slammed into the dragon's head as he charged, and sent his Tamer plummeting.

Tao focused on fighting the dark phoenix, as he assumed his human would be fine. He'd survived the Trials after all, and had successfully walked each path. He could handle the corpse-being that, at that very moment, followed the Champion through the air, down into the forests just south of Undella. The two massive Pokémon had drifted further west, as they clashed, and there was no doubt that Nimbasa was getting quite a show.

Alex managed to halt his fall, stopping his momentum at the last second, and then landing gently. The Hand of Death had no such respect for their terrain. He came hurtling down, and his landing left a crater within the small, wooded clearing they'd found. There was a small river just behind it, that sounded like it connected to a waterfall of some description not far from them.

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Finally down to just his sword, but still, even then, mentally aiding his team in their own respective battles, Alex ignited the blade once more, as he connected with his Rotom, and fell into his usual fighting stance. He had no doubt the Hand had orders to take him alive. Though he imagined dead would work just as well.

The man gave a dark chuckle, and black energy swirled in his palms, coalescing into a deadly, and admittedly cool looking pair of scythes that curved up along each of the man's arms perfectly. Fighting him in melee combat would be unwise, it seemed. "Come quietly, Redwood…I don't want to be in this backwater region when the army gets here. The Blitz has already begun. It's not going to be pretty…but you were all given plenty of time to join us."

Alex gave the plasma sword a twirl as he shifted his stance, and the lower end of it sprang to life as well. The new blade remained the same black and white color, but an aura of draconic energy surrounded the entire weapon as Lux drew on the crystal still within the hilt. "We were never going to join your cult…not by force. We value our freedoms too much on this side of the continent."

"Exactly…" One of the dark blades sliced towards him, but it seemed to be moving in slow motion to his new, strange vision, and he dodged it with ease. Alex chalked it up to the recent power-increase, and let the energy of the universe flow through his eight opened chakra points. His eyes shifted to dark blue as he reached for the energy, and formed an aura shield of dragon and psychic typing over his form. Not unlike the ones most of his team were slowly getting the hang of controlling. "You all value your pointless freedoms far too much…you have no structure, no goals, your governments are weak, and your Trainers…leave much to be desired."

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Alex decided to strike then, or try to, only to find that the strange black metal repelled his dual-bladed sword. So far, it was the only thing it hadn't cut clean through. Their exchange of blows occurred faster than normal eyes could follow, but in the end, Alex only managed a small singe mark on the man's thigh. It healed before his eyes, and he grimaced.

The Hand found it amusing, though. "Cut me as much as you like…it will make no difference. I'm just toying with you." Another furious exchange of blows came then, and the truth of the Hand's words became evident as Alex realized who the better fighter was.

He forced himself to smirk, despite the increasingly dire circumstances. "I had a feeling you were holding back…time to stop playing around, then." Though his words were confident, the bravado was empty, as yet another lightning fast exchange resulted in yet another stalemate. He couldn't break the man's guard, but neither did he seem able to get through his own as easily as he claimed.

The Hand chuckled. "If that's the best you've got, we started this war early for nothing."

"You haven't even seen a glimpse of what I have in store for your Prophet…and I'm not expending it on you." Alex's smirk widened, and the Hand's face went cold, neutral, unreadable.

"Then you shall die."

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The blows came faster then, and the man assaulted Alex's dual-bladed guard with the relentless power only undeath could give. He was a corpse. He would keep fighting long after Redwood was exhausted. For his part, Alex tried every combination of moves he could, but it was never enough. No shift in fighting style worked, and he could barely keep the incoming blows from cutting him.

The Hand's scythes dripped with crimson, and the pale man licked one. His eyes widened, slightly. "So…that's the difference…interesting…but not enough, Dragonborn." The Prophet's Hand stopped playing around then, as both blades forced the dual-bladed plasma sword up, leaving the little hero's midsection open, for a moment. A moment was all he needed.

Alex watched the scythes twirl impossibly fast. His new, and still unfamiliar heightened perception could track such things easily, but his body was nowhere near fast enough to dodge this. Not after the injuries he'd taken. His arms and legs bore the most cuts, but Tao's clothing really was invaluable, as it stitched back together, it also mended his skin with makeshift stitching, made of pieces of the strange fabric. It would need tending later, but for the battle at hand, it was useful, and kept him from bleeding out.

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The Hand's weapons did something strange as he arced his weapons up for the finishing blow. They came together at each handle, and formed a proper length dual-sided scythe, right as the man brought it down towards his tired opponent with a vertical two-handed strike. The pale Hand growled in his throat as he saw his weapon stopped by a blade similar in curve to his own, one that was black, and bore streaks of red.

"Not today!" A triumphant voice crowed from atop the waterfall. Alex glanced up to see a black scaled Haxorus blocking the path of the deadly scythe's blade with a blade of his own. "Dual-Chop!" The dragon began smashing his head at the man, who struggled to hold it off, for a moment. Long enough for the Haxorus's Trainer to jump down, grab the large form of the Champion, and leap away.

Alex only got a brief glance at his would-be rescuer, before their escape was halted. A gleaming metal shackle had the man around the ankle, and as Alex got a proper look at him, his eyes widened. "Lance!?"

It was indeed the blue haired boy he'd battled some years before, the grandson who'd been named for his famous relative, and apparently puberty had finally hit him. Moreover, his attire seemed familiar, and it took Alex a minute to recognize the Opelucid Gym's new outfits.

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"Glad you remember me." The Dragon Tamer said, somewhat sarcastically. "The Dragon called for reinforcements. Nate answered." He gestured at the sky then, and Alex stared, as did Pravus's Hand. The skies over Undella, and the area immediately south and west, were teeming with dragon types, each fully evolved, and many trained by Nate's own hand. Leading them, arms crossed atop his Hydreigon, was the Champion turned Gym Leader, and one of Unova's many Heroes. A man arguably as ruthlessly strong as Hilbert, who was set on becoming a true Dragon Tamer.

The battle between Tao and his shadowy opponent quickly turned. A hard crunch on the phoenix's neck stunned it long enough for the ice-covered, sparking tail to stab it in the heart. Blue flames overwhelmed purple, and the firebird fell from the sky, landing in the salty puddle just south of Undella's ruins, and all that remained of the bay. The heat from the Pokémon's passing burned away any remaining water, but thankfully, any Pokémon in the bay had quickly followed their instincts, and swam east, towards Unova's harbor once the ruins had begun shaking. There was plenty of room for them there.

Sensing the conflict had shifted, the Hand of Death began to move to escape, only to find himself wrapped up by a pair of Dragonair. Lance's equally blue-haired sister came through the foliage surrounding their little clearing then, and gave a nod towards Alex. "I'll make sure he stays put. With the others we've captured."

"Keep him wrapped up." Alex said, caution in his tone, "If we give him a chance to flee, he will take it. My team has his Pokémon handled." Indeed, each of them had subdued the Hand's Pokémon, usually by way of fainting. Only the Tyranitar had escaped underground, quickly outpacing his Lairon in digging speed.

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Blue light surrounded their little group, as Alex lifted them into the air, ignoring the cries of surprise. They paused, as they saw the field of battle. Plenty of Trainers had, evidently, fallen to the surprise attack. Most had been out hoping to see history, not die in the first skirmish of the war. Only the strong had survived the Arcean's unified brutality. This would not be the first time their better equipment and tactics would kill all but the strong, and indeed, it was happening even at that moment, all along the newly established front between east and west.

Alex landed them next to Tao, who was still in his Mega Form. His long neck turned towards them, and focused on the prisoner they'd brought with them. The eyes narrowed, and began to glow with bright golden Purging Light as they focused on the Hand of Death, who began to laugh.

It was an unnerving sound, one that almost hurt to hear, but eventually it was silenced by the thundering Voice of the Original Dragon. "Ahvakaar…" The eyes flared, burning with impossibly bright Light energy, and the laughs turned to a brief, pitiable scream as the Hand was incinerated. The Dragonair, who to their credit had not moved, had been untouched, and even healed, in the Light the Original Dragon now wielded.

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Tao raised his head again, and snorted in distaste. His eyes focused on his Tamer, and he spoke only to him, then. "If ever you doubt why Pravus needs to die…remember the creature you just saw. Undeath is the antithesis of what we stand for. There is life, there is death, always in Balance. Undeath disrupts that Balance, usually by increasing the amount of death, and the world around such creatures suffers as a result. They are beings to be pitied, for they should not be, but are."

Alex nodded, responding the same way. "I hadn't intended to like it, but…it really is inevitable. If he takes total control, the number of things like that Hand is only going to increase. But that does make me wonder…what of Ghost Types?"

The dragon's eyes glanced away, "They…are quite different. Mainly for guiding the dead who get lost or diverted on their path to Arceus' realm, though they can also be lost themselves, and be very powerful because of it. Some, like your little spark, were simply composed of Ghost Type energy originally, and imbued with sentience. What gives said sentience varies between ghosts. Undeath is…different. Ghost Types come to be when those with Normal typing pass on. Usually, their energy goes straight to the Spirit World, but there are always exceptions. Abominations are…different. They can only be raised with the Shadow energy you've seen, given the freedom to once more roam among the living, but do not forget, always their goal is to empower the Shadow. It's not surprising Pravus figured out how to bind the dead to his will. There may yet be more of these."

Alex raised a brow at that, his third eye glaring at the dragon. "And if I encounter them, what am I supposed to do? Slicing this one didn't really work."

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The dragon sighed. "It would have, if you'd found an opening…but his form was impressive, even I have to admit. Most cannot use dual-scythes so effectively. If you want to put these creatures down, you will need to Purge them, as I did. You meet their gaze, you hold it, and then you summon the Light. If they are not part of the natural order, they will be burned away. It has other uses as well, but stick to using it to cleanse the abomination's partners for now. I will make sure they do not cause more trouble."

Alex mulled that over as he did as instructed. The Hand's team had eventually been corralled, and all but the Noivern had accepted being bound. Once they were free of the Shadow's taint, they each apologized for what they'd been unable to control, and Alex found he understood them completely when they spoke. Likely a result of King Harmonia's gift. With the team cleansed and the purple egg of the phoenix in the Sage's capable hands, Alex climbed onto the Original Dragon's back, after thanking the siblings, and the two soared towards the palace. It was covered with lazing dragon types, all who had an eye on the massive form of Shruikan circling them overhead, like death itself. Alex spied Nate by the front entrance, speaking with the Sages.

The newly raised palace had been hit quite hard, but the Sages had earned their keep, and had kept any Arceans from entering. Now, they were barring Nate's way. Alex hopped off of Tao, who then perched by wrapping around the building. In his evolved state, he encircled all of it, easily. The dragon gave Shruikan a look then, and the massive dragon landed on the newly raised earth, then curled up for a nap.

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Nate glanced at the Champion, and the two shared nods of mutual respect. He hadn't been around as often as Hilbert, and Alex hadn't made too strong of an effort to hang more. Namely because of the man's obnoxiously loud friend Hugh, who hung around him almost every day, trying to beat the Champion turned Gym Leader. He had not, according to Hilda, beaten Nate even once, but that hadn't stopped him. Nate hadn't seemed to mind their lack of contact, as he'd been focused on Rosa at the time, and little else.

Alex spoke first, "Thank you, for responding so quickly. Without the dragons, we would've tasted defeat, not victory."

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Tao chuckled, and a murmur of draconic laughter rumbled from those also perched on the steps of the enormous pyramidal palace. The two humans stared up at him. "Victory? No…not victory. Not yet. This is only the first of many sparks that will ignite the flames Pravus craves." The dragon's eyes focused on the Gym Leader then. "We are going to need her. Wake her up." Nate bowed, and nodded, evidently quite aware of who Tao meant.

He turned to Alex then, and shrugged. "Tao told me to guard our homeland. That's what I've been doing. I hunt them, and Rosa jails them." His expression seemed to indicate he didn't care for the current state of affairs, and neither, frankly, did Alex. Tao sent a mental wave of agreement as well, though his mind was engaged now with the Sages, who had each floated up to him, and bowed in unison.

Alex spoke then, "I think it's time we change that. I don't need Arceans in Unova. Not while we're at war, at least. They've demonstrated that they'll do whatever their cult leaders order them to. No matter how morally questionable. They're a risk to our people, while this conflict exists."

Nate raised an eyebrow of his own as the Champion spoke. "So what do you intend to do about them...Dragon Emperor?"

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Alex gave the man a grim smirk. "I'm going to give them a chance to redeem themselves…and I have a feeling many will take it."

Nate flinched as the Champion summoned his massive, napping Salamence with little more than a glance. The man leapt atop the dragon's head with a jump that no normal human could ever match as he flew by the formerly buried palace, Nate followed on his Hydreigon, as Tao and the Seven Sages properly conversed for the first time in millennia. Other dragons followed them into the sky, each carrying several prisoners bound to their backs by rope.

Now cleansed of the Shadow, the Hand's formerly enslaved Pokémon had agreed that, with their master gone, their loyalty to the human's cult was void. They'd taken off south, to the verdant forests, with Absol leading them. Said Absol had also promised Arthur that, should he ever need their aid, he would have it, for what he'd tried to do by freeing them in Fornia. Alex had listened in, mostly by accident, but again found himself understanding Pokéspeech with no difficulty.

The thunder of dragons headed north, towards Opelucid City once more, and as Alex and Nate peeled off and landed in Lacunosa Town just to the east of New Tork City's northern borough, he grimaced at what the town had become. Gone was the sleepy little walled village. After being turned into a prison by the Arceans under Ghetsis, and then reclaimed by the Unovan residents, the town had become the unofficial holding area for any Arceans that had been deemed a threat by the Unovan's police forces, and newly expanding military.

Conditions were, compared to the Church's prisons, luxurious. Three meals, time for exercise, and even access to TV. Nobody…official had come to the quietly forgotten town, and thus the 'prisoners' had never been interrogated.

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"I'll need to see them one at a time." Alex said to Nate, as they headed toward the now militaristic camp's main building.

Nate chuckled, as he saw who'd come out to meet them. "That's not really my call."

The two Champions were as awkward and flustered as they'd ever been in the other's presence, and Alex waited patiently as the awkward small talk between he and Rosa dragged on. When there was a painful pause, he spoke. "It's time we freed up these people for the front line. You included, Rosa. One way or another, today, these Arceans are no longer our burden. I need a room. Soundproofed. Send them to me one at a time."

The woman glanced between him, and then Nate, who just shrugged, and then she nodded, seemingly glad for the chance to be free of watching these people. After weeks of hearing them whine and threaten litigation, which due to the current state of war, and governmental reorganization, would be pointless, she was ready to push them on someone else.

He ended up being given the mess hall, which had once been one of the townspeople's homes. The original occupants had been 'transferred' to Fornia, and the new Arcean occupants had been trampled to death in an icy stampede from Kyurem. Thus, it had been repurposed.

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The first of the two hundred or so people he'd be forced to speak with came in, and set the tone for how most of the 'interrogations' would go. She was evidently someone who'd been captured from Castelia, in the sewers, amongst other militant Arceans who had been planning sabotage for use in this very conflict.

To his credit, Alex tried every other method first. He asked about her family. She had a husband, and three children. He asked where they were, and found they'd been scattered effectively around the Church's territory. He asked when she'd last seen them. She hadn't answered. He asked if that was what she'd wanted, and he came to learn that she'd been raised in this cult, and didn't know better. Staying apart was what families did. Saving the planet was too important.

He turned on the TV he'd had brought in then, and showed her the video that he'd asked Haley to work on over the summer. A guide for someone who'd been brainwashed into the Arcean cult and the many, many things they didn't know about it. He knew it needed some updating now, but it got the point across, once she watched. She saw how easily Pravus had whipped her deluded countrymen into a bloody frenzy. Getting her to watch had been a conflict in itself. Only by forcing her eyes and ears open by way of a brief, controlled burst of psychic power did she finally literally see the long history of sketchy violence and practices her Church was party to.

In truth, he'd only forced her eyes for a moment. Once they'd seen the screen, they'd stayed open out of pure human curiosity, and she'd been engrossed in the hard, disturbing evidence behind the Church's activities, much of which she knew the Church had already very specifically denied. From her perspective, it had been a little odd. At random times, the Church-run news network would make announcements about events they hadn't been openly linked to, with no other information about why they denied these claims officially being released. Most of their people hadn't known about the incidents in the first place, but they just assumed that the Prophet, for whatever reason, knew they had to be aware of this information. If they were going to Save the world.

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It took several hours, but eventually, he felt certain that the woman understood, to a degree, the truth of things. Her resistance towards him had eroded to irritated acceptance, rather than outright shunning. He gave her a choice then, in exchange for turning infiltrator, Unova would find her relations, free them, and show them what she'd seen as well. He offered to help de-program them to the falsehoods they'd been fed, and eventually she agreed. She would claim to have escaped custody, and would be churned back into the machine that was the Church.

From there, the Rebels would guide her, as they were most familiar with what they needed to find. Tao had them focused on gathering as much intel on their foes as possible, though those among the Tribe that had wanted to fight, had been encouraged to do so. They were the ones currently in charge of whipping Unova's many skilled Trainers into physical fighting shape, and some semblance of an army.

Alex called in the next candidate, and after a few more hours of similar tactics, he'd convinced the man in question to settle a farm somewhere in Unova, and leave saving his family from the Church to the Dragon Emperor himself. He suddenly had a long list of names and locations to memorize, but Alex found that it was actually quite easy. His mind categorized information in a useful, and entirely new way since his trials. He found he could feasibly Teleport close enough to many of the people in question, and for those he couldn't, he always had other methods of travel.

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Sorting through the entire 'camp' took several days, but Tao assured him that he had the war handled, for the moment, and that what he was doing was more important. There were billions of Fornians under the Church. The better he became at breaking their delusions, the quicker this war would end.

In the end only eighteen had refused his offers, even after learning, and more disturbingly, accepting, what their Church had done. They'd told him that it was the only way the Prophet could Save the planet. Before he could, he needed to dominate it, and because he was immortal, in time, he would. They had believed that they were the first generation of an army that would one day spread Arceus' Word to the stars as well. A Star Crusade, they called it. Where humanity would expand rapidly under the Church's influence, and cleanse any unworthy sentients or psychic-heretics they encountered. According to them, Pravus already had a working ship as well, one that could travel the stars in hours, rather than years.

It was a convincing tale, Alex admitted, and one he might very well have believed if he, like these people, had grown up with indoctrination in every hour of his early life. The more he broke their illusions however, the more he wondered. His granduncle had nurtured his skeptic side, but he'd always had a rational outlook on things. He'd figured out Santa shared Mom's handwriting when he was five, by comparing presents. He probably wouldn't have fit in, in Fornia.

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That thought prompted a final round of interrogation. He let the now all but belligerent prisoners each ramble on for five minutes exactly, before cutting through whatever parroted nonsense they were spewing with a Word that silenced them as it shook the very air. He'd then asked what became of kids who had been like him, who were inherently skeptical. Or at the very least doubtful, of what the adults claimed was truth.

Each of the men had grinned at the question. It was a disturbing look, one his instincts told him was genuinely evil. The worst side humanity had to offer. What they told him was, in so many words, the same. Children like him were shipped off, sometimes for years at a time, to the Navy. There, trapped on a ship with naught but open sea for miles, they would learn to obey…or be thrown overboard to the Sharpedo swarms that acted as their battle-yacht's engines.

Many of the Sharpedo grew quite massive, and the strongest of those, were captured and infused with Shadow. The Navy had held their largely unnecessary blockade of the ocean for years. Japan had no interest in their land, and Eous was busy fighting the Imperium. Alola was isolated, but they hadn't weighed in on the current conflict yet. Word of it probably hadn't even reached them.

It seemed once again the Prophet had engineered a useful tool that accomplished several things at once. A powerful navy, which would keep the Alolans from going anywhere near the western coast regardless of what they decided, and a system that sorted the weak, and created strong water type Trainers. Still unnerved, he'd finally asked Tao what he thought, and the dragon seemed surprised. Evidently emperors of old believed their decisions were the right ones. Rarely did they consult him, after taking power.

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The dragon had mentally watched his protégé interrogate the Fornians, and he had quietly grown cold in dread. This rhetoric was being spewed from low-level information gatherers. He knew, based on what he'd learned of the organization, that this 'devotion' would only be stronger the higher ranked one was. The army of 'Crusaders' were considered soldiers, and therefor were relatively high in the pecking order. They, and their families, were given the best lives the Church could offer in return for service, and thus, their loyalty was quite strong.

Finally, he gave his Tamer an answer. "Men like these are going to be the majority in those who've taken up arms against us. Their…certainty will be much stronger, their faith unquestioning. You will need your Voice to make them listen…or…you can try to Purge them. It is not always an attack, but can sometimes remove a being's inner conflict with…let's call it 'divine insight'. Once Purged, even their Bishops are likely to bow to you."

He could feel the dislike of the option in the human, and it was a long while before he responded. "And what would those I Purged be like, when this war ends? Will I be ruling over a bunch of devoutly loyal subjects missing half their natural emotions?" The dragon let silence speak for itself, and he sensed the human sigh. "That's what I thought. I can Purge men like these…the infiltrators, the soldiers, if we must…they'll never turn…but for the general masses, the civilians, I will need the right Words. First, I think I need to visit someone whose likely found them before…"

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Shor's Hall, Uppsalir – Norstad Region

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Alex felt a bit awkward, just Teleporting to Thor's own hall, but he did remember it well enough to do so. His stupidly large fist pounded the door three times, and after a moment, one of the Einherjar opened the door, and nodded at him in greeting. "Dovahkiin. You are welcome in Thor's hall always, for bringing Doom upon the World Eater. Come. Feast. I will retrieve Thor." Alex nodded, briefly examining the warrior as he entered and followed him. Most of Thor's warriors looked identical, well over his own height of six feet and five inches, bearded, and with similar skin to Thor's though where his was golden, theirs was silver, and up close he noted, faint straight lines ran across the warrior's skin, much like Thor's. It was not long before the God of Thunder himself appeared, grinning broadly as he saw Alex.

The grip hurt less, Alex noticed, as he and the Thunder God clasped the other by the wrist, in the manner of his people. "Welcome back, Dovahkiin. What brings you again into mine hall?"

He met the god's eyes then, and saw them widen. "You may have heard…I recently became the ruler of my people. You may have also heard that we're at war…and it is not going well. Not yet, anyways, or so the Dragon says. He claims to have a plan, and I trust his word." He saw the being casually rest a hand on the hilt of his hammer as he listened and nodded. "I come seeking your help with…a matter of the Voice. I know your people would usually just charge in, fight, and let nature decide who the strongest is, but I don't want to kill millions of people. Especially as I intend to rule them, as well. If I don't kill as many of their relatives, I'll have less…revenge-driven enemies, in the long run."

The Thunder God nodded his golden-haired head once more, "I understand. You believe the power of the Storm Voice will sway them from their…religious indoctrination. You would be correct. This means you are also aware, or at least assume, my people did something similar once."

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Alex nodded. "Something like that…but from what the legends say, it wasn't a hostile takeover. The Aesir and Humans interacted plenty without…too much senseless violence."

That got a chuckle from the Asgardian, as they sat, and ate of the feast that took up most of the central room of the hall. To Alex's knowledge, the food was always fresh, and always present. And always delicious.

"The Humans were not that difficult to bend…we came to this world, shooting lightning and healing wounds, stopping natural disasters with skills we all, to a degree, possess. The belief that we were superior, and therefor divine, came naturally, in many cases, and it was not something we discouraged." The gold-skinned being put a hand on his shoulder then. "I know you hesitate to cause more bloodshed, and more violent cycles of revenge, but you need to understand something. These…Fornians, they are not like the Humans we encountered so very, very long ago shivering in the cold of this very land under straw-thatched roofs. They are smarter. Cunning. Aware of the natural forces, and unnatural ones, at work around them. They are more like the Jotuns. And I assume you have heard tell of how many of those we had to kill. Many by mine own hammer. There are some minions of Shadow that will not break, not even to a Hyper Voice."

Alex munched quietly on a random piece of meat, attached to a perfectly sized bone jutting from it. It was delicious, easy to chew, and none of the meat got on his hand, for the bone-like protrusion accommodated his ridiculously large fingers. Seeing the young human still in distress, Thor sighed.

"Very well…to know the Word to break them, you must know who they are. What the bedrock of their belief is. You must shatter the wrongness of it in an impactful way…then, at least, they will be confused, and hesitant to fight. They will think, and in that moment, many will understand what they are a part of. The good ones will rebel, and the number of dead will…lessen. The good news is that you are fighting a cult mentality. What breaks one thoroughly enough will likely work on most of them. But first…"

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The Dragon Emperor smirked then, as the understanding slowly came across his features. "I must know my enemy. Thank you, Thor…I do appreciate the wisdom. And the food." They both chuckled at that, and bit into their respective hunks of meat. Alex caught the god's eye then, and saw a crimson eyebrow rise suggestively. Alex smirked, and rolled his eyes, but swung his backpack around anyways.

After several minutes of casual chatting, and setting up the instruments involved with enjoying the Leaf, the Aesir spoke, "And you say this…bong…can be fashioned of thunderclouds?"

Alex shrugged, but then nodded. "That's how the Dragon made this one. It's practically unbreakable. Do not." He said, as he saw the grinning god reaching for his hammer. He had a bad habit of smashing it into unbreakable things.

"I will forge you a new one!" Thor said, grinning at the dark grey instrument. He wanted to try Mjolnir's strength against that of the Original Dragon's. He'd heard the legend of the serpent's power, and now there was a chance to test himself against it right in front of him.

"After we smoke. I have a spare he made as well, just as useful, and a bit cleaner if I'm honest. It is always wise to carry a spare. You can bang on that one." That, thankfully, kept the God of Thunder from smashing the already packed instrument, and the two enjoyed the brief hours of peace, before the war that was to come.

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Norstad had changed quite a bit since Alduin fell. The Everwinter had finally broken. Sun returned to the land, and Percy had made great efforts to regrow the forests. It was still cold, of course, but nothing compared to what had once been. While the Fairy King had rounded up the strongest of Norstad's new Trainers, each of whom had been inspired by the songs regarding the Fall of Alduin, and the role a Trainer had played in it, Thor had promised himself, his host of warriors, and a squad of Articuno flyers to reinforce their Unovan friends as well. He claimed to have a score to settle, with the Prophet. They were due to rendezvous with Professor Buckeye's forces in Ohiana over the next few days.

That only left Kalos unusually quiet. In all the long years the two had been allies, whenever the Imperium threatened Kalos, Unova would come to aid. When previous incarnations of Fornia had done the same as the current one, Kalos had come to Unova's aid, but now, after four attacks on the capital, and the outbreak of war, there was naught from Kalos but silence.

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Lumiose City – Kalos Region

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"It is time, Venu. Dark Burst." Four shadowy wings, akin to a Venomoth's, surrounded the figure under the full moon. He was a man, garbed now in a skin-tight suit that looked quite breathable, despite the skin-tightness. It was mainly purple in color, though there were hints of black as well. In the night sky, he was hard to see.

He soared high over Lumiose, and grinned. "Finally…those Hearts will be mine…"

The darkness in his wings flared as they continued to carry him ever higher. A voice came quietly from them, one he'd rarely heard of late. "Do not forget to whom you promised those artifacts, Dark Moth…"

"I remember, hag…" The man muttered. The legends said that whoever possessed both would be granted unlimited power, and while he'd been tempted to use that himself, another had made her interest in them known. She had been quite persuasive in convincing him that having ultimate power all the time was something that, inevitably, would ruin his relationship with the one he wanted revived. Therefor, he would bring the Hearts of Life and Death to her, and she would revive, in all capacities, the woman he'd lost. He did not doubt her skill, and did not desire any errors in such a revival process.

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"Now…descend, my Shadow Spore!" The wings flared again, and orbs of darkness descended upon the sleeping citizens of Lumiose. Over the past few weeks, incidents involving people turned into 'super villains' had been an almost daily occurrence. It hadn't been long before most of the city had been affected by the oddness.

Normally, the Gym Leader would call in the League's help, but Clemont had, supposedly, locked himself in Lumiose Tower. In reality, nobody had seen him in public for quite a while. It wasn't all that unusual, as he'd created an automatic Gym Leader to handle his challengers while he invented decades ago, and the people of the region were now quite familiar with Clembot, but it had been months now with no word from anyone in the Gym. Aside from the machine, who wasn't programmed to answer questions about his maker.

With the absence of any official response, two Pokémon Trainers had answered the call to action. In their own words, these citizens turned dark called themselves villains. The two who stood against them figured there might as well be heroes, too. Nobody knew how the two heroes had acquired the Burst Hearts the turned citizens always seemed obsessed with stealing, but they'd given the ability to fuse a Trainer with their Pokémon, and become something new altogether. When normal Mega Evolution had failed, they'd stepped up, continuously, to drive off the unnaturally powerful opponents, and eventually cleanse them of the Shadow's influence.

Now, most of those who'd been cleansed were once more given the power, and once more, the Dark Moth's minions rose. The abilities his own Burst Heart gave him empowered both the citizen in question, and their Pokémon partner with varied supernatural abilities that made them quite strong. As expected, this usually led to chaos, but thus far, it had been relatively isolated chaos as Dark Moth tested his powers. It wasn't long before Lumiose was alight with the sounds of battle, as the local Trainers rose to meet the overwhelming numbers of brainwashed 'villains'.

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Thankfully, the two Trainers who had become Kalos' newest faces of justice hadn't been slouching when it came to figuring out what was causing these transformations. They'd discussed the possibility of what might happen if the Shadows hit more than one person at once. After that, they'd reached out to the League itself by physically visiting the Elite Four's home, and in response, the Champion had been sent.

He'd rallied the other Gym Leaders of course, and their mission was to break into the Lumiose Tower, to find Clemont, and have him activate the city's defenses. They had a stun setting, as well as a violent one, for when the invaders came for blood, and plunder. Given that the people attacking currently were citizens, stunning would be enough.

Connor Gladstone had joined the two 'heroes', and quickly realized this…'Heart power' was easily as strong as Mega Evolution. His Infernape Ardor had put up a good fight against the dark-winged moth man, but it was soon clear that their side needed a boost. That was when the female Trainer, who was part Ledian at that moment, handed him an empty Heart. Since it belonged to another, they could only use it once, but given that it was empty, it would work. Maybe.

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The fused combination of Trainer and Pokémon on a Champion's level quickly brought the villain down, hard. They'd only traded a few blows, and that had been all the burning ape man had needed. Raikou's fighting style, and their shared fighting typing, had enhanced the fusion, and Connor was almost disappointed that they could only use it this once. It would definitely smash through Alex's aura shield.

The 'Ledi Girl' proceeded to use what appeared to be some variation of a bright Silver Wind, and managed to engulf all of Lumiose within it, effectively cleansing the city of the shadowy balls of energy driving the citizens mad. Connor let the power fade, and both he and Ardor stretched, still in sync, as they became themselves once more.

"Oof. That's going to be sore for a bit. You two do this all the time, hmm?" He approached the girl, and her partner 'Night Cat', a Trainer who evidently had a Liepard, who'd held the swarm of powerful minions off while the Champion removed the source of their power. He handed the girl the empty Heart, and she stuffed it away.

Night Cat spoke then, "Our Pokémon fused with the Hearts when we found them. One was, apparently, once Xerneas's, and the other held Yveltal. We inherited some of their power. When a Pokémon becomes tied to a Heart, it's…painful to remove them from it. But it can be done, the plus side though, is no lingering side-effects. Borrowing the power of a Heart not your own can be…strenuous, on both the Trainer and the Heart crystal. It's best not to do it too often."

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Connor frowned at that, mulling over the information. Kalos' entities of life and destruction had likely been subjected to significant pain, if it was true. Perhaps that was what made them so much more shy than their Norstad counterparts. The heroes left then, to protect their 'secret identity', and Connor joined the Gym Leaders in Lumiose Tower.

They were in the midst of tying up a struggling Clemont, whose entire body was radiating a dark, visible aura. His eyes were constantly rolled back, and he appeared to be unconscious, like a puppet almost, when he moved. The struggling ceased as Connor stood before him. Clemont grinned then, but an elderly woman's voice came from his mouth. "Ahh! The Champion…good, good. I'm glad you are here. Now my collection of Heroes is complete…I finally have the entire Kalosian set!"

Connor raised a dark crimson brow, as the others readied their Pokéballs. Despite being tied up, Clemont rose into the air, and his face's grin was…unsettling. "What do you mean? You're speaking nonsense…" Connor said, also readying a ball.

Clemont raised his arms then, and the Champion swore as the three heroes of his homeland, the Swords of Justice, stepped from the shadow. They were engulfed in the same purple energy as Clemont, but none more so than Cobalion. The steel and fighting type's eyes looked tortured, and the veins around them had taken on the same color as the energy coursing through him, and his counterparts.

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"Fall back!" Connor ordered, and the Gym Leaders quickly did so, before the Swords could strike. Kalos was no stranger to strategic withdrawal. They moved into the Gym's battle arena then, and summoned their partners. All of them. Clemont's own team of a Diggersby and a Luxray joined the Swords, burning as dark as they did, and the battle quickly devolved into chaos.

Then, tearing through all of it, came a dark purple Flamethrower that threatened to engulf the Champion's whole party. An aura shield of scarlet-pink energy surrounded each of them before it hit, as well as their partners, and moved each of them away as another equally large, but normal colored Flamethrower collided with the first.

The pair of Delphox who'd cast the attacks stepped onto the Gym's field then, and Connor stared as a member of his own Elite Four, and hero in her own right, came shambling out to stand beside Clemont. He was busy reviving his partners, who had not been shielded or moved. The Swords had each defended themselves, seemingly on pure instinct, with their Sacred Swords. It had diverted most of the flames from them.

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Kalos's newest Champion turned to see their rescuer then, and pinched his brow. It was, of course, his sister, once more in a different outfit. It was frilly and Kalosian, but she'd kept the black and white color scheme. "I had it handled, sister."

Jess smirked at him as she joined her partner in the Trainer's box of the field. It seemed they'd be doing this properly, as Clemont had shambled backwards alongside the Swords, leaving only Serena to face her. "If you'd had that handled, you wouldn't have been falling back to this entrance. Take care of Clemont, would you? Bind him. I can cleanse them all once we settle this…"

Connor followed his sister's gaze, and raised a brow as he eyed the two Delphox. They both had unsettling grins on their sly features, and their eyes burned with psychic power. He summoned his Garchomp, and moved for the electric type Gym Leader.

The two foxes made an unseeable motion with their arms, and two more massive Flamethrowers collided. By now, their field was clear, which was good, for the intense heat had charred it, thoroughly.

The Delphox who opposed them had an aura that seethed with Shadow, and it flared as the voice from before spoke again in the same unsettling tones, tilting the Fox's head sideways as it spoke. "I'll show you mine if you show me yours…"

She brought out a staff of dark wood then, another Flamethrower already prepared. Delphi brought her own staff out, a similar attack readied as well, which manifested as a small but intense burning sphere within the reddish brown colored wood claws that made up the tip.

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The voice's owner laughed. "What the Hel is that supposed to be? Everyone knows Ash staves are the best."

Delphi glanced at her Trainer, nodded, then turned her sly eyes back to her opponent. "I prefer Redwood." She seemed to chuckle as she attacked, and her opponent quickly did the same, only to find that she'd been outclassed. The Blast Burn tore through the Flamethrower, and hit the enemy fox, her Trainer, and Clemont as well in a massive explosion of flame that left Delphi panting, and leaning on the sturdy Redwood staff. Of the Swords, there was no sign.

Gar had been handling the Luxray, and Connor let him battle on his own instinct, as he knew it would be good practice for the real Luxray they were preparing for. Gren had struck the Diggersby from the shadows, only to be countered by a quick Thunder from the electric lion.

Strong as Gren was, he was not the hardiest of Pokémon, and though he managed to hang on through the critical hit, Connor recalled him. Gar could handle the Luxray alone, and as Clemont fell, singed by magical fire, The Luxray in mid Thunder Fang had paused, instinctually drawn by the pain from his Trainer despite his being possessed. Gar gained the distraction he needed to strike, and he brought the thunder cat down, hard, shaking the entire gym with his Earthquake.

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The dragon type roared triumphantly, and Connor used an escape rope to bind the possessed Gym Leader, as Jess did the same to Serena. She brought out her Articuno, then. Though it was nearing winter, it very much felt as though it had arrived as Folokraan materialized from her ball. The entire gym became akin to a storage freezer in temperature, and ice began forming over every surface in the gym.

Gone was the hatchling, as after she'd begun to battle, she'd grown rapidly in size. Few could withstand the power of a Legendary bird. Compared to her kin in her village, she was still noticeably young, but given that most people never got the chance to see an Articuno this close, it wasn't very noticeable.

The spectacle she put on was enough of a distraction. Icy blue light enveloped the Trainers, and their partners, and the Shadow burned away as it burned intensely white. The humans regained consciousness, but their partners remained fainted.

Connor stared at his sister in disbelief. "When did she learn that? Is that a move?"

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Jess nodded. "Purge. Her sisters know it as well. The strongest of them can cleanse Shadow with it." She left out picking it up from the Original Dragon, when he'd assigned her to call on Kalos' aid. Officially. She'd dressed for Kalos, but hadn't expected to be ambushed by civilian 'super villains', and then face down one of the Elite Four in Clemont's gym. Despite all the flames, she'd managed to remain unsinged.

"Useful…" Connor muttered. His own lover, the village's seeress, hadn't mentioned that it was an actual move. She'd claimed it was just something Articuno could do. Moves could be shared, with enough training, and having a partner that could cleanse Shadow would be useful. He glanced at their cleansed allies, and then back to her. "Why are you here, anyway?"

She raised a crimson brow at him. "Because Pravus is invading us, idiote. Unova calls for aid."

Connor chuckled. "The mighty 'Dragon Emperor' needs help eh? Well I'm employed by the Pokémon League. And they are, for the moment, taking a neutral stance. If you want Kalos's aid, you need to speak to their Prince."

Jess rolled her eyes at them, patting her Articuno, and then recalling her to the recolored Luxury Ball that she seemed to enjoy. "And where is Calem, hmm? I'd heard he vanished."

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Connor glared at her. The only ones who knew the Prince's public identity were the Elite Four, and the Champion, and he had a feeling she'd been reading minds again. The League had an agreement with those who governed Kalos. Their people would both protect and train their royalty, and nobility, and in return the League had gotten to use one of the region's oldest castles for their Elite Four to face challengers in.

Calem had certainly proved that the region's royals could still battle with the best of them after he'd gone from helping Professor Sycamore to being dragged into the Flare Incident, but after his Chesnaught had fallen to Alain's flames, he'd simply vanished. "Probably at the palace. Good luck getting in." Connor muttered, as he looked around for the Swords of Justice. It seemed in the chaos, whoever was puppeting them had made a strategic retreat of their own.

Jess smirked, recalled her partner, and headed for the exit. "Compared to this, getting in there will be cake."

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Unity Tower, Castelia City – Unova Region

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The encircling form of the Original Dragon shifted outside of the window as the room within was a mix of chaos and activity. From the tower, the eastern forces had been coordinating. They were retreating on all fronts, save for the Kanadian one. Their massive border wall that spanned the majority of the continent's width proved quite useful in repelling the Crusaders, and the Trainers manning it were some of the best Kanadia had produced.

Each of the eastern Trainers who now found themselves soldiers in a reborn empire were given leave to, if they desired, take ten partners, rather than six. Their enemies had capitalized on the trend once the League officials running the World Tournament had announced the raised Pokémon limit cap. Most serious Trainers had enough partners in their storage systems to fill four extra slots, and the Original Dragon himself had given them leave to expand their belts, as soon as possible. Statistically, larger teams meant more squads surviving. Being the largest population on the planet had its advantages, and new Trainers from the capital were arriving to reinforce what remained of the State's militias by the day. Slowly, something resembling a proper front had formed, but the Fornian advance was relentless. It was also slow.

It had troubled Tao that these Crusaders, all decent Trainers who had full teams of ten, only ever walked towards their forces, on foot. Plenty had capable mounts, who would make useful firepower as well, but the Church's legions remained on foot as they marched. When his Tamer had mentioned the abomination's talk of a Blitz, Tao had called in his ace in this war.

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From the east, Norstad specifically, Rayquaza came at the head of roughly fifty Graybeards, each of whom had been trained for, and seen, war. They had been busy as, at Tao's request, they had taken the bones of the World Eater, purified them of any potentially lingering taint, and then forged them into armor the likes of which had never been seen this far west.

It wasn't long before Texico too eventually called in the retreat east. Despite being prepared, the Crusaders were too relentless, and the desert didn't provide the kind of food the greener lands to the north did. Tao had told them to retreat towards the Swamp, which had, of course, been met with trepidation.

Many who lived in the central areas of the continent could trace their roots back to that salty, ever-growing Swamp. It had forced their ancestors west, towards lands not occupied by humans for quite some time. They had flourished, especially under the dragon's empire, but they never forgot, and the Swamp grew larger all the time.

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It was from the Swamp, that their secret weapons were coming. The Champions of the east, many of whom had thus far been forced to sit by, training, as their homes were invaded, had been summoned by their master. The Sage had given them a choice when war broke out, and panic, as well as anger at those whose States had willingly turned and supported the Arcean Church, surged through the now bustling island that had become akin to a small city with how many Trainers now resided there.

Their options were stay, and be considered allies in the war to come, or they could go home, be found out for their psychic powers, end up in a camp, and help no one. Only a few had left, and contact with them had quickly been lost. Gone were the mud huts that had littered the island, as the clever Champions, ever in search of more ideal places to chill, had learned that combining certain energies from their Plate shards created useful, sturdy building material. The dormitories had changed as well, becoming properly furnished apartments that eventually rivaled the Swamp Tree in size as more floors were added to them, simple in design, small, but private. With such a large surge in population, getting everyone comfortable had been their first priority, and everyone had helped build, if they wanted a roof over their head when the rain came. Slowly, the long days of hard work, and equally frustrating training, drove out many who had come to the Sage seeking 'magic powers'.

By the time Tao called on the Sage, they were mostly ready. A squad of the hundred strongest Champions had been drawn together, Trainers who had, like their 'Emperor', awakened a typing-based power. Some had even changed their normal typing as well. It was these hundred that Tao had called to the tower in their capital.

There, they had met the new Dragon Emperor, and had each, eventually, pledged to help. In some capacity. Nate, Rosa, Hilda, and even her brother were there with Alex. Evidently, they were all being given command, as they had all successfully bonded with the Dragon of Unova at some point, and understood his methods and battle style quite well by this point.

Their confidence was reinforced when Tao addressed them with his thundering mental baritone. "Champions. Each of you has been called here because the very Balance of our land now lies with whoever wins this unfortunate conflict." His head rose slowly within the room from the window it was leaning in through on the tower as he spoke, and his Tamer smirked, long familiar with how the dragon manipulated his fellow humans during Tinvaak.

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"I am forming a force of…elite fighters, in both martial combat, and Battling. You have each demonstrated a gift for both. Now, I am calling on you to fight. Unova requires your aid…and should you choose to accept, we will outfit you with the…appropriate gear for the station you'll be holding." The dragon gave his Tamer a nod, and the Champions of Unova each smirked. Rumors of what Alex had on his belt now had exploded after the skirmish outside the newly raised Imperial Palace.

Naturally, the rumors about copies of his weapon had also spread, and the Brain Trust, in conjunction with the smiths of the Graybeard's order, had perfected armor for their elite troops.

Eric had explained how the armor was compressed into the device on his belt, but Alex had lost track after he'd sidetracked into explaining something involving 'nanofiber-bots'. Evidently, he'd copied the usefulness of Tao's clothing into the mesh joint-coverings each suit had, and the suits would, upon being damaged, attempt to repair both the wearer and itself. The pieces of dragonbone had been forged into unique designs, and given 'enchantments', based on the Champion who'd be wearing the armor. Many had held their titles for years, but nobody had questioned how the Graybeards had acquired a list of traits and abilities that could only have come from the League. Alex's own armor had been Voice Forged with Plate shards of every type, the majority of which had come from his own gathered collection. He'd held onto the Flame, Meadow, and Earth crystals, as they had sentimental value to him.

The Dragon Emperor stepped forward then, and addressed the group as he hit the new bone-white belt, and activated his own armor. It covered his tall form from head to toe, and the white bone armor made a good contrast with the black mesh beneath it. It strongly resembled what Percy had garbed him in, namely the Dragonbone set from the video game he'd influenced Norstad with, albeit with some key differences. Each forearm sported a carved Salamence head with its jaws open, though thankfully the carved teeth didn't obstruct his hand's mobility. His helmet covered most of his face, but kept the classic styled horns as well. Each step clanked heavily on the metal roof as he strode towards them. His fellow Champions activated their own armor, which formed up from their belts in the same manner that his had, namely with a flash of energy as the belts reconstructed the protective coverings around their wearers.

Alex saw many of the hundred gathered smirk, as they recognized his helmet's design, as well as the armor's. Spiky protrusions of dragonbone in Percy's aesthetic adorned the man's wide shoulders now, and he brought forward the leathery black cloak that hung from the back, concealing most of the armor from sight. He raised his right hand then, igniting Lux and the other Champions did the same with their own freshly made weapons. "Who will join us?"

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The hands rose quickly, and the Dragon Emperor smirked. His lower jaw was the only part of his face still visible, aside from the intense, and bluish-purple eyes, now burning with energy. "I'm glad you're all ready…you'll have to find your own Chargestones, but once you do…you will have your sword. It will be a symbol of your rank out in the field. Do. Not. Lose. It. And don't forget to keep it charged."

The Champions were each given armor then, and they soon discovered that each suit had already been tailored to their fighting styles. Their emperor then bid them to go into the Chargestone caves, and come out with a crystal that felt right to their senses. They had each gained a heightened perception from the Sage's training, despite it not always being psychic. It took several hours, but eventually each candidate returned with a crystal. No one was harmed, and the wildlife remained somewhat undisturbed. Galvantula had a reputation as a fast special attacker, and many 'foreign' Champions had been eager to add an electric spider to their teams, but beyond that, the local Pokémon seemed intact in population density.

When they returned to the top of the Unity tower, they found the Unovan Champions, each covered with a leathery black cloak similar to the Dragon Emperor's, in that it concealed their forms well and hung down from their armored shoulders. Each set of the armor came with one, but nobody else had figured out how to activate theirs yet. They were called down to a certain level of the tower then, and it didn't take long for the Champions to realize they were being sorted by region, as each floor of the tower had been repurposed to connect with and coordinate the forces in the corresponding region.

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The Dragon Emperor met with them once they came in, and gave each a freshly fabricated hilt. Evidently, Percy had returned only hours earlier, but his Melmetal were already proving invaluable. Percy had been given a blade as well, though according to Eric, he'd somehow changed it to be pink, before rushing off somewhere else.

Once the Champion in question managed to ignite their new blade, Alex welcomed them into the Scales of Balance, the chosen moniker of their new order. They were then sorted, by their personal preference, to one of the Unovan Champions, and put into their squad. After some minor shuffling, they each had sixteen fellow Champions under their banner. Nate and Rosa were deployed to reinforce the south then, and would be getting those the Sage next deemed ready. There were several who were worthy, but an even hundred had been required first. Now, the others would be called up in waves determined by their readiness, outfitted, and split between the two commanders in the south.

The twins were sent to the north and center part of the lines, where they had been told to dig in when possible, and combine the local militias into a proper force. Jess had left picking her squad to Alex while she was off in Kalos, and naturally, she'd ended up with an all-female team, with an even split of Champions and Articuno Riders she'd befriended in the Swamp. Quite a large group of riders had agreed to join this new fighting force after his latest visit to Norstad, and were given blades as well. Armor, they declined, as they claimed they did not need to wear Alduin's bones to be safe. Alex's own squad was comprised of mostly men, for there hadn't been an even split in sexes. Many of the female Champions had learned quicker than their male counterparts, and thus, there were more of them amongst the first hundred.

Those under him were the comrades he'd known best while training, and fellow Leaf heads, one from each of the eastern regions currently being invaded. By no coincidence, they were also, usually, the strongest of the Champions from their homeland. For the moment, he led both squads, as Jess was busy. They would be in charge of relieving the Kanadians in the far west, and taking the arctic regions there. Then, they would push down into Fornia itself, and force the Church to defend, rather than attack. The Blitz had, according to the dragon, begun in earnest. Crusaders had begun running down exposed eastern camps, and the Scales were needed desperately. Within five days, the Dragon Empire had managed to provide an answer to the soldiers charging towards them. It remained to be seen if they would be enough.