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Pokemon: the Risen - Ep. 26

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Chapter 36


"Dear, it is simple: those with power, rule." The voice seems to have a slight echo, like two voices speaking in almost perfect synchronicity. "For a being such as He, with His near-infinite power, merely existing in this world is proof of His unconscionable irresponsibility." An eye the size of a dinner plate blinks, then crinkles at the corners kindly.

"Think, what does He do with that power?" The eye is set in a scaly green head that is just by itself a little over five feet tall if the nearby Misty can be used for comparison. "I am not so confused as to believe the conspiracy theories, that every earthquake and tidal wave is His fault, but does He ever work to save the Pokemon and Humans affected?" Two flexing tendrils on his forehead wave in the air, his mouth is over-filled with pointed teeth. "He is the King of this world, yet has He ever shown an interest in those living here?" A block of murky ice that must be nearly thirty feet in diameter encases much of his gigantic form, leaving only his head and legs visible and making his body inside difficult to comprehend.

"Even you, His agent in this matter, must see that He brought you before me only out of fear that I might succeed in toppling Him from His throne." He lays sideways on the ground, speaking to Misty who stands in front of him, Walrein sits beside her with his eyes still glowing blue. "He cares only for Himself and His high position."

He smiles toothily at Misty's lost expression, "He spoke to you, did He not?" The forehead tendrils reach out to her in modest supplication of her good graces. "Prophesied that you would be the one to choose the course of this world?" Misty looks up, surprised by this, and he chuckles with a wry grin. "That is His favorite method, but He is all deceit and bluster." Small cracks appear in the ice as he rolls to his front, grunting as he stands. "On your travels you will have been shown my few errors, while the little remaining evidence from His own many and grand mistakes is all well-hidden and far away; He says the choice is yours but stacks the deck heavily in His own favor."

Towering over Misty like a skinny office building, he is nearly forty feet high and taller if crouching within the ice. "The choice comes now, you will have no second chance." Her eyes flit from side to side, trying to escape seeing the creature standing before her. "He and I can fight on equal terms and if you let me live I will challenge Him, quite literally winner take all." The cracks deepen as he speaks, Misty places her hand heavily on Walrein's head as if to comfort him.

"I have none of His apathy, the world will be changed when I am in charge." She turns and begins walking away as the ice starts to crumble, his clawed hands emerge and brush off the remaining ice. "Many things will be better; not easier or kinder but certainly better." His fist raises to the sky above as her hand darts to her Pokeball and returns Walrein. His shouts link earth to sky, "DO YOU SEE THIS, LORD ARCEUS? THE CHOICE IS MADE! YOUR TIME HAS COME!"

This, in case you were wondering, is what Arceus saw when He looked to the future. Over and over, no matter what He did, this scene played out with little variation. Sometimes Misty lay dead upon the ground at the end, sometimes a Cloyster was her partner, sometimes her hair was a different color. The giant before her always had the same fearsome appearance, always broke free of the ice at the end, always raised a fist to the heavens. Arceus despaired, realizing this future to be unavoidable.

It was then that He made a strange discovery. Occasionally, near the end of these visions, a number of other people could be seen running toward the confrontation; their numbers varied, as did their members, but each time they appeared they were calling out Misty's name as they ran. Arceus researched these people and found them to be, for the most part, ordinary, normal people. But the possible futures in which they ran toward Misty coincided strongly with instances in which she was alive, and with instances in which the giant looked more tired and damaged, and with instances in which less of Misty's Pokeballs showed a grim black light.

So Arceus, with nothing else to go on, did all that He could to make these people more prepared for that day, hoping that they would at least continue the fight or prompt Misty to do so. Ash, the only other hero of the group and already having a natural-born talent for Pokemon battles, disappeared from the visions completely and would not come back. Sylvia was given the power to see into the hearts of living creatures but also promptly vanished, while Max became darkly depressed after being forced to kill his own sister for the safety of others. Gary gained wings but lost his humanity and now looked more ready to aid then stop the giant, while Lace no longer appeared because she had died years earlier in a particularly bad bar fight. It seemed that whatever Arceus did only made the situation worse.

The youngest, a boy prodigy named Ceasar, also disappeared from the lineup when Arceus changed his father's luck with marriage in the hopes that it would make the man more of a disciplinarian with the boy. His father's previous marriages had the effect of giving the boy an older brother, who took his place and suddenly caused a great many things to change. Gary stopped showing up but Sylvia and Lace reappeared, Max brightened up considerably and an annoying talking Bagon was thankfully never seen again. Arceus carefully considered this future and found it acceptable. It was not perfect, there were deaths along the way that could have been avoided and tragedies for all involved but at least this group seemed to have a good chance at stopping the giant.

What would happen next? Even Arceus was unable to discover this, Dialga refused to show more and Celebi was as usual too easily distracted to be much help. All Arceus could do was wait and see, just like the rest of us. Looks to me like it's just about time to find out.

Lace is back in her old body and loving every moment of it. Rome sits on the floor, Sylvia sleeping with her head on his knees. The others give them space, although Lace can't help giving the two amused glances from time to time while Misty and Max discuss the group's next step.

"We should rush him, he was obviously bluffing about returning the Wailord, if it would kill us then he'd be in the same situation."

Max shakes his head, "We can't assume he doesn't have some trick to survive the pressure, waiting until we reach this island or temple or whatever it is remains our best plan."

"That's the point, it looks like the best plan but he's the one who suggested it, he wants us to wait so he must be vulnerable now. Not to mention this island base of his must be full of demons and probably a few of those soldiers too, it doesn't get any easier waiting until we reach it."

Lace chimes in with a, "Sounds fun to me!" and Max scowls at her.

"Fun," and to Misty again, "and ease shouldn't factor into this. Living until we can challenge him, in as safe an environment as possible, should be out top priority!" He promptly topples over as the room quakes, Misty nearly follows him until Lace reaches over to hold her up. "This only proves my point!" Rome looks up from leaning over Sylvia to shield her from possible falling debris.

"Did you hear that?" The others look at him with pained expressions. "No, not the shaking. Right before the room shook, I heard a sound like a ship docking."

"ATTENTION PASSENGER AND ANY LIVING STOWAWAYS." The speaker system crackles, the voice on the other end sounding full of cheer. "WE HAVE REACHED STAGING ISLAND, DEPART SO THE DOCK CREW CAN UNLOAD MY EQUIPMENT. AND WOULD THE LOVELY YOUNG DRAGON PLEASE COME TO THE TOP OF THE HILL?" The group looks around at a loss, next hearing a number of loud grating noises as all the doors to the outside swivel open. Rome tries to pick up Sylvia but finds a human body heavier than anticipated, Max helps him into a fireman's hold as Lace and Misty run to find the nearest exit down the passage they originally came in from. Max looks to Rome as they follow the other two.

"Have you considered what to do with her when we get on land?" Rome raises an eyebrow, "We're here to fight Alpha, I would guess you can't do so while carrying her."

Rome frowns, "I'm a Trainer, I don't need to run around like you do to be effective, and my team – ."

"Not true. By all indications this will be a large battle, there will be splash damage at least and I doubt your team can fight all-out and also protect you." Max pauses to let Rome speak but he remains silent. "We need your team fighting at full power, so I suggest hiding … Sylvia, right? Either hiding her somewhere, or, if we can find them, persuading someone living here to look after her. Now most likely that `someone` would work for Alpha, this being his island, but that shouldn't be a problem. We're here to take him down, either we succeed and they don't have a boss anymore, or we fail and she's a prisoner of war."

"You're forgetting hostage situations, if they bring her to the fight after we … Max, look behind you."

"Huh?" Max turns, noticing only now the sprawling uphill city through the great circular door in front of them, tier after tier of houses and shops and factories going up the side of the hill. In the distance a Dragonite can barely be made out, flying toward the top of the hill and a large flattened area there. A regiment of demon Machop wait quietly in a line, standing at attention until Rome and Max have quietly passed by then rushing in to the mechanized demon Wailord. "Have you ever … ?"

"No." Inside the demon Wailord the Machop work song can be heard, `Ma-CHA! Ma-CHA! Ma-CHA!` as the two back up slowly.

"Ty?" Rome and Max spin around to confront the demon Tyrogue sweeping the street, who spins the broom to ward them off. When they do not move he tilts his head to the side, then points up the street at a large brand-new Pokecenter. "Ro!" Rome looks down to his hip.

"Regola?" She appears in her human form and curtseys to the Tyrogue, who bows back.

To Rome, "He said go, to that Pokecenter over there."

"Tyr rogue ro-tyr, roter togue!" The Tyrogue spits on the ground and goes back to sweeping the ground, ignoring them now. Rome and Max look to Rae.

"He said the human ambassador lives there, then he spit because he doesn't like humans, he wants you to leave. We probably shouldn't say why we're here, he might get upset." Max nods, starting to walk toward the Pokecenter. Rome turns to follow but is stopped when Rae pulls on his jacket. "Rome, you know I want to be there with you when Sylvia wakes up again, right?" Rome nods slowly, and so does Rae. "But I also can't stay here. I'm sorry, but as a Dragon I think I really do need to witness whatever is about to happen up there. Will you come quickly?" She transforms to her Aerodactyl form as she speaks then disappears without warning. Rome looks up quickly, watching her for a moment as she flies through the air just above the many buildings toward the hill top, then with renewed haste follows Max to the Center.

Reaching the front door he finds Max standing just inside, staring across the room at a sheepish Lace, an angry demon Makuhita with a scuff mark on his face holding her upside-down by the foot. Behind a large counter stands a demon Chansey with a cigarette hanging from her mouth. The Makuhita speaks with a rumbling growl.

"Ma goodness, mo Humans? Ah trust ya will behave? No mo hita!" Max looks around the room then to Lace.

"Where did Misty go?"

Where indeed. Nearly halfway up the hill now, she stops to catch her breath in the middle of the street, ignoring the few demon Pokemon nearby who give her a wide berth as they go about their daily business. A shadow passes overhead then turns back, Regola lands in front of her on the cobblestone.

"Misty?"

"You – going – there?" Regola nods and Misty breathes a sigh of relief, "Take – me – too. I … I need to be there, I can't explain but I think I'm the only one who can stop him."

Regola turns and ducks down, offering her back, "So it was you He chose. Know that as Witness I won't be able to help you, even this is probably against the rules." Misty climbs on and Regola flaps her wings, suddenly they are above the rooftops and flying uphill.

"Witness? The rules?" Misty holds Regola's neck tightly, no longer needing to speak out-loud.

"Long ago, Dragons took on the job of watching over Mankind; it is each Dragon's duty to guard the happiness of Humans. In recognition of our vow, Arceus granted us the rite of Witness so there would always be a Dragon at the site of important events, especially those which will affect Humans and always due to what looks like random chance. In return we can never take part unless ordered to by our Trainer."

"Why human happiness?" Regola doesn't answer, coming down to land outside of something like a single-floor colosseum, tiered seating surrounding a huge stone field. From the sky three crystal slabs could be seen sitting at the center in a row, connected by large cables that sink into the ground and big enough that a car or two could easily fit on each. "I mean, it all sounds crazy but that part's the worst, it just seems absurd that Dragons would care about us." Her voice is spoken aloud now as she dismounts, turning to walk toward the archway entrance. "So why do they care if humans are happy or not?"

"What's important is that the vow avoids the mention of protecting human safety." Alpha walks from the archway and Misty quickly goes on her guard, Regola disappears and comes down from the sky to roost on the archway, glowering down at Alpha. He looks up at her with a smile, "If the Elder Council could kill off all Humans with bliss they would have done it centuries ago." Turning back to Misty, "The fact of the matter is, they fear Humans. They see a power beyond mere potent breath or impenetrable hide."

"They believe a day will come when Humans grow to hate and fear Dragons," Professor Oak walks through the archway as well, an unconscious Bill in the hover-chair not far behind, "and so they safeguard Human happiness in the hope that such a day will never come. Guns and science, armor and medicine; each and every Elder believes wholeheartedly that his or her life will end at the hands of a Human."

"Oak!?" Misty takes several steps back, Alpha forgotten as she stares at the kindly smiling figure before her. "What are you – why are you here?!" Oak chuckles and Alpha sniggers, they speak in unison to Regola above.

"Miss Young Dragon, you should know that story. Kindly tell her, we have preparations to make." Misty starts, noticing their mouths no longer move when they speak. She looks to Regola as Alpha and Oak head back in, Bill floating close behind. Regola gazes upward and screeches a painful cry, then meets Misty's gaze.

"This is a story my mother told me, and which her mother told her. Arceus created the Dragons first, and first of the Dragons was a creature He named Alpha. Some say Alpha existed even before the Legends who went on to form the world, that he was Arceus' first attempt at creation, others say he came after the Legends and hates them for being truly first. What is certain is that, of the numerous creatures, he was first." Regola steps forward, dropping down from the archway to land on the ground in front of Misty in her human form.

"Having created a perfect world, Arceus paused to reconsider. The world was too perfect and in His eyes this was a flaw greater than many others. So He created Humans, a species completely separate from Pokemon and which pleased Him because of the strife they loved to stir. Without Humans the world was idyllic, with them the world would be forever interesting." Regola turns, now lumbering through the archway as a Dragonite. "One creature, Alpha, objected. He naturally believed himself Arceus' favorite and saw the Humans as rivals for that affection. He whispered to the other Dragons that they should go to war with Arceus, an act so unimaginable that, win or lose, Arceus would forget the Humans completely. In response, the other Dragons tore him in half." Regola turns and mimes this, slashing at the air violently.

"But he was Alpha, the first, and harder to kill than they imagined. His body healed before their eyes and now he was two separate creatures, both much weaker than the original. The other Dragons banished the two creatures from the homes of all Dragons and thought the matter finished, and since that day the two Alpha have wandered this world, searching both for a way to get revenge and return to their original form." Entering the arena, Bill's chair can be seen parked on the center crystal while Alpha and Oak each stand on one of the outside discs.

"Miss Young Dragon, there you are!" Again their voices chime out together, their lips no longer moving. "We were anxious to begin, nearly started without you." Their bodies glow as they raise identical glasses, each containing a small portion of a glowing red liquid; in seconds two adult green Dragonite are sipping from the glasses, draining them dry as Misty sends out Poliwhirl and Starmie.

"Ah yes, she is a Water Trainer," quips Oak as he catches the spinning Starmie in one claw. His arm bulges as he does, doubling in size.

"Recently appointed Master of the element I believe," continues Alpha, kicking the charging Poliwhirl away with a suddenly larger foot. They both grin at Misty, their bodies growing in odd spurts and juts.

Speaking together, "What can you do dear? We are Dragon, we fear nothing!" Growling, she sends out Corsola and Walrein, to which they shrug and take more serious stances.

"Corsola, lance form; Walrein, ice up Starmie." Corsola starts growing her spines together as Walrein breathes a cold wind toward Starmie, who spins excitedly as sharp ice coats its points. Poliwhirl runs over and picks up Corsola, holding her with both mitt-like hands. Walrein roars and the air begins growing colder as Poliwhirl again charges at Alpha and Starmie spins past Oak, cutting small gashes in his skin. Alpha stares down murderously at Poliwhirl and gives a roar that causes him to freeze inches away from impaling Alpha, then slashes him with a claw and sends him flying with a whirling tail. Oak vanishes as Starmie is about to fly past and reappears right next to the confused creature, stunning him with a giant punch then blasting him into the ground with a ray of energy. Walrein fires jets of water into the air that form into icicles headed straight for the two Dragons, but both block with bubble-like shields.

"Rock and Ice are smart dear, but you are no Master of their use! Perhaps the real Master of Ice could stop us but she  already died at our hands!" Alpha laughs and Oak clenches a scaly fist thoughtfully.

"Oh, this is good, may I? `Passionate no more, her hot blood mixed freely with, the glaciers she loved.`" Alpha claps and Oak bows, Misty takes a few steps forward with her fists clenched.

"You … are you saying Glacia was the Master of Ice?!" Now Oak is the one snickering behind a claw as Alpha explains.

"Well we didn't know for certain, but come now, an Ice-type specialist traveling from afar only a few years before this day? Obviously one of His long shot schemes!"

"So we settled the matter well before this, our day of apotheosis. Why, you yourself were present to welcome us home from that little trip only a few days ago." Noticing Misty's still-thunderstruck appearance, Oak prompts, "So you knew the lovely missus?" Misty points a shaking finger at the two Dragons.

"Walrein, freeze them solid." Oak and Alpha laugh as their bodies finally finish growing, then splutter as they are doused with water from Poliwhirl and Starmie. Walrein's eyes glow blue and the water around them freezes, coating them in a shell of ice. A gout of flame bursts up from the heads of both, freeing their mouths and allowing them to shout in unison.

"Initiate Practice Zero!" A field of glowing light arises from each of the three platforms, covering up Alpha, Oak and Bill. Just as suddenly the glow around Alpha and Oak drops down, revealing their empty ice shells, while the glow intensifies and grows at Bill's platform. It reaches nearly fifty feet in the air until stopping, then slowly dissipates to reveal a monster from the nightmares of God. Over forty feet high and with a green scale hide that flexes as the creature … as the Risen Soldier Alpha hovers in the air with great beats of his wings. He snickers, chuckles, then lets loose a great bellow of laughter. "I have done it! I AM RETURNED!" His voice has the odd quality of not-quite-mixing Alpha's and Oak's, with Bill heard not at all.

Only a slight quaver in her voice, "Not for long." Poliwhirl picks up the lance-formed Corsola and winds up, throwing it with all his might as Starmie revs up and spins toward Alpha. With one claw each Alpha catches both, flicking Corsola away again as if an afterthought; Corsola finds herself sticking horrifically from Poliwhirl's leg as Alpha maliciously breaks off Starmie's points one by one. Misty turns to Walrein, panic etched on her face. Walrein barks, pointing with his flipper at her Pokeballs. In a daze she returns the bleeding Poliwhirl and Corsola, then points the third Pokeball at Starmie as she bites her lip. "Let go." Alpha chuckles, continuing to break off the regrown points, enjoying himself as he tortures the regenerating Pokemon. "LET GO!"

"Why?" Alpha, glancing down at her, smiles at Misty. "What will you do, if I do not? Lowly Human, you must fail to understand what I am now capable of if you dare to persist in speaking to me." In one fist he crushes Starmie, tossing the unharmed jewel back down to Misty. "I am the fusion of three creatures into one form, but more important was our individual efficiency levels." In the air behind him, a floating pool of water begins to form. "We two Dragons had again reached the peak limit, while the Human had managed a surprising fifty-percent, almost unheard of in your species." The vortex of water spins forth seemingly from nowhere, perhaps condensed from the very air. "With the formula to prepare our atomic structure for the change and his machine to combine us, we have reached a total of two-hundred and fifty percent, equal to the upper limit even He cannot surpass." Misty returns Starmie and almost-calmly points again to Alpha. "Oh? Master of Water, what can you hope to accomplish against the god of Dragons?"

"As I said before, freeze you solid." The mid-air wave of water washes over Alpha, clearly surprising him, and as Walrein's blue eyes glow the water becomes a giant block of ice encasing his body. He lands with a resounding crunch only tens of feet from Misty, his head and feet remaining free but the rest of his body completely ensnared. "Glacia once hid me from Ash and let me train with her, then taught me to stand up for myself when it was time for me to leave her side. She gifted me this Walrein and made me promise to return someday, it's only fitting he'll avenge his former master. I don't care at all what your percentage or whatever is, here and now I'm the one who can beat you. And you, you just won't stop giving me reasons to do so. Do you even understand how much I did not know or care about demons and soldiers and a war with Arceus before I was pulled into this whole mess? To be honest," Misty's voice catches, then continues with a stronger conviction, "I hate this world. I hate this world He created, a world of men with power who have made my life miserable. To be honest, I would have joined up with you if you had asked, just to see if I could tear it all down." Misty is breathing harshly, staring at Alpha with a mad hate. He looks back at her, a glimmer of mirth in his eyes.

"You would join me? Even now, would you join my side?"

"No! From the day I accepted Gyarados' death, accepted that he was killed indirectly by you, I was on His side."

"Were you? Hating the world, did you really then set out to save it?" Alpha grins as Misty hesitates in answering. "To be honest, if I kill Him the world will be remade; you have shown power enough to bring me to my knees yet you find in yourself no responsibility to see a world you say you hate undone? Are you quite sure the chaos in your heart does not desire to champion the birth of a brand new cosmos?" Alpha laughs long and loud, rolling around on the ground in a fit of humor, then suddenly becomes quiet as he turns to face Misty.

"Dear, it is simple: those with power must rule. For a being such as He, with His near-infinite power, mere existence in this world is proof of His unconscionable irresponsibility." His staring eyes blink, then crinkle at the corners kindly. "Think, what does He do with His power? I am not so confused as to believe the conspiracy theories, that every tidal wave and crop blight is His fault, but does He ever work to save the Pokemon and Humans affected? He is the God of this world, yet has He ever shown an interest in those living here? Even you, His agent in this matter, must see that He brought you before me only from the fear that I might succeed in toppling Him from His throne. He cares only for Himself, that and His high position."

He smiles toothily at Misty's lost expression, "He spoke to you, yes? Prophesied that you would be the one who chose the course of this world?" Misty looks up, surprised by this, and he chuckles with a wry grin. "That is His favorite method, but He is full of deceit and bluster." Small cracks appear in the ice as he rolls to his front, grunting as he stands. " You will have been shown on your travels my few errors, while the little remaining evidence from His own many and grand mistakes is well-hidden and far away; He says the choice is yours but stacked the deck heavily in His own favor."

"The choice comes now, you will receive no second chance." Her eyes flit from side to side, trying to escape seeing the creature standing before her. "He and I can now fight on equal terms and if you allow it I will challenge Him, quite literally winner take all." The cracks deepen as he speaks, Misty places her hand heavily on Walrein's head, seeking comfort there. "I have none of His apathy, the world will be very different when I am in charge." She turns and begins walking away as the ice starts to crumble, his clawed hands emerge and brush off the remaining ice. "Many things will be better; not kinder or easier but certainly better." His fist raises to the sky above as her hand darts to her Pokeball and returns Walrein. His shouts link earth to sky, "DO YOU SEE THIS, LORD ARCEUS? THE CHOICE IS MADE! YOUR TIME HAS COME!"

As Misty walks away she speaks under her breath, "If it's different, I'll be fine with whatever." Exiting the colosseum she walks past Rome heading in; he turns around to face her silent back, Max stands in front of her while Lace, carrying Sylvia, takes a knee a little farther back. Rome looks through the entryway at Alpha, who is tugging up the buried cables, then back at Misty. He starts to speak but she cuts him off, "Back when I was poisoned, a voice told me I would be the one to decide what happened here. I've decided, I don't care what Alpha does, he wants a fresh start for the world and I – ."

"So it really is him?" Rome looks again, swallowing the lump in his throat forcefully. "He did it, he merged with his Dragonite?"

"No, look, he was a Dragonite, him and Oak, they merged with Bill, it's hard to believe but I saw it. And that's not the point, we should just leave, we never should – ."

"So you're saying that thing is Alpha, and you were the hero Chosen to deal with him?" Misty nods and Rome gives a small rare smile. "Thank goodness. I was worried it was me."

"You still don't understand, it was my responsibility to choose his fate, mine. I say he lives to fight Arceus, maybe he'll actually win and – ."

"Do you think I care what you chose?" Rome turns, beginning his march toward Alpha. Without looking back, "I don't want any help, protect Sylvia if I die. I'm not the hero so it could happen." From her perch on the stands Regola flies down to walk beside him, switching to her human form so she can take his hand in her own. Approaching Alpha, they stop to watch the giant Soldier pulling up the large crystal discs. Noticing them, Alpha looks down with a crystal slab slung over his back.

"Ah, almost didn't notice you down there. You Humans are so small now."

Calmly, "I'm here to kill you." Alpha pauses, then grins.

"Right." With a crash he drops the huge crystal, crouching down to smirk at Rome. "So, another survivor of my General? I'm surprised she was so merciful, she may not be – ."

"You won't have to worry about her, she's dead now." Rome releases Ponti and Trevi, the latter adopts a defensive pose in front of Rome while the former dances in the air over their heads. "What, nothing else to say?"

"The man-child who couldn't control his anger thinks he will be the one to defeat me?" Alpha stands, showing off his full imposing height. "My power equals that of Arceus at His strongest but unlike Him I do not limit myself, my efficiency level is – ."

"Two-hundred and fifty?" Rome grimaces as Alpha looks down at him with a confused stare. "You know, I really hate it when my father's lessons become useful. But more than that, I hate people who use words just because they think others won't understand them." Casually reciting from memory, "Efficiency Level, a system used to gauge the relative strength of a Pokemon, maxing out at a hundred percent or peak efficiency, being the point at which a standard Pokemon can become no stronger. It is hypothesized that a Pokemon may go farther than peak efficiency through certain means, but not in any natural way. Also pertinent is that many Legendary Pokemon could not feasibly have accomplished certain historical events at peak efficiency, leading to the theory that they did so while at a much higher level."

Rome raises an eyebrow, studying Alpha, "After a while, it becomes easy to figure out a creature's level by noticing how it moves, how it holds itself and how it fights. You're at two-hundred and fifty while my team is all in the low eighties, meaning they can only significantly damage you with their most powerful attacks while any normal attack by you would knock out or even kill them instantly." The air shimmers purple for a moment, Ponti stops dancing and sticks out her tongue at Alpha. "Misty's team is in the high seventies while Kyogre was exactly seventy, demons are always at a hundred and those Soldiers were about thirty to forty levels higher than a normal demon. Max can somehow fight at a range of levels, as can Lace, both average out to roughly sixty-five. Lace's team is all in the low seventies, except for the Smeargle she brought out at dinner which looked to be at peak, and I won't even bother mentioning the levels of myself and Misty." Rome sighs, staring up into the giant face of a slightly impressed Alpha.

"To sum up, it would seem we have no chance at beating you. Working together we might at least mimic the necessary offensive power of a Pokemon capable of beating you … but not the defenses, meaning you would simply pick us off one by one and drop our combined power level before we could take you out. I told the others not to interfere, this isn't their fight and anyone who does fight you needs to be ready to die." Rome spreads his arms, his entire Pokemon team suddenly appearing around him including an unharmed Borgo. "The funny thing is, one of us could theoretically defeat you in a one-on-one battle, thanks to certain new factors. All you can know for certain is that it won't be me." Suddenly Rome begins to grow, ballooning upward like an inflatable toy. At his new height he stands eye-to-eye with Alpha then smirks, punching the scaly monster with an intangible fist that passes harmlessly through.

Alpha grins as part of his face turns a deep purple, chuckles as the poison flows down to a single point on his cheek, laughs out loud as he rips the skin away to reveal new and healthy skin underneath.

"Wonderful! The impudence you show, attacking me with such tricks, I adore it!" The flexing stalks on his forehead twitch, curling upwards. He claps his hands with an enormous shock-wave above his head, causing a stunned Ponti to appear. "Hello there." His mouth opens wide and a beam of energy fires from it, carving through Ponti and disintegrating most of her body, leaving only a side of her face and arm remaining. She shrieks in agony as the colosseum below suddenly changes, revealing many things as she falls from the sky to be returned by the light from her Pokeball.

Rome watches the battle carefully as he puts back the red-blinking Pokeball, Misty sits against the colosseum wall with her head bowed and Sylvia stands nervously over her. Max and Lace wait at the ready in front of them, steel feather and Saber held defensively. The colosseum seats are filling with hundreds of demons here to watch the fight, a multitude of types and species, all cheering their leader along in their own ways. Borgo is gone again, Ripa is nowhere to be seen, Regola flies through the skies high above while Monti and Trevi stand before Alpha peppering him with attacks that simply bounce off his thick skin. Taking it all in, Alpha rolls his eyes.

"Ridiculous. I will give you one chance Human, stand aside and pray mightily for my mercy or you will soon face the full extent of my wrath." Rome speaks far below but Alpha is too tall to hear, he grins and walks closer, completely ignoring the ineffectual attacks of Monti and Trevi. "You will have to speak up Human, it takes fervent devotion to reach the ears of a god." Rome continues speaking to the ground so Alpha takes a forceful step to swing his tail forward, whipping it toward Rome. "I tire of mercy."

Ripa slips up from Rome's shadow, his eyes glowing and holding a large leaf. The leaf multiplies after being tossed with a quick-spin throw, each one extending shadow blades that cut through the tail and send the end flying past Rome on one side while the remainder swings past his other. Ripa jumps on the tail as it goes by, running up its length with shadow blades extending from both his palms, cutting thin trails of blood on his dash up Alpha's back. Reaching the head he begins slashing at one of the slippery tendrils, trying to cut it off as Alpha staggers back with a roar of pain at his shortened tail and lacerated backside.

"Now see, right there you over-reached and payed for it with a method of attack, not a smart opening move Alpha." Rome points to Monti and Trevi, causing both to cease attacking as Monti dives underground and Trevi vanishes. Appearing behind the thrashing Alpha balancing on the ridge of a wing, Trevi's eyes glow as his blades flash through the air, the tips disappearing into thin rifts. "Trevi's teleporting blade can cut anywhere, including inside the softer tendons of your wings." The wing droops as it bends gruesomely at the base, now only a dead weight; Alpha stops trying to brush the elusive Ripa off his scalp as he again roars from this new torment. A large boulder of mud rises up a few hundred feet away, forming into a Golem that curls up and spins. "Your immediate problem is being too big, ironically enough, and you know what they say: the bigger you are," the mud Golem rolls at Alpha, skipping up at the last second to crash into his chest and knock him over, "well I'm sure you know the rest."

Alpha begins to shrink as he falls, "You raise a few fair points Trainer. I believe I now see the tactical argument for limiting my power." Now standing a mere ten feet tall, Alpha reaches up and yanks Ripa from his position perched on Alpha's now much-diminished head, throwing him at Trevi. The two vanish as the one collides into the other, appearing high in the air and streaking away like a comet from the retained momentum. With a flick of his good wing Alpha sends a small silver arc of cutting wind toward them as they land in the stands, then turns to the Golem-form Monti. "Interestingly, it seems I can still make use of my full power in small bursts. As I will now demonstrate." He charges at Monti, a wave of fearsome energy springing up around him as he tackles through the armor-like plating and out the other side. The mud melts away to reveal a knocked-out Monti, the top of his head fin singed off. "Oh, I missed." Alpha opens his jaw and fires another beam of energy that passes through the spot Monti occupied only milliseconds ago when the light from Rome's Pokeball returned him.

Returning Trevi and Ripa as well, "Objectives met, you are now smaller and weakened slightly." Rome looks to the sky, then to Alpha as Regola appears at his side. "Alpha, the final phase of the battle begins now. Show him your Equilibrium Regola." Regola nods, her eyes beginning to glow as the pulsating wind whips up around her. The streamers of light sing through the demons in the stands, through the small band of humans standing at the edge of the field, and finally through Alpha to surge into Regola. They wrap around her like a suit of regal purple armor, still glowing brilliantly as she flexes an arm. "Fascinating, any of the power that would raise her above peak is instead kept outside to protect the body. For your information, that wind just stole a small portion of your total power, looks like a little under five percent. Added with the power from those behind you, she is now level two-hundred and twenty-nine while you have fallen to two-hundred and thirty-eight, thankfully you two are now within the parameters of a fair fight." Rome coughs slightly, looking away from Alpha's jealous rage. "Regola, you know what to do."

Regola disappears, now standing behind Alpha as her clenched claw smashes into his head and sends him sprawling. Rolling with the blow he leaps low to the ground at Rome with a claw pointed to impale him, but rebounds off the armor woven around Regola when she appears in his path. Regola roars in fury, causing Alpha to freeze long enough for her tail to slap against him like the head of a flail as she leaps into the air, grabbing him bodily and flapping higher. With a purple flash she disappears again, now appearing below him as she kicks him higher into the air. With several more beats of her wings she speeds up after him, grabbing him again and turning in the air to fly back down and slam him into the ground. Regola and Rome both take a few steps back as a cloud of dust rises up to engulf them.

Alpha's next roar blows away the dust entirely, he practically glows with an inferno of power and his claws are surrounded with deadly red gloves of pulsing draconic energy. Leaping now at Regola he strikes her, stripping away some of the purple armor as he does. Regola dances away from the next attack but the energy glove is larger than it looks, again some of the purple streamers are ripped off. Her clawed fist meets the third attack, knocking him back a little as yet more of the purple energy vanishes. Recovering faster than him she spins away, moving fast enough to form a ring of clones that continue to rotate around him. As the glove fades he impales one of the twisting visions, coinciding with the purple-gauntlet claw jutting in through his back and out his chest. The ring of doppelgangers fades and Regola stands with her claw still poking through, soon enough pulling it out with a messy splash of blood. Alpha coughs, more blood leaking from his toothy jaw, then collapses to the ground.

The colosseum is completely silent as Rome walks up, Regola turns to her human form as the purple armor fades away and hides her face against his back. Rome closes his eyes, perhaps savoring the moment, then walks to stand over the dying Alpha.

"Hey, you still alive for a moment?" Regola moans in miserable anguish, pressing harder against him. "I have something to say."

Alpha gasps another bloody wheeze, "You, a Human with your Human-trained team, you were the ones to defeat me? How … inglorious."

"So you know, you die here today for every living creature killed by your demons. They were the reason why my team and I could fight against you with our lives on the line." Alpha reaches up with surprising quickness, pressing a bloody claw to Rome's forehead.

"Today you have killed a god. May you be hunted to the ends of the earth for that sin."

Rome shrugs away the arm, "I have one question left, something I was curious about. Who is Gary, how did he survive that day?" Alpha grins weakly as the life fades from his eyes.

Oak's voice only now, "He is my grandson of course." Fading away, "May he hunt you down as well." With that he sags, gone.

Lace jogs up, with Misty and Sylvia following behind her and Max guarding their backs. They all stare down at the body for a moment, most now noticing and listening apprehensively to the growing murmuring from the demons in the stands. Not one to worry, Lace speaks first.

"What the hell was that? I mean really, what the hell was all of that? The giant bad guy, your team actually fuckin' defeating him, that last thing did by the kid … that was fucking unbelievable!"

"Regola can borrow raw power, and when I saw all the demons coming in behind us to watch the fight I realized she could use that to win. There was a lot of them so she was able to get strong enough to finish him."

"Can I learn to do that?!" Lace looks at Rome hopefully but he shakes his head. Sylvia pipes up, her eyes glued to the stands.

"So, uh, what do we do now? That's a whole lot more demons than I like seeing in one place. Max holds up a small badge, the emblem strangely twisted.

"I called for help when that fight started, in case you started losing. I don't know how far away they are but I hope they can get here soon."

"That's the Ranger crest." Rome sighs with some relief, "Okay, so Mom should be on her way here already. Hey Syl, do you remember what to do when we're in trouble but my Mom could be here to help at any second?" Sylvia nods and looks to the stands, taking in the amassed demons beginning to make their way down from the stands, some of which really do look angry enough to do bodily harm to the ones responsible for the death of their leader. Rea runs up to her and takes her hand with a fresh smile as she screams as shrill as she can manage.

"OH NO! WE'RE GONNA GET EATEN!" Max puts his hands over his ears in pain as Misty raises her head slowly in confusion, Rome simply looks to the sky. In a brilliant flash of light they appear, a woman and a Gardevoir, both of whom have their pink hair styled in large spiked mohawks. Their matching Ranger jackets ruffle as they land on the ground between the oncoming demons and the group, the sound of helicopters coming in from the sea more audible by the second. A pink wall springs up at the Gardevoir's bidding, blocking the demons, and those that continue to press against it receive the occasional shock as sparks snap around on it. The woman runs over, her expression a mix of tough love stoicism and flagrant panic. Rome gives a small smile and waves at her, she stops running with a sigh of relief then notices Sylvia. Running again, she envelopes Sylvia in a hug which is returned warmly.

"Syl honey, you're you!" Her voice is the voice of every Nurse Joy, "I heard the Champion vanished after those allegations, did Rome finally get his butt in gear and help you escape?"

"Not, er … not exactly." Rome closes his eyes with a pained expression.

"Oh, I forgot to ask him why he did all that, accusing the Elite Four and the Rangers."

"Rome, are you going to introduce us?" Max, frowning, points to himself, Lace and Misty.

"Yeah … Mom, this is Misty and Max, and do you remember Lace?" She nods, shaking hands all around, "Everyone, this is Sue Joy, she raised me."

Lace smiles, "Hi Miss B … oh, I mean Miss J!" Sue nods, smiling, and Max speaks up again.

"Okay, now that's over, I present Exhibit A." He points to the body on the ground, which causes Sue to bend over in interest. "Ex-leader of these parts and the combination of the innocent victim Bill, Professor Oak and the creator of all demons. As for why he, or a part of him, made those accusations, I have a theory."

The helicopters come over the hill as he speaks, Dave and his Butterfree hanging from a loading ladder, Lace laughs and smacks Max on the shoulder. Misty looks down at the body on the ground and kicks it lightly, walking away, Gardevoir releases the barrier as Ranger agents swarm the area and walks over to stand behind Misty, putting an arm on her shoulder. Rome looks down at Sylvia, meeting her eyes, she rests her head against his shoulder and he puts an arm around her.
This is it, the final episode of Pokemon: the Risen. Misty chooses, Rome fights for his life, Max doesn't get to speak and Lace kicks a guy in the face. Any questions about the series that I didn't answer somewhere? Just ask, I'm pretty bad about revealing stuff. There's some violence and blood and bad language, but the end is kinda nice so read it! And I should have said this in my journal but I need (parents say I need) to get a job, so I will not begin posting the Next Big Project for a while. Instead, look forward to double the other things! And there actually might be one final "episode" titled "Chapter: The End" because I love those things that say what happened to people after the story ended.

I do not own Pokemon or its characters although I do own my own, and I'm pretty sure I'm not allowed to make money from this so I won't try.

To read the final chapter, go here: [link]

To start from the beginning, go here: [link]
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