Tao's Home - Divine Realm of the Original Dragon

  Alex Redwood and his team, were in rare form. He was currently watching Vector Prime face off against two of his recently evolved powerhouses-in-the-making, Calgar, his Nidoking who actually wanted to battle, and Kurchak, who like most grass types, had grown quickly into his adult stage, albeit after several weeks of training in Tao's weird time-warpy home. Tyranus, his Pupitar, was still regularly munching premium quality dirt, which Alex was ninety percent sure was just regular (if admittedly fertile) soil filled with Protein. Since all Tyranus really did since evolving was eat, Calgar and Kurchak had quickly outpaced him, making Tyranus the official 'weakest link' on their team of just over sixty Pokémon. Of course, whenever one of the others called him that, the Pupitar would, quite literally, fly into a rage. His Take Down was actually pretty strong…but he could only do it once, because he had to expel gas from within his body in order to move his titanic shell, and anything less than all of it, thanks to his absurd size of eight feet tall, already two feet higher than the average Tyranitar, was just not enough to lift his corresponding weight. Alex could've trained him to do more with expelling gas, but he wasn't going to be a Pupitar long enough for that to be worth the effort. Thus, he'd had the hungry boi focus solely on eating, something he was all too willing to do.

  Vector Prime was having very little trouble dealing with his 'little brothers', easily stopping their attacks with only one arm for each of them, but Prime never had trouble when it came to battle. It was everything else, social interactions, formulating answers that made sense, and his strange ritualistic patterns that made him an outcast. Respecting his strength, many of Alex's Pokémon had tried to warm up to the sentient ghost golem, but he'd ignored pretty much all of them, and simply gone about his weird tasks. Sometimes it was stacking rocks. Sometimes, he'd write random Rioan names of people probably several centuries dead in the dirt. Other times, like when he was overwhelmed, he'd shift into his rocket form, and very loudly make his displeasure known, as he flew away to continue his strange behavior. So far, Alex's strategy was to let him be, and socialize if he wished to, and eventually, the rest of the team followed his lead.

  In battle though, he came alive. Or, as alive as a ghost could be, anyway. Alex winced, as he sensed the final blows coming. Vector Prime spun his torso into a brutal Fire Punch that Calgar saw coming, and managed to dodge, leaving Kurchak to take the hit, and faint. Alex sighed. The ultramarine blue Nidoking had exceptional battle instincts…but no instinct for working with a partner. Despite knowing it was coming, the poisonous blue bipedal rhinoceros could not stop the sheer power of Prime's Bulldoze, and fainted soon after.

  "Session complete." He rumbled, as his trainees came to. "Attack Strength: A, Tactics: C, Evasion: C, Teamwork: F. Logging results." The golem rumbled and churned for a moment, then let out a mechanical sigh. "Over one hundred sessions have failed to increase teamwork parameters. Solution: Try again. Error. Error. Teamwork unlikely to improve. Seeking alternate solution: Consult the Trainer." Alex sighed. This too, had happened every single time, over one hundred times, when the boys had failed to use teamwork. "Trainer Redwood. Replacing this unit as a teacher is strongly advised." Then, there was a flash of red within the golem's housing, and Alex blinked, catching it, brief though it was. "Error. This request has been denied the same amount of times as Teamwork Improvement failure. Seeking alternate solution…calculating…"

  Alex raised a brow, and crossed his arms. It seemed, finally, they'd hit some sort of threshold that made even a construct realize the sheer insanity of doing the same thing again and again and expecting a different result. After a moment, Vector Prime spoke again. "Conclusion: This unit must be paired with Rillaboom, Kurchak and Nidoking, Calgar. Solution: A new presence is required to demonstrate teamwork. Trainer Redwood. Please assign a fourth training partner to work with this unit."

  Slowly, Alex smirked. Finally, the construct was thinking. Elite Four Shauntal, a renowned master in this particular species, had written that if one could get their Golurk to logic hard enough, its prowess in battle would increase exponentially. Thus, Alex had given him a nearly impossible task: get two proud, juvenile, testosterone-filled Pokémon renowned for forming harems to work together as a team.

  "Alright Prime, I accept your solution. Your new partner will be…" He looked around, his smirk growing. Blaze and his Yanmega were honing their aerial prowess, the rest of the A Team was lounging or training others, which left the B Team. Alex settled on his pick. If one wanted to instill logic in a construct, making them battle alongside a supercomputer was the obvious solution. "Atlas." As Alex said his name, the Metagross reacted, hammering Champ with a Zen Headbutt, and finishing their own battle. Strength had made the four armed mass of muscle a bit arrogant, and Atlas had risen to the Machamp's fighting words. They'd been matching blows arm for arm for almost two hours now, and it seemed Atlas had just been toying with the fighting type. A blow that strong getting past his guard had to have bruised Champ's pride.

  Atlas zoomed over, and greeted Vector Prime in Binary, and the golem responded in kind, oddly enough, Alex was fairly sure, with the exact same greetings that Steven's Metagross had given. He was starting to wonder if this was some kind of…universal…language thing, or custom, that Pokémon who could speak Binary used amongst themselves. In short order, Alex revived the two KO'd newbies, and the four Pokémon went at it. Almost immediately, the bout was over. Atlas had shot forward with a Zen Headbutt against Calgar, utterly rolling the Nidoking, and Prime had then followed with another short mechanical sigh, and a Fire Punch against Kurchak. Prime said something to Atlas in Binary again, and then the shiny Metagross let out a metallic roar.

  Canis appeared in a flash of psychic energy, sighed at the unconscious newbies, and then used his Heal Pulse and Life Dew for good measure. In an attempt to hone his healing, he was acting as the team's medic during their training. "Tao is back." Canis growled at his Trainer, as he restored Calgar and Kurchak. "He wants you in the Tower."

  Alex nodded, sighing inwardly. It seemed it was now his turn to be trained. He didn't bother leaving a clone, as they could contact him mentally if they needed to, and ever since entering the divine realm of the Original Dragon, it had been nice, not having to split his focus between so many copies of himself. As he entered the dragon's chamber on the lowest communal level of the tower, he found Tao coiled around the radius of the room, as was his wont, with Alex's own food making supplies set up before him. Unovans typically got portable grills, and had meat-heavy diets, supplemented of course, by condiments from around the world. Alex raised an eyebrow at Tao as he sat across from him. "Are…we making sandwiches?"

  Tao's draconic lips pulled up into that knowing smirk of his. "No. I am making a sandwich…just for you."

  As if that explained everything and was a perfectly normal thing that Legendary Pokémon did, Tao began psychically manipulating the foodstuffs before him, using his awesome, Legendary power…to make a sandwich. Alex almost said something, but by this point, he knew better. There was a reason behind everything the Original Dragon did, and if he wanted to make his Tamer a meal, Alex knew the only real choice he had, regardless of his questions or comments, would be to eat it. Thus, he stayed silent, and saved his effort. This seemed appreciated by Tao. As the dragon loaded it up with a, naturally, balanced mix of meat and vegetables, he made idle conversation. Idle for a Legend, anyway.

  A golden flashed appeared beside Alex, and a pair of crystals floated forth from what he recognized as the dragon's opening of his personal pocket demi plane, where he put important things that fragile humans would hurt themselves with if left alone with them, unsupervised. Alex's eyes widened, taking in one crystal gleaming with divine Light, and the other, radiating a clear and present Shadow aura, as Tao spoke.

  "Before you…is our scientist's efforts to recreate my own Burst Heart. The one the first Dragon Emperor used with me, which shattered when I did. Through modern science, and the Seven Sage's guidance, it has been remade…the other…is a Shadow Burst Heart, used by one Admiral Nauta, during the war, against Rio's fleet. By empowering it with Infinity Energy from Indius's Infinity Stone, he removed the natural type resonance it once possessed, though our scientists predict it will gain resonance with the type of the Pokémon next used to Burst with it. It has also been proven to be able to bond with multiple Pokémon, of a single type. If it could be cleansed…it would be a powerful asset."

  Alex blinked at the dragon, as the sandwich prep continued, now, floating condiments were being added, along with, notably, every kind of Herba Mystica from Alex's stash of them. Tao wasn't just making an ordinary sandwich, apparently, but then Alex had kind of expected that. "I take it that cleansing a Burst Heart is…more difficult than just using Purge?"

  "Correct." Tao rumbled. "You must attain the next level, in order to wield this power…and it is a power you will need, against the Shadows surging around our world."

  Alex raised a brow again. "The next level?"

  Tao smirked at him. "Eat, Tamer of Balance, and you will understand."

  Alex stared at the dragon for a long moment, then sighed, and started munching. It was, naturally, quite delicious. He didn't particularly care for vegetables in general, as the taste and texture made his mouth cringe, but the Herba Mystica helped make even something as bland as lettuce taste good. Tao watched him in silence, patiently watching as Alex quickly munched down, bite by bite, until it was gone. As he licked some stray BBQ sauce and mayo from his thumb, Alex finally spoke. "I don't understand…what…" He paused, as he noticed there was a new source of light in the room. He glanced down at his stomach in alarm, as it was, for some reason, radiating a golden glow. "Tao…what the Muk did you make me eat!?"

  The dragon let out a booming laugh, seemingly very amused, and at ease, despite his now glowing Tamer. "Only what you needed…to be ready for the next step. This one is quite important…so pay attention, young Redwood…and you will achieve Enlightenment." One of the long tendrils hanging from his snout shot towards Alex's forehead then, and before he could so much as blink, they were elsewhere. Still sitting across from each other, but their surroundings had radically changed. Alex was now in the middle of a familiar Yin Yang symbol on the 'ground' of what he recognized as his own inner mindspace. But it felt…different, somehow. Like…a wave of energy was building deep within his glowing gut.

  In this space, unbound by things like physics, Tao looked quite different, and yet all but the same. Gone were the white scales, now turned to shining gold, the black underparts he had now as dark as an abyss. He spiraled above Alex, still smirking with that knowing smirk of his, but the most obvious change was his eyes. He now had six. The topmost pair, blue, kind, rounded, but also sharp. The bottom pair, red, focused, intense, and unwavering in their fixation on his form, and then, the central pair, still golden, but framed by ice, into sharp angles that also stared into the center of his very essence almost…expectantly.

  "I am sorry, Alex…" Tao thundered from above. "This will feel…unpleasant. And then, euphoric. Prepare yourself."

  Alex had no idea what that meant, but he did as Tao isntructed, trying to calm himself as he usually did in tense situations, by drawing on that core of inner peace he'd had since Taming the Original Dragon. To his shock though, it was no longer a source of calm, but rather, the source of both his new glow and his sense of impending energy. Suddenly, beams of red, blue, green, yellow, light blue, intense orange, purple, a more ominous darker purple, white, black, earthy brown, light brown, light green, steel gray, hot pink, and scarlet erupted around the Yin Yang symbol. Above them all, was an all too familiar sphere of draconic blurple, and Alex realized they had to be a representation of each type. Then, from the Yin and Yang itself, rose two spheres of divine Light, and corrupting Shadow.

  All at once, the energy beams representing the known types surged towards him, and by pure reflex, he grabbed the spheres of Light and Shadow. The two naturally opposed forces, pure cosmic Yang and Yin respectively, flowed into his shining golden stomach, where they formed a mirroring pattern of white and black in a Taijitu swirl once again. Despite the surging energies slamming into him, he didn't feel pain. Just…discord. Then, he understood, as if the answer was obvious, and to be fair, it kind of was. He was literally standing on top of it. They needed to be rearranged, organized, balanced, even.

  As he felt each type, it wasn't actually that hard to sort them. Some, like fire, were obviously more active, associated with light, etcetera. Others, like dark, were obviously more influenced by passivity, and belonged on the Yin side of things. In short order, he'd arranged most of them, usually opposite a type they were strong or weak against, with himself at the center, probably representing the normal typing. Once that was done, he felt it, the surging energy felt overwhelming, and the Yin Yang branded core of golden light in his stomach floated out of him, finally, levitating before him, as he realized it was him, somehow. Like his very consciousness had split in two, but this new piece of him, this sphere of condensed energy imbued with the very essence of his consciousness, was also something more. And, he realized, not entirely unfamiliar.

  His mind drifted back to his Trial of Eight Paths, specifically fighting his darker half, and where it had formed from, and returned to. As he had that thought, the Yin Yang sphere radiated golden light, and then, everything went white. Suddenly, Alex was sitting again, on the 'floor' of his mindspace, as if he'd never moved. Tao was floating above him now though, their eyes trained on a new figure sitting before Alex. It was him, in mind, body, even clothing, right down to the selfsame smirk on his features.

  "Hello there." The other Alex said, smirking in a manner that reminded Alex of Tao's own visage. "Been a while, hasn't it, Me."

  "How…what…I don't even…you…you're me…I know you're me…but…how…?"

  The other Alex nodded. "I am thou, and thou art I. Go on. You've almost grokked this."

  "But…why are you me? I…don't really understand."

  Alex watched his own smirk grow wider. "Think of me…like a permanent Psychic Clone. But better. I can go places you can't, do things you don't want or don't have time to do, and if you get Hyper Beamed into atoms, I can bring us back into existence…with some time, and effort. I'm basically a hard copy of everything you are…and when we're combined like this within our body…well, we could probably take on a Mewtwo."

  Alex balked. He did feel notably stronger, but not that strong. "I didn't think I was that arrogant. Mewtwo is on a whole other level than…us."

  His hard copy smirked at him. "No. Now, we're on their level. Or close to it." The smirk shifted to a grin, and Alex saw his eyes light with a familiar fire. "Only one way to find out, really."

  Before Alex could respond to that, Tao thundered from above. "An excellent idea! You will understand the heights you have reached, once you test them against a worthy opponent!"

  And just like that, with another flash of light, Alex was back in reality, but Tao was already waiting up above for him. He felt his new inner self, their actions perfectly in sync, from this perspective. The world seemed…sharper. Colors were more vibrant, and though he'd noticed certain details, like architecture, before this, now, it was as if his sight, altered since the Trial of Eight Paths, was in overdrive. The patterns lingering at the edges of his vision were no longer vague, and he found he understood them easier. He quietly marveled at the sheer perfection of Tao's home, and the ideal Feng Shui he'd managed to achieve on every single floor.

  With little more than a brief thought, he Teleported himself to the top of the tower, and donned his armor. He had the sudden urge to try manipulating the Plates as his partners did, and his eyes widened, as he drew from every piece of his regalia at once, forming multiple tiny energy orbs in a rainbow of colors that orbited his hand. What shocked him was how easy this was to do now. Just ten minutes ago, doing this would've taken intense focus. Now? He'd drawn out the energy and even formed it into that balanced pattern he'd had within his mind, in under a second, and with only minor concentration. Even Arthur would've taken at least a little longer to do that, with the types of energy he could control. A small smirk appeared on his face. With power like this? Maybe matching Mewtwo wasn't as impossible as it had once seemed.

  Tao's voice echoed in his skull, quieter now, for some reason, but apparently amused by his thoughts. "You have mastered the Law of Universal Balance…and you will find that you can now impose your will on the energies that make up this existence. I have guided you to this point, because you have proven to be everything I had hoped you would become. A fair ruler. An unmatched Trainer. And a good friend. I have no doubt that you will wield this strength for the betterment of all…but understand Alex, you are now on a level far above most other Humans. As you continue to ascend, you will become a true force in this Universe."

  Alex frowned. "What…does that even mean, Tao? Can Universal forces have families? Lead nations? How am I supposed to provide for our people if I can no longer relate to them?"

  The dragon regarded him as he coiled around the topmost layer of his home. "A fair concern…but one I do not think you need to linger on. You will be able to do as you please, when you please, where you please. If you so desire, you could send one of your Multi Clones to every city in the Empire, if not the world, and be able to process all of that information. Now that you have reached this state…all that remains is to master your abilities. And on the day that you do…you shall ascend the Master Plateau, and face a true test of your skills."

  Alex looked down as he processed the dragon's words. They seemed absurd, but given the sheer amount of power he felt radiating from his stomach now, how fast his mind worked, and this new seemingly perfect control over typed energy, maybe he could do what Tao suggested. The Master Plateau was a mystery wrapped in an enigma, too high to be able to comfortably breathe on, too flat to build anything without the strongest materials mankind had access to, but even those would eventually erode to the fierce winds that rolled over the massive geological mystery. But with mastery over flying typed energy like he now possessed? It was possible. Many things were now possible, with this level of manipulation. Maybe, the only limits he had now were the ones his mind was imposing on him, and if there was one way to smash through said limits, it was in a battle. Either way, he wouldn't know until he'd tested himself against a proper opponent.

  "Mewtwo."

  The single word reverberated across their mental network, not as a command, but as an invitation. One that was sent to all of his teammates. He wouldn't deprive them of the chance to watch a showdown this potentially epic, and, he wanted them all to understand the new heights he had apparently reached thanks to Tao's culinary prowess.

  The psychics Teleported over first, bringing along whoever they'd been near. Mewtwo, naturally, had responded first. Her feminine eyes narrowed at him, and a smirk appeared on her face. "Interesting…you've finally Awakened, haven't you, Alex Redwood." It wasn't a question, but an observation.

  "I…have." Alex said, still not quite confident in his new level of strength. He had no idea what his limits were now, which was almost as dangerous as breaking past them. "I don't trust anyone else to be strong enough to handle sparring with me right now. I don't know my new strength yet. Care to help me test it out?"

  The catlike psychic Mew/human hybrid's smirk widened. "I will gladly remind you of your Human limitations…" He felt her draw on the Mind Plate fused with his armor, and he let her wield the power willingly. He wanted nothing but her best, as he quietly felt he could, at least, match her base form. As she ascended with a flash of Infinity Energy, her intense purple aura burned around her. "Come! Show me your strength!"

  There was a long pause, and a light breeze blew between them as the rest of the team arrived, then, they both raised their right hands simultaneously. Psychic bolts of power manifesting as a Psystrike collided in the air, and it was Mewtwo who had to Teleport first, which was Alex's plan. He had purposefully fired more bolts, as he was familiar with how many Mewtwo usually used. Not only had he made more, but they'd exploded while colliding, meaning his attack was strong enough to not simply be torn through, even in her Mega Form.

  Another Psystrike rained down from above, but Alex didn't Teleport. He relied on the movements of Tao's style to guide him through the rain of psychic power, and despite the speed of the projectiles and his large frame, the psychic strikes were slow enough for him to perceive, and dodge. As he dodged, he built up a Psystrike's worth of power, and then launched another Psystrike atop the first.

  Mewtwo dodged just as easily as he had, but her perception hadn't noticed the second layer of Psystrikes below the first, and her form exploded with smoke and damage. In under a second, she parted it with her arms and a flash of psychic power, but Alex had already raised a hand at her, and readied his next attack. "Vul." A pulse of red, purple, and black darkness shot forward from his palm, and Mewtwo's eyes only had time to widen, before the Dark Pulse hit her, hard. Alex wasn't idle, though. As Mewtwo righted herself, she searched for the suspiciously absent presence of her Trainer, and sensed nothing.

  For his part, Alex had 'skittered' behind her, covering and suppressing his aura with bug energy, then, came the smack. He leapt quickly, not trusting his ruse to last, and roundhoused her spine with a spinning foot glowing with bright green bug energy. Despite turning towards him at the last moment, she was still hit and sent several feet away, but she caught herself quicker, and the Y strand's Mega Mewtwo responded with her own barrage of Psystrike.

  Alex's aura shifted, with a murmured Word, to dark typed energy, completely nullifying the attack, and then, he vanished again. Mewtwo looked around angrily, not liking how confident the smirk on his face had been. From about a hundred feet above her, Alex spread out a smaller barrier of bug energy below him, as he raised both hands, and summoned the essence of bug and dark type energy in each palm. This had been beyond him before, but now, with his armor as an Infinity Energy infused well, it was almost unfairly easy. It was Psi who betrayed him as he grew the energy orbs to even larger spheres with a cry of "Above you!" As he gestured with his spoons.

  Mewtwo glared at the Kadabra for interfering, and then looked skyward, eyes widening as once again, a fast moving attack was coming her way with impressive speed, but this wasn't a regular move, it was a Taijitu Move. Alex fully expected her to block it though, and she did, raising four Barriers before her with near instant ease, the dual attack sphere of balanced energy smashed through three and exploded on the fourth for minimal damage.

  Then, came the Dark Signal Beam. He'd wanted to try forming dual attacks into different kinds of shapes for a while, and now, he found he could do it himself. The spiraling twin beams of super effective energy pierced her final Barrier, and hammered her into the ground with enough surprise and force to make her rise slowly from the ground with an Ice Beam forming in each hand, but as she raised her head she found herself looking into the humming concentrated darkness of another Dark Pulse in Alex's palm, inches from her face.

  "I think that will do." Tao rumbled from above them, sounding very pleased with himself. Mewtwo's eyes narrowed, but she dropped her Mega Form, and let it go.

  Alex offered her a hand up, and to his relief, she took it, despite not needing it. He nodded at her, and noted a new hint of respect in her eyes. "With a little more Battle training, you'll have instincts sharp enough to beat me, I'm sure. Arthur and Canis can help with that." Mewtwo nodded, and thanked him for the lesson, but she knew where she had erred. Had she used type advantage as he had instead of relying on Psystrike, she would've made things seem much more equal, if not beaten him easily. Her move pool was massive, and this bout had reinforced the fact that she needed to master the moves available to her, as well as understand what they did.

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  Alex approached Tao, as the dragon brought his titanic head, once more at his true size, around to speak with him. "This awakening of yours comes at an important time. We've received a…disturbing report from the Montaho Region. Champion Sanctis and two of our Scales were ambushed by an Arcean that summoned…a creature of pure Shadow. I recognized it…as the entity that once overtook Giratina. It was the very reason Giratina was labeled the Renegade, and sentenced to the Distortion World. If it is free now in our world…nothing good will come of it. The footage our cameras recorded from within the Champion's cathedral is on your device."

  Alex grimaced as he watched the video. He recognized the Scales who'd been dragged in, as well. In the wake of the war, some, like Rick Astley, had semi-retired to do other things, and other regions. The triple platinum singer was starting a family, and creating a musical legacy, and without dire need, Alex had no reason to recall him. Drake, his partner, had opted to take on an apprentice…and those two had been assigned to Montaho and Sophia Sanctis to determine whether she had ties to the rumored underground Arcean base they had yet to actually find the location of. "Three guesses who let it out." Alex muttered, now wishing Tao had stopped the Successor when he'd had the chance. "An entity like that should require a body, though…the other Mewtwo's last Scry said Proditor was somewhere in Italia, so how…is it grabbing people?"

  Tao watched the footage again, and rumbled in irritation. "Your eyes are sharp, Alex. I should have noticed. We but recently confirmed the Successor is indeed in Italia still, and this event occurred quite recently as well…it is unlikely a being of Shadow could psychically clone themselves…which means…they must have fused." The rumble of irritation turned to a snarl. "In ages past, the Successor managed to successfully steal a Burst Heart from one of its wielders…I tried to convince other Legends and Tamers of that era to retrieve it…but none ever managed to do so, and it was not discovered amongst his Cult's hideouts. I knew leaving its fate to chance was a mistake…he must have offered it to the entity controlling Giratina…and then fused with it. It is the only way it could have escaped the Reverse World without the Renegade."

  Tao's tone was calm, but there was rage in his visage. His nostrils were flaring and his eyes narrowed, though Alex sensed it was not directed at him. "If they are fused with a Burst Heart darkened by Shadow…they may prove too much for you alone. Bring Arthur and Canis. I will instruct Mewtwo in their place, along with the others. Go. Use your new abilities and end this abomination."

  Alex nodded slowly, glad Tao was prioritizing their World Tournament prep, but given the seriousness of the situation, he was surprised he was only bringing Arthur and Canis, who by all measures, were ready to compete. The Original Dragon did nothing without purpose, and it seemed that competing in the World Tournament was more important than he had so far let on. "Alright." Alex said finally, as Arthur and Canis bamfed beside him. "We'll find our Scales, and Champion Sanctis quickly."

  Tao nodded his massive head again, "Your team will be ready by the time you return."

  With that, Alex recalled the pair and turned to leave, only to find Po waiting, determination in his eyes. Alex raised an eyebrow, as he spoke in his awesome voice. "The foe you go to face…is powerful. Legendary, even. I will go as well. Tao said it was okay." He held out a fist, for a bump, and smirked in a familiar manner.

  Alex chuckled, and didn't leave him hanging. "With the four of us…that thing won't know what hit it." Po was also, technically, World Tournament worthy, though the rules would not allow an Urshifu to participate. He'd been training relentlessly with all the moves he could learn, since evolving, and his efforts in Selva Muerta had paid off. He was confident, shredded, and eager to prove that all he had learned had been worth teaching to him. With a little more genuine experience, Alex intended to turn him into a teacher as well. He recalled Po, added him to his belt, and then departed to the real world, and Draconis Mons.

  Cathedral of Light - Montaho Region

  Murmuring filled the massive building as Alex walked in with the casual stride of a visitor and no trace of the pomp and security that usually trailed world leaders. As he approached the altar at the back of the building, an incensed blonde man glared at him, face reddening, temple veins bulging as he stomped towards Alex.

  "You! You have some nerve coming here!" His shouting immediately drew what few eyes hadn't noticed them, to them. And, of course, people started pulling out their Rotophones. Anything to go viral on Chatter.

  Alex smirked at the Arcean, chill incarnate. His hands were even in his pockets. "This is…technically Imperial property. A property where Shadow Energy was used." His aura suddenly turned intense and heavy, as Alex stared the man down. He flinched, a look of panic and fear as he felt the increase in gravity and intensity. He tried to look away from the Dragon Emperor, but couldn't. "It's not the first time that Arceans have dabbled with that dark power."

  That, as expected, triggered the man. "It was your sorcery that stole our Saint! What possible reason could WE have to take her!? It was your government, there's no other explanation! And now you have the gall to come here and Accuse us!?" The man was shaking with rage, but Alex didn't feed it with any response but his usual smirk.

  At that point, another man in similar simple white robes and the symbol of Arceus around his neck moved beside the first man. "Garrett, please stop. The Dragon Emperor lost people too." He looked at Alex then. "That's why you're here, right?"

  Alex looked between them, and opted to stop teasing. "I'm here for all four who were dragged through that portal. Including the Arcean man who opened it. I will root out the Shadow, wherever it is, no matter who uses it. Now clear the cathedral, please…I don't want anyone else getting dragged in once I reopen the portal."

  The face of the man who Alex had already forgotten the name of grinned darkly. "So you can wield the Shadow! I knew it!"

  Alex rolled his eyes, his neutral baritone laced with sarcasm. "I wield Balance, you absolute pinnacle of Human intelligence. If the Light is pure cosmic Good, then the Shadow is pure cosmic Evil. I will manipulate both to uncover the Arcean plot festering in my Empire. Again."

  The smarter priest nodded, accepting his words. "I'm sure this is a new or rarely used power…we will move everyone out of the danger area."

  Alex thanked the man, and got to work. He held a mental powwow with himself and his team. Canis, Arthur, and Po were surprised by the fact that there were now two of him in his mind space.

  His inner self spoke first. "There's a Mukton of residual Shadow Energy in here. The best way to shape it would be to impose our Will on it."

  Alex raised a mental eyebrow. "Impose our will? On pure 'cosmic evil'?"

  The other him nodded. "It's a new trick, but one that we can use to balance and neutralize any kind of energy. We can also control the Shadow Energy, without fear of corruption."

  Alex's team shared a look as his conscious half said, "How do you know this, and I don't?"

  The other him chuckled. "You do know this. You just haven't done it yet. It's a new, enlightened concept, but you'll understand, once we begin. Just…trust our instincts."

  Opening his eyes, Alex brought out his team. Arthur seemed amused, Canis was confused, and Po…Po had a big grin on his ursine face, and looked very ready to punch some Shadow beings.

  With a deep breath, Alex trusted his instincts, and sure enough, he somehow understood what his mental copy had in mind. The Words fell from his mouth before he knew what he was saying. "Vahzah Ro!" The verbalized command rolled through the cathedral, and his team gasped, as a very familiar sphere of black and white appeared under them in the symbol of balance, with Alex as its central point. Before them, traces of a portal made of Shadow appeared from the aether, and again, Alex relied on instinct.

  Light energy outlined the remnants of Shadow, and he manipulated the Shadow just as easily, grimacing as he did so. If the Light was warm, calming, and slightly gelatinous, the Shadow was cold, clung to him, uselessly, and was far more…sticky. Like tar, or the body of a Muk. He reformed the portal, and he felt it connect to the other side. He also picked up an intelligence on the other side, sensing its rage, surprise, and the bad kind of amusement.

  "We're going in hot, boys. Guards up, stay close, and summon the Light." Alex spoke quickly, before jumping through. Arthur's blades burned to life, Canis formed a pair of Light Spheres in his paws, and Po centered himself, his muscular arms circling around him, meeting in his center. Light flared around him, and the three followed their Trainer through the Shadow portal.

  As they appeared on the other side, Alex had already created a new Yin Yang on the floor. The area around them was unnaturally dark, and an ominous chuckle echoed through the space as they appeared.

  "Ahh. Emperor Redwood…we meet again." A massive glowing crimson eye and a toothy maw in the shape of a wide smile formed out of the darkness. "Come to retrieve your lost Scales have you? Such compassion…for ones that are so…average."

  Alex smirked. "Ahh, I remember you." He nodded at Arthur. "You recall that metaphysical parasite we found in Giratina's realm, and then blew up?" Arthur chuckled with a mocking tone, but said nothing as Alex continued. "I was hoping you'd died. Or at least had enough sense not to bother reforming. So let's make this quick. Return my Scales, and Champion Sanctis, and I won't hit you with a much stronger version of our last attack, which if you recall, scattered you across your dimensional prison like Shadowy diarrhea."

  "Such…confidence! You step into MY workshop and think to give Me orders!?" The dark void around them faded, revealing a horde of Shadow infused flesh abominations that Alex had indeed seen before, through Delphi's power. This was not that space he'd seen in the future though, this area was entirely different, and within the Earth's atmosphere. He hoped things had changed, as the idea of battling in actual space was a worrying one. Even with suits for his partners, one stray blow or piece of random debris could end them.

  The Shadow being gestured to an abomination that was using actual psychic power to bind and levitate Drake and his apprentice. "I have your people right here…still mostly intact, but the woman…has become something…Greater. She may be my Magnum Opus!" The Shadow being devolved into mad laughter, as something shuffled forward from the horde.

  Six serrated tentacles ending in a trio of claws had grown from her back, her entire body was black, her facial features were gone, and her hair waved wildly around her body in pulsating waves of purple and black. Her form was covered with purposefully engraved glowing purple runes. Her legs were bent the wrong way, for a human, and sharp spines were jutting up from all over her body.

  Alex grimaced as he met her eyes, and recognized what was left of her mind. Sophia Sanctis had been irreversibly mutated by the Shadow, and was now something else. A small spine dropped from her form, and mutated into a small skittering abomination that crawled away into the writhing horde of its kin. "Pl…plee…please…" She managed to croak. "A-Aaa-Al…"

  Alex held up a hand, his eyes hidden under his hat, as for once, he was frowning. "I understand, Sophia. And…I'm sorry I wasn't fast enough to stop this." He sighed heavily as he reached for the Light, and it answered. Rapidly. The first pulse that radiated out from him was small, but enough to engulf the corrupted Champion. She faded away with her arms outstretched, a seemingly content look in her eyes as she was vaporized. Alex grit his teeth, and the open hand became a fist as he drew on more of the Light. His Ultimate Sync Stone flared to life, but he barely noticed, consumed as he was by thoughts of just how many people this abomination had managed to twist. The Light revealed many, if not all of them. There had to be almost a hundred people, assuming each abomination of flesh had only taken one to make. They were his people, even if they likely would've spat on him before admitting they were. He'd still been charged to protect them…and he had failed.

  Anger surged within the realm of Light, and Alex let its righteous fury flow through him, sharing the Alpha's anger at a worthy Arcean life cut short before her time. The second pulse drowned out the Shadowmind's cry of alarm and rage with a loud 'bwom' and expanded to the rest of the room, the parts which Alex was aware of anyway. Shadow abominations shrieked briefly in pain, letting out hisses of blissful release as the Light was able to Purge them. Drake and his apprentice, bound psychically by another abomination, fell to the ground, cleansed, wounded, but alive as their captor was also reduced to atoms.

  An armored abomination smashed through the wave of Light energy, disrupting it with a powerful aura of Shadow, but Po was already moving before either of his brothers, who had chosen to Mega Evolve upon leaping through the portal, could react. Po smashed its centermost glowing red rune, and followed it up with another punch to the rune that served as its eye. He then spun into a brutal, crushing roundhouse kick to the creature's side, sending him flying towards Arthur, who bisected the creature with his Excalibur.

  Canis joined in as well, as Light Spheres of varying sizes flew into the horde of creatures, detonating among them with purging Light. Arthur and Po each grabbed a Scale, and leapt back through the portal, and by that point, the Shadowmind had steeled itself against its natural type advantage.

  Tentacles of Shadow shot towards Alex, but he just smirked, as Canis leapt behind him. Precious few of the Shadowspawn were still corporeal, and the tentacles were desperately protecting them. "Vahzah Ro!" He Shouted again, reinforcing the effect that had followed him from the other side of the portal. Time slowed, but only to Alex's perspective. He psychically assessed the threat to them: no less than forty two Shadow tentacles were aimed for him. About five of those were on Canis. His goals were clear; protect the pupper, bind the unspeakable evil, Purge it until it tried running, trace it back to the Successor, which was who it would likely run to, assuming it was bound to him.

  Ice energy formed under his feet with a thought, and he made a mental note to thank Akos for teaching him how to do this. Literal ice skating was not as easy as one would think, even for a waterbender. It was less easy for those with large, stupid, stompy, uncoordinated feet such as Alex had, but his former awkwardness was now simply gone, replaced by confidence. A burst of flying energy shot him towards the tentacles aimed for Canis, and he grabbed them, grimacing at the foul texture, but once again, it tried and failed to enter his being. While inside this circle of his will made manifest at least, it seemed the Shadow could not corrupt him. Then, in the most efficient manner possible, he zipped around the circle of Balance he'd made on the floor, grabbing tentacles as he did so, and leapt upwards.

  Canis, who'd been using a very outlawed tactic in official Pokémon battles to psychically boost his Agility usage to three at once, followed his Trainer's movements, and was already reacting. As Alex yanked the Shadowmind's tentacles upwards, the entity's eyes only had time to widen in response before Canis hammered it with a massive Light Sphere, which detonated, filling the space with golden aura.

  Alex landed as the tentacles burned away in his grip, and time began flowing normally to his perspective once again. The Shadowmind recoiled in on itself, drawing what few of its creations had survived into its darkness.

  "So you've Ascended…the Dragon will come to regret giving you such power…this is Not over, Alexander Redwood!" The Shadow being grinned, as multiple new portals opened around it, and previously hidden, but rather small, Shadow Flood Forms leapt through them at its command. "Have fun tracking them down…if even one manages to spread successfully, the entire planet will succumb!" With a deep cackle, the Shadowmind oozed into a portal of its own, and Alex swore. Even with clones, there were just too many portals.

  "Go!" He shouted at his team, "Eradicate whatever the Muk those things are!" Properly irritated now, he grabbed a piece of the lingering Shadow energy, and sent it through the portal the being had used for itself, before it closed. Alex had imbued that pure cosmic darkness with the 'desire' to seek out and join to the largest source of Shadow energy it could find. He could also track it.

  Wasting no more time, he split into multiple clones, and leapt through the portals his team hadn't gone through. One by one, he felt his clones quickly confirm their eradication of their targets, and then moments later, Canis, Po, and Arthur did the same. Oddly enough, Alex prime did not immediately sense his own target. Then, he realized where he was. "Oh…Muk."

  He'd only been to Blueberry Academy once, but he knew a school when he sensed it. The scent of fresh antibacterial spray. Linoleum floors. Lockers lining the walls in that trademarked blueberry blue. Then there were the developing minds of the inhabitants, full of teenaged worries, priorities, and hormones. He walked quickly down the hallway he'd appeared in, trying to find somewhere familiar.

  By the time his team bamfed back to him, he was standing in front of a school map directory, looking quite confused. "Ahh, Canis, finally. Please tell me you can sense where this thing is…"

  The aura hound, still in his Mega Form, closed his eyes as his 'ears' flared up. "Wherrre…the Muk even are we?"

  "Blueberry Academy."

  "I sense it…" Canis's brow furrowed. "Uh oh."

  Alex grimaced. "Uh oh?"

  Canis nodded, and opened his eyes. "It's heading quickly for the Terarium…there are students down there…and one of them is infused with Shadow."

  "Uh oh." Arthur and Po echoed in unison.

  "Go." Alex ordered Canis. "Your Agility is still active. Don't wait on us." The aura hound nodded, and dashed away on all fours, but Alex, Po, and Arthur were right behind him. "Canis! Light Sphere!" Alex shouted, as he saw the hound leave the tunnel and sprint into the Savannah Biome. There was a Garchomp and a Charizard, along with four students not far from the entrance, and given that it was about ten thirty in the evening, they should not have technically been in the Terarium. There wasn't actually a rule forbidding some late night Pokémon hunting, but the school security generally preferred all students to be in bed, and not potentially roaming the halls. Some students, like Florian, famously ignored this 'suggestion'.

  The ball of concentrated Light landed on the student who, to Alex's slight horror, was being infected and turned by the shard of a Shadow being that had managed to get farther than any of its brethren. Alex had just enough time to sense the woman in question, someone a bit old to be in the academy uniform yet wearing one nonetheless, was currently infused with Shadow herself, though it was imperfect, nothing like what Pravus or Proditor had achieved. So, likely caused by an accident.

  As the move detonated, the Light purged every trace of the Shadow from her. Seeing several other students nearby, Alex had Arthur use some Life Dew to bring them back, and then he flew over to the collapsed student, and the other student who appeared to have been…fighting her. With his bare hands. As Alex landed, and eyed the teenager, seeing he was part psychic, part fairy, he saw the look of instant recognition as the student realized the leader of the Empire had just landed in front of him. Alex smirked, never tiring of that reaction. "Hello there…" He started, "Is…everyone okay?" He nodded towards the unconscious woman on the ground.

  "Haloo." The teen said, in a thick Germanian accent in a higher pitched tone that was just, for lack of a better word, delightful. "Ya, she vill be fvine…I think. Zat thing zat vas…fused to her back, your…Lucario got rid of it. Quite easily." Canis nonchalantly rubbed a paw across his nose, and the teen just seemed impressed.

  "That wound is…grisly…I'm just gonna…" Alex muttered, raising a hand as he summoned the Light again. That turned out to be a good choice. Had the Shadowspawn not been in a hurry, it would have fully bonded to the unconscious woman's spine, at which point even the Light would have trouble eradicating it and not her. Thankfully though, the Shadow had not reached her brain, and anything that had turned corrupted and been purged away was now regrowing rapidly thanks to the frankly ridiculous healing power the Light held. The woman was still unconscious, though.

  "So, ahhm, mister Emperor, sir, vhat…ze actual Muk vas that, exactly? Are zere more? Is ze school in danger?"

  Alex looked the teenager with fairy typing over again, and his eyes narrowed slightly. Not out of displeasure or dislike, but from the depth he saw, and did not expect from typical BBA students. He mentally nudged Lux awake, and had him pull up the student's records from within his cloak, as he said, "That…was…hmm." Alex paused, looking up as the other students approached. One, very obviously a fellow nerd, was almost frantically sketching in a large notepad, and judging by her gaze, she was currently focused on Arthur. The other, Alex had actually spoken with, through one of his clones that had been relegated to dealing with the hundreds of menial tasks Tao couldn't handle.

  Jade Drachenfel had abandoned his Imperium-friendly clan, moved to Unova, and then applied to become a Scale of Balance, and Alex had spoken with him for about eight minutes. He was, naturally, an aspiring Dragon Tamer. Out of all the students around him currently, Jade seemed the most competent, proper, and put together. Having seen some of his battles, Alex knew he had the panache of Hassel, and the brutality of Lance, which, with a little training, would become a very powerful combination.

  At that point, Lux beeped, and floated out of his cloak, the files in question ready for perusing. "Let's see…" Alex started, "Adrie…no surname. Hmm. Says you're from…Italia. Not with that accent…" He muttered.

  "Oh, yaa, zat is a…whole story…but I can tell you if you vant to hear it."

  Alex glanced at the time, fifteen minutes to eleven P.M. and then shrugged. "Sure, I have time, go ahead Adrie."

  The fairy teen smirked at Jade and the artist. "You two have not heard zis either, so listen vell!"

  He launched into a lengthy tale with his delightful accent (and for the sake of my sanity, I'm just going to summarize it.) As a child in Germania, the Imperium had discovered that he had the potential for 'abnormal abilities'. The device he described using, made Alex grimace, as it seemed the Imperium had their own version of a Pokémeter. Upon discovering his potential, his parents had tried running and hiding him.

  "But zey found us…almost immediately. Ze Iterator, zey are ze propaganda arms of ze Imperium, he killed them, set mein house on fire, and zen took me to a…bad place. I am sure you have heard of it. Ze Obsidian Keep."

  Adrie continued, describing a brutal process for humans and Pokémon alike within the Keep that had been designed to test them to their limits. They'd also injected him with no small amount of chemicals and physical augmentations over the years, and those experiments had also killed quite a few of the other children, according to Adrie. The only one who'd been around to help him survive, had been his shiny Eevee, and to the chagrin of the Librarian who molded him, said Eevee had become a Sylveon, named Ribbons. Alex grimaced the entire time, but from what he knew of what it took to create an Astartes, the boy had survived to essentially their Legion's equivalent of a scout. Had he stayed, he likely would've become a Thunder Warrior.

  "One night, as I vas on patrol, I heard ze alarms of ze Keep go off. I found a redheaded voman running avay, und decided to help her. Ve found a Genesect on our way out, as vell as a little girl, beaten, and tossed on ze ground outside ze Keep. A strange man vith pink hair, calling himself 'Rick' appeared from a strange pink portal zen, and tried to shoot her, but ve stopped him, und he ran back to his portal as soon as ze Assault Thunder Varriors flew down from ze Keep's upper levels on zere jetpacks. Ze voman had me take ze child vhile I left Ribbons to help her. I stashed ze child in a cave und ran back to help, but zat Librarian had ze at his mercy."

  Alex grimaced. "It must've been hard to get out of that situation…the Imperium's Librarians are no joke."

  "Actually it vas soopah easy, ya, barely an inconvenience. Zis vas ze bastard who had trained me, und vhen I saw vhat he had done to Ribbons, I…started sparkling vith ze Fairy Energy, und beat ze Muk out of him until he vas…no longer breathing. Zen, I took his cape. Stylish, no?" The traumatized teen did a little twirl, and indeed, he was wearing a half-cape on one shoulder. He'd made a jagged slash through the Keep's symbol, and wore it proudly.

  Alex shared a look with his partners. "You took out a Librarian with your bare hands, and Fairy powers?" Adrie nodded. "And you're still alive…" The teen nodded again, and Alex gave his Pokémon another look.

  "We should train this one." Arthur said, mentally. "He has serious potential." The other two agreed.

  Alex nodded, and at that point, the woman on the ground came to, tried speaking, but all that came out was gibberish. Alex hit her with more Light energy, which seemed to do the trick. She thanked him weakly, as he pulled out Lux.

  Alex looked over the information his government, and the academy, had on these particular students. "Let's see who we have here…Jade Drachenfel, Viggo Spruce, and…Elena Grimwood is our victim, hmm? I see." He looked over the curious students, the still seemingly woozy victim, and the aspiring artist and note taker, Viggo, who was still furiously sketching, and seemed to have moved on to capturing Alex on her page.

  Alex shrugged, and addressed Jade and Adrie, who seemed to be paying the most attention. "That's…quite a story, Adrie. As for what attacked you…I'll just start from the beginning. I was called into the Montaho Region. Their Champion was taken by a man who opened a Shadow portal, and two of my Scales who were guarding the cathedral were taken with her, so, they sent for me. On the other side…I found those…Shadowspawn. I Purged most of them. The floating cyclopean Shadow blob that created them, I fought it before, in the Reverse World, blew it to pieces."

  "I blew it to pieces." Arthur verbally chimed in with a smirk.

  Alex nodded. "Arthur blew it to pieces…but it has somehow reformed. This time, it managed to escape. It opened a bunch of other portals, and sent more Shadowspawn through them. My team and I got the rest of them. This was the last one." He looked down at the woman in her twenties lying on the ground. "Had I arrived any later, she would've been beyond saving…like Montaho's Champion was."

  As the silence dragged on, after he shared that information, the sketch artist checked in with the woman, Elena, and Alex eyed their respective grades. Adrie was, not too surprisingly, a 'problem student'. Consistently low grades across the board, and a literal quadruple F minus from the gym/battle class that Colonel Surge participated in here, when he had time. Apparently the two had butted heads frequently. "Alright." Alex said, getting their attention, as he stowed Lux. "I'm going to offer you a chance to join the Scales, Adrie."

  "Und…vat vould zat entail, exactly? I am not ze most…law abiding of citizens…"

  "It's not complicated." Alex said, deadpan. "Just don't kill innocent people, control your powers, and stand ready to face the Imperium when this peace inevitably devolves into war again. With your grades…you'd be here for years…and selling your…" He double checked his phone, "Drugs made of Fairy Dust…whatever that is…isn't going to cover your tuition forever. Professor Pino would be free of his financial burden as well. Basically, I'm going to train you myself. You, Jade, and whoever else wants to join in."

  The sketch artist, Viggo, raised her hand. "Oo! Me. I'll join. Will it help me become a Professor faster?"

  Alex glanced at her record again, and nodded. "Oh yea…there's a whole…Brain Trust that I can pair you with. I can teach you to use a plasma sword if you want, but…with grades like these and your whole demeanor…you might be better suited as the 'woman in the chair' for your friends here."

  That seemed to make her happy. "Oh, I can do that. Whatever you need, Emperor, sir."

  Alex smirked. "Just…Alex, is fine. And easier. Don't feel obligated to bow and kneel in my presence."

  Adrie gave him a wide, honest smile. "I wasn't going to."

  Jade smacked him upside the head. "Yes, you were." He looked back at Alex, "Does this mean we can get our ten Pokémon license?"

  Alex nodded. "Ten Pokémon, plasma swords, and the chance to unlock your potential, each of you. Once you're ready…I'm going to have you focused on stopping the Imperium's efforts to indoctrinate our people. Mostly in Europa."

  Adrie grinned. "Oh, I can do zat. Und you are fine if zey…disappear und are never seen again?"

  Alex stared him down, and employed his serious tone. "No. Killing. Innocent. People."

  "No Iterator I've ever met vas innoce-"

  "Adrie!" Jade smacked his head again.

  "Right, right, okay, no killing, fine, ve torture zem instead."

  Alex and Jade shared a look. "You'll be the one in charge of them…making sure they don't go rogue or wildly off-mission…can you handle that?" Alex asked.

  Jade nodded. "I'm already their floor monitor. I can handle it."

  Alex nodded as well. "Good. Then tomorrow is graduation day. Get some rest, and be at the front entrance bright and early."

  The students walked towards the exit then, seemed to rendezvous with another of their group who apparently had gone for a jog and missed the entire Shadowspawn debacle, then headed up into the academy. Alex sighed, heavily, and bamfed to Draconis Mons.

  The rest of that night was spent in Tao's realm, finalizing their World Tournament efforts. At around one in the morning, Alex emerged, with the entire team, fighting fit and ready. He bamfed to his room at the palace, and despite his best efforts, woke up his sleepy redhead. They watched some anime and then fell asleep halfway through, but very comfortable.

  As the morning arrived, so too did an update. "Wakey wakey! Wakey wakey!" Lux chimed, and Alex groaned awake, once again waking Jess up with him. "Lux…it's too early to be this peppy."

  "We get it, you're not a morning person! Whatever! Listen!" The Rotom chirped excitedly. "The Preliminary Matches for the World Tournament have been decided! The top thirty two Trainers in the world are going to face off, and give us our Superior Sixteen!"

  Alex sat up a little straighter, suddenly very awake. He got the attention of his team, and soon, they were all waiting on Lux. "Well? Don't keep us in suspense, who are we facing first?"

  Lux, currently possessing his phone/Pokédex device, chuckled in the air, and then expanded his screen, displaying a visage Alex was very familiar with. Spiky oak brown hair. Cocky smile. Taijitu pendant. "It seems the Gods of Fate, or someone high up in the League, has a good sense of Destiny!" Lux chuckled.

  "They do…" Alex chuckled.

  Jess raised a brow at him. "Why? Do you know him well? I know we ran into him that one time, but…"

  "Oh, yea, did I not tell you?" Alex said, smirk widening. "He gave me Saur. In fact…in a lot of ways, he started me on my Journey…kind of. It was delayed over a decade, but he still technically gave me my first Pokémon. Heh."

  He looked at the screen and grinned. "Gary motherMukking Oak, huh? Bring it on."