32Yo! Welcome to... I guess you could call this the climactic chapter of WWUTB? Huh. Yeah, it kind of is.
Not going to hold you, more to say after the chapter, but for now...
Chapter 32
The storm winds winding through Bianca's hair as she and Braviary took to the skies above Unova were intense. Every time they hit turbulence, it felt like Bianca was going to be thrown from the Pokémon's back, and into the deep sea below.
Still, she held. She had to.
The fate of the world was at stake, after all.
Spear Pillar was practically glowing with energy in the distance, so much so that even 10 or so kilometers out, she could see it through the torrent of rain, which was only growing more intense the closer that Bianca got.
It was odd how it almost reminded her of an entirely different disaster involving Legendary Pokémon, from back when May – her childhood hero – had stood against both Team Aqua and Magma, in an effort to stop them from reshaping the world with Kyogre and Groudon.
She'd been a little girl then, but she could remember the torrential rain, followed so very quickly by blinding sunlight. It had been perhaps the strangest thing she'd ever seen.
Perhaps this was going to take that particular record, however.
In the next moment, it felt like the world itself pulsed with energy, and Braviary's flight was briefly held in place, like all things ceased to move, before he broke free, and readjusted.
Time, it seemed, did not have long.
"If you can go any faster," She shouted loudly enough to be heard over the storm, "Then now might be the time, Braviary!"
The Pokémon gave a call of assent, before transferring into a sort of glide-dive that had them hurtling towards Spear Pillar at what felt like double the speed they'd been going before. Bianca could feel her stomach protesting the motion rather heavily, but she held together.
And then…
And then they were there. Then Spear Pillar was right below them. Then Braviary had landed, and Bianca was stepping off…
And it was time.
"Thanks for your help, buddy." She told Braviary as she recalled it back into its Pokéball, and then looked up towards the apex of the pillar, where she could make out an azure energy gathering strength.
That would be where Dialga was.
And Mars, as well.
"Ah." A voice echoed out across the mountaintop as Bianca walked up the steps towards the ornamental stone of Spear Pillar. "I suppose I should've known you'd somehow find your way here, despite how impossible that should've been."
And she was face to face with the woman who'd kicked this all off; Mars herself.
"I had help." Bianca told her, coming to a stop some eight or so meters away from her opponent. "Hilda, N, Professor Juniper… they got me to where I am now."
"Hah… must be nice, to have those you love close by, willing to help you and assist you…" Mars shook her head as she turned away, looking up at Dialga, hovering in the air and gathering energy. "I was the only one on Team Galactic willing to take the fall… the only one willing to stick to our grand design. The others… they abandoned me; abandoned Cyrus! How could they? How could they just… forget!?"
"They didn't forget; they moved on." Bianca argued, taking a solitary step forward. "They accepted what that happened had happened. And they decided to move forward with their lives."
"Shut up!" Mars shouted, rounding on her with a furious look in her eyes. "What do you know!? You think you're so much better than me, huh!? That you're so enlightened!?"
"No. But I do think I have the answer to the question that's been plaguing you. Because I've lived a life… very similar to your own."
"Hah, what a load of Tauros crap!" Mars sneered. "You've lost things, too, I suppose. But you're not alone in that. In that sense, everyone in the world is similar. But they're not. Not truly."
"We're more alike than you think, Mars."
"Let's not bother with this, Bianca," Mars shook her head, drawing up the Adamant Crystal with her left hand and holding it aloft. "I know what's best for me, and I know what's best for you, too. A second chance; a chance to go back and do it all again, without making the same mistakes."
"Mars, you–"
"ENOUGH!" Mars screamed, and Spear Pillar shook with her voice. "There's no more need for words, now. You've taken your position. I have mine. If you want to stop me…"
Dialga gradually lowered itself in the sky, until it was only hovering a meter or so off the ground, just off to Mars' left side.
"Then you're going to have to stop Dialga."
Bianca swallowed hard, knowing that at least in that moment, her attempts to talk Mars down had failed. She would need to rely on her Pokémon now. On her strength as a trainer.
Except she didn't have her current team. She didn't have Milotic, Shellgon, Leavanny, and Gallade. She had her old team, her previous team. Mienshao, Simisage, Musharna, Stoutland, Chandelure…
Her hand shook as it ghosted over the ball of her final Pokémon.
Bianca swallowed, but drew out her first Pokémon, Mienshao. It had a type advantage – in theory – against Dialga.
The problem, of course, was that she was attempting to combat a legendary Pokémon with a team of ordinary ones.
And such was far easier said than done.
Legendary Pokémon were the strongest in all the land, and Dialga especially, a member of the creation trio, stood almost at the apex of Pokémon. Mars held in her hands a deadly weapon, one which could without issue likely annihilate Bianca's entire team.
And yet…
The world was counting on her.
Everyone was counting on her.
Which meant she had to win, regardless.
"Let's go, Mienshao!"
It was an oddly nostalgic thing, calling out those words. She hadn't said them in… it had to have been at least a decade, maybe more. She'd abandoned her Pokémon following Emboar's death, but even before that, she'd not battled with them in years.
To call one of them out for the express purpose of battling was something she'd thought she'd never do again.
Funny how this was the circumstance behind such.
Her Pokémon turned back towards her, smiled her way, and then looked towards its opponent. There was fear in Mienshao's posture, in its movements, in the way that it, however briefly, took a step back.
It again turned to look towards Bianca, this time in search of guidance.
And Bianca provided a small smile.
"Don't worry. We're going to win."
There was no doubt. For there could be no doubt.
Mienshao understood. It took a breath, nodded its head, and then gave a loud cry as it jumped back into position, standing equidistant between Bianca and Dialga.
"Fine." Mars spat out. "If you want to do this the hard way, then that's how we'll play it. Dialga! Do what you will, but don't let that woman and her Pokémon stop you!"
It seemed Mars didn't have enough control over Dialga to issue it specific orders, which Bianca supposed made sense. The Adamant Crystal seemed to act as a sort of… macro controller. But it couldn't quite manipulate Dialga's actions on a micro level.
Which meant that even if Dialga was going to follow Mars' orders to face them, it could do so in any way it desired.
"Mienshao, low kick!"
Her Pokémon blitzed forward, attempting to use its superior speed to get at Dialga before it could do anything. Yet as Mienshao appeared in Dialga's guard, it slowed down.
Suddenly, Bianca's body felt heavier, and she realized that the space around them was being manipulated. Not to the degree that a Pokémon like Palkia might effortlessly be able to do, but…
A Trick Room.
A move that turned the concept of speed on its head. The slower became fast, and the faster became slow. Mienshao, previously fast enough to almost leave afterimages, halted to a crawl.
Bianca bit down on the inside of her mouth as Dialga, with an almost bored ease, swatted Mienshao into the ground with its claws glowing a harsh purple.
Dragon Claw.
Mienshao was down, and it wasn't getting back up.
Bianca recalled it back into its Pokéball as Mars sneered.
"Ready to give up yet?"
She wouldn't dignify those words with a response. Instead, she reached back, and drew yet another Pokémon.
"Simisage!"
Her next Pokémon hit the field of battle, and where Mienshao had hesitated in the face of danger, Simisage seemed entirely cool and collected. Bianca almost wanted to laugh at how brazen her Pokémon was, but she shook her head. Now wasn't the time.
"Simisage, Grass Knot!"
Dialga was heavy. She was banking on that, first and foremost. If she could topple the Pokémon, bring it to the ground, it would take damage, Legendary or no Legendary.
Yet as the roots rose out of the ground, and attempted to latch onto Dialga's leg, the Pokémon simply flew a bit higher, hovering just out of reach. In the next moment, energy gathered around its mouth, and it fired off a Hyper Beam directly at Simisage.
Her Pokémon, which would've normally been agile enough to avoid such an attack, could do nothing whilst trapped within the Trick Room.
The hit was too much, and Simisage fell as well.
"You did good." She told her Pokémon, drawing it back into its Pokéball. "Alright, Stoutland, it's your turn!"
Her next Pokémon was out. She was more confident about this one. The Trick Room that was set up would be speeding up Dialga, yes, but it would also speed up Stoutland. In fact, she was fairly confident that Stoutland would normally be slower than Dialga, which meant that under Trick Room…
"Alright, Stoutland, hit it with Superpower!"
Her Pokémon barked in assent, before beginning to glow with power. It charged forward – it seemed as if Dialga didn't need to take any time to recover after using Hyper Beam, but just as Bianca had anticipated, Stoutland was still faster – and leapt right for its opponent.
Dialga braced itself, some sort of glowing energy encapsulating its form, and yet, even so, the attack landed.
It was a harsh one, backed by the entirety of Stoutland's weight and power. It pushed Dialga back by two or three meters, and caused the Pokémon to briefly lose height, its dangling front legs touching the ground.
For the first time that fight, Bianca felt hope surge through her.
Dialga was strong, yes, but it was not invincible.
No sooner had she thought that than did the Pokémon itself retaliate. It's maw once again glowed with the energy of a Hyper Beam, and Stoutland had nowhere to go.
Yet her Pokémon managed to take the hit this time. Stoutland was wounded rather heavily, yes, but still it stood.
Bianca knew she couldn't pass up that opportunity. "Stoutland, Reversal!"
Her Pokémon, barely hanging in there, glowed yet again, but brighter, fiercer. The damage it had taken redirected via the power of the move it was using, and sent hurtling back at Dialga.
This time, the keeper of time most certainly felt Stoutland's power. It was sent hurtling backwards, and though it didn't dip from the air, it had to re-right itself midair, shaking its head and letting loose a low bellowing sound.
Bianca wanted to cheer, but now wasn't the time. Before Dialga could get an attack off, Bianca made to recall Stoutland back into its Pokéball–
Yet Dialga was faster.
As if it had been simply taking things easy before, it now showed its true strength; its true speed. It was there one moment, and then, in the next, it was hovering directly overtop Stoutland. Bianca didn't even have the time to blink before its Dragon Claw rent the back of Stoutland, and sent her Pokémon tumbling to the ground of Spear Pillar.
Bianca swore below her breath, but recalled her Pokémon all the same.
Next up was…
"Musharna," She whispered below her breath.
The Pokémon joined her the next moment, hovering just beside her, it's dream gas emanating out of it.
Under Trick Room, Musharna would be faster than Dialga by quite a bit. Perhaps even fast enough to evade its attacks. Whether or not such a theory was going to hold up under scrutiny, however…
Well, there wasn't much else she could do but hope it would.
Musharna was, unfortunately, not much of an offensive threat. Its power lied with its bulk, and ability to take hits. A factor that would not at all be useful when facing off against a Legendary Pokémon, who could rather easily decimate any defense an ordinary Pokémon like Musharna was attempting to conjure.
She didn't have time to think, either. Dialga was moving, and the only thing that saved Musharna from a quick end at the hands of Dialga's dragon claw was the fact that under Trick Room, it was obscenely fast. It circled around Dialga's body, the both of them floating in the air, and seemed to be waiting on Bianca to issue it a command.
…What was she doing, doubting her own Pokémon? She had to have faith in them.
It was all she could reasonably do, after all.
"Musharna, Psychic!"
Her Pokémon's eyes opened, and Dialga's body suddenly went rigid as it attempted to fight against the psychic aura now coating it. It was winning, but even so, it was rather clearly not a painless – or damageless – victory. It managed to round on Musharna, and fire off yet another Hyper Beam.
Musharna, again, was faster, dodging underneath the blast and firing off yet another psychic as Bianca called out to it, but Dialga was yet again exerting itself, and Musharna couldn't properly hold it in place. Not when the deity was truly utilizing its powers.
Dialga broke free, as it was always going to. Musharna was sent flying, and Bianca was forced to recall it back into its Pokéball.
She was down to just two Pokémon left.
…They were both the Pokémon she'd failed the most.
First up…
"Chandelure," She called out, "Let's do it!"
Her Pokémon joined her on the field of battle a moment or two later, floating up into the air and excitedly bouncing, evidently happy to just be free of its Pokéball.
It, much like Mienshao, had a rather visceral reaction to seeing the God of Time directly in front of it.
"Don't worry." Bianca assured it. "We're going to win this. You don't have to be scared."
Chandelure turned back towards her then with an expression on its face – Surface? Glass? – that seemed quite surprised. It was as if the very fact that Bianca was steady, unmoving, was itself a shock.
Perhaps it was, to her Pokémon of the past. To see the Bianca of the future, who'd gone through so much, and emerged out the other side stronger…
Well, she was different now.
"Chandelure, go ahead and use Overheat!"
She didn't have time to play things cautiously. Dialga was only growing more and more serious as it took more and more damage, which meant that she needed to go just as hard.
Overheat was a powerful move, with the caveat that it weakened the Pokémon's future endeavors. That was, in this case, entirely fine.
Chandelure was a Pokémon she'd had for a very long time, and so she knew more than anyone that it was the opposite of bulky. It could occasionally tank a very small hit. But usually, a decently-hard hit was enough to knock it out.
And Dialga was more than a decently-hard hitter.
So, she wasn't going to bother humoring the idea that Chandelure could tank a hit. No, it was better to hit Dialga with everything Chandelure had.
It did just that, its body emanating a powerful flaming energy which washed over Dialga's form, causing the creature to rear up and gather energy about its claws. Dragon Claw yet again, then.
The hit struck Chandelure dead on, even as it continued to pump out the flaming energy of Overheat until the moment the claws struck it.
Bianca bit down on her bottom lip, but rushed over to catch Chandelure as it fell from the sky, utterly spent. She recalled it back into its Pokéball, before looking over at Dialga.
It was, in all fairness, definitely looking an awful lot more haggard than it had been before. It seemed as if Bianca's assault was not something it could ignore.
Even still… she wasn't sure what she could do with her final Pokémon that would be capable of hitting Dialga hard enough to win.
…
An idea came to her.
It was something so asinine, so ridiculous, that Bianca almost dismissed it outright without thinking further. But then…
Then she did think further.
She ran the question through her mind, did the requisite calculation, and arrived at the conclusion that nothing else she could come up with would give her quite as good a chance.
Which meant…
"No matter how much they call me an invincible champion, no matter how much of a prodigy they say I am… You beat me."
She had her plan.
Now she had nothing left to do but execute it.
She took hold of the final Pokéball on her waist, and felt something monumental shift inside of her. The ball in her hand felt weighty; heavier than it should've.
She supposed that made sense.
"Are you finished, Bianca?" Mars called out to her. "Done? Because you're not winning this. That's clear to everyone present. No matter how many lies you tell yourself, no matter how much you delude yourself, you can't possibly win against a Legendary Pokémon. Not against Dialga."
Maybe Mars was right. It was certainly a possibility. But Bianca didn't want to believe it. Perhaps it was something insidious like ego, but it felt more like a quiet pride within her breast.
She simply believed that she could.
And she wanted to live up to that feeling.
"Let's do this…" She whispered as she held up the ball, reeled back, and threw it out. "Emboar!"
For the first time in years, her very first Pokémon was in front of her once again. His eyes weren't glassy, his skin wasn't cold. There were flames erupting from his shoulders, and when he turned to look at her, it was with a jolly snort.
"Hey, big guy." She almost cried, somehow managing to contain herself. "I know this might look bad… but we've got this."
Emboar nodded its head, seemingly entirely convinced that Bianca was in the right. It was… strange. She felt in that moment some ethereal phenomenon. Emboar was looking at her with complete faith, with no doubt at all.
They were facing a God, and Emboar somehow thought – no, knew – that they'd win.
And Bianca…
She shared that opinion.
A strange thing happened then. All sound in the vicinity fell away. Bianca's body felt somehow stronger, lighter. Her mind seemed to drift away from her, as did Emboar's, and in the center between the two of them, they formed into one consciousness.
And suddenly, they were, the both of them, lit aflame.
She heard the sound of Mars gasping in the distance, felt the heat on her body, let it wash over her, envelop her.
She did not succumb, however. Whatever this was, she knew she couldn't manage it for long, but…
But if they could harness it, even for a moment, then…
The flames died down, and standing there, the two of them, were Bianca and Emboar.
Only…
Emboar's appearance had changed somewhat.
The flames on its shoulders towered higher, forming almost into a great billowing cloak, or perhaps a scarf of some kind. The golden symbols on its chest rotated actively, snaking across its form like a never ending ouroboros. Perhaps most notably, its arms, too, had been encased in fire, which emanated out the back of Emboar's elbows.
All in all, it looked fiercer, more powerful, but also…
It was still Emboar.
Still Bianca's Emboar.
"How is that…" Mars' voice was stunned as she observed Emboar and Bianca, the both of them radiating some odd energy. "That's no mega evolution, and to begin with, Emboar doesn't even have one. Which means… but… that can't be…"
Bianca… it was strange, but she knew what this was. She knew the phenomenon that was occurring right in front of her. After all, it was the very last thing that Bianca had researched, alongside Professor Juniper, before her departure.
A battle bond.
Emboar didn't need to turn to face her, then. She understood, somehow subconsciously, what it was thinking.
They were connected. Emboar, too, seemed surprised by this. But it wasn't going to complain.
Instead, the two of them faced Dialga, their steps in tandem, their movements linked.
The God of Time stared them down, its eyes alight with grand power.
Even in this form, even with all of this power, there was no attack that Emboar could utilize that Bianca truly believed could take out Dialga. Nothing they could simply unleash would be enough to free Dialga from Mars' control…
But if they borrowed Dialga's power… if they took its own energy in, and unleashed it themselves…
"Emboar," Bianca's eyes closed, she took a breath, and then, she put her plan into motion. "Bide."
It was Mars' gasp that truly seemed to cement what Bianca had done in reality. That which gave weight to her actions.
"You…" Mars took a step forward, this time, her eyes wide, her expression utterly shocked. "You have to know… in that form, the two of you… you share everything! Thoughts, emotions, but… but also pain! If Emboar means to bide, if you intend to take hits from Dialga, then–"
As Mars was speaking, Dialga itself was preparing. It glowed an ethereal blue, the energy about its body shaking the very earth below. In the next moment, it blinked out of existence, and appeared directly in front of Emboar.
Her Pokémon didn't outwardly react. All it did was stand its ground, a red glow hanging about its entire body, the Bide preparing to gather energy.
"W-Wait, Dialga!" Mars yelled out, suddenly fearful. "Don't! You'll–"
But Dialga did not wait. Instead, its front claws both gathered energy, and then it slashed down with powerful Dragon Claws, which raked down Emboar's front.
And Bianca couldn't help but cry out in anguish as she, too, felt every bit of pain that Emboar had.
It was like a set of knives had been carved into her flesh, like they'd rent down her core and sent her guts spilling out. When she looked down, there were no wounds upon her person, but even so, she could barely find it within herself to breathe, let alone try and continue onwards.
And yet, she knew…
She didn't have to look towards Emboar to see the red glow had strengthened rather heavily, having gathered a frankly staggering amount of energy from Dialga's strike. Subconsciously, she inquired about whether or not Emboar thought it could take another hit.
Her Pokémon just laughed at her.
Of course it could. When had it ever not?
And Bianca…
She almost wanted to laugh, despite the torment, despite the anguish coursing down her front.
She would not betray her Pokémon. Not again.
Not after so many times, not after year after year, she'd regretted her own actions, and yet never had enough strength to truly correct them.
And yet, as Bianca thought that, Dialga's expression seemed to grow angrier, as if it could not believe that Emboar had the gall to stand up against its attacks. It pulled backwards, this time, and it let loose a piercing roar, one which shook the very earth beneath them, that shook Spear Pillar, Mt. Coronet, Sinnoh itself.
That roar quickly coalesced into something truly staggering, and the entire world shifted accordingly. All colors began to distort, until the only things that still existed were white, and black…
And a deep azure.
It was only in the next moment that Bianca realized what was happening. When the world shook, when the power of what Dialga was building gathered at its maw, and only grew further.
Roar of Time.
It was Dialga's legendary technique; according to myth, the very thing that had caused time itself to begin to tick forward. That which had given birth to one half of creation.
And it was primed directly at Bianca and Emboar.
Her legs shook… her entire being shook. She felt fear; a fear most primal, basic. A fear for her life, a fear for whether or not she'd live if something like that hit her.
And yet…
Emboar's emotions flooded through their link. She felt her Pokémon's confidence, its unwillingness to surrender…
Its belief that they could do this.
And…
Again…
How could she betray that?
And so, despite the horrid terror coursing through every molecule of Bianca's body, she stood firm.
This is it.
"W-Wait, Dialga, stop!" Mars screamed. "If you do that, Bianca will–!"
But it was too late. Dialga wasn't going to stop.
There was a sound, like the breaking of a pane of glass, only greater, harsher…
And then they felt the Roar of Time.
…
..
.
..
…
If the Dragon Claw had been anguish, then this was agony itself.
It felt like every cell in Bianca's body had caught fire. Like she'd been dropped into molten metal, and been allowed to sink into it, until every part of her being was being eaten alive. Like she was held down upon a skillet, and unable to remove herself.
It felt like the pain lasted forever. Like Bianca was to be tormented forever, until the very end of time. Unending, unbreaking, unabating pain.
And yet…
The blast did end.
And Bianca…
Her hand trembled, aching, barely there…
But even so…
She feels Professor Juniper, standing there, behind her, urging her on. Always there for her, always aiding, encouraging, and spurring her onwards. Even when she herself hadn't thought she had it in her.
Even so, she formed a fist. Shaking, weak…
She feels Hilda, her best friend smiling widely as she shoots her a big thumbs up. Even erased, even having given her life, she has no regrets. She'd done what she'd had to do to save the world.
Bianca felt energy gather in the back of her throat. She felt her mouth open, heard the sound of her own voice screaming, something guttural, almost alien in the way that it ripped away at her vocal cords.
She feels all of her allies, everyone she's ever met. She feels Wallace, with a good-natured smirk. She feels Burgh, inspiration flowing off of him through his sorrow. She feels Elesa, her passion reinvigorated. She feels Iris, who'd somehow known she'd been capable of this.
Pain wracked every inch of her, but she stepped forward. It felt almost like her body was aglow with an energy she knew not the source of. She took a step forward, and she could see Dialga in front of her, having to recover from using the Roar of Time, and she drew her fist back.
She feels Norman, giving a firm nod. She feels Blue, chuckling below his breath. She feels Janine, with her hands clasped together in front of her lips, hoping, perhaps even praying for her sake.
She let loose a roar of her own, until her breath was haggard, until her voice disappeared into nothingness, until she'd unleashed all that she was…
She feels Cynthia, the woman who'd given her everything, who'd done so much for her, who'd been there for her, and would, hopefully, once she'd finished here, be there for her once again.
She's not even looking. She has no doubt; none at all.
Bianca's got it covered.
And then she swung forward…
And Emboar's own fist, wrapped in the energy of its Bided energy, struck Dialga true.
The blow was so fierce that the air popped, and Bianca's ears rang. Even from multiple meters away, Mars was sent hurtling backwards, rolling across the ground, tumbling end over end.
She dropped the Azure Crystal in that chaos.
Bianca, for half a moment, though that perhaps she should try and grab it, but her body couldn't possibly respond in its weakened state.
She'd used everything she was.
And she needn't have bothered at all.
Emboar's fist launched Dialga backwards at a speed that seemed unreal. It was so fast that the pillars hanging above them broke, that the ground beneath Emboar's feet was ripped apart.
It was so fast that the Adamant Crystal, even, was shattered by the ambient shockwave.
Dialga hit against the opposite edge of Spear Pillar, but it did so with enough force to sail right through the ten or so meters of rock. It sailed off of the edge of Mt. Coronet, until it entirely disappeared from view.
Bianca couldn't follow it.
But…
That didn't matter.
It was gone.
Dialga was gone.
She and Emboar…
They'd won.
It was an impossibility.
She'd done it all the same.
Mars was the slowest to react as she pushed herself up, her hair askew, her face pale. She was flabbergasted, that was clear. Entirely shellshocked at what had just happened.
Bianca couldn't really blame her.
"You…" Mars' voice was a whisper against the howling winds, even as the storm above them began to abate, Dialga's power no longer conjuring it. "How… how could… how could Dialga lose!?"
Bianca chuckled below her breath, the sheer absurdity of the last few minutes only then sinking in.
"I'm… not really sure, either." She admitted.
And that seemed to rub Mars the wrong way.
"WHY!?" She shouted, and her breath shone in the air, the chill of being atop Mt. Coronet only then sinking in. "You had everything you wanted! You had a second chance! You had Hilda again, and your old Pokémon! You'd get to live in a world where they never disappeared, or died! Why would you not want that!?"
Bianca had so little energy. To say she was running on fumes was an overstatement – she had nothing.
And yet… she wanted to accomplish that which she had been sure she could; all the way back down in those ruins, when Cynthia had first been frozen.
She wanted to convince Mars she was wrong.
Because she knew she could.
But first…
"Hilda… gave up everything to stop you." She voiced. "She and N both. They… wouldn't have been here, in this reality."
"Wha–" Mars' face was entirely confused. "What on earth are you talking about?"
It was Bianca's turn to be surprised.
"You… didn't even know?"
"Know what!?"
So… Mars hadn't consciously realized that Hilda and N were attempting to stop her, then. Their resistance must have been more subtle, or perhaps the result – far more likely – of Reshiram's and Zekrom's powers.
It made an awful lot more sense that way.
"I guess… it doesn't really matter. Not that part, at least." Bianca pushed out, and then, with a herculean effort, she took a step forward.
Her entire body protested against such a movement. Her muscles cried; her bones creaked. Her skin seemed to be flaking in several places, as if it had been burned rather heavily.
But she needed to do this.
She knew she could.
"This… isn't living, Mars."
"What!?"
"What you're trying to do… what you've been trying to do for so long… it's not living." Bianca shook her head, because… because she'd been there. The her of eight years ago, who'd been so broken by what she'd gone through with Emboar, might have ended up just like Mars, had she thought of such a thing. "I know… I know it's hard. But living in the past… that's just stagnation. It's been a decade… and you haven't moved an inch."
Mars took a step back from her.
"All this is… is another form of running away." Bianca shook her head. "And in doing so, you aim to invalidate the efforts of so many others, who have been knocked down… but who've found it in themselves to get back up, and keep going."
Another step forward from Bianca. Another step back from Mars.
"And because of that… because of that, I came here believing I would win. Because I knew… I knew I was not going to lose to someone still stuck living in the past, running away from the possibilities still hanging in the future!"
Bianca took another step forward.
Mars stopped moving entirely.
"I'm going to live for those possibilities! I'm going to face myself… my old weaknesses… and I'm going to make my dreams a reality, even knowing how impossible it seems!" Bianca shouted, a fervor filling her. "I… I am stronger than who I used to be. I am better than who I used to be. I am more than who I used to be!"
Mars looked directly at her; her eyes were wide, and her mouth hung open.
"And so are you."
And then, the world itself seemed to creak.
An impossible sound, like the tolling of some ethereal bell, echoed out all around them. Even despite how ominous such a thing sounded…
It felt strangely fulfilling to hear.
She turned towards where the sound was emanating from, and looked up to see Dialga floating in the middle of the air.
For a brief moment, she panicked, thinking the battle was back on, but then she noticed that Dialga's form had shifted.
No longer was it in whatever odd form it had existed within before. It had returned to its true form.
It looked down at Bianca, and it seemed to nod towards her, as if acknowledging her efforts.
It was perhaps the strangest moment of Bianca's life when she nodded back.
And then, Dialga flew higher, higher, and the world began to shift.
And Bianca realized what was happening.
Time was going to be reverted. They were going to return to the future.
Mars' plan had been foiled.
It…
It was over.
Bianca just laughed.
A joyous, exhausted, slightly crazed laugh.
Mars just stared at her, before slowly looking down at her own hands. They had nothing on them, they were entirely clean.
Yet she did not avert her eyes from them as her body faded away, back to where it belonged, in their time.
She couldn't, it seemed.
Perhaps that was enough.
Bianca turned, and looked out at Sinnoh in the distance. All around her, the lands and cities of Sinnoh, too, were disintegrating away, until all that was left behind was a gray void, slowly consuming them all.
But Bianca wasn't scared…
This was the way things were supposed to be.
Time… time couldn't go backwards. It could only ever keep going. Endlessly, on and on.
And surely, because of that, things would end. People would part, and go their separate ways. The sun would set, and the moon would rise, and then, everything would repeat again. Shops would spring up, and others would close down. The elderly would pass, and children would be born.
To try and fight against time itself… to try and fight against life…
It was futile. Meaningless.
But more than that, it was wrong.
Because moving forward… even if one had to do so on their hands and knees, crawling across the dirt, as long as they moved even an inch, then they were moving towards the future.
There was no guarantee that future would be bright. There were never any guarantees in life. But… if one wanted to have experiences, and not just memories…
Then they had to look to the future. Because to be stuck in the past…
Was just be running away.
But… even having said that…
Bianca turned back around. All around here, Spear Pillar was rising into the air. Pieces of the broken pillars, of the shattered central platform, and even the formation of stone at the back of the summit were rising into the air, being taken into the void.
But far more importantly…
Standing there, just behind her, was very first Pokémon.
Emboar looked…
Honestly, it looked entirely exhausted, too.
Bianca had to laugh as her Pokémon held up a thumbs up to her, and she held one up to him, as well.
…and then the tears came. Small at first, but there nonetheless.
Her Pokémon just smiled at her. He was always smiling. From the very beginning. Never wavering, or faltering. Never not believing in her, even when she hadn't believed in herself.
She hadn't seen Emboar in a decade, and yet… when she'd met him again, they'd been able to sync up instantly, to the point that they'd formed a battle bond, even.
…And now…
Emboar stepped forward, and he wrapped her in his arms.
There were so many things she wanted to say. So very many things.
But…
And then Emboar looked her in the eye, and she saw something there she hadn't expected.
He… he knew.
She wasn't sure how, but… he knew about what happened to him. He knew about her time spent grieving him. He knew about her journey, about her trials and tribulations, and the way that she'd improved so very much to make it to this point.
Surely, the Battle Bond would've shared some of her experiences, and thoughts, and emotions, but…
She wasn't sure how… but she suspected that Dialga might've had a hand in this as well.
Perhaps he'd granted Emboar some of Bianca's future memories…
One final parting gift from the God of Time.
"I don't think… I ever really got over your death." She started, her voice already catching on something, and she laughed under her breath, barely able to keep from sobbing.
"Even when I started out on my adventure with Cynthia, even when I began to meet so many different people, visit so many different places, and do so many different things… I was still carrying the weight of your passing with me. Of… of my own blindness. The fact that I ran you up that hill that day, irrespective of how you were really feeling, all because you were trying to make me feel better…"
Emboar shook its head, before nuzzling against Bianca.
She bit down on her lower lip; even as fresh tears fell down her face.
"And it… it all happened so suddenly… so very suddenly. One day it felt like you were getting better. And the next you were dead. That… that never really sat right with me. It didn't feel real. It didn't feel fair, either. It felt like just when you and I were finally going to have a chance to go on our adventure, finally go out and see the world again, and…"
She was breaking. She could feel it. But she didn't have long.
She didn't have time to wallow in her old miseries. She had to say this. She had to finally, finally get this off her chest.
"We never got to go on that adventure. We…" She bit her lip so hard that she tasted blood, even as the tears fell down her face. "We'll never get to go on that journey. I've accepted that now. You… you've gone on a different journey. One that I won't be able to follow for… for hopefully a long time."
Emboar seemed to agree with her, there, nuzzling against her.
"But… when we were separated prematurely, I… there were so many things that I never got the chance to say. Too many for me to tell them all to you here."
Time creaked. The rest of Spear Pillar was being carried away, until it was just them, on a tiny boulder, still hanging there.
She had seconds.
"But… finally…" Bianca cried. She couldn't help it. She cried, and allowed herself to feel the weight of everything. Of seeing Emboar again, and knowing that it was going to be the last time. "Finally, I can say it."
The ground around her feet broke as well, segmenting into little sections, leaving her and Emboar floating in the middle of nothing, being sucked up into the void as well.
And she looked her first Pokémon in the eyes, and remembered the first moment she held him. Just a little Tepig, but already so confident and assured. She'd not gotten a chance to pick after the others had, had instead been given the last of the Pokémon there, but…
She knew she'd wanted Tepig from the moment she'd saw him.
And she'd never regretted that decision. Not even with what ended up happening. Not even with the pain that that love had brought her.
Because, as they sometimes said, it was better to have loved, and lost, than to have never loved at all.
So, despite the tears, she fought to smile for him.
"Goodbye… Emboar."
Her Pokémon smiled, too, and gave a quiet chortle. He was happy; nay, content. The last lingering bits of their bond told her so.
Emboar leaned forward, and pressed his forehead against Bianca's own. He gave a quiet grunt, then, warm and pleasant as a distant campfire against her skin.
She didn't understand the language of Pokémon. No human ever had. But in that moment…
She felt she knew what Emboar had said.
Goodbye, Bianca.
And gradually, as if time wanted to allow this moment to be forever, but knew it could not, Emboar faded away. His arms and legs disappeared. His body became more and more transparent. The last thing to go was his smile, which never once dropped off his face, even knowing that he would die…
Because that was just who Emboar had always been.
And Bianca allowed herself to cry. Allowed herself to sob, and wail, and wrap her arms around herself.
It was hard. It would always be hard, knowing that Emboar was gone.
Knowing that he was just a memory in Bianca's mind once more.
But he was a memory she'd cherish forever. A memory that she'd never forget.
Even if she walked forward, towards the future, towards the dawn, towards her dreams… she'd carry him with her.
And one day… one day they'd see each other again.
She was sure of it.
And then, once more, the second hand ticked forward.
And the world itself did, too.
End Chapter 32
And that's the end of Mars' plans. The big moment for Bianca.
The story isn't over (she's still got another gym badge to get, for one!) and won't be for probably twenty or so more chapters, but we're getting there! Not a ton else to say, other than that I'd love to hear what everyone thought of this one! This chapter is one I've had in my head for... probably four or five years? Crazy to actually be releasing it.
Alright, that's all! See you guys next week!
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