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Finally, after a long trek up the daunting mountain, through humid, dark caves and bitterly cold blankets of snow, before me lies the destination I have been aiming for– what feels like much more than just another place within reach, but a climax– the Spear Pillar, or pillars, tall and jagged, ancient structures of yellowed stone carved from the hands of gods and monsters alike– as it has been told in legends long lost to history– the trail of time.
Even the scent of the wind carrying the whispers of the old world make their way inside my head, filling my lungs with past trauma, and my ears with anxious shivering. I see them before they see me– Mars, to the right, Jupiter to the left, and between them, further up and facing the domain’s eternal horizon, Cyrus. Team Galactic awaits me once more, even if they did not yet know it.
It’s their fault for underestimating me and how far I could come, I would, and I am. Here, Arceus itself would not be able to stop me from coming here, and doing what I had to do. I believe in myself this much. It is not a matter of should, there are some things in life you just do, no matter the consequences. If this means the end for me, then so be it, but this is not about me. It’s about everyone else. I have to do it, for the sake of the world and everything that exists within it.
My footsteps are loud against the cracked rock beneath my feet. I do not rush, but take my time to reach them, otherwise, I might lose my cool and my focus along with it. Jupiter and Mars are so preoccupied with their leader’s final antic, they do not notice me until I am right between them, facing the back of the Emotionless ET himself, with the two of them now facing me.
I feel a chill run down my spine as their attention turns to me and their eyes burn against my skin, which feels burned by the sun’s rays already, being closer to space where it resides, and the freezing wind of the highest place in Sinnoh. I have come too far to turn back now, and I’m sure they might be thinking the same thing, even if they are also scared. I am not a fool to believe that even Cyrus himself has gotten rid of every ounce of emotion inside of him, as much as he says he has, and his subordinates are no different. I have seen the looks in their faces the many times I have battled each and every one of them.
“What’s the matter? Don’t tell me you’re shaking?” Jupiter speaks first, her high voice floats far beyond cyrus clouds in the sky, reaching places she wishes she could.
Regardless of the cold, I am shaking, but so is she.
"Well, hotshot? Now what?" Mars has her hands on her hips in a defying way, and it feeds my confidence a bit, because I can tell she is trying to appear tougher to me than I think she is. She sees me as a threat, like all of them, but her personality forces her to express it more strongly; the red in her veins– just like in her eyes and hair– making it hard for her to keep herself from throwing her own fists my way.
She approaches me for battle, readying her pokeball in the palm of her hand. She stands with her head held high, towering over me.
"There's no need to rush. I can understand you want to battle our boss real bad, but you'll have to go through me first. After all, you've made me look bad more times than I care to remember!"
Jupiter closes in on me from the other side, attempting to battle me two against one. It’s illegal in the world of pokemon battling, but in the face of their lot trying to create a new galaxy and destroying this world, it is akin to dust in the wind. Even if they were ethical enough in pokemon battling to go one after the other against me, it’s hardly fair.
"And I'll be next. You might be tough, but this time, the gloves are coming off!"
Just as I weigh my options inside my head, a familiar face shows up– this time, a much friendlier one. It feels like a burden is lifted from my shoulders as soon as I see him run towards us and push between me and Mars to face her, while I face Jupiter.
"Hold on one second! Don't you start the party without me!"
“Huh?” Jupiter scoffs, as if someone had told her a stupid joke.
“Remember me? I’m here to get my revenge!”
He is always one step ahead of me– my best friend and rival– it’s by some miracle that I reached the top of Mt. Coronet first. I should have expected he would come too, the kid who had the same willpower and sense of justice as I did, as if fate had made us neighbors as kids, and now, standing side by side against destroyers of worlds, we couldn’t call ourselves children anymore.
"Humph! Well, if it isn't the little boy who ran off crying at Lake Acuity! Did you get any tougher since then? We'll beat you two-on-two!"
I remember the scene Jupiter describes– after a hard-won fight with the Snowpoint City gym leader, getting through the clearing to the lake and finding a tear-stained Barry shaking his fists at his sides, trembling from anger rather than cold, his boots buried deep inside the top layer of snow. His tears sparkled like crystals, frozen on his red cheeks, he tried to run away as Jupiter laughed at him for having lost the battle, bumping against me for the millionth time in his life and wiping his face quickly to hide his vulnerable state. I told myself then that I would get revenge for him, but that had been stupid of me. He was going to get it himself. Now, we both will.
It’s our toughest fight yet, but once again, we pull through. I’m more surprised about three of my pokemon fainting vs. Barry’s Munchlax than I am of us beating the two commanders of Team Galactic. Maybe next time we fight one-on-one, he will have a chance at winning against me.
"Humph! You've toughened up. But you're no match for our boss." Jupiter says, closing her manicured nails within her palms and sharpening her gaze. The toxic, feminine drawl in her voice weighs heavy with her words, and it sounds like she’s trying to convince herself a little, because I know that she knows that I have beaten Cyrus before and I can do it again.
On the other hand, Mars has resolved to bottle up all of her disappointment to the tips of her trembling fingers, which hang spread out and away from her body, as if she is trying to balance herself with them. Unfortunately for her, she cannot stop herself from hanging her mouth open at us.
"Sheesh... I should have done the fighting myself."
Barry takes a breath deep enough for the both of us. I can feel my nerves settling under my skin just enough for me to clear my head and start to mentally prepare for the final fight with Cyrus, but as soon as I see him in the distance, my heart rate picks up again. Must be nice not having emotions, I mock.
"...Heh. My Pokémon are tough, right? I can get even tougher! ...But, you know, that's it for us. We've hit the wall... Dawn, I'll help you with this!”
Barry takes my pokeballs one by one, spraying them with revives and full restores. I’m zoning out by now as I take my pokemon back, an attempt to numb my growing restlessness at the event that unfolds before us. Before the sky even changed color, the sheer sensation of being in a foreign part of the universe, another planet, overcame me. This is not happening. It cannot be happening–
“Hey, Dawn! This is it! It's your show now!”
Barry’s determined voice snaps me out of my panic. He looks into my eyes with such vigorous faith that I ask myself what I have done to deserve him believing in me so strongly. Believing in myself was one thing, but having others believe in me was another thing entirely. It left me speechless, which is nothing new. I tended to not say much unless asked a question, especially in times like this, when words seemed futile. Barry’s words, however, struck something in me. It wasn’t what he was saying, but how he said it, as if the world depended on me.
When the orange of his eyes and the yellow of his hair leaves from my gaze, I realize he is leaving me to fight alone and can feel the kricketots pricking inside my chest, but when I face Cyrus himself, everything around me stills. The world goes quiet– the calm before the storm. I have my pokemon with me.
The deity of legend is there before him in all its brilliant blue majesty, a brand new galaxy swirling around it– Cyrus’s new world.
Too much happens in the span of minutes after that moment– the three legendary pokemon of the lakes freeing Dialga from the Red Chain that controlled it, the battle with Cyrus, Team Galactic taking their leave after he is defeated– my weary breath and exhausted pokemon.
I have little energy left in me after it all, and yet Dialga remains unmoving before me, waiting. I know what I must do.
Before I can decide to make a move, two more familiar faces show up at that moment–- Lucas, and Professor Rowan. My emotions start to leak out of me prematurely as I see them and the words start pouring out of my brain– how grateful I am for them, for the pokedex, for the Professor having entrusted it to me and sent me on this life-changing journey… but then, Rowan’s words echoed, “Dawn, there’s a time and place for everything, but not now.”
The words go to my eyes and blind me with tears, but I don’t say anything.
“Dialga, the master of time… It’s impossible to tell if it is enraged or saddened. But to me, Dialga appears to be waiting for you, Dawn. It seems to be challenging you as a test… Go on, Dawn. Face up to Dialga! Listen to its heart. Understand its thoughts. Dialga is out of control after being dragged out by the Red Chain and being forced to use its power. Dialga seems to be trusting you to stop it.”
Turning back to the master of time, I remember what it is like to be chained to something, just like Dialga had been by the Red Chain. It fills me with a familiar sadness, like the one I felt moments before I pressed the button inside the Team Galactic HQ at Veilstone City, releasing the three pokemon of the lakes; Mesprit, Uxie, and Azelf. If all pokemon are to people is power, then controlling them is a means to gather more of it relentlessly, until there is nothing else to control anymore. Before I realized this, what drove me to stop them was surface-level evil, reasoning like “it’s bad to steal pokemon, trick others, and take away people’s futures”, but it didn’t go deeper than that. Cyrus had been blinded by this, and by now, I hope he somehow wakes up before he tries to bring upon the end of the world a second time.
Lucas speaks next, holding Professor Rowan’s lab coat over himself to distract from the harsh wind and freezing temperatures. It appears neither of them had time to change into warmer clothes before heading to the summit, and it’s something I know better than anyone. Time waits for no one.
“Dawn, I just ran into Barry. He said that he believed in you. He said that you could get the job done. I think so, too. You’ve got to help that Pokemon! It’s suffering from being dragged out by Team Galactic!”
Hearing it gives me confidence. In the back of my head I think, I hope Barry made it out okay, even if “okay” is too vague of a word to encompass all the good wishes I have for him. I hope he believes in himself just as much as he believes in me. Having people believe in you makes all the difference.
I steel my gaze and walk towards Dialga, throwing my pokeball before it to engage in the last battle. I see it fly through the air in slow motion. The roar that pierces my ears is powerful enough to stop time itself.