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Father Winter's taunting words were infuriatingly obtuse. Nomi frowned, chewed her lip, listened as Isaac scoffed at the idea that "the original one" had not perceived Hoenn yet.[break][break]
"There's more than one Arceus," Nomi gently reminded him. "So either one of them is the original one, or there's something...else. Something beyond even Arceus." That thought brought Nomi about as little comfort as it had Isaac. "There's another option, too," she added, after a pause. Her crimson eyes burned into the false Father Winter with intense scrutiny.[break][break]
"He could be lying."[break][break]
He, it, the entire simulation...Nomi's brow furrowed as she considered the path the DRK Triad had been leading her down ever since Holo's interrogation. Every step brought her to another crossroad, the doors locked by riddles she did not have enough information to solve. Everything felt like wild conjecture, which left a bitter taste in Nomi's mouth.[break][break]
There wasn't time to do things the proper scientific way. Trial and error, countless hours of data analysis. Their region was in danger. What was the point of having a brilliant mind if she could not use it to save them all?[break][break]
I need to use my gut, she realized. Not my brain.[break][break]
Luckily, Isaac was one of the best at making decisions based purely on his instincts.[break][break]
"I don't know them, Isaac," she admitted, a truth she was loath to admit. "But I do know..."[break][break]
Her gaze was drawn magnetically upwards, and an Unown blipped into existence above Father Winter's head. It was visible for only a second before disappearing again. A rift began to form and Nomi understood what she had to do.[break][break]
"Follow him!" She declared, leaping forward just as Father Winter slipped away.[break][break]

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[attr="class","itemcolname"]arceus event

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[attr="class","itemcoltexttit"]1000 HANDS 1

[attr="class","itemcoltext"]You find yourselves on an advanced space ship. Around you stars and space debris sprawl out in incredible kaleidoscopic vistas. Upon investigation, the ship's notes and instruments seem to be seeking the "ascended hall of origin".[break][break]

Eventually, your out of world experience is interrupted by a violent rocking of your vessel and blaring alarms. A large hand-like being crushes a part of your ship as if in search of you and your friends.[break][break]

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[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]For once in his life, Isaac had been stunned speechless.[break][break]

What was he even looking at here? Was this the region's distant past, a more enlightened age? Did the simulation hold their future as well as their past? Could it have even been a glimpse into a parallel world? Or was this a metaphor, some science-fiction portrait of mankind's search for knowledge in the divine?[break][break]

Whatever the case may be, what Isaac saw could only be described as awesome in its most original sense.[break][break]

"Nomes," he breathed, as if barely able to speak. "You seeing all this?"[break][break]

Yet they did not just see. They were also seen, and cold familiarity shot through Isaac's spine as he saw by what. Those hands had assailed them during their stay in Maldacena's virtual world. It should have been no surprise that they cropped up here as well.[break][break]

"Not on my watch," Isaac snarled, reaching for a Pokeball. Wait. Could Pokemon even breathe in space? They were in space, right? Trying to battle this thing on their usual terms would just be condemning one of his loved ones to the cold, uncaring void. "Ugh . . . c'mon, c'mon. Help me look. This thing's gotta have some weapon systems, yeah?"

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Isaac may have entered unfamiliar territory, but Nomi had been to space.[break][break]
"Quick, there should be some sort of navigation system on board," Nomi explained. "We should be able to see where the ship is taking us."[break][break]
There! A dashboard covered in screens, blinking lights, a series of dials, and several important looking buttons. Nomi fiddled with a few of the instruments, intuitively recalling how Lulu Flint had flown the Rocket spacecraft they'd taken to Meteno nearly a year ago. Several seconds later, as Isaac stared out the main window in awe, Nomi managed to bring up what looked like a map on the largest of the screens. The map had a label that caused Nomi's breath to catch in her throat, adrenaline surging through her.[break][break]
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"Could it be?" She whispered, daring to hope. Had they made it to the stage that might actually lead them to Arceus?[break][break]
The ship shuddered as a sudden weight slammed into it, and Nomi was nearly thrown off her feet. A bizarre, larger-than-life hand - white and gold, the colors of a God - was assaulting them. An alarm began to shriek in protest, its high-pitched whine sending a sharp pain through Nomi's temple. Gritting her teeth, she grabbed a Pokeball from her waist. Unlike Isaac, she did not hesitate.[break][break]
Alpha, her Unown-A, appeared. "Pokémon are capable of fighting in space," she quickly explained to Isaac. "We were able to do so on the surface of Meteno - and anyway, this is just a simulation, remember?"[break][break]
A very realistic one...[break][break]
No time to question it. Nomi pointed at the hand, directing Alpha to attack. The Unown-A blipped out of existence, then reappeared outside the spacecraft, directly in front of the hand. It began to glow a soft, sickly orange until, with a sudden explosive burst, a HIDDEN POWER erupted outwards, slamming into the hand.[break][break]

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[attr="class","itemcolicon"]

[attr="class","itemcolname"]arceus event

[attr="class","lgdcol"]

[attr="class","itemcoltexttit"]1000 HANDS 1-A

[attr="class","itemcoltext"]You attempt to fight back against this cosmological horror. It's a relentless pursuer that tears through the ship. However, against all odds... you survive. The hand withdraws, deterred by your resilience.[break][break]

However, the damage has been done. Somewhere, a machine room explodes, forcing the ship to sway. It's a doomed vessel...

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[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]Isaac hadn't been sure if it had been due to the weird, crystalline properties of Meteno or not. Who was to say that the air hadn't been Tera Flying'd into breathability? That was totally how this all worked, right?[break][break]

No matter. If they were gonna box with God, they'd need long arms. Who better to depend on than Pokemon who had already proven themselves more than capable? Knuckles was the first to the fray, having stared down a Silvally from a young age and dealt it significant damage. She had been a Rilou then, unbelievably enough. Now she was far stronger than she had been before, a rush of her Close Combat rush ravaging the wound seared by Alpha's Hidden Power.[break][break]

The hand floated back, flexing its pain away as it prepared to rush in for a second strike. However, before it grould regroup, it found two other hands closing around it from each side. Ferrus Manus, the Iron Hands that faced down Walsh's simulated Darkrai, now pushed relentlessly back against the eldritch horror in a cosmic-grade thumb war.[break][break]

He wouldn't last long at all in a fair fight. But since when did Isaac or his team fight fair? Ogrelord crackled with Infinity Energy, the Grimmsnarl rising up to a far more proportionate figure as Mega Evolution completed his growth. He'd defied the undefiable once, his G-Max Snooze aimed at two of the most horrid abominations to ever haunt Galar, and he'd do so again as he aimes the same move towards the hand.[break][break]

Between being wrestled away by Ferrus Manus and fatigued by Ogrelord, the hand was finally starting to slow down. This was their last chance; strike now, or never know what would wait on the other side. Watson hopped into Isaac's arms, eyes sharpened with focus. "You sure about this, buddy?" Isaac asked, a determined rasp coming from the bundle of Totodile he now held close.[break][break]

That was all he needed to hear. With a spin for momentum, Isaac hurled the Totodile towards the dazed hand. He sailed through the air, the lack of an atmosphere letting him sail onward without slowing down for a moment. As he did, he began to shimmer and shine, green crystal spreading across his body with each passing moment.[break][break]

Just before Watson made contact with the hand, he unleashed a point-blank Tera Blast into its palm with all of his might.

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The extraterrestrial hand was no match for the combined strength of Isaac's and Nomi's Pokémon, Watson's final blast the push they needed to force the simulated danger to retreat. The hand withdrew, disappearing back into the spectral ether of deep space, and Nomi whirled around to grin at Isaac, exalted.[break][break]
Before she could say anything however, the ship lurched violently once more, and this time, she did fall to the ground. Her nose wrinkled as the scent of burning wires and warped metal reached her. Heat began to emanate from a hatch at the end of the command deck, and Nomi's stomach fell as she realized what was happening.[break][break]
"The ship's damaged," she said, turning to Isaac, expression concerned - though not yet panicked. "Either this will end our current RKS journey or there's something we can do to stop it, so we can continue on..."[break][break]
The Ascended Hall of Origin. Could they still reach it?[break][break]
With effort, Nomi stood, her Unown-A appearing next to her in a flash. She turned to the control panel with the dials and buttons. Surely there was something she could do...[break][break]
All around them, the world pixilated. Adrenaline spiked, and now panic did start to set in, as she realized the simulation was ending.[break][break]
But we were so close!

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A deviation. An unexpected result. Every scientist learned to deal with them, to record the data and contemplate what went wrong. What might have been the variable to tip the scales in a different direction.[break][break]
"Hm, the exit hasn't appeared yet," Nomi murmured to Isaac. "How curious. I wonder if there's been a malfunction - "[break][break]
The voice that answered her was not Isaac's, however, and Nomi's blood ran cold at the sound of it. It was a voice Nomi would know anywhere, had heard in her dreams, had tried desperately to find again and again to no avail.[break][break]
Until now.[break][break]
"Holo!" Nomi whirled around, facing the white haired woman as she crawled out of some unknown moment in space-time and into their current reality. "Were you looking for me?"[break][break]
Nomi's crimson eyes narrowed, distrustful, wondering if this was just another simulation. It didn't feel that way...[break][break]
If the DRK Triad had been involved in the Rondez-View of Luv game - as Nomi suspected - then Holo would have known that Nomi had, in fact, been searching for her. So why show herself to Nomi now?[break][break]
Holo made a quip about lovers and Nomi's first, panicked thought was that parker jones was here somewhere, that she'd been taken or - blondes?[break][break]
Isaac. She meant Isaac. Nomi remembered that Rondez-View of Luv scenario, too. How much had changed since she'd played his route, wished they could be something more, only to have her heart stolen not long after by someone else, someone perfect for her.[break][break]
"You're right, I prefer red hair."[break][break]
She flashed Isaac an apologetic smile, stepping up next to him. Her Unown-A teleported to her side, its singular eye fixating on Holo's Unown-K. The two stared at one another in obvious opposition. Nomi felt a sudden rush of pride and affection: her Unown had not abandoned her for Holo, something she had not been able to test with a DRK Triad member until now. She too, glanced at the Unown-K, then, wondering if she could win it to her side somehow. She'd been trying so hard lately to understand these creatures, the eyes of Arceus.[break][break]
Then Holo casually dropped a bomb that changed everything.[break][break]
"How many?" Nomi echoed. How many Isaacs?[break][break]
How many realities were there?

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[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]"Can't say I'm her top pick for a plus one. But, you're not mine, either." Isaac shot Dr. Holo an appraising look. This was the first time he'd seen a non Father Winter member of the Triad in person. He probably should have been more scared and impressed, but there was only one grudge he had on his mind. "Couldn't've wheeled out Maldacena instead?"[break][break]

The whole thing was ironic. Months ago, Nomi would have been a blushing, nervous mess at Holo's description. To see her quip back with such confidence warmed Isaac's heart. He returned her apologetic smile with a proud one of his own, not taking her change in tastes personally. They both knew it wasn't meant to be, anyway.[break][break]

Not in this universe, at least. Maybe in one of the other myriad universes. There were tons of them, and in many of those Isaac had become quite the thorn in the Triad's side. It wasn't a very sturdy or sharp thorn. Dr. Holo sounded more like she was doing routine pest control than fighting for her life. But a thorn was a thorn nonetheless, and Isaac couldn't help but be proud of having guts that stretched across the multiverse.[break][break]

Nomi seemed stunned, almost distressed, by the sheer number. Isaac simply folded his arms and cocked an eyebrow. "See, that's the thing with you Triad," Isaac said, taking a step forward to face this new threat more closely. "You always think you've seen it all. That you know everything." In spite of his easygoing voice, a sharklike grin crept across his face.[break][break]

"Well, too bad. There's nobody out there like me."

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Nomi stood her ground. She did not cower from the truth.[break][break]
In the end, it was easy enough to recover from the initial shock of finding out there were, potentially, infinite versions of Isaac across realities. And her. And probably everyone else they knew. Why? Because it was logical. She'd known it all along, really. Multiple versions of legendary Pokémon, multiple versions of Arceus: why not them, too?[break][break]
What had given her a moment's pause, a heartbeat of contemplation, was the realization that in another universe - maybe multiple - she and Isaac were the lovers Holo had mistaken them for. Maybe that was the way things were "supposed to go", and this Hoenn, their Hoenn, was the outlier. Perhaps that ought to have rattled Nomi, caused her to look at Isaac in a new light, try and deduce why this time, Cygne and Parker mattered.[break][break]
But it didn't bother her, didn't make her doubt a single thing. All it did was give her hope.[break][break]
Holo's condescending statements about this Isaac being the only one she'd come across that wasn't an Avatar of some legendary God only further bolstered Nomi, stoking the fire of her resolve.[break][break]
"Oh, but we already are responsible," Nomi declared. "Isaac's right, this time things will be different, because we're different. You think you're so clever, hopping around universes destroying whatever gets in the way of your agenda." Crimson eyes blazed. "But have you ever considered that maybe you're the problem?"[break][break]
She took out a Pokeball and released another of her own Unown. Flanked by Alpha and Nu, Nomi looked directly at the Unown-K that was beginning to charge. Soon, it would release a blast of HIDDEN POWER towards them.[break][break]
"She uses you like a tool," Nomi said to it, tone softening. "Is this really what you want?" She held out her hand as if in peaceful offering. They sounded sad, in the simulation.[break][break]
"I want to help you. I want to understand you. All my life I was underestimated, abandoned by the people who claimed to love me. I thought that meant I had to do everything alone, but," she glanced at Isaac, smiling fiercely. "I don't. I'm not alone. We are stronger together."[break][break]
Nomi stood proudly beside her friend, who was the best of the Isaacs because he was the one she knew, and when the attack hurtled towards them, she merely waited, knowing he would have her back.

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[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]Holo's retort was as blunt as a tire iron to the face. The way in which Isaac stood out was, in fact, the way he didn't. Every other Isaac to end up in the Triad's path had been an Isaac with a legendary's backing. The Isaac that stood before Dr. Holo today was, ultimately, cosmically insignificant.[break][break]

And he didn't care one bit.[break][break]

"Big whoop. Next you're gonna tell me they all hit their growth spurts, too." What was Isaac supposed to do? Kiss Dr. Holo's ass and apologize for not being chosen? Get out of her light so the big kids could talk? Lie down and die like his other selves? "You know what that tells me? Of all the Isaacs without 'em, I'm the biggest damn deal there is."[break][break]

Still, it was hard not to wonder. Who had chosen Isaac in the other world? Was it the same legendary every time, a bond that stretched beyond the multiverse? Or was it this patchwork quilt of different Isaacs with different patrons from different realities, united only by their name and their willpower? The temptation to ask Dr. Holo, to have that brief glimpse into a future that may have been, was immense.[break][break]

But there was only person Isaac would let write his destiny, and it sure as fuck wasn't Dr. Holo.[break][break]

"If they come, they come. 'Til then?" Knuckles sped to Isaac's left, sinking down into a fighting stance. Ogrelord followed, folding his arms and peering down his nose as he took Isaac's right. Ferrus Manus loomed behind the group, his magnet-powered fists sparking all the while. It was little Watson who took the space in front, hopping back and forth in a little war dance. When the hidden power fired her way, he was quick to lunge towards it, smashing it out of the way with a Tera Blast of his own. [break][break]

"These are the only patrons I need."[break][break]

A final pair of Pokeballs erupted from beneath Isaac, lifting him high into the air. He now sat atop Akane's neck, the Iron Thorns forming underneath him with an all too familiar war cry. Perched there with him, right on top of her head, was Neo. She looked towards Isaac, her pale blue eyes reflecting a wisdom far beyond her years. Isaac met her gaze with his own, a small smile spreading across his face.[break][break]

Nomi was right. They were stronger together. And they'd never be alone.[break][break]

The Unown was Nomi's mystery to decipher. Isaac dared not step on the toes of her efforts. However, as she focused on coaxing it to their side, Isaac couldn't help but ruminate on the good doctor herself. It was hard not to, considering she'd just accused him of being responsible for the end of all things.[break][break]

He considered her words. And then he started to laugh.[break][break]

Even Isaac's Pokemon were baffled. They turned to face him, concern knit into their features. Had their beloved trainer finally lost his marbles? Yet it wasn't wasn't the laughter of amusement currently rolling out of him in great, simmering waves. It was the laughter of revelation; surprise, relief, and closure all blended into a single package.[break][break]

"And here I thought our world just had some real bad juju," Isaac said, finding it hard not to smile in the face of this reveal. "Nice to know we're not the only cursed universe out there. So, what is it, then? Is it a you problem? An Avatar problem? Or does Arceus just not like my face?"[break][break]

His relief and his levity did their damndest to hide the fear he felt in the face of "the other Blackjacks."[break][break]

He could cope with a lot, but could he cope with being the end of all things?[break][break]

TEAL DEER;[break]
Isaac is tempted to peek into his future, but refuses to let Dr. Holo be the one to define it.[break]
Decides he'll figure it out himself when the moment comes, and until then doesn't need anyone but his beloved team.[break]
They come to his side to defend him; four who faced titans before and two reminders of his beloved fallen Aggron.[break]
Current team: Watson the Totodile (Tera Grass), Neo the Aron, Akane the Iron Thorns, Ferrus Manus the Iron Hands, Knuckles the Lucario, and Ogrelord the Grimmsnarl[break]
Watson leaps forth the parry aside the Hidden Power with a Tera Blast of his own, because he's Nomi's favorite.[break]
Isaac is very relieved to know the Origin Point isn't just their universe's fault.[break]
He asks to know more, lowkey afraid that Holo is being literal and he is the issue.

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