[attr="class","skullimg"]

[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]Isaac was having the worst sense of deja vu right now.[break][break]

He'd fought tooth and nail to keep what mattered most in mind. 20 years of peace and prosperity carved out of the unforgiven wastes. The faces of his beloved daughters. The knowledge that his words had value, his actions had impact, and that in spite of the war the region had surrendered itself back into better things were possible.[break][break]

There had to be sacrifices. The little details on the fringes were the first to slip his mind. For example, he knew that titans stood against the onslaught facing Galar, normal Pokemon empowered far beyond their normal means. He knew that he had guided not one but two of these titans to success on the battlefield. But what gave rise to these titans was a mystery, little more than a hazy image in the back of Isaac's mind.[break][break]

Until now.[break][break]

By now, Isaac had been on a few trips through the RKS Simulator. He knew the danger posed when someone just ran off to investigate things better left unseen. The situations were fake, but the pain was real. The adrenaline was real. If worst came to worst, he feared the consequences would be real, too.[break][break]

He knew all of this. And yet, he approached the glowing ore anyway, hand slowly but surely snaking out towards it.

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[attr="class","itemcolicon"]

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

[attr="class","lgdcol"]

[attr="class","itemcoltexttit"]WISHING STAR 1-A

[attr="class","itemcoltext"]You touch the purple chunk. Suddenly, you and everyone nearby is overtaken by a horrific vision of a skeletal dragon soaring above the planet, its ribs and claws as sharp as its tendrils. From a nearby meteoroid, a DEOXYS shoots outward. It attempts to attack the ETERNATUS.[break][break]

In the process, a fragment from the ETERNATUS' BODY falls toward the earth...[break][break]

All of you come to and see that the mysterious material is pulsing. With every pulse, the purple chunk begins to manipulate the spatial elements of reality around it and yourselves. Paranoia begins to settle in... before the scenario shifts.

[attr="class","skullimg"]

[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]Part due to Kepler's quietness today, and part due to Isaac's hyperfixation on the glowing ore, he had almost forgotten that he wasn't alone. As Kepler called him out, Isaac nearly jumped out of his skin. He tore his hand away from the "forbidden gusher," doing his best to look like he wasn't doing anything suspicious.[break][break]

"Huh? Why would I do that?" he asked, voice a hair too fast. It was almost as if Isaac was actually going to pick it up and throw it in his mouth. "You're funny, man. Too funny."[break][break]

Silence hung over the two as Isaac turned back to the ore. He scooted a little to the side, giving Kepler free reign to join him in looking if he so wished. "It really is familiar, huh?" he asked, voice hushed to a point of almost reverence. "No clue how, where, or, why. But, fuck, Kep. I can't shake it."[break][break]

He continued to stare down at the ore. The world around it may as well have been the void for all Isaac cared. "You feel it too, right?" he asked, not even looking up as he did so.

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[attr="class","skullimg"]

[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]"Hey, do you need to t-"[break][break]

Before Isaac could make his well-meaning attempt at a human connection, Kepler decided to try a different means of coping. He grabbed ahold of the rock, and suddenly the world had shifted.[break][break]

Eternatus. Of course. The coloration was a dead ringer, though the stone lacked its overwhelming intensity. It had even found another cosmic being to piss off, apparently. "How many legends has this thing aggroed?" he ask, wondering if he'd rather be on the wrong end of Deoxys or Necrozma.[break][break]

Neither. Neither sounded good.[break][break]

They snapped out of their vision. It was back to the stone. It was always back to the stone. Right now, the stone was all that mattered. Its pulsing form began to warp and distort the space around it, threatening to send Kepler and Isaac into a cosmic tailspin. Isaac grit his teeth and planted his feet, as if trying to hold out against an inevitable who-knows-what.[break][break]

This was but a fraction of Eternatus' power.[break][break]

Necrozma had beaten Eternatus almost handily.[break][break]

Zev Harcourt seemed very, very scary right about now.[break][break]

Isaac wished that he was anywhere but here right about now, and thusly life obliged.

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[attr="class","itemcolicon"]

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

[attr="class","lgdcol"]

[attr="class","itemcoltexttit"]TREE OF LIFE 1

[attr="class","itemcoltext"]You enter a resplendent glade with a large white tree growing in its center. Although it is devoid of leaves or fruits, it is a sacred and splendid scene seemingly untouched for one thousand years. Around its base, Pokemon kneel though they do not seem alive. They've been petrified into absolute stone.[break][break]

Coming close, you sense the tree "speaking" to you. It beckons for you to water it.[break][break]

[attr="class","skullimg"]

[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]"Necrozma," Isaac said, remembering the visual of Necrozma dragging his prey through an Ultra Wormhole to finish doing Arceus-knows-what with it. "Makes me wonder if there's even a - fuck, what is this thing even called - anymore."[break][break]

Was that how Necrozma had gotten so strong in time for the Darkest Day? Or was it sneaking out from some big, cosmic brawl every now and then to top up on biofuel before being dragged back into the fray?[break][break]

He didn't mind how Kepler dragged him in turn. By now, he knew that touch was a form of comfort for Kepler, and he was more than happy to let himself be clung onto or hidden behind if it gave his friend some peace of mind. Now was one of those occasions, even as his grip took a turn for the vice-like.[break][break]

Greeting them was the sight of a towering, incandescent tree. Pokemon kneeled around it, not corpses but not animate either. If anything, they seemed petrified, caught in a state of eternal still. Was this what it meant to live forever? Was this why bryan delarosa feared the possibility so?[break][break]

Isaac hadn't seen the movie Kepler mentioned (he'd have to ask ana fell during her next superhero binge), but he had to agree there was some sense of finality to the sight that hung before them. "This would be how far Hoenn's come, huh?" he asked, a touch of bitterness bleeding into his voice.[break][break]

The still hung, heavy and eternal, as much a stalemate as the League and Rocket's war over the region. They could burn it all down, purge it, maybe even give the Pokemon stuck in their eternal solitude the sweet release of death. Or they could try and bring the tree, desiccated as it was, back to life. Would it prolong their eternal suffering? Or would it give them the freedom to move towards something better than just scraping by?[break][break]

"We have to help," Isaac said, voice hushed and careful. He could feel the tree's pleas for water. He studied the frozen Pokemon, trying to gauge what reactions they could even muster. "But . . . how?"

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[attr="class","skullimg"]

[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]The hellish shriek in Isaac's ear made it clear that the tree did not consent to this decision.[break][break]

"Gonna have to ix-nay that one," Isaac said. "Y'know. Especially while we're attached at the wrist like this."[break][break]

Before Kepler could counter Isaac's equally deadpan joke, he used his free hand to fish out a Pokeball. A Dragonite emerged onto the scene, spreading his wings with a mighty trill. As it hovered above this blighted land, he took a cautious look around. His antennae drooped as he took in the enormity of what loss had happened here.[break][break]

"Lets change these guys' fates, Zeph," Isaac said. "Break out a Rain Dance, and pump it up with a Springtide Storm to boot!"[break][break]

The Dragonite nodded, eyes sharpening with focus. Dark clouds swirled around him, floating up into the sky with each flap of his wings. Once they gathered, a last smash of his wings sent a vivid pink breeze flowing through the air. For a while, all held still, only little pink sparks dancing across the clouds serving as a sign of this extra ingredient.[break][break]

As the rains fell upon the Tree of Life, they fell heavy and fresh.

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[attr="class","itemcolicon"]

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

[attr="class","lgdcol"]

[attr="class","itemcoltexttit"]TREE OF LIFE 1-A

[attr="class","itemcoltext"]You water the tree. Suddenly, you hear a crackling sound of moving wood, the bare tree's branches swaying as if alive. Around you, the petrified Pokemon stir alive. The stone crumbles apart as new fur, hide and scale emerge.[break][break]

The tree settles back into dormancy, but the Pokemon eventually turn to you in thanks.[break][break]

Curiously, these Pokemon feature brilliant markings that glow and glimmer beautifully in the dappled sunlight. Whether they were originally Illumina Pokemon or not is uncertain, but they shine bright with gratitude.