OCTOBER 17, 2023

PRESENT DAY

Josh's head thumped almost as harshly as his thighs did, feeling the bond with his Patron slipping away. Raikou's black stripes and blue muzzle had turned purple after discharging the SHADOW BOLT. His electricity turned to Shadow, the Cavalier's greatest weapon had been stripped from him. He wasn't alone, though; kyle lopez 's Entei leaped after Lugia, spewing SACRED FIRE toward the Shadow Pokéon and Rocket boss. The duo seemingly disappeared into a cloud of MIASMA, turning the otherwise terminal blow into a glancing one. Even the burst of EXTREME SPEED ordered by Isaac Merlo was a mere graze upon the Beast of the Sea.

MIASMA continued to pour out of both Lugia and the ETERNAL SHADOW, casting a SHADOW SKY that burned Entei, Suicune, and the three Avatars composing the League's last stand. Josh was too weak to notice Raikou seemed unaffected by the wispy atmosphere, the Beast flinging himself toward the duo. EXTREME SPEED was again met with MIASMA, though even the Harbinger bled this time, the Beast's fang slicing across the tyrant's arm as he whizzed past.

With a screech-like roar, Lugia reared and raised her mouth toward the ETERNAL SHADOW, her mouth foaming with wisps as a SHADOW BLAST grew between her jaws. Holy SACRED FIRE met the unholy air blade, the impact's shockwave blasting Raikou, Suicune, and their Avatars to the island's edge. A strong gust of wind brought Isaac to his feet, the Purifier reaching for Kyle, who was in the midst of the collision between black wind and white fire. "Kyle! No!" both of them cried simultaneously.

White flames danced about Lugia's skin, bleaching her dark body with her species' natural lavender color. When the smoke cleared, it was clear that the one burst of cleansing fire was the only help they were going to get from the Patrician and his fiery Patron. Cillian extended his hands toward the fallen Beast's crown, its unconscious Avatar wholly unaware of the volume of purple wisps surrounding Entei's now-purple crown.

"Some Top Champion he was," Cillian Quinn spat. "And then there were two. Even your Great One's vanguards can only delay the inevitable. Look at the one you worship," he gestured toward the SHADOW RAIKOU, slowly getting to its feet. A dense field of purple wisps rose from its likewise-colored stripes and muzzle, the once holy Beast now decidedly unholy. Patron launched a SHADOW BOLT at Avatar with such speed that not even his SUPERHUMAN REACTION TIME could save him from the eldritch lightning that crackled upon him.

"Why, Raikou... why?" Josh gasped, struggling to get to his feet. "O Great One, deliver us from this plight..."

"Pray! By all means, pray to your so-called Great One! I am certain that she will not be able to help you; by now, she must have suffered the same fate your precious Raikou did. Your Raikou is one of her children now," the Harbinger pointed toward Lugia. "One of her most precious children, alongside your feeble, frail Top Champion's Entei. You two were never worthy of wielding the Johtonian gods' might. Your Patrons made mistakes choosing you as Avatars. Mistakes they will not be able to make again!"

As SHADOW FIRE and SHADOW BOLT raced toward the prone Josh and Kyle, a brilliant blue light from Suicune's crystalline crown pierced the MIASMA...

OCTOBER 18, 2023

PRESENT DAY

The brilliant, blue light that was Suicune's ICE BEAM cutting through Cillian Quinn 's MIASMA, further bleaching Lugia's black feathers a silver of hope for Hoenn's future. A hope that the ETERNAL SHADOW was reversible. The Purifier, Isaac Merlo , was that lone hope, the bond between him and his Suicune Hoenn's only salvation. As the SHADOW BOLT and SHADOW FIRE pierced the elemental defenses of his fellow Beast Riders, their suffering amplified the Avatar's own strength and force of will.

Pointing his blade toward the Harbinger and his Patron while they were reeling from the Z-Move, Isaac buried his left hand in his legendary steed's purple mane and grasped the hilt of his translucent, cyan blade with his right. A SHADOW BLAST was met with an OMINOUS WIND from the Harbinger and the mother of all Shadow Pokémon, the ghost-type move fueled by a hurricane-force TAILWIND the Purifier channeled. The malicious blades of air sliced at the bodies of Avatar and Patron, shadow wisps dissolving even the purity of the Beast of Winds. Its white rump and crystal tainted with a subtle purple, the corruption drove the Beast to anger.

Their heads thumping, the desperate Josh Devlin and kyle lopez regained meaningful consciousness to see their Patrons, Raikou and Entei, locked in combat with one another. While MIASMA wafted above both Beasts, the field surrounding Raikou was much more dense, the full Shadow nature of the Beast on display in the brutal, bloody battle. The two exchanged biting attacks, the Shadow Raikou CRUNCHING into Entei at the same time the purifying flames of the burning legendary's FIRE FANG forced a roar out of the feline.

Having completely lost control over his legendary partner, the two released their Manectric. The Top Champion seemed to have full control over his Shadow Pokémon, even in the Harbinger's presence. Saber gently grabbed Josh's arm with his mouth and helped the brave fighter to his feet. Astride the Manectric steed he had ridden for years, he pointed the Lightning Sword at Lugia, slashing toward the bird with it and launching a wave of fast-moving electricity toward the two. kyle lopez did not ride his own Manectric into battle, but he did not need to; the Shadow Pokémon's DISCHARGE was equally strong without him. The electric attacks left an opening for the slowly-corrupting Suicune's foaming mouth to charge up a super-powered ICE BEAM.

"You should feel honored to be the first, and only, people to push me to the brink," Cillian Quinn grunted, clinging to the base of Lugia's neck in weakness. "Most who oppose me die after they force me to use two of my powers. The most tenacious have made me use three. You lot are the first Avatars to force me to use all five. Wallow in despair as the ends of the ETERNAL SHADOW meet!" he pointed skyward as the two sides of the purple disaster he had wrought were creeping visibly close to one another. "You are the first, and the last, to witness her shadowy beacon of unparalleled destruction and despair. Lugia, use your SHADOW HYPERNOVA!"

"Suicune, AURORA CRYSTALIS!" a desperate Purifier commanded his convulsing Patron.

Shadow Lugia: SHADOW HYPERNOVA
[Shadow][Special]
After obtaining Z-Power, the user, Shadow Lugia, surrounds itself in an annihilating sphere of pure malice. This deals extreme Shadow-type damage to all non-Shadow Pokémon within a large area, while GREATLY INCREASING COMBAT PARAMETERS of all other Shadow Pokémon within the blast radius. Any Pokémon KO'd by this attack become Shadow Pokémon under Lugia's control, and immediately learn one Shadow move of the user's choice. (REQ: RPer permission)

Suicune: AURORA CRYSTALIS
[Ice][Special]
After obtaining Z-Power, the user, Suicune, channels an aurora borealis through the crystal crown on its forehead, subjecting the target to deadly, biting cold. This deals extreme Ice damage to the target and reduces its ATTACK and ACCURACY to ROCK BOTTOM.

The light of Suicune's crystal was the only thing visible within the pure darkness of the clashing Z-Moves. The light of the aurora illuminated the sphere of darkness, the deluge of shadow wisps felling Entei and casting Kyle, Josh, and their two Manectric to the ground. The dark rain consumed their skin like an acid bath, leaving the two Avatars and their Pokémon wrack with paralyzing pain.

The rainbow-colored light nailed Lugia in the upper chest area, black feathers crumbling away to reveal a natural, silver color. Harbinger and Patron found themselves likewise prone and in a great deal of pain, the ETERNAL SHADOW flashing brighter and brighter shades of violet. As more and more black faded from the sea beast, so did the ETERNAL SHADOW itself. With the Shadow Lugia now PURIFIED by Isaac's hand, Cillian Quinn 's body could no longer hold itself together within Suicune's brilliant light. The two had shared such a strong bond that one could not exist without the other, disappearing alongside the wisps that formed his nearly world-ending cloud. The sun's rays shined upon Ever Grande City, and the rest of the world, for the first time in what seemed like an entire age.

It was over.

OCTOBER 19, 2023

PRESENT DAY

Broadcast on every major news network throughout Hoenn was a parade starring the heroes who had cast apart the veil that was former Rocket Boss Cillian Quinn 's ETERNAL SHADOW, parting the clouds of despair covering not only Hoenn, but the entire world. As the purifying sun illuminated the earth long seeking its light, the black wisps blanketing the world disappeared. With the mother of all Shadow Pokémon lacking the hardened heart needed to maintain her hold on them, the doors to the hearts of the world's wild and trained Pokémon opened once more, trainers across the glove crying tears of joy as their Pokémon returned to the way they were those fleeting years ago.

On parade were the many Avatars who had risked the lives to give Hoenn, and the rest of the world, the peace they deserved. Leading the parade was Commissioner dahlia goode , accompanied by Melody Miro and Greyson Connors of the Elite Four. Behind them hovered Remiel Calcifet and Raziel Beckett , crowds cheering as the duo waved from the necks of their Zekrom and Reshiram. Behind them soared the Fortree Gym Leader, Alexei Ivanov , atop his Tornadus. Somewhere in Fortree, cheers erupted from a town square as their city's leader appeared alongside his Patron on the big screen.

Following them was the majestic Galarian ambassador Elise Calcifet , holding the reins of a Spectrier, while her patron Calyrex guided its Glastrier steed forward. Flanking them were Navy and his Zacian, the returned warrior holding his Behemoth Blade in hand for all to see, and Laurence Anderson and his Articuno, the Composed astride the ice phoenix gracefully hovering just off the ground.

Cameras flashed as the true heroes of the day brought up the rear of the parade: Isaac Merlo and his Suicune, kyle lopez and his Entei, and Josh Devlin and his Raikou. Riding next to each other in formation, the three drew their elemental swords and touched them to one another, fire, ice, and electricity soaring skyward and exploding like fireworks. As part of the finale, Eva Morales and her Rayquaza tumbled through the air at dizzying speeds and death defying angles, leaving an emerald trail of calligraphy for all beneath Ever Grande's sky to witness:

"THANK YOU."

Once the parade was over, Josh met up with kyle lopez and Isaac Merlo outside League HQ to file their incident reports and debrief with the Commissioner and other League Avatars. "I have an awesome way we can celebrate once we've all passed out and are rested up. I think it would be fun, both for us and for our Patrons, to have a race at my Gym," he pitched his wishful thoughts, petting his Manectric's snout. "After all, our Patrons are Pokémon, too! They've gotta have fun once in a while!" Raikou smiled for the first time since arriving at Ever Grande before the big battle started. The other Beasts remained expressionless.

Without warning, a stabbing pain shot outward from Josh's arm. He turned toward the source of the pain, dropping his jaw in horror. Blood of abandonment and of jealousy dropped from the fangs of his Manectric, clamping down on the Cavalier's left arm. As electricity flooded the wound, the Gym Leader screamed in pain, his vision fading to white...

---

Josh abruptly sat up in bed, wincing as he felt a painful cut across his left arm. It was bad enough that he was sweating profusely all over in the darkness. When he reached for the lamp on his end table to turn it on, a familiar yellow furball in the very corner of his peripheral vision. Shifting his eyes toward it, he let out a scream so loud and so girl-like that he blew out his voice. It was loud enough to alert nearby police to come rushing toward his apartment. Before his eyes was Saber, his best friend for fourteen years, fangs piercing the Gym Leader's arm and dripping the trainer's blood.

A Saber with purple wisps, remnants of the ETERNAL SHADOW, bobbing up and down and side to side around him.

~fin~

Bullet Time - Josh Devlin

Nickname: Rai

Josh can temporarily perceive his surroundings as though they were moving at a snail's pace. This gives him GREATLY HEIGHTENED REACTION TIME, but leaves him considerably drained afterwards, both physically and mentally. It can render him completely defenseless if engaged for too long.

Mauville's Lightning Bruiser was in his element. Scabs covered the bite marks Saber had inflicted upon him, stemming the bleeding. He was still a bit dizzy from the blood loss, but was perfectly cognizant. It would be just like any other rescue he had done. Head into the wilds, search for a missing Pokémon, and bring it back to safety. The stakes this time were quite high, as the Pokémon he was tasked to rescue was his own. The Pokémon he had cherished since he was ten years old, the minimum legal age to raise a Pokémon.

Saber.

Rai would recognize signs of the electric-type's passage anywhere. The scent of ionized air, the wolf-like pawprints, and tufts of yellow fur that stood on end, Saber would be easy to recognize. His hunt would not prove fruitful until a sudden and seemingly random thunderclap rung in his ears. Without a Pokémon on his belt, though, he had to make his pursuit on foot. A second thunderclap, followed by a familiar howl, were all the signs he needed to know Saber was nearby.

The Shadow Pokémon recognized him in a cruel way, snarling then lunging at his trainer and lunging at him with SHADOW BOLT-laced fangs. With a dive of his own, Rai rolled around a thick tree and out of the way. The Manectric was quicker to recover than he was, the Gym Leader forced to take cover behind the tree's other side in order to let the follow-up THUNDER WAVE be absorbed by the tree in front of him. Its low-hanging leaves caught fire from the high voltage running through them.

Forced to retreat, Rai was wide open for Saber to ram him down. As he reached for the Ball on his Manectric's belt, he had found it replaced by a DREAM BALL. Holding it in his hand, he focused as Saber lunged toward him. Suddenly, the world around him seemed to slow down, his Manectric leaping toward him with graceful savagery. He hurled the Dream Ball toward the electric-type's snout. As the round object left his hand, his perception returned to normal, the Lightning Bruiser dropping to his knees. He wasn't sure what happened, but whatever it was made him want to fall asleep.

The capture switch on the Dream Ball clicked. Right as Rai held the still Ball in his hand, his vision faded to white, a lone text box popping up in front of him. With merely human, not superhuman, reaction time, he double-clicked the option to purify his Pokémon. Shadow Pokémon were terrifying, his experiences with Cillian Quinn and MATIAS SILPH enough to understand they weren't for him. Though they were powerful, power was not worth the price of having an unreliable, uncontrollable, and overly destructive weapon of war on his roster. He cared about every one of his precious Pokémon. Even if they weren't strong, they all had their uses on Rai's speedy squad.

He just wanted Saber to be the way he remembered him being. The way he had always been.

The monarch Snubbull gave the players their next orders, providing them with cards that let them attack just like a Pokémon. While it wasn't quite what Rai could do with his Sygna Suit as Josh in the real world, it was close enough! As he quickly pulled up the "Help!" option when examining the item, a pop-up showed what moves he could use:

Mauville's Lightning Bruiser - Josh Devlin
Wild Charge / Extreme Speed / Double Team

Fitting. Rai knew from his experiences in the outside world that Extreme Speed was simply too fast for a human to fully comprehend their surroundings. With his ability to see the world around him in slow motion when needed, it suited his skillset well. With his purified Manectric snugly within the DREAM BALL, Rai was ready to be whisked away to the instance the Snubbull was programmed to send him to.

What he saw before him was terrifying.

Cillian Quinn 's ETERNAL SHADOW loomed over Ever Grande City, shadowy wisps covering the entire island as Rai rode toward the mountain's highest turret. The resemblance to his dream was uncanny. Worse yet: in the confines of the game, he was not seated on Raikou's back. He would not be able to rely on the legendary Beast's speed to see him through what he could only assume was a battle with the Harbinger. He lacked the companionship of another Avatar backing him up, too; the only one of his friends that answered the call was Mika Nakayama , whose Annihilape looked alert and ready to sock anything red. Thankfully, Rai, Saber, and their two companions were coated blue.

With hostiles coated in red, ambushing foes would be simple enough. With the power of EXTREME SPEED, Rai could cover ground so fast as to be nearly invisible. He could run just as fast as his Pokémon could, but at what cost? Could he control such speed? There was only one way to find out. With several hostiles in sight, Rai invoked his newfound power to slip past them in a blur. Though he successfully ran past them without being seen, he had to contend with a much more deadly enemy: a rock wall his speed sent him flying into.

The frail human body simply was not designed to run at incredible speeds. Many of the Pokémon that could learn the move had bodies that could barely handle it, as well. As he fought to regain his senses. Mika Nakayama and their Annihilape fought off several of the island's Shadow Pokémon before catching up to Rai just before the island's peak. He looked up to see the purple, pulsating sky above, expecting to see Cillian Quinn 's Shadow Lugia. What he witnessed was something arguably worse.

It was Raikiri.

A Zeraora that moved on all fours, his form towered above them to a height greater than the Pokémon League's main stadium. The mythical Pokémon outclassed Saber in every way. He was faster, stronger, and tougher than the electric dog. With Sygna powers, they would be an even match. Without them, Rai was at quite the disadvantage. He did have help, though. He had Mika Nakayama . The red light surrounding the ultrafast Pokémon would at the very least make it easier to track when it was careening around the summit at speeds too fast to track.

With the purr turning to a roar, the thundercat rammed toward Rai at speeds too fast for Mika to track. Time seemed to slow from the Manectric trainer's perspective, able to see the fluid grace with which the feline sprinted. With the reaction time of a Ribombee, he zoomed out of the way of the PLASMA FISTS headed at him with a burst of DOUBLE TEAM, flickering images circling the giant like strobe lights. The effort made Josh winded, putting all of his moves on cooldown.

The Annihilape had all the right tools for the job. Though the Zeraora had incredible speed, there was no dodging moves like FAINT ATTACK and SHADOW SNEAK, which helped wear the giant down. Desperate, the electric giant roared loudly, calling MAX LIGHTNING down from the skies. The crashing bolts would come down from the clouds faster than Mika could react. Rai was the only person that could react fast enough to interrupt the maelstrom. Once more perceiving his surroundings in slow motion, the already-speeding Rai lunged toward Raikiri in a blindingly fast burst of EXTREME SPEED. It took all his focus to control the speed, popping one of the foe's kneecaps and interrupting the Dynamax move, giving the ghost-type a window to finish their foe with its RAGE FIST.

Lacking the energy for even a victory dance, the exhausted Rai passed out on the spot, falling face-first onto the rocky ground as his vision once more began to fade to white. He could feel the hilt of a familiar sword in his hand as his consciousness left him...

As Rai and Saber returned to the game world, they felt a tremenous power throbbing within them, almost like they became gods with its virtual confines. Their extreme speed and superhuman reaction time gave the duo perfect evasion. Even a flurry of attacks resulted in no more than a cascade of "MISS!" graphics bouncing in front of their legs.

The Ever Grande that Josh stepped through the portal to was barren, almost post-apocalyptic in nature. It was depressing to see that the world he had worked so hard to save had been reduced to a wasteland covered in storm clouds. He cried at the sight of a ruined three-story building and stadium nearby. What could have caused such destruction?

He didn't have time to ponder it, though; a bright, yellow flash of lightning accompanied by a booming thunderbolt and loud purr meant the presence of only one creature: the Johtonian god Josh once idolized above all else. Though the Beast was powerful, even the mighty EXTREME SPEED it was capable of looked slow enough for Rai to rein Saber out of the way of. It was as though a developer mode had been activated, the hero able to see lightning strikes crawl down the sky toward him.

Empowered by his purified Pokémon, the battle between the cal and wolf incarnations of the same Eastern myth was swift and brutal. Every THUNDERBOLT was drained into Saber's LIGHTNING ROD, their electric attacks piercing the Beast's resistance and striking through. As the final DISCHARGE coursed through the yellow tiger's body, Rai's voice boomed like thunder:

"I don't need you to ascend to greatness."

With that, the world around him shattered like glass and faded to black.