On the second outing to Megaopolis, Gwendolyn had come fully prepared this time. Now with a team of three that could handle a little bit more variety in terms of what she might find out here, the girl stood alongside his Gabite while gazing out into the distance. Was it darker somehow? Or merely just her eyes slowly growing accustom to the environment here?

"Back again! I think we should focus on that tower in the distance this time, Ms. Abadi. I bet there's something in there that could be useful."

Across the skyline of the accursed city, one tower stood out among the others. Whose tip nearly pierced the heavens. It looked just like any other back in Hoenn, though towered above what was left surviving after whatever cataclysmic event that had happened here. Gwen threw out her Magneton as per usual, his eyes acting as their flickering source of light.

The journey towards the spire began as the two made their way across the ruined city streets. There was the usual Megaopolan activity here, maybe some occasionally rummaging through the alleyways. But a strong metallic groaning had birthed itself in the air. The sound was ear piercing and coming from the buildings ahead of them.

From a top the tallest tower, a bright light had began to flicker on and off again, akin to an erratic heartbeat. It was bright enough on the streets, but to imagine it from up must have been blinding.

But as it was born, numerous Megaopolans poured out of houses, alleys, almost being born from nothing to rush towards the tower, like moths drawn to a flame. They seemed to forget about their presence entirely, rushing past them without looking back towards the invaders.

"Wh-What was that?" Gwen asked, Gishath hissing out in annoyance. "That came from that tower!"

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20. the city's tallest tower, lesser megalo tower, may occasionally flicker with a blinding light. every time the light turns on, the crazed megalopolans will attempt to flock toward it.

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"Guess we don't really have a choice."

Gwen added on, watching as the frenzied megaopolans scurried on by them, rats drawn to the scent of cheese awaiting them at the tower. The way they moved just lacked every definition of what one may think of when they could refer to somebody as "humanoid." They hunched into a more feral running stance and seemed to move so freely without any imbalance.

Just how long had life been like this for them.

She had been so preoccupied with observing the stream of zombie-like megaopolans that she hadn't noticed some coming from behind. Luckily Ameena had been there to pull her out of the way and-

Oh.

Her hands were wrapped around Ameena's side, feeling how warm her body was. Gwen's entire face turned red at where she was, broken up only by the sight of that metallic humanoid who blasted right by her while the two were left unharmed. For a moment, her thoughts circled in her head about being so close to a gorgeous woman, but she slowly had managed to pull her mind out of such places when the glimmer of something familiar whizzed by.

Gishath hissed at the sight of it, retreating behind Gwen as his owner let out a horrid gasp.

"I-It's that crystal!" she said to herself, having never forgotten the blackened crystal that had nearly ended her in the remains of that house so long ago. Just seeing it made her heart race, spooked with fear of what could have happened all those months ago.

"We were patrolling around one night and heard cries of a Pokemon in another house. Then we got attacked by some man made up of that stuff. So did it come from Ultra Space?"

Once the flood of people had slowed into a trickle, the two were afford some semblance of peace. Gwen's hold on Ameena lingered before she pulled away after realizing what she had been doing. One sheepish, mumbled apology later, the redhead led the way across the streets and a bit away from the front entrance of the tower.

Their journey did take them behind a collapsed building of some kind. A factory, or maybe a hospital of some kind? But something was painted there, a grand mural consisting of faded colors and shadows. One that seemed pretty familiar from the skyline of the city. A grand figure posed atop it, wings sprayed out.

Gwen looked at it for a while, unable to recognize the Pokemon.

"Dr. Abadi, do you know what that thing over the city is? It's not any Pokemon I've seen before."

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24. witness frenzied drawings etched into walls of an ULTRA NECROZMA DESCENDING UPON THIS CITY; your characters will not know what ULTRA NECROZMA is (until they do)—but may find it similar to one of the tapestry found in GOODBYE GALAR'S ALTERNATE 'REALITY' HAMMERLOCKE and make logical deductions.

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"Necrozma?"

Gwen repeated, tilting her head to the side while she watched the mural depicting the legendary closely. Such immaculate work, but it was hard to discern whether just how long it had been since this was painted. She thought back to her encounter with the crystal man once more. The crystals of the Megaopolans and the ones surrounding him couldn't have been a coincidence!

"So that was Necrozma that night then? Or some type of thing related to it?" Gwen pursed her lips in thought. "It kind of makes sense, but I feel like I'm missing something..."

She turned back to Ameena, pushing back the thoughts of her touch, and then gave a stern nod of approval. Nothing was known about the crystals as of late, and she doubted now would be the time to go and pick one up. For all she knew, it was a one way ticket into becoming a crystal statue of some kind.

"Let's try and get as close as we can considering the mob of angry Megaopolans. We should at least keep safe not in the streets, but be careful of what's in here."

Gwen led them both forward again, keeping her Magneton's light on the darkened alleyway before them. The tower was growing ever closer, alongside the frantic noises of the growing crowd clawing against the building to get in.

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It was hard to really put into words about what Necrozma could have been, but if it was what Gwen had encountered all that months ago with Gishath, it made her hesitate. Lips pursed together in thought as she thought aloud to Ameena without realizing it.

"But why would Necrozma be working with Rocket? If it's that powerful to throw this place into pure darkness, why would it need to ally itself with humans? Something doesn't really make sense..."

The girl was lost in her own thoughts just as a shadowy figure approached the pair, only to stand next to Ameena once the Gardevoir had saved her. She looked over to see a Delphox...but it wasn't right. The eyes were red, and its mannerisms reminded her of an inconsolable beast rather than a Pokemon. The Delphox swung its weapon at Gwen, sending shadow pikes in her direction. After a startled yelp, Gwen rolled to the side just in time, avoiding being skewered.

The Magneton would beep and boop threatening, summoning a condensed orb of electricity in front of it, only to be fired at the shadow Pokemon directly.

"Thanks for the heads up!"

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Although the Magneton's attack hadn't dealt with the Shadow Delphox in full, Ameena's Gardevoir would make short work of the creature. With an Alluring Voice, the challenger was vanquished in full, fallen to the ground while its tired body lay still.

"That's definitely not normal. I don't think all Delphox look so agitated."

Gwen leaned closer to observe the fire/psychic-type with a critical eye. Its eyes were fully red, and even when knocked out, still surrounded itself in some kind of mysterious energy. Just by being near, the ranger couldn't help but shake off that sensation of dread and fear. Her brow raised with interest, taking out her Ranger tool to snap a picture.

"This must be one of the Shadow Pokemon that I've been hearing about. What kind of despicable human being would do something like that to them? Poor little thing."

She wanted to at least try and wonder what they could do for the maddened Delphox, but Ameena was right, staying out in the open like this. The ginger haired ranger sighed and followed Ameena back into the cover of night. Even after the piercing light coming from the tower, there wasn't a whole lot that either of them could do while out exposed as they were.

Gwen followed dutifully by Ameena, sometimes stealing looks towards the woman, before then heading back to the road ahead.

"You sure know a lot about Ultra Space. How come you focus on it so much?"

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