"This! Is why! I said! No!" Locke grunted as he tugged at his poor Delibird again. It was no use, the honey fully adhering the penguin to the tree, despite her trainer's-admittedly feeble-efforts. He had been right to worry when he'd looked up from his gardening to find her gone; as it seemed De-De's gluttony had finally caught up to her.

Or rather, had finally caught her.

Locke quit their straining with an exhausted sigh. "It's no good…Hang on, I'll see if I can call the Range-Eh?" There was an odd resistance as they made to walk away. They looked back to find their left hand similarly glued to the sticky bark. "…Oh you've got to be kidding me."

Both trainer and Pokémon's attention was suddenly pulled upwards, as the branches above them rustled and swayed with more than just wind. "Oh you've got to be kidding me!"

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

Locke adjusted the blankets tucked inside the cart while avoiding Chiro-Chiro's sharp warning pecks. The Talonflame and his Flame Body would keep the eggs safe and warm for the trip, just like every year, but getting them away from him once they reached their destination…

Well, they'd figure it out when they got there.

Doro-Doro stomped at the ground impatiently from where she was strapped to the front of the wagon. "Right, right, we'll get moving soon!" Locke chided the Mudsdale. "Just waiting for the extra escort we were promised…" Petalburg Woods could be particularly dangerous during the mating season, and he was a poor enough battler without the distraction of such fragile cargo.

---

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

Locke shook his head. "None as far as I know, but I dunno where I'd run into most of em..."

He flicked ahead in his notes, picking through the other encounters with the charms he'd had. "Let's see…There were a couple others I saw after that; Sénon Game, Hideo Kino, priam conrad…But the charms didn't trigger for those last two for some reason. Martín del Mar and Eris Halla're better at figuring out that stuff than me, so you could probably ask them if they're still around here."

Finally though, they reached the end of the charm saga. "Yesterday though! Martin I guess managed to get ahold of a buncha us with charms and prophecies, and we all met up in the park here." They waved a hand at the window in the park's vague direction. "And that's when some really weird stuff happened. All of the Lake Guardians showed up, and basically told us there was no hope and we're all gonna die and the whole world's just gonna end."

The words came with a surprising amount of calm as they flipped to the page containing the newest prophecies, letting Angelo read for himself the Lake Trio's words.







"Which, as you can imagine, was pretty stressful. Hence," they finished with a gesture around the hospital room.

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

[attr="class","silpc"]

"Tsk. Tsk."



A chill settled among the remaining Lockes. The portal faded away, revealing the black-clad figure standing behind it. The Unown-Z circled around the group to join its master as two more assassins warped into existence beside them.

"Someone's not playing by the rules."

Landorus let out a furious roar and leapt at their attackers in an Outrage. The assassins teleported away, replaced by a hoard of Unown from within the fog that instantly swarmed the raging beast.

The host of this little death game reappeared in front of Locke, wasting no time in siccing their personal Unown upon him. It was just as soon intercepted by Shaymin, who knocked the letter back with a Quick Attack and turned to him.

"Stay sharp, partner!"



Locke snapped into action. He quickly gathered a handful of debris and scattered it around the shrinking perimeter while Shaymin engaged the enemy. Great roots sprouted from the various bits of glass and shattered masonry and imbedded into the pavement as they landed, before exploding into fully-grown trees, encasing the area around the battlefield in a natural cage and preventing more Unown from filtering inside.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Shaymin defending Lugia's Locke from the Unown that had finished with Landorus, while the other two assassins flanked Ho-oh and Reshiram. They seemed to be struggling against their dual attackers teleporting here and there around them, and Locke fought against the instinct to aid them immediately.

He had his own problems here after all.

Another Hidden Power whipped past his ear as he ducked and rolled out of the way, only for the assassin to meet him right as he got back to his feet. In one swift motion they reached out, grabbed a fistful of hair, and brought his face down into their knee with a deafening crack.

Locke yanked at their arm and tried to retaliate with an uppercut, but only stumbled forward as his assailant flattened and disappeared. They reappeared beside him a half-second later to kick out his knee and send him toppling face-first to the ground, his attempt to stand cut short by another kick to the head that made his vision swim and stomach turn.

The assassin lifted their foot again for another blow.

Locke lifted his hand from the broken-off twig of his own tree.

A trunk as thick as a car burst from the street, slamming into the Unown assassin and pinning them against the tree barrier, where they struggled to escape. Locke heaved themselves from the ground, swaying on their feet as they pushed down a wave of nausea from the effort.

"Alright!" Shaymin whooped as she circled around them. "That's how it's done!"

The other Locke was clutching at a tear in his shoulder, but seemed otherwise healthy and alive as he joined them. He looked as if he had something to add, but just stared at them with a wide, disbelieving smile, breathless and beaming.

A mournful cry broke through the air, and Locke's focus shot back to the rest of the fight. The other assassins lay defeated, but Ho-oh stood crouched over its Avatar, who was clutching tightly at the rapidly-blooming stain on their chest.

There was a moment were they swayed forward, seemingly about to fall.

Then stopped.



A burning bright light erupted from the wound, spreading until it consumed the dying Locke, then the area around him, then everything. The ground shook violently beneath their feet, rupturing the earth and threatening to swallow them whole. The world around them buzzed with electricity, fluctuating wildly between shivering cold and unbearable heat, becoming storm and hail and brimstone and ash.

And, between it all, a single Seed Flare landed right beside him.

They couldn't make out where beyond the light and noise it came from; couldn't even catch one last glimpse of their friend-their friend, she was their friend-before the portal burst open and the other Locke shoved them inside.

But he could still feel her.

---

---

Was this how it ended?

---

---

They'd been so close.

---

---

It wasn't fair.

---

---

What had even been the point?

---

Eventually, hours, days, or weeks later, Locke found themselves lying on a cold stone floor, clutching a little red bandana. They slowly became distantly aware of their Pokémon gathering around them (the Unown-T also made it through, and wasn't that just a kick in the teeth), and the taste of sea salt like ash on their tongue.

They stared, bloodied, tear-stained, and hollow, at the roof of Granite Cave, as the last waves of gratitude crashed over them again and again.

"If this some kinda long con, it's a real good one," Ho-oh's Locke grumbled as they guided their patron over Vermilion.

Finding the remaining Lockes wasn't hard, with how little space was left. It helped that their own battle was making quite the ruckus.

Locke clenched the empty water bottle in his hand until it fully disappeared, then pressed their palm to the ground. A towering row of hedges sprouted between the two brawling Avatars, and was just as soon consumed by a roar of blue flame.

"…Why is it always fire."

It at least succeeded in drawing the pair's attention away from each other and towards the group. Reshiram and its Avatar eyed them warily, waiting for the first move, but Landorus only growled, ready to lunge at what must have looked like new opponents.

He quickly held his hands up to make T, which the Unown floated up next to for emphasis. "H-Hold up! Time out!"

Confusion gave the other Lockes pause where reason likely wouldn't. Good.

"We're not here to fight."

"You heard the guy," countered Landorus' Locke. "It's a death match. Everyone's here to fight."

"Well not us!" Shaymin shot back.

The other Lockes gave the group an appraising look. Ho-oh's Locke shrugged.

"…He's telling the truth." Reshiram's Locke mumbled.

"And how can you be so sure?"

They pointed at Reshiram with a deadpanned expression.

"…Fair enough," they conceded. "But that doesn't really change anything. We still have to fight to go home. It's nothing personal."

"But we don't!" Locke said, happy for the segway into the real conversation. "We-Shaymin n' me-we can get everyone home!" Shaymin puffed out her chest, ready for the heaps of praise that was sure to come.

The other Lockes stared, unconvinced.

"It's-Listen I know how it sounds, but-"

"He says his Shaymin can make portals with whatever junk the Storm's made of," Lugia's Locke chimed in.

"You want us to-Okay, now I know this is a trap," Landorus' Locke protested, but with an uncertain look back at their former opponent.

Reshiram's Locke marched up to him and gave him another once-over, sizing him up. They held out a hand, as if to shake, which Locke tentatively took. The second their palms met, the other Locke's hand erupted into orange flame. Lugia's Locke stepped forward, as if to intervene, but stopped when it became apparent that the flames weren't actually burning him.

"Alright," Reshiram's Locke said with a curt nod, seemingly satisfied as they dropped his hand. "Let's get out of here."

---

They walked to the border, none trusting the others be out of arms reach.

"What I don't get," Landorus' Locke began, "Is why you didn't just leave."

Locke looked back at them with slight frown. "What do you mean?"

"I mean if it were me-shut up, you know what I mean-I woulda just bailed the first chance I got. Ain't no wish worth this."

"I guess…it just didn't seem fair." He hadn't given it much thought, really. He could help, so that meant he should. The end.

The other Locke didn't seem as satisfied with the answer, but didn't press any further as their destination came into view. The Unown-T flew ahead to circle around the area, apparently as excited as everyone else.

Now that they were here though, and the reality of what they were going to try and do was sinking in, his heart pulsed nervously. What if the first time was fluke? What if it didn't work?

Shaymin landed on his shoulder, knocking his hat askew and the doubt form his mind. "Ready partner?"

He smiled and nodded, turning to the rest of the group. "Alright, who's first?"

Landorus' Locke stepped up, apparently their eagerness to leave outweighing their myriad of doubts. Locke moved forward to meet them, taking Shaymin into his arms and passing her to the other man, who took her with a mix of surprise and solemn understanding.

"So all she needs is to suck up the clouds, and we're pretty sure whatever bits of your world are still stuck on you." It's what made the most sense; how else had she opened a portal to his world and not her own?

The other Locke nodded, their own nerves silencing them now as they and Landorus stepped closer to the Storm. When they reached the edge of the border, Shaymin hopped from their arms to hover between both Avatar and patron, and gathered up the energy for a Seed Flare.

Just as before, the energy summoned a field of flowers around them all, then coalesced in the center until it formed a shimmering image of another world. It appeared to be the edge of a fog-layered mountaintop, overlooking a small bay.

"That's it!" The other Locke exclaimed. "Mount Pyre! That's where we came through!"

They stared into their own world, seemingly not quite believing what they were seeing, until Landorus gave them a careful shove. They approached the edge of the portal, then turned back to Locke, eyes shining with emotion.

"Thank you."

A bright red beam centered on the other Locke's head, and it was all the warning they got before the Hidden Power pierced through its target.

Elsewhere,

Silver finds Gold as Cain found Able;

envy held tight like a rock in hand.

---

He found them in a park of all places.

Here, the overgrowth was no longer out of place. Untamed, yes, but perfectly natural. Serene, almost.

If not for the corpses.

It seemed he wasn't the only one who'd sought out the phoenix. Latios lay unmoving next to the charred body of his Avatar; curled rigor-mortis-tight around a Red Soul Dew.

It was a warning: Second chances were not so easily claimed.

It was an opportunity: The pair were injured and newly-exhausted.

The Unown was still following him; he could only hope it would stay out of the way.

The knife felt heavy in his hands, unnatural. He'd never used one before.

He swallowed.

Steady.

He'd make things right soon.

There.

Their back was turned.

He only had one shot.

Now, before he lost his nerve!

He pounced.

---

Their bark was worse than his bite.

---

Locke stepped between the two, aware of the other Locke's eyes on them from behind the tree, but facing only their friend.

"Move."

"No."

"Move," he repeated, "Or I'll move you."

Lie.

"I don't care who I have to hurt."

Lie.

"I'll kill both of you if that's what it takes."

Lie.

"I just want my friend back."

Locke stepped forward and embraced him. The other Locke froze for a beat, then dropped the knife to clutch at their back.

"It's my fault," he hiccupped into their shoulder. "Because I came here-"

"It's alright," they said. "It's not the end."

"Is it just me, or do those look closer than they were before?"

Locke squinted at the horizon, where the violet clouds the other Locke was pointing at did indeed seem to be significantly closer. "Huh. I guess so?"

"Should we check it out?" Shaymin yawned as she floated up beside him.

"I dunno…"

"Not much else to do. That's down by the docks anyway, ain't it? Could try to find a boat."

"You wanna sail through that?"

He shrugged. "Gotta better idea?"

"…Alright, spooky perpetual storm it is then."

The walk to the docks was uneventful, if tense. The closer they got to the storm, the more pressure seemed to build up in the air around them. The other Locke grew especially quiet as they drew near, winching at every spark of lightning that arced across the sky.

So when an Unown-T suddenly drifted into view, they both ignored how high the other jumped.

"Where-How-"

"Maybe-Maybe it came from…?" His ally cast a wary glance up at the clouds.

It didn't seem hostile, at least. It simply followed them ("This guy's kinda creepy…") as they continued along with all the curiosity of a stray Lillipup.

Despite the already-unusual circumstances they found themselves in, the true shape of the storm still came as shock. The dark purple clouds extended all the way down to ground level, obscuring everything beyond a few feet past its edge. Looking down either end of the boardwalk showed the wall of fog stretched as far as he could physically see, potentially probably horrifyingly wrapping around the entire city.

And even from here he could see the millions of Unown swarming around inside.



"It's…a border?"

"It's a cage," the other Locke corrected.

The faintest bit of movement from within the storm caught Locke's eye.

"I think somebody's in there!" He squinted, trying to make out the figure inside.

Or figures.

Moltres and its Avatar lay dead, their bodies occasionally jolting in a grim facsimile of life as a current of unnatural electricity coursed through them. No sooner than they were discovered, the corpses faded into barely-perceptible silhouettes, as the clouds rolled forward to consume them.

And the Storm shrank inwards.

A hand gripped the back of his shirt and yanked him back with a sharp yell.

"MOVE!"

He turned quickly, away from the clouds and their deadly prize, and raced after the other Locke. Neither of them were quick enough on their own, and the Storm swiftly overtook them both. White-hot static coursed through their bodies with every step; not enough to kill, but enough to slow them down as death nipped at their heels.

The earth beyond the border could hardly even be called such anymore. The ground was ripping apart behind them, floating to some unknown place far out of sight and leaving only the thinnest stretch of land to try and outpace the destruction on.

And it was only a matter of time before it caught up to them.

The Storm had stopped moving, but Locke could feel it right at his back even as the border came back into view.

They were so close.

It was right there.

A sharp cry rang out beside him, as the other Locke's heel slipped backwards, and they began to sink down into endless nothing. He and Shaymin moved as one; one hand wrapped around his double's forearm while tiny teeth sank into their coat, and together they yanked them back over the edge to safety.

For a moment, the Storm calmed, and they were allowed to catch their breath.

And then the ground cracked between the twin Lockes, and his own piece of land drifted back into the darkness.

It didn't seem real. Locke could barely even register it as it happened. One second, the border and the other Locke were there, and the next they were gone.

He was gone.

Oh gods, he was going to die here.

He and Shaymin both.

Tiny teeth sank into his finger, snapping him out of his spiral.

"It's not over yet!" Shaymin insisted, ears pinned back defiantly.

His stomach clenched. "Shaymin…"

"It's not!" She repeated. The bright pink leaves underneath her bandana began to glow, pulling in the purple clouds around them until she had to stop, huffing with effort. A paltry few flowers blossomed around her.

Another wave of nausea crashed over him. "Shaymin stop. We both know-"

"'It's not over 'til it's over!'" She said as the glow returned, though they didn’t sound like her words. The leaves seemed to wilt, the pink blossoms faded into an inky black as the dark fog filtered into her body. "Even when it seems totally hopeless, you have to keep trying! No matter what!"

He wanted to vomit. She didn't believe a single word she was saying.

But she was doing it anyway.

Slowly, then rapidly, she began to shine a blinding white.



The Seed Flare exploded in a sudden burst of natural energy, clearing away the clouds in a large circle around them. Grass and flowers sprouted and bloomed in a wide path behind them, stretching all the way back to the border. The remaining energy regathered in the center, coalescing into a swirling green circle that hovered a few inches above the spontaneous meadow.

Shaymin stood, sneezed, and shook out the last of the miasma before Locke finally collected himself enough to scoop her into his arms with a teary sob.

Meanwhile, the circle of energy gradually slowed and settled, until a familiar image formed in its center:

There, shimmering amidst the darkness like a Gegenschein in the night sky, stood a fresh portal to Granite Cave.

1057 Cleffa Lane was the right half of the fourth duplex on the left side of the street when you turned right off the main road. It matched the rest of the flat, utilitarian brick-and-mortar designs that surrounded it, save for a flourishing garden and the clumsily-painted beach scene on the mailbox.

The mailbox was missing now, and the white, four-panel door was hanging by a single hinge, but otherwise the Jamison household looked just like he'd left it.

It hadn't been much of a debate to continue with the original plan of coming here, with the entire party too exhausted to seek shelter elsewhere. In fact, there hadn't been much talking at all, the other Locke left fuming in the aftermath of the fight with Ho-oh, for reasons they'd refused to elaborate on.

He clutched Shaymin close to his chest, who had returned to her land forme in the moments after the battle, citing exhaustion and the supposedly setting sun somewhere behind the storm clouds. He'd wanted to come back here for so long, but now that it was right there…

The other man stood stock-still at the end of the driveway, so it fell to Locke to take the first tentative step inside. Glass crunched under his shoes, and he hoped whatever version of his grandmother might've survived in this world would forgive him for keeping them on as he walked around his old home.

The couch lay moldy and moth-eaten on its side, snapping the coffee table underneath it in two. The dining table was in better condition, but most of the matching chairs were missing or reduced to splinters. What he could see of the kitchen was unsalvageable, save for a few cast iron tools scattered here and there, and no amount of hunger could convince him to check whatever smell was coming from the fridge.

The stairs were missing a step, but were an otherwise safe climb up to the bedrooms. Both his parents and grandparents rooms appeared relatively intact in comparison to the downstairs, though still showed obvious signs of looting. He didn't linger in either room for long, the unease of picking through his not-family's belongings outweighing any nostalgia.

The trapdoor leading to the attic and his own room proved far more troublesome; sealed shut by time and resisting any of his and Shaymin's attempts at being forced open, until a matching set of hands joined his own in tugging at the handle. It flew open, sending the group tumbling off the stepstool and scattering decades of dust all throughout the hallway.

"Can you get my elbow out of my ribs?"

"S-Sorry!"

Getting up was easier than getting it open, and soon enough both Lockes found themselves inside…an attic.

There was no twin-sized mattress tucked into the corner; no amateurly-developed photos hung on the walls; no overdue assignments left abandoned on the desk. Not a single trace of the boy who should have lived there for fifteen years.

Shaymin sneezed.

"…I guess…Statistically speaking…"

"There's no way this wasn't on purpose, right? Like, that jerk definitely picked this world for this exact reason."

They shrugged. Trying to guess why or how "Father Winter" did all this didn't seem particularly useful. The spare quilts stacked up in the corner certainly looked useful, though. Shaymin let out a gleeful gasp when she saw them, hopping from Locke's arms and falling upon the pile with a light bounce.



"So soft…"

"Hey-hey, save some for us."

The other Locke gave the lucky find an appraising once-over, before nodding in approval and marching back down the ladder. "I'll go see if the kitchen has something for those cans."

The sound of creaking floorboards faded into the background as Locke worked to make the space as comfortable as possible, made slightly more difficult by Shaymin's half-asleep form. "I thought legendary Pokémon didn't get tired."

"That's silly," she yawned. "Who said that?"

"My grandpa. He'd always tell stories about how the legendary birds would fly around the world bringing storms everywhere, never stopping to rest."

"Sounds like a scary story. Storms that never end, just moving place to place?"

Locke shrugged. "Made as much sense as anything else as a kid, I guess."

"Lugia slept," came their own voice from behind. The other Locke had returned with a couple of spoons and a rusty, but still dangerous-looking knife. "Pretty sure we're all sick of open flames by now, so it's cold spaghettios for dinner."

Shaymin openly gagged at the menu.

Locke's mind was still caught on the first part, however. "Lugia slept?"

"Yeah? At the bottom of the sea. She only woke up when the birds made too much trouble." He paused, can half-open. "She slept on the road too, whenever it was just the two of us."

"Did you guys travel a lot?"

Their mirror shrugged, finishing with the first can and passing it to them. Locke held back a gag of their own at the first bite of slimy, lukewarm pasta rings, but swallowed it down with measured practice. At first the group ate in silence, but the taste soon required further distraction to stomach.

"So what did you ask Father Winter for?"

His companion gave him an incredulous stare. "…What?"

"Uh, ya know. The guy with the coin and, um," Locke lifted his hands to his head in a mimicry of Father Winter's unusual hairstyle.

"…He-You thought he was Father Winter?"

Locke blushed. "It was-There was a crossword, and a letter, and, um-" He cut off, too embarrassed to continue.

"And what?" They snickered. "You sat on his lap and asked for an air rifle?"

"It was a cave!" He protested. "And I asked for…" Locke paused, considering how best to condense the situation he'd entered Granite Cave to solve. "I asked to be an Avatar, I guess."

"…Well, congrats then."

Locke didn't respond, guilt settling uncomfortably beside the spaghettios.

The other Locke fell silent for a long while, and it seemed like the conversation would end there, until at last came a whisper so faint, it might've been the wind. "…I asked for my family back."

Locke held his breath, not daring to interrupt with even the slightest sound as the other man continued slowly; like every word was more exhausting than the last.

"Our ship didn't make it to Johto. Lugia saved me, but only me." They poked at their meal without taking another bite. "There isn't anybody else waiting for me back home, so without her…"

The rest of the sentence sat heavy as a stone between them.

He looked down into what remained in his can, equally unappetized. His mouth felt cotton-dry; his throat thick with a grief that wasn't his. What could he even say? If he were in their position…

Well, he didn't need to imagine it, did he? Here was a version of himself that proved exactly what he would do in such a situation. He didn't need to ask again what their wish had been; he would've asked for the very same thing.

From where she had curled tightly into his chest, Shaymin suddenly spoke up. "You should still go back, if you can."

The other Locke scowled. "Like I said, there's nobody-"

"There could be," she interjected. "There could be somebody who's been waiting their whole life to meet you, and neither of you know it yet."

They scoffed.

"…She's right," Locke said quietly. His family was still around, but so out of reach that some days they may as well not be. He'd never meant to make Hoenn his new home, never meant to get attached to a place that was just supposed to be a bump in the road. And yet, despite his best efforts to keep a safe distance, he'd made friends hadn't he? People he would miss. People who would miss him. People he wanted to know and to know him better.

"Maybe our situations are more different than alike,

Picnicking and bird-watching with angelo vestri and Alexei Ivanov .

"But I do know what it's like to be stuck all on your own.

Unraveling the mysteries of Hoenn with Martín del Mar and Eris Halla .

"And I know that we don't have to be.

Chatting over pie and the smallness of the world with MATIAS SILPH .

"There's a lot of good people out there.

And priam conrad …

"You just have to find them."

Would he tell them about all of this, the next time they met? Or would he bottle it all up again and push through it alone, like every other problem he's had?

Could he let himself be a burden, just for a little bit?

Neither version of himself gave an answer, but Shaymin's flowers remained blooming throughout the night.

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

"This is still a stupid idea."

Locke shushed them, then peeked around the corner, confirming that the street ahead was just as devoid of life as the previous few. Still, he kept low to the ground as he led the party down the road, navigating practically by muscle memory.

Not that the other Locke needed the guidance.

The group kept quiet as they approached the end of the block, until his companion suddenly shot out a hand and pulled him behind a turned-over sedan. They pressed a finger to their lips, then pointed upwards.



The shadow of a large bird circled overhead, glowing brightly against the stormy sky. It passed once, twice, three times, before gently swooping down to land further up the street. The shimmering rainbow bird kept a watchful eye as its Locke slid down and began to inspect the building in front of them.

"Uh oh," Shaymin squeaked, ducking into his jacket.

"…Okay, you were right. This was stupid," Locke admitted.

His companion remained silent, staring at Ho-oh with an unreadable expression. Then, without so much as a word, they creeped forward, pipe clenched tight in their fist.

Locke reacted instantly, grabbing at his double's wrist and holding them in place while they whispered frantically. "Are you crazy?!"

"We're not gonna be able to slip away with them right there," the other Locke reasoned.

His stomach did another flip, bile rising with the panic. "We can't fight them!"

"Not unless we get the drop-"

A deep Pressure settled into Locke's bones, and he could see the same spine-chilling reaction cross his own face across from him.



The legendary phoenix took to the air, casting a blast of rainbow fire down at the squabbling pair. They both instantly broke apart; their ally rolling forward to avoid the flames and charge at Ho-oh's Avatar, while Locke practically threw themselves back behind the car for cover.

Shaymin popped out of their coat with a reproachful look. "What're you doing?"

"Running! Obviously!"

"No, no! You're doing it all wrong! You gotta do the thing!" She insisted, her voice echoing as she rummaged through a flipped-over trash bin.

"I don't know wha-Eek!" They ducked as another Sacred Fire lit up the air above them. "I don't know what 'thing' you're talking about it!"

"You gotta uf dif!" Her reply was muffled by a filthy and beaten-in bottle cap, which she gracelessly spat into Locke's hand.

"…Shaymin. This isn't the time for jokes, ya know."

"S'notta joke! Just put a little oomph into, and you're good to go!"

"Oomph?" Locke cried incredulously. They waved the offending item around, trying to find the oomph she was referring to. "What oomph am I s'pposed to-"

Crunch.

The sedan flattened under the weight of a massive, clawed foot. Ho-oh shoved the car's remains aside with an earsplitting screech of metal on concrete, glaring down at the pair through bright red eyes.

Shaymin hopped off of Locke to stand between them. Her flowers began to glow, gathering what little pollutants were in the air around them, and a single flower bloomed at her feet as she released it into a tiny Seed Flare that bounced off the colossal bird's chest.

In retaliation, Ho-oh opened its beak, and unleashed a wave of multi-colored flames in their direction as Locke crouched over Shaymin to protect her. The bottlecap pressed into their palm as the their hand met the pavement, where they felt the slightest shift in its form.



A shimmering green light burst between their fingers, as the bottlecap underwent a spontaneous transformation, erupting into a fully-grown oak beneath the courier. It scooped both Locke and Shaymin in its thick, leafy branches and catapulted them up and up and out of harm's way.



"There ya go, partner!" Shaymin whooped atop their head forty feet in the air. "Pretty cool, right? Right?"

They opened their mouth to agree, but the taste of smoke and burning wood rising from below suddenly made it significantly less cool in this specific instance.

"Okay, okay, okay. Now what?!" They asked, one hasty retreat onto the nearest rooftop later.

"I dunno! Get creative!"

Locke picked up a loose shingle and released another oak tree towards the legendary phoenix. The offending plant was Incinerated before it could even make contact, landing in a smoldering heap at an unimpressed Ho-oh's feet.

"…More creative than that."

"I'm trying my best here!"

Ho-oh was on them in an instant, snapping at the pair as they slid off the roof along a cluster of lianas. Through its legs, Locke could see their ally not fairing much better, barely managing to roll away from a pouncing ash-summoned Raikou. It stalked around him, as a matching Suicune slowly began to form next to the enemy Locke.

"Oh how is that fair?!"

Forgetting their own fight for a moment, Locke broke off a piece of glass form a nearby window and quickly pressed it to the ground, from which a field of kudzu sprang to life and raced underneath the bird towards the other battle. The invasive vines tangled around the opposing Locke and his Sacred Ash creations, binding them in place and rapidly overtaking the rest of the legendary dogs' bodies until they collapsed into ash and leaves. The kudzu, as expected of the plant, was indiscriminate in its capture however, taking their own companion into its grasp as collateral.

While Locke might've gotten distracted, their own opponent had not. Ho-oh kicked up a Whirlwind with a single heavy beat of its multicolored wings. Locke held tight to their own vines as the cyclone overtook them, but Shaymin was less sturdy, careening off into the distance amid a hail of debris.



Her body glowed as she soared overhead, however; at last transforming back into her sky forme and righting herself midair above the other Lockes.

Regardless, Ho-oh gave triumphant cry, ignoring her Avatar and instead flying over to the airborne hedgehog to cut off the problem at its source. It met Shaymin in the sky, Sacred Fire licking at the corners of its beak. It released the flames, only to be blocked by another tree, summoned from an expired coupon.

The phoenix turned to face them again, apparently reconsidering their decision to ignore them, as the tree crackled and popped behind it.

Then popped again.

And again, and again, and again; the tiny explosions becoming more and more rapid in succession as the fire spread through its leaves.

Flaming nuts shot out from the branches of the hazelnut tree, assaulting the bird with a shower of roasted vengeance. It squawked inelegantly, more out of shock than pain, but it was distraction enough for Shaymin to take advantage of. A Leaf Storm lifted up around her, which surrounded and slashed at her opponent alongside the hazelnut barrage.

It forced the bird to land, Roosting to regain its bearings, as Locke raced over to their own partner. The tire was transformed into more kudzu, trapping the now-vulnerable Ho-oh with the same trick that felled its Avatar.

"You did it! You did it!" Shaymin cried as she flew victory laps around his head.

"Not yet he hasn't!" The shout of his ally broke through the celebration. "Hurry up and finish this one!"

Locke started at that. "Wha-I'm not gonna-"

"We don't have a choice! It's them, or us!"

He looked at the captured Locke. They had stopped struggling to listen to the conversation, and met his gaze with mirrored panic.

He hesitated.

With a sudden burst of flame, Ho-oh Burned Up the vines surrounding it, which the other Locke took as a signal to disintegrate their own body into ash, reforming atop the still-smoldering bird. They gave him and the rest of his group a cautious glance, before flying off somewhere further into the city proper.

And Locke breathed a sigh of relief.

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

No one seemed to have followed them, as far as they could tell, so Locke took what brief respite they could behind the remains of a police station, their breathing shallow and wheezing as they pressed their back against the decaying stone. They counted out the breaths, one-two-three, one-two-three-four-five, until they were finally able to swallow down gulps of sea air without choking.

Until the Pokémon in their arms gave a small sniffle, and the panic threatened to rise all over again.

"Hey," they gasped, holding Shaymin close and hoping she couldn't feel their pounding heart through the layers there. "Hey, it'll be alright. We'll be okay."



The lie tasted like ash on their tongue, and did little to soothe their companion. She had, in shock or grief, reverted to some smaller form, far more hedgehog-like in appearance, and was either unwilling or now lacked the ability to fly as before. That was going to be inconvenient, as it meant the fastest way to move the little one around would be to carry her, leaving their arms occupied and themselves defenseless.

She still wore the little red bandana, tucked warmly around her neck like a safety blanket.

Locke sighed, their panic ebbing away into hollow despair. They couldn't have imagined a worse-case scenario than this. No desire could've ever been worth it.

They looked down at Shaymin. Was this how their wish was meant to be fulfilled, they wondered morbidly, by ripping it from the still-warm arms of another version of themselves?

It didn't matter. They only had each other now. For better or worse.

Another building crumbled back where they came. Their only chance at survival was to run or hide, and it was time to keep moving. Locke considered their next move as they approached the end of the block. The city, overgrown as it was, still felt familiar to them. If they could just remember-

The pipe connected painfully with their shoulder as they turned in time to shield Shaymin. Instinct took over and they rolled forward with the blow to avoid the next; a clumsy backswing aimed for their head that whiffed past their ear and bounced off the wall with a reverberating clank. Their doppelganger thrust out with his free hand, and Locke braced themselves for whatever power would spring forth.

But none came.

The other Locke stared at his empty palm with some mix of confusion-then-panic-then-grief, before landing on rage and surging forward again with the iron pipe.

"W-Wait!"

Surprisingly, he does. The other man kept his stance, but narrowed his eyes, waiting for them to continue.

"I don't want to fight," they pleaded, trying again for peace.

"You heard them, only one of us leaves."

"So you just start killing each other without question?"

"They attacked me," the other Locke corrected, then grew solemn. "Or-us."

Shaymin shifted in their arms to press herself further into their chest, and Locke let the moment pass in silence. "...Well I'm not going to fight you. Or anyone else, for that matter."

"And you think you have a choice?"

Locke squared their shoulders. "I'm choosing anyway."

Their mirror didn't respond. Instead, he eyed them carefully, searching for something.

"...So what's your plan, then?"

That was...a good question. Locke surveyed their surroundings, taking stock of the situation. The city still echoed with the occasional explosion here or there, but most of the initial skirmishes had seemed to have ended as the survivors scurried off to lick their wounds. There were several more buildings missing from the skyline, and the tell-tale rise of smoke from some distant fire, but the area they were in appeared untouched, and thus relatively safe for the time being.

Beyond the state of the battle, Locke was just tired. His muscles ached with the effort of fleeing, and his mind was heavy with the weight of the horrors he'd already witnessed. Shaymin also clearly wasn't eager to jump back into the fight, and the other Locke was still trying and failing to hide odd limp in their step.

"Let's just focus on surviving for right now. Food, water, medical supplies-"

"'Let's?' You make it sound like we're working together."

"Yeah!" Shaymin protested. "Didn't you see them before? This guy's a stone-cold killer!"

"I already said, we were defending our-"

"Please!" Locke cut them both off. "We're both powerless; neither of us will survive on our own. We'll be better off sticking together than risk running into one of the others alone."

"And what about when it's just a handful of us left, huh? Only one can leave," they repeated.

"Nobody's leaving right now," Locke pointed out.

His mirror image considered him for a long moment.

Then slowly, finally, lowered the pipe.

---

It took roughly another two hours of sneaking around, and the broken-down shell of a corner store for Locke to finally register where the portals had taken them.

"Oh gods, we're in Vermilion."

"You didn't know?" The other Locke said, shifting through the debris for anything salvageable.

"I was-It's been so long." He picked up a long-expired coupon, the BOGO offer printed in a big, blocky font, while the item for sale was lost beneath layers of dirt. "What happened?"

His companion grunted as they pushed at fallen display, only responding after it had fully rolled over to reveal its contents. "I wouldn't know any more than you."

"How can you be so nonchalant about this?"

"It's not my Vermilion," they shrugged, and Locke's stomach churned at the aloof gesture. "And even if it was, it's not like there's anything left for me there."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

The other man didn't respond, and as the group slipped back into silence, Locke took a closer look at the building's remains. It looked as though it'd been stepped on, crushed under the weight of some far greater force. The only recognizable piece that remained was the outdated and frequently out-of-order slushie machine, half-buried amidst the rubble. Decades of overgrowth had claimed every nook and cranny of the store, far more than what should've been possible in a mere five years.

Were they thrust forward in time as well? Or did the Vermilion of this world simply fall long before his own?

There was something else missing outside of people and time though; something Locke hadn't noticed at first, but now that he had was unignorable.

"Where're all the Pokémon?"

"Hm?"

"The Pokémon. This whole place is abandoned, but I haven't seen so much as a Pidgey anywhere."

Their companion paused, glancing around as if to confirm the absence of fauna himself. "That…is weird," he finally responded with a deep frown. "I don't like it."

"Me neither…"

"Sky's purple too," Shaymin piped up.

"Obviously."

"No she's gotta point. Why aren't we talking about that?"

"It's a different dimension. Maybe the sky here's just purple."

Locke and Shaymin both just stared at that.

The other Locke blushed. "Alright, what's your big theory then?"

They tilted their head back, staring out into the violet horizon. A crack of lightning broke through the swirling dark clouds, and they pretended not to notice their companion flinch in the corner of their eye.

"…Nope. I got nothin'."

"Me neither…"

The other man rolled his eyes, tossing a bottle of water in their direction. They fumbled and dropped the unexpected gift, dusting dirt off the plastic with a wince as they picked it up and unscrewed the cap. It was unpleasantly warm, but Locke found they didn't care much once their thirst caught up to them.



They downed half of it in a few greedy gulps, then bent down to share the rest with Shaymin, sparing a bit to pour over the hedgehog's back and clear the dirt that had settled there. Flowers bloomed where the water soaked into her fur, but rapidly retreated as their double clambered over to join them. He dropped several more bottles and a small pile of canned foods between them before reaching over to wrestle with the plastic bags littering the rubble that used to be the counter. After a few minutes of helping him pick out the useable ones, Locke spoke up again.

"We should-"

"No."

"You didn't even let me finish!"

"We're the same person; I already know exactly what you're thinking."

"Okay, so why not?"

"Because if you thought about it, and I thought about it, then so has every other Locke still in the city," he answered with a frustrated sigh. "That place is a bloodbath waiting to happen."

"Or every other Locke's also thought that, so they'll avoid it," they countered.

"That's a stretch and we both know it."

"…"

"It's probably not even there anymore."

"…"

"It's a stupid idea, and we're not doing it."

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz