Chapter Text
Scorpius. Champion-Rank trainer. Master of quelling Titans. The fist that forced Team Star to kneel.
All of those titles, and yet…
He was still afraid of heights.
Listen, Scorpius was just about as dense when it came to danger as his friend and rival Nemona was, but even he had some pause when he was yanked onto Miraidon by Arven after being dragged a good few feet in the air above the clouds by his wrist alone. He had a thing with his feet being off of the ground— didn’t like it. Hated it, even. The soles of his shoes squeaked against metal legs as he scrambled for purchase at Miraidon’s reigns.
Once Scorpius’s feet hit the ground and everyone safely filed off of Miraidon, the poor metal lizard stowed itself away in its ball, refusing to emerge. Though he was concerned, Arven assured Scorpius Miraidon was probably just hungry. That made sense, he thought, given he had basically table fed that lizard at every chance he got, now.
It was gorgeous, the crater. It really was. Parts of trees and rocks were crystallized with Terastal energy, the air glittering with flecks of the stuff. It looked like an aether, some kind of paradise.
Scorpius took a deep breath, his Lokix-inspired helmet filtering out the air slightly, the tinted visor which hid his face easily blocking out the intense sun this high up in the day’s sky.
Scorpius was pulled from his gawking by his Rotom phone buzzing to life from his pocket, a staticky feed of the great Professor Turo’s voice crackling over the speaker.
“It appears you were able to make the descent without being harmed,” said the professor, calm, collected, smooth.
Arven was the first to speak, responding to his father. “Hah, yeah, sure! Smooth sailing! Who could possibly complain about a landing like that?” He asked, putting his hands on his hips.
Scorpius could feel the sarcasm dripping off of every last word from Arven’s mouth, but—
“That is good.”
Arven’s arms dropped to his sides, the boy falling quiet. Scorpius watched with empathetic eyes behind his helmet, before the speaker crackled to life once more.
“I had concerns you might fail, given the crudeness of the only available access method,” Turo explained.
Arven hummed and crossed his arms, the group’s fourth member, Penny, turning her head to make a snide remark about his father’s “sarcasm detector”.
Nemona folded her hands, endeared by Professor Turo’s words. “Aw, you were worried about us? That’s so sweet!”
Scorpius’s attention was grabbed as his Rotom phone shifted in the air, directing its screen directly at him.
“You should now make your way to meet me at the Zero Lab, in the deepest part of Area Zero. However…”
There was a pause, but it felt too quick to be a pause for breath.
“the entrance to the lab is barred by four locks, installed on the exterior, which I cannot unlock.”
Scorpius felt his eyebrow raise at the explanation. Why wouldn’t he be able to unlock the lab from the inside? Wouldn’t the locks be to keep strong Pokémon out? It was almost like—
“Four locks..?” Penny mumbled, mostly to herself, but it was enough for Scorpius to hear and focus himself back on Turo’s voice.
“On your way to me, you must visit four research stations that were constructed inside the crater.”
A picture pops up on Rotom’s screen, showing one of the research stations.
“At each station, you will be able to disable one of the locks. Do so as soon as you make your way down. I hope you succeed.”
And with that the Rotom phone clicked off, and returned to Scorpius’s pocket, leaving the group to somehow process the barrage of information they just received.
Nemona, eager as ever, practically cheered at the prospect of getting into those labs. And more importantly, battling any strong Pokémon that got in their way. Unable to really stop her once she got going, the rest of the group just nodded and began to follow Scorpius’s lead. The glossy finish on his helmet reflected a Corviknight that flew overhead, his visor catching on a Girafarig feeding off of the sparkling grass below them. As he walked, he could hear his friends begin to chatter behind him, beginning with Penny.
“So this is the inside of the Great Crater of Paldea– Area Zero…” the shorter girl marveled, taking in the scenery much later now that she was acclimated.
“Feels different from just seeing it in our textbooks. It’s so intense…” she said, looking to Nemona, who began speaking next.
“Normally we’d never be able to get in here to see it for ourselves!” Nemona excitedly explained, before, just now, noticing the missing purple lizard they flew in on.
“Huh…? Where’d Miraidon go?” She asked, looking first at Scorpius’s back, then behind her shoulder to Arven.
“It seems like it got spooked by something. It’s hiding in its ball,” Arven answered first, settling his hands into his pockets.
“¿En serio? That’s not good,” Nemona replied, a bit of Paldean spilling from her lips in her surprise.
“Can we even get back up to the surface without it?” Penny piped up, a twinge of worry in her voice. The place was pretty, but, hardly a safe place to shelter in if they couldn’t leave.
“Ah, should be all right. The last time I was here, I caught a Flying Taxi out of the crater. They always come through, if you’re a real sob story…”
Scorpius quietly listened to the conversation, focused on carefully stepping over a stream of sparkling water to avoid wetting his uniform pants.
“Why didn’t you call the professor, if he’s down here? Don’t get along or something?” Penny asked, with the kind of tone deafness one would expect from Nemona.
“That’s–” Scorpius started, before being cut off by Arven’s loud scoff.
“None of your business, pipsqueak.”
Penny raised an eyebrow at Arven, raising her hands up placidly, “Geez, no need to bite my head off. What’re you getting all huffy for anyway?”
Before Scorpius or Arven could speak up, Nemona raised her voice.
“Okay, come on, you two! This is an adventure! Let’s just have a good time!” she exclaimed, raising one of her hands to gesture at the grandness the two were missing out on in the heat of their argument.
“Thanks, Nemona.” Scorpius sighed. “Just, try to get along? At least for as long as we’re here?” He asked, turning his head to catch Arven grumbling out of the corner of his visor’s view.
“Fine,” Arven said.
The group continued their walk in silence, Scorpius expertly leading them through the uncharted territory. The sight of some wild Lokix made the helmeted boy silently gawk, then glance down at the Poké Ball on his hip, containing his ace of the same species. Scorpius gently patted the ball of his starter Pokémon before he continued to walk. The small gesture brought a smile to Nemona’s lips, and brought forth the memory of watching Scorpius catch his first ever Pokémon all the way back at the start of their friendship. It made her wonder..
“So, Penny! How’d you wind up friends with Scorpius, anyway?”
Penny seemed to almost flinch at the question. She took a pause to think about how to word their… unique friendship backstory without giving too much away to people she just met.
“Well, uh… I guess he just really came through for me when I needed him.” She offered a small smile to Scorpius, who had briefly turned his head to look at her when she began speaking.
“Everything was going off the rails. School was a mess, and my friendships… well. Ditto. Scorpius was a big help getting all that sorted out.”
After Penny finished, Nemona let out a noise of surprise, looking quickly between Scorpius and Penny, her eyebrows raising in astonishment.
“So he helped you out too while he was tackling all the Gyms? That’s crazy!” she exclaimed.
Penny adjusted her glasses against the bridge of her nose, turning her head fully to look at Nemona as they spoke.
“What about you then, Nemona?”
Scorpius looked back once more, this time at Nemona. Something about the way he turned his head seemed more urgent than the time prior, but that seemed to fly over everyone’s heads– especially Nemona’s.
“Scorpius and I are classmates! We share a homeroom. I met him when I was walking from my house to school. He was trying to return to Poco Path to retrace his steps back to Mesagoza, but I ended up intercepting him and leading him myself!” Nemona explained, waving her hands around as she explained. Scorpius released a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.
“When I saw him catch his first Pokémon, I saw just how skilled he was! I said that he should aim to be a Champion, and he did it! Now I’ve got a Champion bud!”
It was Penny’s turn to make a surprised noise.
“Wait, what?! That’s wild..”
Arven’s faint chuckle crossed Scorpius’s ears as he moved closer to be in between Nemona and Penny, clearing his throat rather loudly with arms crossed over his chest.
“Hold it right there, you two. You think you’ve got cool friendship origin stories with Scorpius?”
Penny and Nemona shared a look of disbelief and slight confusion, before looking back to Arven as he began to speak again.
“They’re nothing compared to what me and him went through! Our friendship’s on another level!”
Penny rolled her eyes, “Um, no one asked you. Stop trying to flex on us.”
Nemona giggled softly, shaking her head at the continued butting of heads, “Guess we’re all in the ‘buds with Scorpius’ club!”
That seemed to pull laughs from the entire group, even earning a hearty chuckle from Scorpius himself up ahead.
“Are you guys done one-upping each other? ‘Cause we’re at the first station,” he said, looking over his shoulder.
The proclamation caused the other three to quickly rush over and peer over the boy’s shoulders, nearly knocking him over. Scorpius dug the heels of his sneakers into the grass, skidding to a halt as an odd, flower-looking Pokémon floated before the group.
“Holy– What the fuck is that?!” Penny squeaked in surprise, immediately backing up, Arven mirroring her action once he got a look at the blue creature.
“That’s a Pokémon La Primera uses! I didn’t know that species could be found in the Great Crater!” Nemona replied, seemingly more excited at the prospect of a rare, strong Pokémon to fight than interested in truly quelling Penny’s fears.
“Come on, Scorpius! Let’s take it on together!”
Scorpius rolled his neck, and nodded firmly, his hand grasping at his belt with practiced ease, already knowing what this Pokémon was weak to due to his battle against Geeta.
Scorpius threw out the only Great Ball on his belt, sending out his Gallade, Artemis. Nemona followed his lead, throwing out the ball of her Midday Form Lycanroc.
“Lycanroc! Go for Drill Run! Knock it off balance to give Scorpius an opening!” Nemona commanded, thrusting out her braced arm towards the Glimmora in front of them.
Lycanroc gave a gruff bark of acknowledgment before performing the move, charging itself into the Glimmora with a spinning veil of dirt surrounding her. The Glimmora’s stance broke with the super-effective move, and Scorpius planted his feet as he saw the opening appear.
“Artemis! Psycho Cut and finish the job!” Scorpius called out, nodding at his Pokémon.
The Gallade didn’t need to be told twice, speeding forward with enough speed to cause the Galladite on its necklace to clink against the blade-like protrusion in his chest and slashing down at the Glimmora with his arm-blade. When the two Pokémon jumped back, the Glimmora was left fainted in their wake.
Scorpius and Nemona recalled their Pokémon at the same time, fist bumping each other.
“That’s how it’s done!” Scorpius laughed triumphantly.
Nemona giggled, raising a brow, “Are there gonna be a lot more of these rare Pokémon down here, you think?” She asked.
Arven and Penny approached the two after Scorpius kicked away the Toxic Spikes the Glimmora had left behind. It was Arven who spoke first.
“You think that was something? Please. You’ve got no idea how terrifying Area Zero really is.”
Penny scratched at her neck as she turned her head to look at Arven.
“Wow, patronizing much?” Penny scoffed.
“Easy, you two!” Nemona barked. “Let’s just head inside the research station.”
The two bickering teens sighed loudly before obliging and following Nemona and Scorpius inside the nearby research station. Scorpius shuddered when he entered the threshold of the station, the temperature difference inside surprising him.
“How is it even… colder in here..??” He muttered, mostly to himself.
His train of thought was derailed by Nemona’s sudden exclamation.
“Wow! Are these ancient ruins?”
All three teens turned to give Nemona a look, before Penny finally spoke.
“They look far too recent for that.”
Before Nemona could continue the nothingburger of a conversation, Professor Turo’s voice echoed through the research station, startling everyone inside for a moment.
“It appears you have reached your first research station without incident. This facility was constructed 87 years ago as a way station for those surveying Area Zero,” The voice of Turo reverberated lightly around the room, the metal of the walls making for poor acoustics.
Nemona stilled for a moment as she stared at a rather dusty-looking bed in the corner. “Ohhhh. So that’s why there’s a bed!”
She turned back to the rest of the group.
“Looks like we can use this place to rest up if we need to!”
Nemona hummed to herself in glee at her observation, before Turo began speaking again.
“Scorpius, if you would be so kind to disable the first lock on the lab using that central panel.”
The aforementioned trainer turned to the console, staring down at it. The way Turo said that… it felt like more of a demand rather than a question. Turo was probably just eager. Arceus knows how long the guy’s been down here alone. Scorpius shrugged the oddity off, and stepped forward, disabling the lock with the press of a button.
“Well done,” Turo’s response was almost immediate. “Please continue your efforts at the remaining research stations.”
Arven seemed awfully quiet this time around. Scorpius eyed the boy from behind his visor, sensing he was wanting to say something.
“...Well you heard the man.”
Scorpius gestured with his arm and led the group back outside to continue their trek.
The four stood at the exit of the station, taking a moment to reacquaint themselves with the view and take in the fresh air. The stale air inside the research station paled in comparison to the brisk breeze just outside. How long had it been since someone had been inside there..?
“I… I almost never saw my dad in my whole life,” Arven suddenly admitted.
“Oh?” Penny interjected. “Is it time for the backstory reveal?”
“Penny! Shhh!” Nemona hushed, shooting the shorter girl a glare.
Scorpius listened quietly, beginning his stride down the rest of Area Zero, keeping his pace slow to indicate he was still listening to Arven. Everyone began walking, Arven himself thankful to do something with his body in distraction from his words.
“He was always busy with work. Hardly ever came home…” Arven took a breath. “I cooked for myself, cleaned for myself… Mabosstiff was the only one I had to talk to.”
Scorpius slowed his pace further to walk alongside Arven, now, tilting his helmeted head slightly to motion him to continue if he felt comfortable.
“So, yeah. I don’t really know him that well, even if he is my dad. I tried not to think too much about it. Tried to just be proud that he was this famous genius..” Arven fidgeted with the straps of his backpack, needing something to do with his hands as well. “But the truth is, I would’ve rather just had a dad who was there… even if he wasn’t anything great.”
Arven paused, and it seemed like the entirety of Area Zero stopped breathing with him. He glanced briefly at his friends, Penny and Nemona wearing sympathetic looks on their face, leaned closer to listen more intently. Scorpius had his helmet’s visor pointed at Arven, one of his gloved hands gently fidgeting with the collar of his school-issued uniform jacket, thumb tracing the hem of the fabric.
Arven couldn’t hide the small smile their care gave him, and he took a deep breath once more before continuing.
“I haven’t seen him for ages, now. Unless you count seeing him in the news or whatever. Used to at least get emails sometimes. But even those stopped a couple years ago.” Arven waved his hand in frustration.
“And then there he appears, out of the blue, and tells me we’ve gotta come to Area Zero?” He scoffed.
“Some family, right?” He tried to lighten the conversation.
Penny was the one to speak up. “Oh, uh… but.. We’re not here to judge or anything.”
She adjusted her hoodie, then her glasses back up on her face.
“And… I’m sorry about earlier. I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that.”
Arven’s expression softened at Penny’s apology, and he shook his head.
“Naw, I was also giving you a hard time. Sorry… uh…”
“Penny, my name’s Penny.”
Nemona noticeably sighed in relief at their smooth apologies, her shoulders dropping a few inches as they walked, looking to Arven when he began to speak again.
“Last time I came to the Great Crater, I was trying to go see my dad..” Arven glanced around the area, putting one of his hands on his hip. “I got about this far, then I got attacked by some kind of creature I’d never seen before.”
Nemona immediately perked up, moving closer to Arven.
“Really? What kind of Pokémon was it?!”
“Geez, Nemona…” Scorpius sighed to himself.
“It wasn’t even like a Pokémon. More like this crazy-weird, metallic, machine thing…” Arven explained, giving the hyperactive girl a curious stare.
“You sure it wasn’t just a Pokémon that’s a little more, I dunno, robot-y than average?” She asked.
“Yeah, I’m sure! It was like a completely different creature altogether! And, it hurt Mabosstiff real bad, so it’s not like I’d just forget! I don’t ever want to run into that awful thing again..” Arven shuddered.
The group stopped at a steep slope, ending their conversation there.
“So,” Scorpius started, sounding a bit impish. “Who wants to go first?”
Before anyone could even answer, Nemona was sliding her way down the slope with ease, causing Scorpius to groan and slide down after her. The other two nervously followed along, bracing against each other as they slid down.
“Nemona, wait up!” Scorpius called after his friend, as she ran straight for the next research station.
As his back was turned, Penny noticed what looked to be a Delibird waddling around behind the group.
“Ohmygosh! So cute…”
The girl was lured in by the creature, which, upon closer inspection, seemed to be one of those metal monsters Arven had mentioned.
It let out a resounding screech, its head jutting out, held on only by a thick metal wire. Penny let out a yelp in shock, jumping back slightly.
The sound caused Scorpius to whip around, immediately taking a spot next to Penny and blindly grabbing for a Poké Ball to protect them both from his belt. His Falinks, Ares, tumbled out of the ball, the main link raising its horned head high, the Falinksite on its chest glimmering in the light.
Penny scrambled for her own Pokémon, sending out her dear Umbreon.
“What is that thing..?” Scorpius muttered, before reaching his hand to gently brush the back of his helmet, where he had embedded his Mega Key Stone.
Scorpius shook his head and pressed more firmly on the stone, calling out to his Pokémon.
“Get ready, Ares! Let’s give it all we’ve got!”
Mega Power surrounded both the Key Stone in the back of Scorpius’s helmet and the Falinks before him, allowing the Pokémon to Mega Evolve.
“Good thinking, Scorpius!” Penny called out over the roaring of the energy surrounding them.
The Delibird look-alike focused an Ice Beam onto Ares, the Mega Evolved Pokémon merely shrugging off the attack. Penny’s Umbreon focused on puffing up his fur and standing in front of his trainer, allowing Scorpius to take the lead with Ares.
“Alright, Ares, let’s go for a Close Combat!” Scorpius commanded, and the vaguely humanoid stack of Falinks cried out in bloodlust, charging at the metallic Pokémon with appendages poised to strike hard and fast.
To their surprise, the attack was super-effective. The faux Delibird immediately fainted, its head comically popping out and swinging around before tumbling to the ground on its belly. Scorpius recalled Ares to relieve it of its Mega Evolution’s overwhelming power.
“I thought Fighting was neutral to Delibird..?” He muttered, looking to Penny in confusion, who shared a similar look as she recalled Umbreon.
“I guess the typing must be different..?”
Nemona and Arven finally made their way over, the former bummed that she didn’t get in on the action.
“Maybe we can get more answers from the Professor when we find him in the Zero Lab,” Nemona reasoned, as Arven hurried forward past her to check on Scorpius and Penny.
“Are you two okay?! That’s exactly the kind of creature I was talking about before!” He exclaimed, circling the duo to check for injury.
“We’re fine, Arven. I would never let any of you get hurt,” Scorpius stated matter-of-factly, placing his hands on his hips.
Arven let out a sigh, running his hand through his bangs.
“Okay, okay. Right. Let’s just get through the rest of these stations before we run into any more of those things.”
Nemona pouted.
“But I wanna fight one!! Scorpius and Penny got to!” The Champion-Ranked trainer stomped her shoe lightly against the grass in protest.
“If it makes you feel any better, it was mostly Scorpius,” Penny offered, rubbing the back of her neck.
The laughing and journey after their encounter with Iron Bundle all seemed like a blur of Pokémon battles and heartfelt conversations he barely remembered. A few things stuck out, though, like his battle alongside Arven and his Mega Scovillain, and Miraidon’s face-off against.. Another Miriadon?
Now, Scorpius could have sworn he had been seeing things at that point, but upon entering the lowest level of the Zero Lab alone with Professor Turo, the air seemed to send a shock to his brain that this was, in fact, very real. Arven, Nemona, and Penny were outside the lab, holding off the Paradox Pokémon, whilst Scorpius learned the truth behind Professor Turo, well, AI Turo and his time machine.
Scorpius stepped forward and pulled out the fabled Violet Book, inserting it into the pedestal in the middle of the large, crystallized chamber. A computerized voice crackled to life, echoing throughout the chamber, announcing the recognition of the ID.
“...Access Denied.”
Scorpius stepped back, his stance faltering slightly as AI Turo stood in front of the pedestal. The crystals enveloping the room turned a deep yellow color.
“It is up to you, now, Scorpius.”
AI Turo knelt down as the computerized voice crackled to life once more.
“AI Turo switching to sleep mode. Activating offensive protocols…”
The floor beneath Turo rose up, allowing AI Turo to stand what seemed like miles above Scorpius. The robot brandished a Master Ball tossing it down to the floor below, a futuristic looking Volcarona materializing from inside.
Scorpius grabbed one of the Ultra Balls from his belt and sent out a Midnight Form Lycanroc.
“Alright, Fang! Set up Stealth Rocks!” Scorpius commanded, to which the red-colored canine obliged, spreading pointed rocks across AI Turo’s side of the field.
If the AI said anything to command his Pokémon, Scorpius couldn’t hear it from all the way at the bottom of the room.
The Iron Moth unleashed a powerful Fiery Dance against Fang, but the Rock-type resisted the damage, shrugging off the flames with a snarl, the scorching particles easily sliding off of his fur.
“Seems to still be a Fire-type! Get it out of here with a Stone Edge!”
Fang howled loudly, jagged rocks flying out of the ground below the metal moth and damaging it greatly. The Iron Moth staggered, and shot back with a Discharge.
The Lycanroc seized up for a moment, becoming paralyzed from the Electric-type attack.
“C’mon, fight through it! We only need one more hit!”
The sound of Scorpius’s voice was enough to allow Fang the ability to land one last Rock Slide on the Paradox Pokémon, knocking it out.
“Good job, bud.” Scorpius recalled his Lycanroc, the Pokéball wiggling in acknowledgement as the masked teen placed it back on his belt.
Next, the AI sent out another one of those faux Delibird. Scorpius countered with his Falinks once more, deciding not to Mega Evolve it this time, now that he knew Iron Bundle’s weakness. Ares was easily victorious over the metal bird, especially with the extra damage from Fang’s Stealth Rocks and a super-effective Close Combat.
Scorpius recalled Ares and sent out Artemis against the Paradox Hariyama.
“Okay, Artemis! Put up a Light Screen, then follow up with a Psychic! This thing looks physically bulky!”
The Gallade nodded firmly before summoning a barrier of light before him with a thrust of his arm.
“Watch it!” Scorpius called out, giving Artemis enough time to dodge a Fake Out from the giant metal hands zooming towards them. The faux Hariyama tried to shake the pointed stones out of its body after it reeled back from its own attack.
Artemis expertly projected a Psychic on the metal beast, the crackling of angry electricity ceasing after the Gallade knocked it out with ease.
Suddenly, what looked to be some kind of robotic mix between a Gardevior and a Gallade materialized before Artemis, causing Scorpius alarm.
“Woah! Come back, Artemis!” the young trainer called back his Pokémon, before sending out a Bisharp.
“Alright, Silence! Artemis set up a Light Screen, so let’s just hit it hard!”
Scorpius saw the Bisharp sharpen the blade on his head against one of his arm braces, before he charged forward with an Iron Head, slamming that blade directly into the odd metallic fusion.
It staggered, kneeling into the pointed stones on the ground, where Silence immediately followed up with a critical Night Slash to the head, knocking out the Iron Valiant.
Scorpius took a moment to catch his breath from the hectic battle as the AI’s second to last Pokémon was sent out. A robotic looking Tyranitar… It would be kind of cute looking, if not for its ferocious roar and killer look in its digital eyes.
“Shit, uh… Inigo, let’s give it a shot!”
Scorpius swapped out SIlence for a Ceruledge, the blueish purple flames on his body crackling.
“Go for a Bitter Blade!” Scorpius commanded, and Inigo lunged forward, slicing upwards with pure flames and malice.
The metal Tyranitar barely budged, before looking down at Inigo, roaring loudly as it sent off a powerful Stone Edge.
“It’s still Rock-type?!” Scorpius cried out, watching his Pokémon get knocked out from the single hit.
“Sorry, Inigo,” Scorpius muttered into the Poké Ball as he recalled the dual type, before sending Ares back out.
With the damage from Inigo’s Bitter Blade, and Fang’s Stealth Rocks, the Falinks made quick work of the Iron Thorns, jumping back to Scorpius’s side with pride.
AI Turo sent out his final Pokémon, a sleek, digitized version of a Hydreigon. The metal dragon used an odd tube, smashing it on the ground.
An Electric Terrain manifested across the entire battlefield, seemingly powering up the Paradox Pokémon. Scorpius swore under his breath, recalling Ares to its ball.
One of the balls on Scorpius’s belt wiggled, catching his attention. The red casing of the top part of the ball gleamed in the crystalline light throughout the makeshift arena.
“Good idea, Sirius.”
Scorpius sent out his ace Lokix, the Bug/Dark-type immediately letting out a loud battle cry. He exhaled softly, Sirius taking a deep inhale with twitching antennae.
The Pokémon and trainer could feel their souls align and aura intertwine as they activated a rare phenomenon– a Battle Bond.
The Lokix powered up significantly, and the transformation elongated his antennae and twisted his second pair of legs around to extend into a second pair of arms instead.
“Welcome to Showoff Mode, Turo!” Scorpius taunted, the Lokix mimicking the movement of his trainer’s arm with the newly extended ones.
Before the faux Hydreigon could attack, Scorpius wordlessly commanded Sirius. The Lokix attacked briskly with a super-effective First Impression, causing the metal dragon to roar in pain.
The Paradox Pokémon countered with a super-effective Air Slash, causing Sirius and Scorpius to stagger slightly.
Scorpius’s eyes narrowed as he made eye contact with Sirius through his helmet, and the Bug-type nodded in silent understanding. The Lokix raised all four of his arms and slashed with a critical X-Scissor, his trainer mirroring the motion as AI Turo’s final Pokémon fainted.
The giant tower of crystallized material sunk back down into the floor, right as the remaining trio made their way into the lower floor of the Zero Lab.
“What is this?!” Penny exclaimed, pulling Scorpius’s attention behind him.
Nemona caught a glimpse of the Battle Bonded Lokix at Scorpius’s side, pouting.
“Did you already beat all the baddies without me?!”
Arven pushed past Nemona and Penny, standing tall right behind Scorpius.
“Alright, out with it, you…”
His blue gaze burned into the AI Professor across from him.
“Who are you, really?!”
The Professor’s AI jittered with functional errors, unable to stand completely still after the intense battle with Scorpius.
“Th-thank you…for.. everything…” the AI jumbled out.
“The time machine has finally… He has… finally… been stopped…”
Arven shook his head with a soft sigh, his shoulders slumping.
“You’re really not… my dad, are you?” Arven asked.
The robotic professor’s voice spoke softer, a bit difficult to hear over the humming of the Terastal energy surrounding them.
“Oh… Look… how big you’ve grown… So.. P-proud of you… my…” his voice came out in glitchy, sharp tones.
“...sorry… you were alone s-so long… Arve–”
Arven recoiled, like the shock had physically harmed him.
“D.. Dad?!”
Before the AI could respond, the computerized voice Scorpius had heard earlier crackled to life over the speakers once again.
“Security system failure! Security system failure!
Threat to time machine detected! Threat to time machine detected!”
The group looked around the chamber in surprise as the crystalized wall turned to a deep purple color.
“Wh-wh-whoa! What’s going on now?!” Penny yelped, shuffling closer to the group.
Nemona stepped closer, too, covering the trio’s blindspot. “Is another army of Pokémon on its way here?!”
“It cannot be!” The AI exclaimed in an oddly very human panic.
Alarms blared over the speakers along with the computerized voice.
“An obstacle is preventing the time machine from performing as intended. Activating Paradise Protection Protocol to remove the offending obstacle…”
Surprisingly, it was the AI professor who spoke up.
“Wha–?! Was keeping the time machine running truly all the professor cared about?!”
The computerized voice spoke again, “Locking all Poké Balls except for those registered to Turo’s ID.”
Scorpius’s Lokix looked around worriedly, then at his ball on Scorpius’s hip as it locked. Sirius was trapped outside of his ball.
“Program initializing… Gathering Terastal energy…”
AI Turo’s lower body began to crystallize, starting at his shoes, working its way up slowly, almost like it was singeing his lab coat with crystals.
“I’m sorry, children… This is too much for you…”
AI Turo reached out, his hand crystallizing.
“You must run!”
Arven hesitated, moving to reach out for the robotic version of his father, before stumbling back on his heel, unsure of what to do.
“AI Turo disabled. Paradise Protection Protocol initialized.”
The floor rose into the air again, and AI Turo– no, the Paradise Protection Protocol, sent out a final Master Ball, containing that Miraidon Scorpius thought he had merely dreamed up.
The group tried their Poké Balls, all of them locked.
Before Scorpius could even try to send Sirius out, a seventh ball on his hip wiggled.
Miraidon’s…
Scorpius took the hint and sent out the purple lizard, watching in awe as it transformed into its Battle Mode and took on the opposing Miraidon.
For such an imposing showdown, even beginning with the stronger Miraidon taunting Scorpius’s, the battle itself ended relatively quickly after Scorpius Terastalized his Miraidon.
“How… How very astounding! To think that you would manage to defy even the original professor’s final protections!” AI Turo almost laughed with relief, clasping his hands together.
“Are you.. Back to normal?” Arven asked.
“Yes.. A completely unforeseen outcome, even for an AI possessing the most sophisticated technology ever conceived… Even on the brink of despair, you children did not give in and instead proved your worthiness: showing the wisdom to think for yourselves, the courage to hold faith in your friends, and the fortitude to do what had to be done.”
The AI professor’s speech didn’t quite reach Scorpius’s ears, exhaustion hitting the helmeted trainer like a Rhyhorn. He gently placed a hand on Miraidon’s side to keep himself upright, his ace Sirius weaving through his trainer’s friends to get to him.
“...bid you adieu!”
Scorpius finally focused his hearing enough to hear AI Turo’s parting words as he entered the giant time machine and caused it to shut down.
Due to the rapid loss of power to the machine, a chain reaction occurred, causing the sudden combustion of the time machine and the large tower created beneath it. Miraidon was able to jump in and shield the group, but Scorpius didn’t back up far enough. He stumbled back, bracing against the blast as best as he could, only to get knocked off balance by a piece of a Tera crystal slamming into his helmet at high speeds, shattering the tinted visor that protected his eyes from the sun and his face from being recognizable.
After the initial blast, Miraidon stepped aside, and Nemona rushed over to Scorpius’s side.
“Are you okay?!” She asked, trying to help him to his feet.
Scorpius took her help, pulling himself up slowly and turning his head to look at her.
“I– I think so..?”
Through the shattered glass, Nemona could see a deep gash in Scorpius’s eyebrow, bleeding profusely onto his face. She inhaled sharply through her teeth and grimaced.
“I don’t think–”
Another voice cut her off, a raspy groan echoing from the smoke where the time machine once was.
Everyone’s heads snapped towards the dissipating smoke, where they could see an odd, prehistoric looking red lizard standing, splotches of black scattering its body and jagged Tera crystals jutting out of its scales in odd angles.
Scorpius squinted, trying to see through the blood blurring his vision. He could see the silhouette of a person in the smoke as it faded completely.
It was a boy, probably around the group’s age, leaning against the odd, snarling, red Cyclizar. He looked like he was wearing their school’s uniform, but the color was… well, it wasn’t purple, like usual.
“Who… Who are you..?” Scorpius rasped.
“My name is Osiris.”