UPDATE 29: There Were No More Worlds To Conquer. There Never Were Any To Begin With.
Cynthia and Cyrus squared off across from each other. Perhaps the lighting could have dramatically framed them, the wind sent their cloaks dramatically billowing. But in this strange dimension there was only a flat, shadowless illumination and the air was utterly still.
“Why do you want to ‘fix’ the world so badly?” Cynthia’s tone was as cold and challenging as her gaze. “If you’re that unhappy you could find somewhere quiet and live alone by yourself.”
Cyrus’s voice had twisted into a snarl, and the hateful, agitated way he stared at Cynthia and Spamigo was a far cry from the cold confidence he’d exuded at the Spear Pillar. “Why would I have to be the one to leave? It is the world that is incomplete, it is the world that is broken! Removing what is incomplete, that is th-”
" YOU COULD CHANGE! "
The outburst caught both adults by surprise. Starting to tremble with anger, the words poured out of Spamigo as soon as they entered his thoughts. “The only thing broken and incomplete here is YOU! You’re the one that gave up on the world. You- Everyone on Team Galactic that believes in you! Everything you know how to do- You could be the one fixing the world! You could be better than this!”
Of the two adults staring at Spamigo in shock after his outburst, Cynthia was the first one to recover her composure, letting out a short laugh and simply adding, “What he said.”
That comment pushed Cyrus over the breaking point. "Why should I be the one to change? The world is wrong! Not me! This is my mission to correct this flawed world and I will not be stopped! Not by the lake Pokemon, not by Giratina, and not by you! "
You could certainly pull up the Cyrus battle music and play it here, and it would be very good. But, if you’d consider an alternative, might I suggest Archnemesis from the Yakuza 0 soundtrack?
So you remember what I said a while ago about leaving Dogu in front when I shouldn’t have?
Well… Houndoom is still a Fire-type. And Dogu knows AncientPower because I haven’t found anything worth replacing it with, so maybe this can-
Y’know what fine screw this Reina just Surf this thing out.
Y-
You-
ANOMALO! WE ARE NOT BEING NICE ANY MORE!
Ah, a Water/Flying type. I know how to handle this. We’ll just-
Oh thank God.
Now, this Weavile… can’t actually do anything against Castellia.
All that and the only thing it has to show for its efforts is some bruised knuckles.
I have all the time that I need to heal Dogu and Wilhelmina, revive and heal Reina, and even burn Cyrus’ Full Restore. It even Froze Castellia and it didn’t make a lick of difference in the end.
Perhaps when this Honchkrow was just a Murkrow, it had dreams that one day it would have the most shiny things, and it would run the flock right, like how things should be, a flock where everyone looked out for everyone else. But bit by bit, with every decision made out of necessity, that slipped away. There was no definitive point, no moment when it looked in the mirror and said “This is who I will be from now on,” but the change happened. Really, who among us can judge it?
I’ll tell you what I can judge: That’s gotta hurt.
I… don’t know why Cyrus doesn’t appear in this screenshot. There wasn’t an issue in the game.
Cyrus staggered back, and his shock soon turned into a broken, humorless laugh. “What does it matter?! That Pokemon created this world! Whether you defeat it or capture it doesn’t matter! Take away that Pokemon and this world disappears! If this world disappears both worlds will crumble! You won’t repair them- You’ll destroy them for me! Do what you will!” He yelled as he turned away. “You inherit my legacy!”
“Giratina chose to bring us here,” Cynthia was still looking at the retreating madman. Her voice took on a more comforting tone as she saw Spamigo slumped against one of the rocks, with Mina resting her head on his shoulder. “Hey, you did great. Don’t worry about what he said. If Giratina stopped him before, and has been testing us all the way down here, I can’t believe it would be so we would be the ones that destroy the worlds. I think…” She paused to turn and look down the path ahead. “It’s been waiting to meet you.”
After worrying for so long about Team Galactic and Cyrus, after jumping into another dimension, and after losing what calm he had battling Cyrus, Spamigo was exhausted. Mentally and physically. However tough he had tried to act, it vanished for a moment. “Why can’t it just let us go home? I’m tired.”
“Me too,” Cynthia sighed. “But kid, you’re pretty impressive. I think… Giratina led us down here so it could face you. No matter what happens, if you bea it or catch it… It just wants to see the kind of person you are. I don’t think there’s anything for you to be afraid of any more.”
“Not the dragon monster that brought us here?”
“It brought us here instead of doing anything worse.”
It had raced through space as a shadow while they had puzzled there way to the bottom (or what seemed like the bottom) of this strange pocket world. It was the only other thing that made any noise here. And the noise it made was more like a scream than any other Pokemon cry Spamigo had ever heard.
And now that they were face to face, it was silent.
Its blood-red gaze was unblinking, and it didn’t move, not even to flap its wings as it hung in space.
And then it attacked.
Hey remember what I said about leaving Dogu in front?
DOGU HAS NO BUSINESS BEING IN THE SAME ASTRAL PLANE AS A GHOST/DRAGON.
But since it decided not to reach into the akashic records and remove Dogu from the total knowledge of the universe, let’s set up a Reflect wall.
And then throw rocks at one another? I’m not sure why Giratina doesn’t just Shadow Force Dogu into infinite obliteration.
It’s a Ghost, but it’s also a Dragon. And Reina has a nice beam.
Alright, so realtalk here: I made a commitment a while back that I would show the failed attempts rather than just say “It took me a dozen tries to beat this Gym Leader.” So that failure was not buried under the rug while emphasizing success. But, the success that happens, happens without being cherry-picked to make me look good at Pokemon (hahahahaha I’d lose so fast on Showdown).
So then this happened.
Man I remember having to reload against Giratina so often when I was playing Platinum for the first time.
Even frozen, Giratina glared directly at Spamigo. He was uneasy as he reached for the Master Ball and weighed it in his hands. He could… but should he? He probably wouldn’t travel with it. The Professor would probably jump at the chance to study a Legendary Pokemon, but was that any better?
And so he let it go.
Rather than stay down or fall into the void, the ice around Giratina abruptly vanished and it floated upward again. It still didn’t roar, and it still didn’t look away from Spamigo, but just mabe its gaze wasn’t so cold in that moment.
Cyrus raced to them, manically elated for a moment. But whatever he expected to happen, whatever sundering of reality or encroaching void or time and space abandoning all laws of nature to chaos… Didn’t happen. Even this strange world continued to exist as it always had in its own strange way. Giratina vanishing after the battle seemed to have no impact on them at all.
“…So nothing happens? Can I not create a new world?!” His pitch rose word by word as his anger grew. “Even if I create new Red Chains, Giratina will interfere again! Why?! Why do you all insist on protecting this broken world! It is incomplete! Imperfect! It doesn’t deserve to be! Anger, despair, loneliness… You would protect these things?! Why?!”
Before when he’d faced Cyrus’ ravings, the anger had burned up inside Spamigo into an a rare outburst of rage. But now… all he felt was pity. “…We can help each other. We don’t have to be alone. It’s- The other side of the chain that makes us complete.”
Cynthia nodded and added, “Because we know sadness, we can know joy. Anger gives birth to compassion. We treasure our friends, because we know loneliness.”
“ENOUGH!” Cyrus’ voice was practically a screech, but then he turned cold in an instant. He threw the bundle with his Pokeballs at Cynthia’s feet, and spoke now barely above a whisper. “I don’t need you. I don’t need anyone. I don’t need the world. I don’t need your flawed emotions. I will break this world. And one day you awaken in my perfect world.”
Spamigo started to follow but a gentle hand on his shoulder stopped him. The worry must’ve been evident on his face, because Cynthia wasted no time in saying, “He made his choice. I think… Giratina brought him here for a reason too. When he realizes… I think he’ll come back. But a different person. Now… Feel that breeze? I think that’s the portal home.”
Why would you say no?
She thought she was talking under her breath, but Spamigo still caught her muttering “Sendoff Spring again…?”
“But… what is this place? I’ve never seen this lake before. Where are we?”
“Just south of Veilstone. Not far away at all, actually. They just keep it well hidden.”
Now, we’ll just leave Spamigo & co. to confuse Sid greatly for a while by hugging the ground and being generally grateful for reality.
NEXT TIME: Updating my CV with “Saved the world once.”