Pokemon Blue Nuzlocke Time! (Part 15.66 - FINAL)

[guardians_song]

Lance: Syaoran...
Syaoran: ?
Lance: ...Good luck.
Syaoran: ...

Syaoran: ...
(...It was evident that he was no longer himself. His entire posture had changed, grown insane and cocky...
A faint rippling contaminated the air around him.
When he caught sight of me, he lowered his head and grinned.)


Syaoran: (He laughed as though his words were a ridiculous joke.)

Syaoran: (I didn't know human muscles could stretch a grin that widely.
Perhaps they couldn't.)



Syaoran: ...What...?!
"Shaoron": Ah, come on. You really didn't think it could be that easy, did you?

"Shaoron": You've been a nuisance. An incredible nuisance, Syaoran. A stupid little thing like you... and yet you've beat my host, a supposed "prodigy", in every encounter?

"Shaoron": Clearly I got too hasty and neglected to seize the better host. I wrote it off to beginner's luck all this time - but clearly the defeat of the Elite Four is more than "beginner's" luck.

"Shaoron": So here we are now. Don't fight it, kid. Shaoron didn't fight it at first - he was too fearful to put up a real struggle, and he bought into my promises of glory.

"Shaoron": But when he proved incompetent, and I began driving his lousy team harder and harder... Oh, he tried to fight back then. Oh, did he try.
Syaoran: Rrrgh...
"Shaoron": Heh heh heh... Feeling a bit of what he felt then, eh?

"Shaoron": There's no way to fight back, kid. Even across the land, I'm more than a match for your weak child's mind. Oh, you think your "love for your friends" and "bonds of loyalty" will protect you?

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAAHAHA! That's a GOOD one. With this kid, it was his "sense of self" and "willpower"! It doesn't mean anything in the end, you dumb brat! All you are will be crushed beneath my -

???: I won't allow it.
"Shaoron": WHAT?!

Syaoran: *gasps for air*
"Shaoron": You - you persuaded the guardian of Victory Road itself to aid you?! How?!
Phoenix: Our purposes are united against you, fell being.
"Shaoron": Rrgh... Pah! So you're shielded for the moment, are you?!
It doesn't matter! I am your superior in battle, and I'll demolish you like the insolent imbecile you are!
And then all the world will be mine, to do with or destroy as I please!


Syaoran: Reveal your true form, you fiend!

"Shaoron": Heh heh heh... I don't take orders that readily, brat...

"Shaoron": THAT wretched creature? AGAIN? ...Makes me wish I'd taken an Electric-user...
Syaoran: And will you blame Shaoron for THAT failure?
"Shaoron": You insolent -


"Shaoron": NO! YOU FOOL! What are you doing, using WHIRLWIND?!
Syaoran: Can't you tell, you foul being?! It's the same as Giovanni! The Pokemon under your control have no will to win fights for you! You can force them into battle, but you can't coerce them to put out anything near their full power!
"Shaoron": Grr... I won't be ordered around by a second-place, foot-dragging brat like you!

"Shaoron": *snarls*
Syaoran: One down...

"Shaoron": Well, if ordinary Pokemon will be such sullen, rebellious wastrels, I'll call out a Pokemon I can trust! At least I can always rely on a fellow Psychic-type!

Syaoran: Yulong, do you think -
Yulong: ...I can, and I must. I alone have been able to defeat it in the past - and I must now.
"Shaoron": This time, you delusional carp, Alakazam will put you in your grave!


Syaoran: YULONG!
"Shaoron": Ahahahahahaha! How do you like that, you miserable beast? How does it feel to suffer? Do as you like - eventually your defenses will falter! You can't afford to let an ordinary blow go unhealed, knowing a critical will end it!
And once your reserves are depleted and your hapless hunk of scales falters - then Alakazam, unhindered, will render the rest of your pathetic team corpses!

Syaoran: As long as we have energy in our veins...

"Shaoron": Forget it! Alakazam will -

"Shaoron": Recover?! Alakazam, why are you wasting your time with that?! Surely you -
Syaoran: Even it doesn't want to fight for you any longer, "fellow Psychic-type" or not!
"Shaoron": NO! That's not -
Syaoran: YULONG! FINISH THIS!

Syaoran: (...And the room bled to shades of black and white...)

"Shaoron": ...*open-mouthed and pale*

Yulong: ...Farewell, then.

"Shaoron": ...
Syaoran: ...It's over in all but name now, whoever you are.
The strongest Pokemon on the team... The one most loyal to you...
Even it could no longer stomach your madness. The others will fall. Just... give up. Spare them pain. Anything more is just an exercise in suff-
"Shaoron": SHUT UP!
You think you know what suffering is? You think you know ANYTHING, you paltry little twit? You think you can even understand THE SMALLEST PORTION of what I know?
I promised myself! Long ago! That when I got free, I'd lay this entire, sick world to waste! And I'd wreak untold devastation upon others, rather than being the one who suffered!
Syaoran! You haven't seen anything yet! Today I'll begin your introductory course to the true meaning of PAIN!

Syaoran: ...And yet, after all this, I feel sorry for you...
...You've refused aid to those in need with a smirk on your face, done such grievous harm to Shaoron, and planned to hurt so many people, and yet...
...Seeing the collapse of your reality, anyone would pity y-
"Shaoron": SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!
You're NOT GOING TO BEAT ME! YOU'RE NOT!
I'LL HUMILIATE YOU LIKE THE BRAINLESS BRAT YOU ARE!



Reservoir: A Rhydon, eh... This really is like Giovanni...
Syaoran: ...
"Shaoron": SHUT UP! YOUR MIND GAMES WON'T WORK ON ME! RHYDON WILL MAKE TURTLE SOUP OF YOU!



"Shaoron": ...
Syaoran: I'm not playing "mind games" with you. Your Pokemon don't have the will to fight.
In such a state, they can't even mindlessly obey your will. They've given up. This battle was lost before it was begun.
Does even Shaoron fully obey you? When you forced him to work his Pokemon to the bone - did he truly do so, or did his dedication falter? And not because he was holding anything back, since you had long since deprived him of that option - but because he had nothing left to give?
"Shaoron": ...Stop it... It isn't true...



Yulong: ...Ave atque vale, my kinsman-in-spirit.


"Shaoron": I... don't understand... Mine was five levels higher... How...
Syaoran: ...
"Shaoron": ...won't believe your nonsense... won't...





"Shaoron": What are you doing?! Don't you know better?! Stop fooling around! Just Roaring like a idiot... You can't seriously...
Syaoran: ...



Syaoran: ...One left.
"Shaoron": I...
...don't understand. I chose stronger Pokemon every step of the way, gathered them from all corners of this land. You... look at you, still toting around a Raticate and a Butterfree like an idiot...
Monarch: I BEG your pardon?
Wormtail: *drags him back into his ball* Don't argue with the crazy eldritch horror... 'least, 'til it's down for good...
"Shaoron": ...And yet, you've always been the one who's won. Why? It can't be your nonsense about friendship and fidelity, any more than it was this one's nonsense about achievement and individualism... I... don't... get it...
...
...So you want me to give up with one Pokemon left, do you? I don't need access to your mind to know that... I can see it in your eyes...
...I won't.
...Shaoron picked the stronger Pokemon all that time ago...
Even if he lost, it doesn't matter! His Pokemon was the stronger! It has to be stronger! Even now!
I - I don't care what you think, you insolent slime! I am the Champion! I AM THE CHAMPION! AND I WILL DEFEAT YOU!
Syaoran: ...
Pity. That's all I can feel right now...
...nothing but pity.


LEERSPEAR: A fine serving of leafy greens is essential to the balanced di-
Syaoran: LEERSPEAR... Not now.

"Shaoron": ...

Syaoran: ...And it's over.
"Shaoron": ...I...





"Shaoron": ...I didn't...
Syaoran: ...

Syaoran: (He slumped over like a puppet whose strings were cut.

I had no doubt, however, that it was still Shaoron's possessor that was in that body. But all the fight had gone out of him, now. And he seemed almost apathetic to his fate.)


Syaoran: ...Professor Oak?!

Syaoran: ...Thank you, sir. Your opinion... it's always meant a lot to me.

Syaoran: Professor Oak, that's not -

"Shaoron": ...

Syaoran: *turns to "Shaoron"* Though you're not what he thinks you are... that advice is still true.
"Shaoron": ...

Syaoran: *nods* I know that almost as well as they do.
Pokemon: *not in the slightest smug* *all right, perhaps in the slightest*

Syaoran: B-but first, sir, I need to tell you... *is yanked along*


"Shaoron": ...*sits on the floor, apathetically picking at a loose thread in his sleeve*
...He's right, though. This shell is of no use to me any more.
...I need to retreat and regroup. And... rethink.
*Shaoron collapses*
Elite Four: *entering in Oak's wake, spot Shaoron collapsing and rush to his side*
Bruno: Is the one possessing him -
Agatha: Yes, that's gone, and he's still alive, but... *cradles him, shaking her head*
And where is Oak? Off to induct his child prodigy into the Hall of Fame, I take it?! You stupid, stupid man...
Lance: ...It's gone, you say. Gone for how long, I wonder...
Lorelei: I - I need to contact the Leaders. I know they're busy wrapping up that mess with Giovanni, but - Sabrina, if no one else. She should at least have some idea how to handle - *runs off, seeking a League special-line telephone*



Professor Oak: Pokemon League Champions are -




Syaoran: ...You've earned it, my friend. A hundred times over.
Yulong: Honored by mortals as well as by nature, hmm? What a... strange experience... and not altogether unpleasant.


Monarch: Yes, yes, my good fellows, do continue the applause -
Wormtail: You didn't even see battle this round, you pompous twit!


Wormtail: And neither did I, but at least I'm not bragging about it.
Monarch: Hmph. *sulks... but not too much, since he is, after all, in the Hall of Fame*


Ambassador: On behalf of my people, I accept this great honor.
Syaoran: And well-earned it was, Ambassador.


LEERSPEAR: ...I never expected to make it this far. To die an honorable death in battle, yes. To have attained the apex, with faithful comrades by my side...
...When I return to the Mountain Tribe, I will be sure to lead my fellows onward in excellence. We are capable of more than we ever dreamed.
Monarch: Yes... we began with humble origins, all of us, and we have bested the "mighty" with skill and sublime technique.
Wormtail: Yeah... just another grass-eater from Pallet, and now my name's up there in the Hall of Fame...
Ambassador: A humble ambassador, sent forth to aid a promising human child...
Yulong: And I, the lowliest of carp...


Reservoir: And I accept this on behalf of the best Trainer around.
Come on, Syaoran. Don't fuss around with modesty. You wouldn't have gotten anywhere near this far without us, but we wouldn't have gotten anywhere near this far without you.
None of us would have. Even those of us who ended up retiring to their boxes, there to socialize with the other waiters-around, wouldn't have attained what they did attain without you. Heck, just think of Queen Aria. She started out as this pipsqueak little rabbit, and now she's a full-fledged Nidoqueen. Once the Gym Leaders bash it all into shape, she might even get her parents back.
Petra got to see sunlight. Sky Terror got to make a nuisance of himself. Bell Tolls - well, I'm not sure what that thing's game is, but if it had anything to do with that walking menace that hid itself inside your neighbor, I think it will be happier once we give it the news. Gotta spread the word, after all.
...And even that Klakarton got to make himself useful. Though I'm not sure what to think of that...
And that's all because of you. Without you, we would have all stayed where we were, never meeting new people, never moving forward.


Syaoran: ...Thank you. All of you.
...There aren't words. Just... thank you.

Syaoran: ...
(...From that point on, there isn't much to say.

I know the origin of the thing that possessed Shaoron now, though. Sabrina and Misty spoke with each other, and then to me, and Mr. Fuji and Blaine both arrived once the description of the creature's behavior and location leaked down to them...

...It appears that the "Mewtwo" described in the Cinnabar Island notes broke free from its captivity, killing almost all scientists involved in the experiments upon it and rendering Cinnabar Mansion a burnt-out ruin, and flew off to take vengeance upon the world. However, it was soon sealed through the Seafoam guardian and Saffron's Psychic Gym, and locked into captivity at the bottom of Cerulean Cave - a place filled with Pokemon of such power that even Mewtwo could not influence them to do its bidding.

...Mr. Fuji, that kind-hearted charlatan resident of Lavender Town, had been the "Dr. Fuji" who led the experiments. Overwhelmed by guilt at his actions and the death of his team, he had disappeared from the scientific community and taken up the role of a selfless Pokemon caretaker, hoping to thereby expiate his sins.

Blaine, though relieved to be reunited with his old friend, was disgusted by what he had done. They spoke briefly - but, for the time being, not much beyond that. Regarding Mewtwo, however, he offered knowledge about sealing the uncontrollable that had been passed down through generations of Cinnabar elders.

"Anything that calls itself a Pokemon can be caught in a PokeBall, and some things that don't," he said. "You can't trust it to remain stable, mind, but the stronger the binding, the less corrupting its influence-"

I showed him the Master Ball and explained its origins, and he nodded. "That - that might do the trick. Mewtwo's not of the same caliber as those things which were sealed in ancient times. It was born in this world and it's of this world. A Ball that can catch anything that moves - why, I'd say that it ought to keep Mewtwo locked away for good."

As for Shaoron's part in all this... Misty told me that, while the Cerulean police were in disarray from the rash of Rocket-related crimes rocking Cerulean at the time, the sole guard remaining at the Cerulean Cave post claimed he had seen a boy matching Shaoron's description sneaking about, but shooed him off.
...
...Agatha testified that Mewtwo, in Shaoron's body, had taunted her with the claim that her grandson had recklessly, in defiance of all warnings, sneaked into somewhere he was never meant to be and paid the price. ...For the sake of "strong Pokemon".
...Judging by the dates, this would have occurred somewhere around the time that I had my bizarre dream about a battle at Route 22.
...
...
...Shaoron, was there something I could have done to intervene? I... didn't know...

...

Shaoron himself - I don't know. Sabrina said there's some chance of recovery. She... isn't sure. He was possessed for a very long time by a very cruel master.

...She says it's a testament to his strength of will that there's anything of him left.

...Agatha and Oak... they're both such vital people, but in the current circumstances, they look every decade of their ages and more...

...

Whenever I choose to embark upon the mission to seal Mewtwo, Sabrina swears she will place a psychic shield upon my mind to defend me against possession. I just need to make proper arrangements with Misty to authorize me for entry into Cerulean Cave, and ensure that my Pokemon are strong enough to confront the great creatures within.

As for myself? ...I don't know. Mewtwo, defeated at the supposed height of its triumph, seemed to have lost the will to fight. Mr. Fuji points out that it's a matter of for how long it will do so, and I agree. But...
...
...I do have to wonder if it's a threat to anyone now. It needs to be brought to justice for what it did to Shaoron. But is it truly best to disturb it, if it isn't currently roused to activity? Isn't human provocation what drove it to its current behavior in the first place?
...
Isn't solitary confinement deemed punishment enough for any human criminal?

Perhaps that's merely exhaustion speaking. It has been a very long day, and the talks with the Leaders have only made it longer.

And so it's time for me to sleep now...)



(...and embark upon a very strange dream...)

(...I dreamt a long list of names and Pokemon flashed before me, and asked the air this list's purpose.)

("These are those who fashioned the world," the air replied. "You, your Pokemon, and everything in it.")

("Leerspear?" I said faintly, shocked by recognition...

"Everything," the air replied.)

("The sounds, the speech, the very sounds of the sea and the wind. All these things were spun into being by the creators.")

("It is all part of a grand design.")

("All Pokemon... they were created by these beings?"

"Correct.")

("Even your journey."

"What? Even Shaoron's possession, and the callousness of Mewtwo, and -"

"Yes."

"...What just gods would create Team Rocket?"

"Justice was brought to them in the end, was it not? The creators are righteous, child. But unfeeling.")

("To them, all things are but numbers and atomic bits of creation. Your feelings, strong as they may be... are solely your own.")

("...Mewtwo was made in the gods' own image, then."

"They who build the entire land from nothingness care not for your judgment, child. They merely are.")

("They tested the world and saw that it was good. And now they leave it to those such as you, to do with it as you please."

"As Giovanni did?"

"Precisely. And as you did, by overthrowing him.

"The world is not free of justice, child. It is merely the lot of mortals to strive for it, rather than that of gods to enforce it.")

("...I suppose.")

("Even gods must give thanks?"

"The creators give thanks to those who have aided them, indeed. As those who do good are always given thanks... no matter how long the delay, or how thankless the time until those thanks are given.")

("...I'll be content with that, then.")


Syaoran: (After all this time, and all the length of this journey...)

Syaoran: (...It is finally over.)