The Alpha and the Omega - Epilogue Pt. II

<www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ti5uD…>

He was proven right a moment later when the mark on the back of Link’s hand began to glow as it did before, catching everyone’s attention. At that point, Link and Greninja began to move in synchrony; they both held out their left hand as they clenched it into a fist and they both brought their heads forward as they let out a yell. Remembering what had happened before, Lucario closed his eyes and reached out with his Aura. Sure enough, he could see both Greninja and Link’s Auras fusing together, with Greninja seemingly being the only one remaining. This time, however, the Aura Pokémon saw something he didn’t see before. Before it joined with Greninja’s, there seemed to be four Auras hovering behind Link’s Aura like spirits. Two of them seemed to be children while the other two looked like adults, and they all bore an undeniable resemblance to Link in appearance and clothing. “One of them could be him as an adult without that mask, but the others… Who are they?” Lucario wondered. He didn’t have time to ponder further since a twister made of water surrounded their combined Auras.

Upon opening his eyes, he saw that a sphere of water had surrounded Greninja and that everyone was watching intently. It soon burst into a multitude of water droplets and Greninja dropped down, his change complete. He pressed his right hand against the ground and held his left arm out to the side as a large solid Water Shuriken formed on his back, growing like a butterfly spreading its wings. Both Greninja and Link looked up a moment later, the latter now able to see through the former’s eyes.

Link nodded his head forward and, in response, Greninja shot forward, preparing a Night Slash blade in his right hand that he grabbed the hilt of with his left hand. Seeing this, Lucario called, “Pikachu, you’ve got to throw him off!” The yellow mouse got what his partner was implying and, when Greninja got close enough to slash, he leapt into the air. As Greninja looked up at him, he suddenly split into multiple Pikachus that all landed at the same time, surrounding the Ninja Pokémon. As the frog looked around, Pinkie screamed off on the sideline, “AAHH! Too many Pikachus! There’s too much cuteness here!”

After recovering from the loudness of Pinkie’s scream, Twilight said, “That’s… what was it called… Double Team, right?”

Cadance nodded, “I believe so, Twilight.”

Lucario smirked, “Let’s see you deal with this.” At that, all of the Pikachus’ bodies became surrounded by electricity, all of them converging on Greninja in a Spark attack. Link let out a grunt and Greninja pirouetted in response, his own series of copies forming as he did a Double Team of his own. All of the Pikachus passed through the Greninja doubles, indicating none of them hit the real one. As the Pikachu doubles regrouped, all of the Greninja doubles leapt up each one with their arms starting to glow light blue as they went into a dive towards the Pikachus. Lucario wasn’t sure which move was being used, but he had an idea how to stop it. “Pikachu, use Discharge to stop it!” he called. All of Pikachu’s doubles disappeared a moment later as he unleashed multiple bolts of electricity at the Greninjas, each one disappearing as the bolts went through them. Lucario smiled again, but it soon faded as he noticed something was wrong: the real Greninja was nowhere to be seen.

He looked over at Link and saw the boy shoot him a smirk. Suddenly, Greninja appeared shooting towards Pikachu surrounded by a white light. “It’s a Quick Attack!” Lucario yelled, Pikachu dashing forward to counter it with another Spark attack. Just as he was about to tackle the frog, however, he vanished, causing Pikachu, Lucario, and F-T Sonic to gasp in surprise. In one quick flash of movement, Greninja reappeared and slashed at Pikachu with his still-glowing arms, sending the mouse flying back. As Pikachu got up, Lucario grunted, “So that’s what he did… A combination of Double Team, Aerial Ace, and Quick Attack. Clever…”

Pikachu glared at Greninja and decided to try another Discharge attack. Greninja leapt back before the bolts started flying towards him to try to give himself more time to find a way to avoid as much damage as possible, but as he stared at the approaching lightning, they suddenly seemed to slow down. It was only in his eyes, though; in reality, the bolts were coming as fast as they were before, but upon realizing that he was still moving normally, the ninja frog saw a way to avoid the attack altogether. As the first bolt came at him, he stepped to the side to avoid it and almost immediately afterwards ducked to avoid the one coming from his right. He then rolled forward to get past two more and made a small leap over another.

As he continued dodging, off on the sideline, Spike said, “Wow, look at him go!”

Everyone else was staring in amazement too as what they were witnessing should’ve been impossible. “How in the hay is he dodgin’ all that lightnin’ so easily?” Applejack asked.

“Is he as fast as Sonic?” O-T Tails wondered, causing O-T Sonic to give him an odd look.

F-T Tails spoke, “I don’t think so… but at the very least, he’s got heightened reflexes.”

Greninja dropped to the ground to avoid another bolt, pressing his back against the grass as he rolled his head to look to his right at Pikachu. Several smaller bolts were flying right towards him, but just as they were about to hit, he vanished and reappeared a short distance behind Pikachu. Lucario’s eyes widened, realizing that Greninja had once again used Shadow Sneak, this time in a defensive way. “Pikachu, behind you!” he yelled. The yellow mouse turned around, his attack over, but it was already too late. As he turned around completely, two small Water Shurikens hit him one at a time that were followed up by a larger third one that once again knocked the mouse back.

As Pikachu got up, Greninja saw that he was getting frustrated and would likely want to end the battle in one attack. Noticing the way that the yellow mouse was gathering electricity into his body, he could only think of one attack that he could be preparing. As the electricity began to surround Pikachu’s body, Greninja grabbed the Water Shuriken off of his back and held it up. As he held it over his head, it began to increase in size, becoming much larger than him. As Pikachu began running towards him in a Volt Tackle, Greninja threw the giant shuriken at him at a slight diagonal angle. Pikachu ended up being faster than the projectile and collided with it before it had flown very far, causing an explosion that raised smoke over the field and sent the leftover electricity flying in Greninja’s direction. Everyone leaned forward with bated breaths, waiting for the smoke to lift.

The smoke soon lifted, revealing that Pikachu and Greninja were both still standing. Greninja had a new Water Shuriken on his back and he had sparks of electricity coming off of him while Pikachu stood across from him on all fours. Both were panting heavily as they stared each other down. After a few seconds, they both made a small leap forward and Greninja held out his right hand, Pikachu taking it in his right paw after he stood up on his hind legs. Seeing this, Suicune nodded and raised her tails as she said, ~And that will bring this battle to a close!~

Everyone looked in her direction and Pinkie Pie asked, “What?! That’s it?!”

The Aurora Pokémon looked back at her as she responded, ~Yes. This battle has gone on longer than expected, but neither one has fainted so we are still within the rules and they have reached a stalemate. There is no need to continue further.~ As she was speaking, Greninja’s body glowed as he reverted back to his normal form.

<www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ijp986…>

F-T Sonic ran a hand along his quills, “Whew. For a practice battle, that got pretty intense.”

As she and the others started getting up, Rarity said, “I certainly agree, but I must say,” she looked at Raikou, “I believe you were right. I do believe I have a better understanding of the battling appeal.”

While Suicune began nullifying the Mirror Coat barrier, making them all visible to outside eyes once again, Rainbow nodded, “Yeah, I don’t even care about the whole connection with Greninja thing anymore. That was great!” She looked at Link, “Hey, and I’m sorry about what I said before, Link. It’s awesome that you and Greninja get along so well.” Link smiled back at her, showing that there were no hard feelings.

Lucario looked at Link as Greninja walked over to him and Rainbow, the Aura Pokémon having still so many unanswered questions about the boy, but as Pikachu came running up to him, he decided they weren’t important. He scooped up the mouse and stood up, saying, “That was a tough battle, Pikachu, but I say you did an amazing job. It’s another reminder of how far you’ve come since we started this team together.” His partner smiled up at him at that as F-T Sonic looked on.

Suddenly Riolu, who had come running to comfort Pikachu, piped up, “What are you talking about? Pikachu and I started a team together; we’re partners! When did you…” He stopped short as he thought about what Lucario said. “Wait… if you know he’s changed a lot and you started a team with him… does that mean…?”

He stopped short when a yellow circle with a red-orange vortex inside and colored lines rising up out of it opened up in the grass nearby, catching everyone’s attention. Lucario was thankful for the distraction and calmly turned to look at the vortex with the other Pokémon while everyone else looked at it warily. “What is that?!” Twilight asked.

F-T Sonic soon recognized it and turned to Suicune, asking, “Isn’t that one of those Magnagate things you guys mentioned?” The Aurora Pokémon nodded in reply, causing everyone to calm down as they knew someone recognized it. A figure soon began to appear out of the Magnagate, and as the light faded, a number of them stared in surprise as they saw what it was.

It was a colt from the look of it. Aside from having a slightly different look to it, it looked like it could’ve been a pony from Equestria. Its body from the top of its hooves up to below its neck was cream-colored, as was its face up to just behind its eyes and up to its curved horn. It had a long red mane that stuck out over the back of its neck, long, dark blue protrusions above its eyes that were ridged and looked like eyebrows, blue hooves, and light blue fur running from the back of its head down its neck. Its tail had similar light blue fur, but it also had a few white spots on it.

Due to its appearance, Rarity couldn’t help but swoon as she got a good look at it as it looked at its surroundings. Its attention was soon redirected when Suicune called, ~Keldeo.~ The colt ran over to her and began speaking in the Pokémon language, but Suicune soon stopped him, ~Hold on, Keldeo. If you want everyone to understand you, you’ll have to talk like this. Not everyone here can understand our language.~

The Mythical Pokémon stared at her for a moment before closing his eyes and taking a breath before he began using telepathy as well. ~Is that better?~ he asked, noticing F-T Sonic hold up his thumb in confirmation. Nodding in reply, he turned back to Suicune and communicated, ~Anyway, as I was about to say, Dialga and Palkia have already sent the other Legendary Pokémon home and have managed to undo as much damage as they could to Time and Space. They sent us to let you know and get everyone back to where they belong so they can close the rifts, but they didn’t tell us where you were so I didn’t know where I was going to end up or where to look and…~

Suicune cut him off, ~You’re rambling, Keldeo.~

Lucario asked, “Who’s ‘us’?”

Keldeo replied, ~Oh yeah. We finally managed to track down your team’s missing fourth member. Turns out this whole mess threw him for a loop as well. He couldn’t catch up with you because he was busy trying to find a way back home. He was sent through one of those Passages of Time instead of a Magnagate, but don’t worry. He’s here and he’ll make sure the whole time-traveling thing won’t mess with anything.~ While he was talking, both Link and Greninja sensed something behind them and turned to look. They saw a figure standing under a nearby tree looking back at them, the shade doing little to hide its white and purple body. Its body shape was recognizable, but one look into its purple eyes kept Link from tensing up. The last time he had seen those eyes, they had been filled with a desire for fighting, but this one’s eyes were different. While they were still cold, these eyes had a definite spark of intelligence in them, and beneath that there was something resembling respect.

The two looked back as Suicune said, ~Well, that’s a relief. So how do we get everyone back to where they belong?~

Keldeo replied, ~I believe they said they’ll be opening some kind of portal that will take them home. The way they described it, it kind of sounded like a Hoopa ring to me.~ Not long after that, three portals and two Passages of Time opened up behind where everyone had been sitting during the battle. One portal showed a forested area, another showed a tropical island, and the last showed a field with a castle in the distance.

<www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHdIvl…>

Raikou turned to look at O-T Sonic and Tails and said, ~Looks like this is it. You all have to go back to where you were before all this happened.~

O-T Tails replied, “Well, it would be nice if we could stay longer, but we probably should get back to our time.” He looked at O-T Sonic, “Now that Eggman’s Death Egg has been destroyed for good, we really should let everyone else know since they helped us find where it crashed. Maybe after that, we can finally get a chance to do the things we want to do instead of trying to track him down.” The younger blue hedgehog nodded in reply.

Entei asked, ~‘Death Egg’? ‘Tracking down’? I don’t know what you’re talking about, but it sounds like you two are in a team yourselves. That or similarly some type of group of rogues.~

F-T Sonic shrugged, “Eh, rogues, rebels, freedom fighters… I prefer Resistance myself, but I guess it all kind of means roughly the same when you think about it.”

Greninja looked towards the portal showing the forested area and saw two small green figures come through it, looking at him. He recognized them as the two Zygarde Cores that had flown off into the distance after the battle. Much as he would’ve liked to hang around with this interesting group a little longer, he knew he and the two Cores still had a job to do as well. He started walking towards the portal without looking back. “Whoa, he’s going already?” Shining asked as he looked on.

Lucario glanced at the stallion, “Well, he did say something about having to stay behind to deal with the remnants of something that threatened the world. I didn’t get all the details, but it sounded important.” He then looked at the Ninja Pokémon and called, “Good luck, Greninja! Hope you get to reunite with your Trainer soon!” The blue frog looked back over his shoulder at everyone and raised his right hand in a wave at that. He soon reached the portal and walked through it, both Cores following him through before it closed.

Yoshi began to stir afterwards, the green dinosaur opening his eyes and looking around sleepily. His gaze soon fell on the island portal and he woke up completely, recognizing it as home. He leapt up with a “Wow!” and ran towards it. As he ran, he called back, “Yoshi! Yoshi yosh! Yoshi! (Bye, guys! I’ve had enough of this adventure for one day! I’m gonna go get some real lunch!)” He then vanished through the portal.

“Uh, that was even quicker than Greninja,” Twilight uttered.

“Well, that’s Yoshi sometimes. One five-minute nap and he’s ready to eat again,” F-T Tails said.

F-T Sonic ran over to Yoshi’s kart and began pushing it towards the portal as he called, “Hey Yoshi, you forgot your ride!” He was able to get it to roll through the opening before it closed. As he turned back to everyone, they all heard a soft tune ring through the air. They all saw it was coming from Link, the boy standing near a bush as he played his ocarina. It was a short song, but it really resonated in the equines present for some reason, especially Applejack.

Suddenly, they all heard a neigh and an orange-red pony with a white mane and tail that was slightly taller than Keldeo and the Equestrians came through the bush as Link finished his song. She stepped over to Link and nuzzled the side of his face, surprising him for a moment before he took the brown end of her muzzle in both hands and smiled at her. He then stepped around to her side and climbed up onto her back, patting the side of the pony’s neck as she looked back at him. As he began to turn her around towards the portal, he caught sight of everyone and gave them all a small smile and nod. The pony then started walking towards the portal, taking them both home, though it was anyone’s guess if they were going back to a life of peace or if there were still more fights to be fought as they watched.

Once the last portal had closed, Suicune turned to Riolu and O-T Sonic and Tails as she said, ~All that’s left now is to get the rest of you back to when you belong.~

O-T Tails nodded and said, “I’ll get the Tornado ready!” He turned and ran over to the red biplane, climbing into the pilot’s seat and getting it ready.

As he turned his attention away from the younger fox, Lucario caught sight of F-T Sonic looking in Fluttershy’s direction and the pink-maned pegasus deliberately avoid his eyes again. This was the third time that he had noticed this display and he couldn’t stand it any longer. “Hold on,” he said loudly. Even O-T Tails stopped what he was doing to look in the Aura Pokémon’s direction. He walked over to F-T Tails and asked, “Tails, do you still have that ring of yours?”

The older fox raised an eyebrow, “The Warp Ring? Yeah, why?”

Lucario replied, “I need to borrow it real quick.” He then pointed in F-T Sonic and Fluttershy’s direction, “And them.”

His words surprised everyone. “What?! Why?!” Rainbow exclaimed.

Lucario looked at her, “You don’t trust me, Rainbow?”

The cyan pegasus countered, “That’s got nothing to do with this! You just up and tell Tails to give you the Warp Ring we’ve been using all day and let you take Sonic and Fluttershy with you without saying why, and we’re supposed to be okay with that, especially when we’ve got a monster to defeat?!”

Lucario said, “I won’t be long.”

Rainbow asked, “Well, what do you need them for? Can you at least tell us that?”

Lucario was silent for a moment. He then said, “To put them at ease.” His words were met with confused looks, but he ignored them and turned back to Tails, saying, “Let me see the ring, Tails.”

The fox wasn’t exactly happy with how cryptic the Aura Pokémon was being, but he could see that he was intent on not going into any further details regarding his requests. He reached his right hand into his namesakes and came back with the ring in the palm. “Here,” he uttered.

Lucario took the ring and eyed it for a moment before he looked back at the fox and said, “This shouldn’t take long.” He turned and tossed the ring away from him, causing it to grow to its full size. He walked over to it and placed his paw on it, setting the destination before he looked over at Fluttershy and F-T Sonic, “Come.” They both looked at F-T Tails for a moment, the fox shrugging while giving them an unsure look, before they complied, walking over to the ring and stepping through it.

<www.youtube.com/watch?v=9P893c…>

As they came out of the ring, the two found themselves in a seemingly normal location. They were standing on a dirt path that had grass on both sides, with a pair of trees off to their right. In front of them off to the side was a green bush with a mostly red flag next to it. They looked back a moment later as Lucario came through the Warp Ring with Pikachu and the Treasure Bag on his shoulders. They watched him catch the ring in his left paw as it shrunk down, looking down at it for a moment. “Where are we?” Sonic asked, breaking the silence.

Lucario looked at him as he answered, “Sharpedo Bluff.” He walked between him and Fluttershy over to the bush and pulled it away to reveal a set of stairs going down into the ground. He looked up at the two and explained, “This is where Pikachu lived before he joined the local guild, and it’s where we’ve lived since we graduated.” He waved them over, “Come on in. We’ll have some privacy down here.” Sonic and Fluttershy glanced at each other before making their way over and going down the stairs, Lucario following them down while Pikachu put the bush back in place.

As he got to the bottom of the stairs, Lucario noticed Fluttershy and Sonic admiring different parts of the Team Base. Fluttershy was looking out at the view of the ocean while Sonic was looking at the small spring in the corner. They both looked up when Lucario dropped the Treasure Bag beside the barrels next to the doorway, the blue jackal leaning against the frame with the Warp Ring in his paw and Pikachu came down and stood on one of the last steps. “Okay Lucario, what’s this all about?” Sonic asked.

<www.youtube.com/watch?v=YS4klj…>

The Aura Pokémon replied, “I know you guys are in a hurry, so I’ll cut right to the point. Ever since we stopped in that Empire City, I’ve noticed there’s something going on between you two. You look at her and she turns away, and I get the feeling that it’s not for the reason that most others would suspect. I decided to get you both to come here so that you would be away from prying eyes and ears. I don’t enjoy that and I certainly don’t enjoy infighting, so you two start talking and work out whatever problem you have. The sooner you do that, the sooner you can get back to fixing the larger problem at hand.”

The two stared at him. “Problem? There’s no problem between us,” Sonic said after a moment.

Fluttershy looked over at the blue hedgehog and said, “Yes there is.”

Sonic looked at her, “No there’s not! You didn’t do anything wrong, Fluttershy!”

Fluttershy exclaimed, in a voice that was only slightly louder than normal, “Yes I did! I lost faith in you! You got badly hurt because of me and I didn’t even try to help you!” Her face scrunched up as her eyes grew wet, “You could’ve died because of me…”

Sonic stared at her for a moment before walking over to her and putting a hand on her shoulder. “Okay, so Eggman Nega, whether he meant to or not, ended up bringing out that kindness in you that we all know and got you to lower your guard. I don’t blame you for that, Fluttershy. It’s not your fault that he’s a creep,” he assured her.

Fluttershy opened her eyes to look at him as she said, “It’s not that… It’s… Terios.” Sonic looked at her intently at that. She bowed her head slightly, “I don’t know how, but when I thought I was comforting him, he… part of him somehow got into my head. After he fell, until we used the Elements of Harmony on Perfect Chaos, I kept hearing him in my head. He kept getting me to question everything… Not just you, but Twilight and the others as well… He was trying to get me to let him take over…”

Sonic stared at her worriedly. He’d had no idea how close she’d come to losing herself to his dark doppelganger. “But… the Elements of Harmony drove him out, right?” he asked carefully.

Fluttershy nodded, “I think so. I can’t hear him anymore. But… it’s not just that you struck him down, um, the way you did that’s the only reason.” She looked away shamefully, “I’ve actually been wondering about you since you told us what you did to Erazor and his lamp…”

Sonic stepped back and glanced down as he said slowly, “Well… I can’t really blame you for that either. I mean, Shahra and I did make the decision to do that together, but he definitely crossed a line with me that day.” His eyes closed partway as he kept looking down, “I can never really get that image out of my head, of Shahra dying because she wanted to protect me and he thought she was useless to him. It’s kind of haunted me since and, when I saw Terios raise that claw like he was going to slash at your back and everyone panicked… I guess it was kind of like I was reliving that, only someone I cared about was the one being targeted. When he just went crazy after you were away from him, I thought he was going down the same road and I acted on instinct.”

Fluttershy looked at him, “You did what you thought was right.”

Sonic met her gaze, “And so did you.”

Lucario spoke up, “That’s really all any of us can do.” Sonic and Fluttershy looked at him, surprised. He pushed himself away from the wall and said, “Sorry for interrupting. I’m not going to pry, but what you both were talking about… it got me thinking about something.”

Fluttershy tilted her head, “What?”

Lucario thought about it for a moment before saying, “Here, I’ll show you.” He walked over to the other side of the room while Pikachu watched him with a concerned expression. Sonic and Fluttershy walked over to him as he came to a stop in front of the tree roots that stuck out of the wall. He looked back at the two for a moment before pulling back one of the roots, revealing a small piece of paper stuck to the wall. It appeared to be a small poster, but it looked to be rather old. The writing was faded and the picture in the center was going yellow, but from what they could tell, it was a picture of a green Pokémon with a long leaf on its head and red running from under its jaw down its chest.

“Who is that Pokémon?” Fluttershy asked.

“Is that a ‘Wanted’ poster?” Sonic added.

Lucario nodded, “It is. It’s a poster for a Pokémon called Grovyle. At the time, he was believed to be doing something that would do great harm to this world.” He looked back at the poster, “He was also my friend from my past life.”

Sonic and Fluttershy looked at him, the former asking, “What does that mean?”

While still looking at the poster, Lucario put his paws on his hips as he explained, “I’m certain of the reason you’re able to understand me when I talk. You see, I wasn’t always a Lucario or a Riolu. I used to be a human.” Sonic and Fluttershy blinked in surprise at this, but he kept going, “Not just any human either. I was a human from a dark, time-stopped future of this world.”

Sonic raised an eyebrow, “‘Time-stopped’?”

Lucario looked back and nodded, “Yes. We both came from a world where time had stopped completely. No day, no night, no clear skies… just darkness no matter where you went. What Grovyle had been doing was stealing the Time Gears, mystical objects that keep time flowing normally in this world, and disrupting the flow of time in the areas where the Gears were located. What we were told was that this would be what caused that future to exist in the first place, but in reality, Grovyle and I traveled back in time to try to prevent that dark world from ever coming to pass.”

Sonic started, “So how did, uh…?”

Lucario answered, “We were apparently attacked when we were traveling back in time. I was separated from Grovyle, suffered amnesia, and was turned into a Riolu. I still can’t remember anything from when I was a human. I do sometimes feel like something seems familiar nowadays, but back then, I never got that feeling. Thus when Grovyle and I met again, we were enemies and Pikachu and I were allied with Dusknoir, a Pokémon that tried to make sure the future wouldn’t change and followed us back to the past, presenting himself as a great explorer.”

Fluttershy asked, “So… he fooled you?”

Lucario nodded, “He fooled us all. It wasn’t until he had Grovyle and dragged him and both of us back to the dark future with him that we learned the truth, about him and who I was.” He turned back to the poster, “I guess sometimes, you can’t really know for sure about someone. Sometimes all you have is your instinct to rely on.”

Sonic asked, “So what happened to Grovyle?”

Lucario answered, “We were able to get back to the proper time with him, but when we were in the Hidden Land trying to get the Time Gears to Temporal Tower to prevent the planet’s paralysis, Dusknoir traveled back from the future one last time to try to stop us. In order to stop him, Grovyle dragged him back with him to the dark future. That was the last time we ever saw either of them.” He closed his eyes and bowed his head, “Dialga was eventually able to restore me, but Grovyle…”

Sonic muttered, “He couldn’t bring back someone who wasn’t around, huh?”

Lucario replied, “No. Someone who I’m sure was a very dear friend to me is gone forever, and so is any chance of me ever finding out what things were like back then.”

Sonic and Fluttershy looked at each other for a moment before looking back at the Aura Pokémon. “Well… not necessarily,” Sonic offered after a moment. Lucario opened his eyes and glanced back at him with a slightly angry look, but Sonic kept going, “I mean, there’s probably no way to say for sure now. Like you said, you guys prevented the event that led to that dark future, but who knows? Grovyle, Dusknoir, anyone else you might’ve known or met before… maybe they weren’t all erased from existence just because you changed the past.”

Fluttershy began to perk up at that and added, “He’s right. You said you were brought back from being erased; maybe, somehow, that world did change, but everyone was able to live in it without being changed too. They could all still be alive in the future.”

Lucario turned away and grunted, “I doubt it. Dialga is the one who brought me back here; in that future, he had been driven mad by the collapse of Temporal Tower and had become a tyrant, and he was already starting to become that due to the tower already starting to collapse when we reached it. I don’t see how…” He suddenly stopped short as he remembered something.

Sonic tilted his head to the side, “What? Why’d you stop?”

Lucario started slowly, “I… I’m not certain because it was an emotional time, but the night that Dialga brought me back, when Pikachu and I were reunited… Thinking back to it, I might’ve heard Grovyle’s voice saying something about how they were alive…”

<www.youtube.com/watch?v=BseHJq…>

Sonic smiled, “Hey, see? There could be a chance he’s still alive.”

Fluttershy nodded, “Maybe the reason you haven’t seen him is because he and others are trying to rebuild and prevent a dark future from happening again.”

Sonic said, “Maybe he and Dusknoir have patched things up, maybe not. Maybe they’re having picnics together or maybe they’re still at each other’s throats, but one thing is for sure: you can hold onto that hope that your old friend is still alive and well.” Lucario turned around at that, now with a small smile on his face. In the stairway, Pikachu smiled at this, getting the feeling that a great weight had been lifted from his friend’s shoulders.

A minute later, the four of them exited the bluff and stood on the path. As he looked down at the Warp Ring, Lucario had an idea. He turned to Sonic and gave him the ring, saying, “Here, get the ring all set up. I’m going to run into town for something and I’ll be right back.” He then turned and ran down the path into Treasure Town. Fluttershy looked down at Pikachu and the mouse shrugged up at her. Sonic looked down at the ring in his left hand and glanced at the trees along the path. He walked down the path and dropped the ring in front of them, causing it to grow to its full size.

Almost as soon as he placed his hand on it, Keldeo came rushing through it, the Mythical Pokémon’s eyes widening as he realized how little room there was in front of him. With a yelp, he planted his hooves against the ground and managed to come to a stop at the edge. Sonic, Fluttershy, and Pikachu glanced back at the ring as Raikou, Suicune, and Entei similarly came through the ring and did the same thing, all of them crashing into Keldeo’s backside. Amazingly, nobody went flying off. “Sorry, my bad!” Sonic called once they were all sure nothing else bad was going to happen.

Entei wheeled on the hedgehog and stomped over to him, saying, ~Yes it is your bad! Were you trying to get us all killed?!~

Sonic asked, “Hey, why would you go rushing through a gateway if you didn’t know where you were going to end up?” Keldeo gave him a sheepish look at that.

Entei bristled, ~Regardless of that, what were you doing?! Do you know how long you’ve been gone?!~

Sonic shrugged as Fluttershy stepped up beside him, “Five minutes?”

Entei growled, but Suicune stepped up next to him saying, ~I don’t know if that’s exactly right or not, but it certainly hasn’t been as long as Entei is making it out to be. Still, you two really should get back there; Mewtwo is getting impatient and while we were able to toss Riolu back to his time, your and Tails’ past selves are refusing to leave until you return.~ She looked around, ~Where’s Lucario?~

Fluttershy answered, “He said he had to run into town to get something.”

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The blue jackal soon returned with something wrapped in a blue handkerchief. He made his way around the Legendaries uttering, “Sorry, sorry. I’m sure we’ve been gone longer than expected and it seems like I’m prolonging it, but this is important.” As he nudged Entei a bit to get him out of Sonic’s face, a blue berry fell out of the handkerchief, the Aura Pokémon grabbing it off the ground and dusting it off.

~An Oran Berry,~ Raikou said.

“What’s that?” Fluttershy asked.

Lucario inspected the berry for a moment before looking up at the pegasus and saying, “It’s a berry that’s filled with energizing and restorative juices.” He held it out to her, “Here, give it a try.” Fluttershy leaned forward and took a small bite, leaning back as she chewed it.

A moment later, she gave a gasp as her entire body perked up; her wings even extended straight up. She snatched the berry out of Lucario’s paw and quickly devoured the whole thing in seconds. She finished chewing and swallowing before saying, “Mm, wow! I feel amazing!”

Lucario nodded, “As you should.” He looked at Sonic and said, “I remembered that you and most of your friends looked pretty beat when we showed up. We lost most of the Oran Berries in the Treasure Bag in that wave, but we’ve collected lots of them during our adventures and keep them in storage in case we ever need them.” He held the handkerchief out to Sonic, “Here, there’s enough here for you and the others. It’s not much in terms of payment for your services, but I figured it’s something you could use.”

Sonic briefly wondered why he didn’t offer him or Cadance or Spike one when they first met, but he quickly pushed it out of his mind. He took the handkerchief and shook Lucario’s paw, “Thanks, Lucario. This’ll work great for us, actually.”

They let go of each other a moment later and Lucario said, “I know you guys will be able to take care of that monster you’re after. Until we meet again, take care of yourselves.” Pikachu hopped up onto his shoulder and said what Sonic and Fluttershy assumed was a farewell. None of the Legendaries said anything, but they did smile and nod, indicating they agreed with Lucario. With that, Sonic turned and placed his left hand on the Warp Ring, reopening the passage to Empire City. Fluttershy went first and he followed her through.

Lucario and Keldeo moved to one side of the Warp Ring a moment later while Suicune, Raikou, and Entei moved to the other. Sure enough, not long after, Mewtwo shot out of the ring and flew straight out over the ocean seeking solitude, the Warp Ring closing and vanishing as he disappeared off into the distance.

As the silence returned, Keldeo turned to Lucario and talked normally, no longer needing to use telepathy to be understood, “Do you really think they’ll be able to  handle the creature responsible for all this, Lucario?”

The Aura Pokémon nodded, “Absolutely.” He looked up at the sky, “For as messed up as things got, it was a real honor to get to meet all those different heroes today.”