Red turns from the darkness back to us, a solemn expression on his face, illuminated by the electric blue of his screen, but he does not move.

The great, gaping hole in reality behind him, darker than any storm overhead, casts a shadow across his half of the battlefield, though that half is growing as the portal continues to wrap around his half of the mountain. Cracks like static lightning tear through the sky above, as if the celestial sphere overhead was just a monitor on a huge screen. They snake through the air slowly, exacerbating the wounds further.

A deep terror moves through me.

With a slow reluctance, Red begins to smile. "You came."

Ethan's scales tense on his back.

"We did," I say, keeping my eyes ahead as Red steps forwards. Each crunch of his shoes for the snow makes a thick noise, like grinding bone, and the thickly packed snow compresses even further beneath his feet.

"Welcome to my humble abode," Red tells me, still grinning. "When I first woke up after my adventure, it was here, with no one but my Pokemon around me and no answers to speak of. My memories of the last months were hazy, filled with actions that I had not made and thoughts that I myself had never conceived of. There were no answers, no explanations, and no legendary ever came to help me. I only knew that I had been placed here to wait for someone." Red shakes his head. "I didn't feel like sitting around. I learned things. Travelled. Hid from the world best I could, ran from what I couldn't hide from, destroyed what I couldn't run from. I met people who had experienced similar pain in other regions. I sifted through the fabric of this universe itself for answers."

"And the best answer you could find was to blow it all to smithereens, I suppose."

"I found that it was within my ability to do so, when I knew how to manipulate the inner workings of this reality. It took me years to find an opening. Even longer to go through with it. Once I was in, though... well, the real fun began. Your kind opposed me. Always have. I had a lot of fun kicking them down the side of the mountain for a while, but apparently there just aren't that many Goldeneyes! What a darn shame."

Bronze's fire flares up on his back.

"You were different. You didn't just come from an unorthodox town, but also an unorthodox place in the code. You weren't supposed to be here at all! Finally, I'd found something beyond explanation, evidence not only of the very multiverse I'd been postulating on but also evidence that said multiverse was constantly adapting around us and being interfered with. I offered you the usual game, but hey, the universe was trying to punish you just as much as I was! This was a world unadapted to you or your presence. You threw everything off, scattered irregularities through the system, opened up paths that weren't supposed to exist. It was a spectacle." He says, "But you're in my way."

"You're a little mouthy, aren't you?" I ask.

"I'm not supposed to be," Red says, "That's the fun in it."

My team of twenty steps forwards, gold gleaming in all of our eyes.

Red sends out six Pokemon, all of whom look even nastier than when we fought them one-to-one. The Charizard, Venusaur, Blastoise, Snorlax, and Pikachu are back and ready for revenge, while Red's untested Lapras bays as it hits the powdery snow. Red looks up at me, bored expression hiding the manic glint of excitement in his eyes and at the edge of his mouth, curving up into something that hardly qualifies as a smile.

"I assume you want to go one on one?"

"That would be the plan."

We stand side by side in the snow, the void crackling in the distance as another piece of sky is isolated by the darkness before dissipating to nothing. The wind howls overhead, going from utter silence to a high, furious whistle. Red holds his hat with one hand and stuffs the other in his jacket, his bare shoulders exposed out against the wind. I hold my bag, waiting for the command, waiting for an answer.

This was never destined to be a conventional Pokemon battle.

All six of Red's Pokemon spring forth and all twenty of my teammates launch into our plan, ready to execute.

The battlefield bursts into pure, terrifying chaos.

The Pikachu swings from Pokemon to Pokemon at a speed rivalling a lightningbolt, jumping off Ferro's back to Millie's before trying to use them as a vantage point to spring to Aerie. The Togekiss deflects the pesky electric rodent in mid air, using his psychic powers to hurl it against the snow, but the Pikachu is undaunted.

Hyacinth looks to me, her bone at the ready. We have no Beedrill hive this time, nowhere to run, and heaven knows we don't have Minerva's grit to overpower the Pikachu. Though the Marowak says nothing, I can sense her anticipation just as strongly as the others. She hurls her bone through the air and grazes the Pikachu's ear.

It speeds through the snow at the speed of a bullet and misses her by a heartbeat. Instead, it runs into Toxis, who lifts a foot and shakes the mountainside with a mighty Earthquake attack. The Pikachu jitters with pain, but its beady eyes have found a new target- Dill. Its cheeks pulse and it unleashes a spark with a voltage so high that it illuminates all the snow, making everything glint with bright, dangerous light. When the glow dies down, Toxis stands in the way, his chest darkened by the blow.

Dill stands behind him, jumping to his side. "Toxis! Toxis, are you alright?"

Toxis nods, slowly. "I... I couldn't let you get hit by lightning again."

Dill smiles. "Nidogod."

The Pikachu, not being one for sentimentality, screeches and with an iron-clad tail, whips around to tear through Toxis's chest, but Dill blasts it away with a jet of water. Hyacinth joins in with a square blow to the head, and the Pikachu falls back in the snow before bolting away.

Over on the right side of the battlefield, I feel a sharp tug and see that the Snorlax patrol is doing their damnedest. It's composed of all Pokemon without type advantages, since we had nothing to properly counter the beast, but the small armada has enough speed and pep to hold its attention and keep it occupied.

Khrys and Sky wheel through the air in unison, exchanging blows with the Snorlax's right arm. Khrys peppers the air with Silver Wind while Sky, fighting like I've never seen her before, dances through the wind. Her wings cut across the Snorlax again and again, unceasing, and when it comes close she wheels around and uses all four wings to launch her right out of the way. Fury blazes in her eyes as she spirals away to land a few hits on Red's Venusaur, then the Blastoise, which comes at her with the cannons again- like it could hit her now! How could anything, when she's like this?

On the ground, Ferro, Shika, and Carter, my fearless normal-types, run from Pokemon to Pokemon, helping where they can. Shika watches Ten in the air, running beneath him, and when someone goes for an aerial target she rams into the Pokemon with all her might to unbalance them. A second of shock is all she needs for an opening, and the Blastoise has learned to fear her. Her hide is drenched in watery blasts, but thanks to Ferro and Carter, who have guarded the Hyper Potion repertoire well, she can recover in an instant.

If I duck down into my mind's eye, I can see a slew of golden bonds tied around her horns. The network between us is playful and alive, full of give and takes, pushing and pulling, communication without words, near two dozen beings working as one. Anyone in danger is immediately assisted by a few of the open Pokemon towards the back, and the weary switch in and out at will. Hyacinth slides back, smarting from a crack all the way up her skull, and Dusty takes her place. When the Blastoise's cannons angle towards her, Ten swoops down and with an instantaneous Protect, completely deflects the blast.

Over near the Charizard, Dill, Gaia, and Fang are working to push the huge dragon back towards the edge of the cliff. Gaia's four-times advantage over the Charizard allows her to pummel it again and again, summoning Stone Edges up from the earth while Dill lobs continuous blasts of water from the moist air. Fang weaves in and out, slashing across its side, and when Suicune themself leaps in to assist he runs back towards the Lapras.

Lilly is at her best and Crimson, eager not to disappoint, works alongside her. Neither of them were happy about the arrangement when I first offered it to them, but it was Lilly who agreed first. Now, their movements are synchronized so well it's hard to believe they haven't worked together their whole life. Lilly shoots electricity around Crimson's scales, missing them by inches each time, and Crimson swerves to take the Ice Beams in the stomach. The attacks hardly affect the Gyarados, giving Lilly more room for an offense, but Crimson also goes blow-to-blow with the Lapras, obliterating Blizzard attacks with his Dragon Pulse. Fang ducks around this battle, too, still running.

Reginae, not far away, is trying to control several Petal Dances at once. Shika and Carter stay close to him, ready to provide cover when his fatigue sets in, but there's an adrenaline within him that lets him overcome it again and again. He never falters, never stops, and he rides upon the onslaught of dizziness associated with the dangerous technique like a surfer aboard a wave.

I'm not going to give in, he tells me, aware of my attention. Go... go worry about someone else.

The Blastoise's attention is hardly focused on him, seeing as it's Red's main source of damage output and his Pokemon with the highest variety in move typings. Instead, it shoots a rainbow of bright lights through the cannons, from Flash Cannon to Focus Blast. Fang dodges a nasty one and runs to Reginae.

I knew someone needed my help. For the new team, right? Right?

I'm trying to focus here- Reginae says, but the Blastoise nails him in the stomach with a Blizzard and all the petals fall flat. As the medics rush in and Sky swoops over to help, Reginae gets back to his feet, nauseated. Fang, seizing his chance to help, summons a storm of stars, lighting up the whole arena. The Blastoise, Venusaur, and Charizard all get a face full of Last Resort, and the impact is enormous. Dents show in the Blastoise's armor, even the shell, but best of all, one has hit it straight in the cannon, which splutters out when it tries to attack again.

Fang wags his tail. Bingo.

Over at the Venusaur, the final of Red's Pokemon, Bronze has taken it upon himself to one-to-one wrestle the beast. Apparently he wasn't going to let Reginae be the only one to solo one of Red's team. The Venusaur is having a time of it, since none of its attacks are having any effect. Sleep Powder passes uselessly through Bronze's nostrils, presumably to burn to a crisp inside his fire-filled throat. The Frenzy Plant burns to ash before it even touches his fires. Bronze is luminous, surrounded by sweltering heat, and he is furious. He throws the Venusaur over, breathing a star of fire onto its exposed belly, and on his right the Blastoise angles its remaining cannon and shoots a long, powerful Hydro Pump straight for him.

Ten soars down from above with another Protect, and Bronze nods, panting. The Venusaur has stopped moving altogether, and the skin is blackened where the fire engulfed it.

We never saw it coming from the other side.

As the Lapras goes down beneath the intensity of Lilly's continuous blows, Red yells, "Now!" and the Lapras's jaw practically unhinges. Pure whiteness exudes from its mouth, creating icicles all down the line of attack, and it his Bronze in the back. The Typhlosion freezes, eyes widened in panic, and I feel a soft murmur in my chest- a dying heartbeat.

It had to be- Sheer Cold.

I can't describe the noise that comes out of my throat. My head crackles like the Pikachu is racing through my head and green surrounds the edges of my vision, blurring everything. The universe goes from three to four dimensions as I pull with all my raw strength against him.

No! No! No!

Thousands of visions flash through our shared memory as my conscious mind overwhelms his fading one. Us meeting for the first time, his eyes, his pet names for me, our first gym, his evolution (and the first time I thought I lost him), meeting Celebi, every joking exchange, meeting Lilly, losing Lilly, the lake, his second evolution, us by Blackthorn, us as the world is torn apart, us, after being separated for so long, just us.

He pushes back. Everything is cleared to one scene, one I can't recognize. It's us at the gym, just like that fateful day, but overhead stands a Gyarados bearing an uncanny resemblance to the beast of the Lake of Rage, save for the colors. Bronze, my final Pokemon, steps out towards it, ready to go in the way his love did.

"Sorry, Ashley. Not this time."

Timelines fall away beneath me.

We almost never make it past Clair.

He almost never makes it past Clair.

I sense Bronze shudder. He can see this, through my vision.

Now he's in my arms, both in this memory and in real life. He's so cold. He's colder than Morty's hand as the two of us were ripped apart by the encroaching darkness. I can't lose him again. I can't lose this. He asks weakly, She'll be okay, won't she?

"Not without you."

Someone is waiting in Clair's gym. The Gyarados falls away, turning to bones, and Rose is sitting there at the back.

"You have to save him," I say, like she can save me again.

"I can't pull him out, Ashley, but you can."

I feel his physical body closing in around me. Bronze is frigid, Bronze is fading away, Bronze is colder than the rain over Mahogany... and I reach out for him. I reach across timelines, across worlds, I reach because I am not ready to let go yet. I reach and those beautiful bronze eyes shoot open.

I pull him out from time, from past the void, and as he heats back up, with all the others around me, I notice him smile. "Critical hit, Blizzard. Frozen solid." He shakes his head. "He doesn't have Sheer Cold."

The Pokedex dings with three health, trying to negate my miracle, but I don't even care anymore. Relieved tears stream down my cheeks, freezing on my face, and Bronze and I flash just in time to stop another Hydro Pump- this time, directed at the trainer.

I swing around and Celebi's energy manifests around me, a bright and brilliant sword of pure green. I rise and my blade is the ardor of all the dead and all the living. Red, with his screen, in the middle of the battlefield, knows things are going poorly. He expects my Pokemon. He gets me.

I slash down his screen and the cracks intensify, devouring the battlefield around us. My Pokemon and his both jump back, forgetting their quarrel, but I don't move. I drag the swords straight down the middle, cutting through the bottom half of the screen, and the ground drops behind us. Red looks at me, shocked beyond all belief, and declares, "We're both going to die."

The darkness devours us whole and I cling onto the sword, that one bright light as the void surrounds us both. In the distance, I can see my Pokemon in the distance, calling after me. I can still feel Bronze's fire in my heart, still beating, trying to bring me back the way I reached out to him.

This must be where all my Pokemon have gone, I think. I know this darkness. It's a kind one.

Lilly cries out, her voice an echo, and I realize I want their faces to be the last thing I see. I want them to know I'm smiling, even as I slip away from them. It'll take them years to remember, but eventually, they'll know that I was okay.

You better take care of them, Morty, I think.

You better remember me.

You better...

The darkness goes on forever, it seems, and Red and I are gone.