The Redwood Saga Chapter 51 - 42: Coalescere Unus Spiritus

Arborstone Castle - Albion Region

It was another dark and stormy night in the Albion region. The overall technology of the region was low, especially compared to their southern neighbors in Galar, and the people, of both high and low caste, were miserable after recent events. All thanks to the efforts of two foreigners from Unova. The Scales of Balance known as Rick Astley and Drake had co to Albion to find out what they could about its Queen. What they discovered was a rebellion in progress, and after convincing the rebels they were friendly, the pair endeavored to help them, naly by getting the rebels Pokémon of their own, as well as a number of ships. Over the course of several months, as the rest of their fellow Scales battled in a bloody stalemate against Fornia and its lunatic Church, Rick and Drake managed to train up a small army of new Pokémon Trainers, and sailed them right to the pet project of the Queen.

A massive black stone tower, just off the coast near Arborstone Castle, it had been designed in eons past by the last Archons of Albion, to channel the latent psychic energy of the planet into a single place, for a single purpose: the fulfillnt of a wish, not unlike how Jirachi and its powers were known to work. The Archon of the past had been stopped, by a brotherhood of Gallade, the leader of whom beca Albion's king, in the days that followed. The Spire, as it had been known, was dismantled, lost beneath the ocean, and the lore surrounding it faded into folktales, then myths, then legends, until it was thought forgotten entirely.

Queen Morgana had revived the Spire, upon devoting herself to the Shadow, and absorbing its whispers in her bid for even more power. Many of the peons in Albion had given their lives to build it up to what she estimated was around half its height in ages past. This ti, a wish had indeed been made, by Rick, who himself had burgeoning psychic abilities. At the height of the battle in the Spire's centermost chamber he wished for all the Shadow on the planet to vanish, and with the power Morgana had gathered, the end result was enough power to cleanse the Shadow in the room Rick and Drake had been battling the Queen and her Shadow Pokémon army within, the very core of the structure itself. This use of the Spire ultimately saw the rebels victorious, as it cleansed Morgana and her tools of the Shadow's influence and Rick and Drake left Morgana as Queen to work alongside the rebel's leader, Paige, before they returned to Unova to get Alex to bring his Gallade, who they'd learned was, in fact, the Lost Prince of Albion, back to his rightful throne.

After leaving on a high note, their mission mandate fulfilled and exceeded, the two Scales rejoined their order in the bloody war against Fornia and its Arcean Crusaders, and while that conflict concluded, the Shadow that remained in Albion struck quickly, to once more infect the Queen. Her Purging by the Spire had left her mory with several holes that over ti beca filled in, and as her mind returned, she realized she had quite willingly embraced the Shadow. One night as she pondered whether to find the Judges she'd made her deals with once again, a crew of pirates trapped between life and death and firmly under the Queen's, and the Shadow's, influence scaled Arborstone Castle's tower, stole into Morgana's bedchamber, and revived the dark Queen to her previous state of Shadow infusion. The next day, her retribution ca swiftly. The rebels, every single one of them that were in the midst of partying and celebrating, were brutally murdered by the muskets of the Queensguard. Their leaders were publicly strung up, left to rot across the towns of Albion's claid lands in cages of spiked iron that none could remove, under pain of death. From Arborstone to Brightwall, and even in Aurora, the corpses of those who defied Queen Morgana rotted to this very night, a very grim and clear ssage to anyone else that entertained the idea of betraying her rule. The result of her actions saw a broken and dispirited populace returning to suffering under her rule, after their all too brief taste of freedom.

Bandits again plagued the roads, the pure dark typed Lycanroc, nicknad Balverines by Albion's locals, exploded in number, and a dark ever-present cloud now hung over the region, frequently covering it in rain that tasted downright foul. Several weeks later, a group of refugees of the Arcean efforts in the Sinnoh region arrived in Albion and began whipping the remaining populace to work in producing food and energy with modern thods, previously foreign and unwanted by those in Albion. With their superior weapons, they made effective taskmasters and guards, who beca very good at sniffing out talk of a new rebellion and stamping it out with their multi-typed laser staves.

It was as Morgana looked out over her dark kingdom, ultimately satisfied with how things had played out despite losing the Spire, that the Chatot which Captain Dread had left her, should she beco Purged again, began to sing to itself, starting with a low hum. "Hmm hmm hm hmm hmm hm hmm hmmm hmm hm hmm…I tell you I tell you…the Dragonborn cos." Morgana turned slowly and leveled her gnarled black staff at the chatty parrot. The pale stone atop it humd with power making the very air in the chamber vibrate, and the bird yelped.

"What did you say?"

While hesitant to speak more after seeing her reaction, the dark and ghost typed Chatot continued in its hauntingly beautiful mimicry of human speech, "With a Voice wielding power of Norstad's ancient art…beware…beware, the Dragonborn cos."

Morgana turned her back to the Chatot, which had colors similar to the shiny variation of the more common species. Its body and head were pure black, the ruffles around its neck were yellow, and the feathers under its neck and filling out its wings were a vibrant green. It would've looked beautiful if its form wasn't primarily see-through. "So…the Dragon's whelp survived…looks like it's ti for another Scry…"

Morgana descended into the bowels of Arborstone Castle then, and her new Arcean Crusader guards saluted as she passed through the darkened halls adorned with black and purple decor. The wait-staff drawn from the nobility, who throughout the rebellion had stayed loyal to her, bowed low and deferentially as she stord past, her black and lengthy garnts billowing behind her.

She had sent out her own Mismagius, her first Pokémon, into the Ghost Realm when she'd divined that the Original Dragon's nuisance was there and limited in his annoyingly strong psychic power. She'd even sent the Copperajah she'd stolen from Indius along with her beloved partner, to ensure that the combination of magic and brute force kept Unova's Champion, who was sporting an under leveled team now, from ever returning to the pri material plane. Upon entering her throne room, where she had once pretended to care about the local's concerns, she pressed a stone behind the throne, and two of her new guards in their Crusader armor accompanied her below, as was the protocol.

They descended deep into the earth then, to the caverns below Arborstone Castle. Once, the Archons of Albion had constructed and secreted a Heroes Guild here, and from the hidden halls, the Will users, as Albion called those with psychic abilities, had strode forth across the land to accomplish deeds both moral…and morally abhorrent. With ti, more and more so-called Heroes had begun to lose their Will abilities as their Heroic blood beca diluted, and many had tended to take up morally gray or just downright evil 'quests' as they'd been terd. This had ultimately led to the locals rising up and hunting down every last Hero following the invention of firearms and the discovery of large caches of gunpowder in Albion's many mountains. Not even the formidable power of Will had been able to stand before pogroms of angry, firearm carrying peasants. More than a few Pokémon, Gallade among them, had also strove to stop the Heroes Guild, and the result had been those Heroes who still had a moral compass going into hiding, and being banished from their holand, rather than fighting the people they had sworn to protect. Those who had a lack of morals and had chosen to fight, had fallen to the angry villagers, eventually.

Now, all that remained in the dusty, Noibat filled caverns was the ruins of the once great Guild Hall that had extended from Arborstone Castle to the lake under Millfields, where most of the nobility of the current era now lived in relative comfort and peace.

The Arceans beside Morgana powered up their staves as they ca, for the second ti in their tenure in Albion, to the 'cage' of the powerful psychic entity Morgana kept here, in the deepest chamber of the old Guild Hall's ruins. The Chamber of Fate. Artificial lights strong enough for flora to grow by lit the forrly dour chamber, and plants, naly moss and flowers, covered the painted glass frescoes depicting the ancient Heroes of Albion and their deeds, now long forgotten by pretty much everybody. The only one intact was a golden armored stereotypical 'good' Hero, looking out over a long-vanished vista of ancient Albion. Albion's people weren't big on reading history in recent tis and thus most equated tales of Heroes to fairy stories in the modern era. The chamber was an almost nauseatingly beautiful garden with a raised dais in its center, but the Arceans remained ready, on guard for the psychic and fairy type's shenanigans.

"Gwenivere!" Morgana called out into the enchantingly beautiful scene. Her hoarse voice disrupted several Morelull who'd also taken up residence, but they wisely scurried away from the obvious Shadow aura once more radiating off of the staff-wielding Queen of Albion.

From behind one of the larger berry-producing trees that had taken root in the deep chamber, ca the white and green form of a Gardevoir. She was relatively young and had finally hatched about a year before. Only recently had she grown strong enough to reach her adult form. Soti during the fonting rebellion Morgana had been dealing with, the annoying Kirlia had grown, and again tried to gain her freedom. She knew better now, though. Morgana had demonstrated her superior powers to the Pokémon, and they had eventually co to an agreent, when the Queen realized she still needed the fairy type's power. Caleb Pravus's fall had been unexpected, as not even Gwenivere had foreseen the Original Dragon's Tar acquiring a Burst Heart. Morgana had believed there were only three, perhaps four, that still remained intact. This had ultimately not been the truth, as her minions had discovered in Kalos. The irritating bug girl apparently had a whole safe full of the things, and there were rumors of others appearing as well.

"My Queen." The Gardevoir said, projecting her lilting voice psychically as she curtsied like a woman of the court. "What do you require of ?"

Morgana removed the pale lilac colored stone atop her gnarled black staff and offered it to Gwenivere. "I need you to use Scry again, on the sa Human as last ti. As only you can."

The Gardevoir nodded solemnly. Her specific family line's signature move was also her curse. The reason she was trapped in this ruin of Heroes now long forgotten. The stone went from a pale lilac to a brilliant athyst color in the hands of the Gardevoir. The stone Morgana had stolen from Eous refused to completely work for her, and always paled in her presence. Even Purged of the Shadow's influence, it had remained pale, but for Gwenivere it regained the beautiful coloring it had when first stolen by the witch. Gwenivere inhaled sharply as it touched her hands, and her pupils dilated. The Crusaders beside Morgana tensed, but the Gardevoir waited. Unknown to either of them, the Truth Stone of Eous's Mount Wudang had the ability to grant its user the ability to detect poison and expand one's mind. Like each precious stone of Eous's seven kingdoms, it also had an effect on the region it had been bestowed upon, but Morgana had neither seen nor cared what her improper wielding of it had caused back in Eous.

As Gwenivere gracefully floated up to the center of the room, the dais was the only part not covered in her plants, she levitated it before her, and focused her powers. In ages past her ancestors had used Nimue's lake to perform Scry to aid the King, but those brighter days were now long gone, as was Nimue.

As Gwen focused her aura on the Truth Stone, it again showed her the face of a Gallade, a rather handso one, but as always, she pushed past him, thinking it a fanciful dream and nothing more. A manifestation of her longing for a companion, perhaps. Morelull were kind, the Noibat also visited her, but there were few Pokémon down in this forgotten hole with her level of intellect, and most of them had beco dark typed. They avoided her psychic and fairy typed aura on instinct.

Looking beyond the handso visage she focused on Morgana's request. The curly dark-haired human again appeared before her, and Gwen psychically projected what the Truth Stone showed her. Morgana gripped her staff tighter. As before, the curly haired and quite tall human appeared within the realm of ghosts, but this ti, his companions were different. Gwen focused on them, knowing Morgana would wish to see their faces.

For her part, the evil Queen was fuming. It was bad enough that Redwood was ddling in Koria, but now, it seed he'd found what he and his dragon were after: the Guardian's Avatar. Gwenivere's psychic sight showed the auras of both Alex's companions, and the other man's face was one she recognized as well. The World Champion was one the Shadow desperately wanted to possess. No, she decided then, these three mucking about in the Spirit World would not do. They would also never be weaker, and so conveniently close to each other. If she acted fast, she could wipe out all three, and then find her Mismagius.

"Their surroundings." Morgana said. "Show them to ."

Gwen did as ordered and zood her enhanced sight outwards. They were not so very far from the spot her last ambush had occurred in, when she'd lost her connection to her Mismagius. Having seen enough, Morgana moved quickly, leaving her guards to watch the stone as she retrieved the best tools for excising three annoying, and potentially Light wielding n.

Swords.

anwhile in the Spirit World...

One did not simply Teleport living humans to the Spirit World. Only Alex had the senses to figure out what the Mind Sage had done, though. Creating and empowering a Shadow Ball into more of a Shadow Gate far above them even as they'd spoken within his temple, he'd bamfed them through, relying on Alex's mory to send them relatively close to the destination he desired. In the end it was the dark and ghost type hiding in Alex's shadow that brought them to the shack, and as they tumbled out of a shadowy hole in the sky, Nox levitated them to the soft grassy ground with Psychic.

Alex spied Kashiji still resting on the table and walked towards it. Jin and Ash followed, and then shared a look, as the apparent Emperor of a nation conversed with pottery. "Kashiji! I'm back. I've brought Raava, and her newest Human. We're here to find their past lives." He paused, and Kashiji did not react, respond, or move in any way. "...Kashiji?"

Though the teapot seed empty, Jin stepped closer as he got a better look at it, taking in the pattern on its side. "Sothing about this teapot…is very familiar…" As he and Redwood examined the teapot, Ash and his Pikachu looked around the area. The electric mouse said his na in a low tone, and Ash nodded.

"I hear you, buddy…sothing is…off, here."

The yellow electric rodent's nose twitched. His eyes widened in recognition then, and it was as he tried to tell his human just who it was that he slled, that she descended in front of them, floating in the air and suffused with Shadow in her aura.

Ash didn't need his partner to tell him who the woman floating before them was. Her hair hadn't been washed or maintained for an extended period of ti. Her clothes were recognizable, if a bit more refined than her usual attire. They'd once been respectable, not out of place in Galar, but now, the black lace and ruffled dress was in tatters. Her eyes were sunken, dark circles and the fire that had burned within the eyes of Sinnoh's forr and top eight ranked Champion had seemingly gone out, now replaced with a mad shadowy glow. Ash knew better, though. His friend was in there, sowhere.

"Shirona!"

Ash's voice caused Jin to glance up, but Alex was seemingly stupefied by what he saw as he lifted Kashiji's lid, and looked into the teapot. The perplexed expression faded into one of complete, emotionless passivity. "Nox." He said quietly, as Jin rushed towards Ash.

The dark ghost rose from his shadow, his expression mirroring his Trainer's, with a toothy grimace, and growing rage. Alex retrieved and affixed his Spooky Plate to the Korian Gengar's chest, and it vanished into his void of a body. "Get ready." He said coldly, drawing a shard of a similar Plate into his hands, and turning and joining his companions.

As Alex took in the sight of Sinnoh's forr Champion, he recalled being aware that Shirona, or Cynthia, as she was known in the west, had been missing since the Arceans had risen up in Japan, and taken Sinnoh. Not long before that, Kalos had reported that several of their famous Defenders had also been possessed, by soone the report had nad Morgana. Tao had then confird for him that this was the na of Albion's Queen. Evidently, at so point Drake and Rick Astley had been sent to reconnoiter Albion to get the lay of the land, but Alex hadn't been the one to debrief them. Tao had been infuriatingly vague on their mission's details but they'd apparently reported to Tao that the Queen had been freed of the Shadow's influence by the ti they left. Evidently, Morgana had duped the pair into thinking she'd only been a minion of the Shadow, not a willing servant, and she had, according to Tao, since been using the deaths of the revealed rebels in her region to consolidate her authority to all corners of it. Albion was darker than ever, and as he looked at Cynthia, he knew, Albion was likely where she'd been kept ever since her ensnarent.

Even if he'd been able to touch the Light in this realm, Alex could tell just by looking at her that whoever had infused her with Shadow, presumably Morgana, had done so thoroughly. It would take ti and expertise to restore her to what she'd been, assuming her almost a century old body even survived the Purging process. After his success with Unalaq, Alex was willing to try at least, which ant they needed to capture her.

Cynthia had no intention of being captured, however. If anything, her puppet master was more determined than ever to strike down Alex, Koria's Avatar, and the anathema that was Ash Ketchum all in one blow, in a realm where their psychic abilities were severely weakened. To that end, her puppeteer had given her a Pokémon for each of her targets. Alex and Jin ca up beside Ash, and Alex drew two balls, as Ash picked one from his own belt. Alex tossed one to Jin, just in ti for Cynthia to reluctantly raise her arms with a jerking motion, and throw three Dark Balls of Fornian design. As the Shadow Infused Pokémon within manifested, Alex finally learned what exactly had happened to the Swords of Justice. Haley had done her digging, and had eventually sent a report to him, after airing it live of course, suggesting that soone, at the ti she assud the Arcean Church, had been seen chasing down and then catching the Swords by force within Dark Balls.

The three n spread out, as Cobalion stared down Alex. Terrakion faced down Jin, and Virizion took Ash. Alex glanced at the teapot in the distance, and reached out to Nox. Cobalion pawed the ground, but as he readied a Shadow move, Alex and his Gengar struck first. Ghost typed energy flared around him, reacting stronger than it ever had on their ho plane. Nox's energy from the Spooky Plate within him arced through the air and t his Trainer's aura midway. The colliding ghost energy sent him down the path to the next stage of Korian Gengar's evolution.

It seed this form was one that more significantly branched from a typical Gengar. He was entirely black now, and like the more common line's ga Form, his legs were gone, replaced instead by unsettling black flas with crimson on their edges. It was these flas that kept Nox afloat. Their source was his back, where his spikes ford a cradle of a sort, from which Nox could presumably draw more flas. Shadow t dark ghostly essence as Nox let Cobalion charge him with Shadow End, and surrounded him with dark and fire energy. Nox landed behind Cobalion only partially damaged by the powerful and automatically super effective move, and connected as they were, Alex knew what move to call that was evidently unique to this form. "Umbra Bomb!"

A black and red fireball launched from the flas pouring from Nox's back, and nailed Cobalion with an explosion of darkness. The leader of the Swords of Justice roared in agony, and then turned on Nox with murder in his shadowed eyes. A massive, black and purple sword extended from his head horn, as Cobalion initiated his Shadow Sword attack. Spent as Nox was after that move, he couldn't dodge in ti while he recharged, and in a blur of darkness, Cobalion sliced past Nox, ending him with a single hit. ga evolution helped with the disparity in level of strength, but two super effective hits, one of them a critical hit infused with Shadow, was too much for Nox. The flas burnt out, and his form faded back to normal. Alex drew him into his ball for once, and thought about his next choice as Cobalion eyed the human, but did not imdiately attack. Even Shadow infused, the noble Pokémon sought a fair fight, and would presumably only end Alex once his team was fainted completely. With how strong Shadow Sword was, he wondered if the mythical hero Pokémon would actually do it.

Jin had been given Canis to aid him, and against Terrakion, that had been the right choice. With naught but a nod between them, Jin and Canis had skillfully dodged the raging Terrakion, who was actively trying to kill both of them. No trace of the noble brute capable of breaking a castle wall remained in his shadowed gaze. Unable to use his ga Form just then, Canis took so of the advice he'd gleaned from Arthur over their ntal talks while the B Team had traveled Koria and focused on improving his base form. There was a certain point where training it wouldn't do much, but for Canis's current level, it was still needed.

The training within his ball had focused on speed and special attack power, and it was both Aura Spheres and Flash Cannons that hamred Terrakion after his blind Shadow Rush continued to miss them both thanks to Jin's tily earthbending. As Canis continued to battle, Jin noticed his paws were starting to burn with an intense blue aura that seed almost fiery. Having actually seen this before from a Lucario in Ba Sing Se, he gave the command. "Max Aura!"

Canis was above Terrakion, having just finished dodging him again by leaping upwards and away, and getting a ntal idea of what Jin wanted, he was willing to try. He focused his aura, aid his paws at Terrakion, and rocked in the air from the deep blue beam of energy he hamred the Shadow Pokémon with. Being essentially a combination of Aura Sphere and Psychic, and despite their disparity in level, the gap between them was smaller than Cobalion and Nox's, and Canis's attack was enough to make the rock and fighting type finally faint after taking so many counter hits.

Ash anwhile, had called out his Charizard. He'd taken on Legend class Pokémon before, and had held his own. Ash was aware nothing made his friend burn quite as hot as a battle with a Pokémon that had enough myths surrounding it to be classified on another level. Like Alex, he employed a ga Form, and this ti, it was the Y strand variant. While fire would be useful, Virizion had a quadruple weakness to flying attacks, and Ash began with the Air Slash barrage almost imdiately. He was able to keep the fast moving and defense heavy fighting type on her hooves throughout their bout, but eventually realized special attacks wouldn't do as much as a physical one. Thankfully, his partner had learned Fire Punch long ago, and it was with such a move that they took down the lonely natured Virizion.

With how fast Ash finished compared to his new companions, he was ready to jump in against Cobalion as well. While all the Swords of Justice were formidable, their leader empowered by the Shadow would likely require all three of them to handle. He had questions about Alex's Gengar, and had felt his own shudder within his shadow at the thought of battling it. For his part, Alex brought out another ball that Ash recognized as having been produced in Galar, by how the center line glowed upon enlargening. Alex threw, and a Raboot ca onto the field. Ash's brow furrowed, and the two foot tall rabbit looked up as the nearly seven foot Cobalion began charging it, with a Shadow Sword attack.

"Focus, Cinder. You have this. Dodge with Fla Charge!" Training as they had been with firebending, the little fire rabbit had gotten very good, when it ca to speed. He and Canis had often raced throughout their travels, but where the Lucario had focused on honing his special attacks, Cinder had focused on his physical ones. His burst of fla was just enough to dodge the keen edge of the Shadow Sword, but Cobalion did not let up. "Keep dodging! Fla Charge!" Alex ordered, and the fire bunny acknowledged, by continuing. Slowly, over ti, dodging the strikes beca easier as Cinder read Cobalion's angry, and unfocused moves. His body was in a state of complete and constant rage, where by contrast, Cinderemulated elo's calm as he moved in rapid, spiraling patterns with the agility of a rabbit.

Canis had Terrakion levitating with Psychic, and Ash's Charizard had a single foot pinning Virizion, should the Shadow urge her to rise again. All of them watched though, thoroughly impressed. Canis saw his friend, burning as bright as he always did, and the Charizard saw a worthy opponent. With a bit more training, at least. As a fellow fire type though, he knew, the fire rabbit was on the verge of growth. He almost seed like he'd put off evolving, though not by much. In this case, one level was more than enough.

Enraged, Cobalion used Shadow End to give speed to his Shadow Sword, and Cinder reached the peak of what Fla Charge could do for his speed. That was what Alex had been waiting for. "Counter!"

In slow motion to Cinder's perspective, he dodged the sword, circled under it, and then hopped atop the burning Shadow. It hurt, but the counter was worth it as his eyes narrowed, and he delivered a spinning roundhouse kick right to the face of the leader of the Swords of Justice. The hit seed to surprise Cobalion, knocking him off balance, and with the damage from his other fiery wounds from Nox, he found himself stumbling. Naturally, this only made him angrier, but the pause gave Cinder what he needed. Intense white light burned up in a double helix spiral around the Raboot, as he ascended to his adult form. He hopped in place, and to Ash's eyes, well familiar with the species as he was, he could see just how fast the fire rabbit was at the mont. He turned, hearing his Charizard roar encouragent.

Cobalion turned at the triumphant sound, saw both of his companions fainted and trapped, and this pushed his already burdened psyche to its limits. He roared, and the Shadow Sword grew larger as he dumped his remaining power for it into one single, perfect strike. Alex heard his strained and enraged voice shout "Dodge this!"

"Agility!" Alex said, and the Cinderace nodded. The psychic speed with which he moved, and his already maxed speed boost from Fla Charge made him vanish from the path of the massive blade, and though Cobalion corrected his swing to arc and still aim toward the absurdly fast fire rabbit, the power he'd dumped into the attack and the surrounding spirit vegetation he was cutting through with such wild, unfocused strikes made him just slow enough for Cinder to counter. "Now! Pyro Ball!"

Kicking up a cinder from the grass below his burning feet, the fire rabbit readied the move as he charged the swinging Cobalion. He leapt again as the blade ca horizontally for him, and it grazed his ears as he hung in the air, inverted, and hamred the fireball he'd summoned with a kick possessing the unerring accuracy that his species was known for. The Pyro Ball knocked Cobalion's Shadow Sword out of existence as he lost focus, and Alex continued with the montum. "Double Kick!"

As the flas petered out, all Cobalion had ti to see was the spinning, and burning feet of the Cinderace as it landed, leapt into the air, and gave him a burning, spinning roundhouse kick, again to the face. The force of the critical hit sent Cobalion sliding towards Cynthia, fainted, as his eyes beca spirals. She took in the fallen Swords, and then looked up. As her puppeteer made to remove her from the situation by levitating her higher, Ash acted. "Now, Gengar! Shadow Strangle!"

The more common variant of the powerful ghost Pokémon line surged from his Trainer's shadow across the ground with a dark grin, before he leapt from it to ensnare Sinnoh's forr Champion. He dragged her towards the three n, and Alex raised his Spooky Plate shard. "Link yourselves by touch with , and hold on!"

Without the Drifloon, or a way to contact the Mind Sage, there was only one way out of the Spirit World. He focused his mind on the Tree of Souls and the twin portals that supposedly connected to the poles of their planet. Looking at them, he asked the other two a simple but loaded question. "North pole or south pole?"

When Jin and Ash shared a confused look, Alex sighed, and made the choice, heading for the south pole. It was warr than the northern pole of the recovering planet, albeit not by much, but would probably be abandoned at least, keeping them from another ambush while they regrouped. The Antarctic continental plate had also been sundered in humanity's fall. The western half of the broken landmass had beco warr, slightly, enough to match temperatures of the Dark Continent in so areas, while others remained an icy, lifeless tundra the further south one went. The eastern part, now called Arctica by the modern day humans, was completely barren and more akin the snowy wasteland ancient humans would've been more familiar with, but over ti it had collided with the Australian continental plate as the impacts it had taken in humanity's fall were enough to shift it. Southern Stralia was blocked from this icy hell by a chain of imposing, and truly freezing mountains. It remained the coldest place on the planet, and naturally, many Pokémon had moved there to avoid humans as much as possible, with many adapting, as they had in places like Norstad, by gaining the ice typing.

Canis was levitating all three Swords now, and straining to do so as the very realm wore down his power for the move quickly. He followed his Trainer, sensing his logic, and the other two n followed. Cinder and Charizard had been recalled after sharing a fist bump and a promise to battle eventually, and as they walked into the burning light of the portal to the south, reality twisted around them.

South Pole Spirit Portal - Arctica Region

The arctic blast of air was the first thing they felt, and each mber of their party shivered in the cold. Alex called out Adamanteus then. "Coil around us for a while, and keep watch. I doubt this portal is completely unguarded." Shrugging off the cold, the Steelix did as asked, and provided a steely shelter for the group to hide within. First, Alex called out Nox, and gave him a Max Revive. Seeing burn marks on his plum shaded body, he gave him a Rawst berry to munch on as well. Next, Canis got an Ether for his Psychic move, which between being used as a massive beam and as a restraining device, was almost depleted. Renewed as he was, he easily kept the Swords down, and Shirona strangled, with the help of Ash's Gengar.

Once his team was sorted, Alex tried to draw on the Light, and found that he couldn't. He sighed, irritated. "I need to calm my mind…Nox, help Ash's Gengar keep Cynthia in place. For now…" He snagged the Dark Balls from her belt, and noted her own team was missing. "We can keep them in these. It won't make them any worse." He recalled the Swords of Justice, placed them in front of him, and then sat in the snow, ignoring the growing wetness of his bottom as he focused on what was blocking his mind's connection to Arceus' realm. Very quickly, he found the source of his emotional blockage.

Kashiji's teapot had not been empty. The strike that had killed the friendly ghost had left a thin line to mark it, undoubtedly from a Shadow Sword attack that had been stabbed through his pot, and what remained of Kashiji had been little more than bluish goo. Alex had liked the Polteageist, his vibe, his attitude. He hadn't deserved an end like that. Sighing heavily, Alex let himself grieve for his brief friend, and then let that grief flow through his chakras. Like a flood that had been slightly damd for a while, the energy moved, and very swiftly, he found his third eye opening to a realm of golden light, and vague pillars of white stone. It seed Arceus desired to speak.

As before, what appeared before him was a white clone of the true Alpha Pokémon. He could tell it was a different clone though, naly, by the way it spoke.

Alexander Redwood. Oft have ye drawn from this realm's font of power.

Alex moved his ntal projection of himself up the steps to properly converse with the deity, as he had before. "Have I misused your realm's power, Alpha Pokémon?"

Nay. Ye would use it upon the one known as Shirona, of the…Sinnoh Region.

Alex heard a tone of what almost seed like fondness, sadness, and nostalgia when Arceus ntioned Sinnoh, but he had no earthly idea as to why. Perhaps this clone oversaw Japan. It would make sense then, that he spoke differently from the one who had spoken to him in Oranguru's swamp, Fornia, and Transylveticut, and to Rosa in her hour of need. "I would. She has proven to be a kind caretaker of Pokémon and is regarded as one of the strongest Champions on the planet. She does not deserve Shadow Infusion, and I would Purge her of this rot."

The Alpha Pokémon's eye widened, and then shrank, for emphasis on its words. Ye must decide who ye spend this realm's power upon wisely. Know this, Tar of the Original Dragon, her lineage is fraught with evil. It shall find her again.

Spoilers begin here.

Alex's brow furrowed. "I don't understand."

Arceus nodded, and floated closer to him. If ye seek knowledge, I shall impart it, if it be thy wish.

Alex bowed, low. "I would be honored to be given divine wisdom from the Alpha Pokémon." He rose again, lowered his ntal defenses, and vaguely sensed Tao's eye upon him as he did. The dragon did not interject however, and it seed sothing else had his attention.

Arceus lowered his head to Alex's and with the faintest touch of one mind's eye to another, he was shown a vision.

A man in ancient white robes trimd with gold and a hairstyle that obviously mirrored the Alpha Pokémon was standing atop a mountain. Luckily, it was one Alex recognized, and the wordless, instant communication Arceus employed told him this was indeed the Spear Pillar of the Sinnoh region, roughly a century and a half in the past.

Alex ca into the scene just in ti to see the Arceus-haired man and his Garchomp lose to a Trainer, clad in deep blue clothes that were very indicative of feudal Japan, though under them Alex spied a very modern style shirt. His face was familiar though. Unsettlingly familiar. He squinted, and tilted his head, assuming they couldn't hear him in this vision. "...Kohki!? Why is the Sinnoh Champion a hundred odd years in the past?"

Arceus nodded at the blonde man. Behold the cause.

The man was panting, as he recalled his last Pokémon. "Why…why do you have the blessing of Arceus? I worshiped it more devoutly than any other as the creator of our world! I bent all of my passion and interest to its study…all the ti I spent poring over legends…everything that I've done! You outsider! It's almost as if you were spat out of the Space-Ti Rift just to get in my way…"

The Torterra responsible for Wood Hamring the Garchomp into unconsciousness stomped the ground, and Kohki shouted, "It's over Volo! Enough of this madness!"

The blonde man, Volo, apparently, looked at the ground, and then back at the ti-lost Champion of Sinnoh. "No…no, this isn't finished yet…" His eyes darkened, as did the area around them. "Can't you feel it? The chill creeping through your veins…the eldritch presence icing over your heart!?" A roar echoed around them, one that Alex actually recognized, and had fervently hoped he wouldn't hear again. He should've known better, really. He turned to look at Arceus, but the Alpha Pokémon was fixated on this mont of ti.

The Alpha's eyes seed to soften as a pair of ominous wings appeared from the shadowy void manifesting behind Volo. That's when Alex saw it with his weird way of seeing reality. All the various pieces of Arceus's intentions for speaking with him suddenly beca clear. Volo's darkened eyes, the unnatural manic grin, Arceus's words, the Garchomp, and the tear-shaped pendant of silver hanging around his neck that Alex had completely missed until it all clicked together. "Cynthia…he's Cynthia's ancestor!"

"GIRATINA! STRIKE HIM DOWN!" Volo commanded, as the dark entity manifested in reality.

Reality swirled, the vision ended, and Alex found himself desperately wanting to see the rest. To have more context. To know how and why Sinnoh's Champion, who had been sorely missed in the present when his region was invaded and usurped by religious zealots, was a hundred and fifty years in the past, in feudal Japan. Only Unova, Galar, and Kalos, with maybe one or two other regions around them, had access to modern Pokéballs that far back. Even the Imperium hadn't reverse-engineered them yet. He resolved to dig a little deeper into Sinnoh region history, when he returned there on his journey back from Koria.

Alex heard Volo's voice again as the vision ended, like an echo. "Soday I will unravel the mystery of Hisui's Legendary Pokémon! And on that day, I will stand before Arceus at last- No, I will conquer it! No matter how many years, how many decades, how many centuries it takes !"

As Alex's ntal form stumbled upon reappearing at, now that he looked at it, what seed to be a passable recreation of the Spear Pillar, he looked up at Arceus. Now ye know the truth of things. Volo's descendant will be drawn into darkness. It is the fate of her line. Would ye still spend this realm's power upon her?

Alex thought it over for a mont, and then recalled what he knew of Sinnoh's forr Champion. Though, with Kohki in the past, as he was still missing as far as Alex knew, she may well beco the reigning Champion again in his absence. Given a Pokédex by Professor Rowan in her youth, she'd traveled Sinnoh with her Gible, exploring ruins, battling Trainers, and becoming one of the strongest Champions in the world. Multiple tis had she made it to the Masters Eight of the World Tournant, no small feat, as they were the top battlers on the planet. Shirona of Sinnoh had placed in every one of them for decades, only recently retiring from that contest of Champions to spend her twilight years focused on whatever she did in those old, forgotten ruins.

Finally, he answered. "No living thing deserves to be enslaved by the Shadow. I would strip Morgana of all her puppets and sentence another Champion of the Shadow to the void."

Arceus nodded, as the mortal made his choice. As always, He would not interfere with mankind's decisions. Never again. Know you this then, Wielder of Light. The more Shadow you Purge, the stronger it will resurge. The universe will always seek Balance.

Alex nodded. "It will. But the universe is a big place. The Shadow can infect sowhere else. I would see the Earth free of its taint."

Spoilers end here.

With his choice evidently made, the eting with the Alpha Pokémon ca to an end, and the power of the Light surged within him. To Ash and Jin, he had only been sitting a few monts, before his form humd with power, first with deep blue aura surrounding the Dragon Emperor's large fra, before it burned to a soothing, and yet wrathful gold. He opened his eyes and fixed them on Cynthia. "You first, descendant of Volo…" He muttered, as the power added reverb to his voice. "You'll want to release her, Gengar, Nox."

The ghost and poison type glanced at Ash, who nodded, and he let his stranglehold go as Nox did. Cynthia's eyes opened, but it was not her looking through them as she found herself held in place by a powerful, burning aura. "Hear , Witch." Alex said, spitting the word like a curse. "I will not rest until Albion holds you to account for your cris. Now release her!"

"Never!" Ca the snarled answer, followed by a scream, as Alex's large palm t the clammy forehead of the older woman. She was in better shape than Unalaq had been, and almost imdiately, he sensed her mind, desperate to be free. He shared the Light with her, hoping it would help, though it seed only to stun her with its radiance and calming effect. Taking that in stride, Alex directed the energy through her form, and frowned. "Muk. There's…so kind of crystal in each of her limbs." He levitated Lux's plasma blade container between Jin and Ash. "One of you is going to have to cut them out."

Ash gulped. "Cut!?"

Lux winked at him and said his na a few tis. Alex translated. "He can guide you, and I can illuminate them. She'll be unconscious, for this part. Quickly, now."

When Ash hesitated, Jin grabbed the floating hilt. Even in Eous, rumors of westerners with laser swords had reached the locals, and the chance to use one motivated the Avatar. He wasn't as invested in saving the ragged blonde woman, but Ash seed to care for her, and that was enough for him to help save her life. "We're ready. Do it."

Light illuminated the crystals, and Jin chose the right angle to carve them free without slicing through bone. Lux also, who by now had an intimate understanding of human anatomy, science, and 'culture' if one could call it that on the Pokénet, knew where to guide his miniaturized and very fine plasma blade, and he easily guided the rock steady hand of the Avatar through the process without damaging Cynthia's veins or tendons. In short order, they'd freed her limbs. Alex pumped Light through her then, and her body rose off the snowy ground by several inches as her wounds healed and the Shadow was purged from body and aura, before collapsing into the snow.

Wasting no ti, recalling the Alpha Pokémon's words, and not trusting Morgana, Alex hit the release on the three Dark Balls psychically, and all three Swords of Justice reappeared, unconscious, but still radiating an aura of Shadow, to his psychic sight. He went for Cobalion first and found his type of Shadow Infusion was the one given by Dark Balls, and thus easily cleansed, if not by Purge than just by having him on the team roster would help his heart reopen and his body would achieve hoostasis in ti. For ti's sake, both Alex and the fainted leader of the Swords were glad for Purge.

Light suffused the steely fighting type, and Alex popped a Max Revive in his mouth. Cobalion slowly sat up, just watching, silently, as the curly haired human revived Terrakion and Virizion in the sa manner, with the sa Light. Unlike his counterparts, Cobalion was sure of its source. He had heard and felt the power of the Alpha only once, and that had been when their trio had left Albion in the wake of the usurper, to protect the Pokémon of Unova from ever suffering a similar disaster. And yet, they had. Often the Sword's leader had wondered if they ever made a difference, but upon eting Keldeo, he'd been convinced that they had left a mark upon Unova, making it a better place than when they'd first found it. He could ask for nothing more, after their failure to protect Kalos from AZ's grief, and then later Albion as well.

Virizion was the second to awaken, and she blinked slowly. "Cobalion?"

Cobalion nodded. "We are free at last, sword-sister."

"And now you are whole, again." Alex said. Cobalion and Virizion blinked, as they understood the human perfectly. While they sotis spoke with them, the communication wasn't always super clear, and often humans used terms that were simply alien to Pokémon. Smart as these three were, they imdiately noted the difference. Terrakion soon joined them, and Cobalion tried to stand, only to find himself too weak for it.

"To whom…do we owe our freedom? You cannot imagine the hell of being dominated by Shadow…we will forever enter your service, Light Wielder." Cobalion said, the other two nodded, and then Terrakion took in the other humans huddling within the coiled Steelix with them. Cynthia was still unconscious, but Ash had stepped forward now as well.

Alex smirked and gave a bow. "Alexander Redwood, Dragon Emperor of the newly reford Dragon Empire. I'm from Unova, and I know your deeds, O Swords of Justice. I will not have you bow to . I would simply have you return to your duties…after a long, and well-earned rest. Young Keldeo has been handling them well in your…absence."

Cobalion looked down for a long mont, and then seed to chuckle. "So, it has co to pass after all." Seeing his partners confusion, Cobalion explained. "The Alpha Pokémon spoke to when we failed to save Albion from being usurped. Rather than lead us back to our ho in Kalos, he bade to go to Unova instead, for it had regrown since the flas of Reshiram and Zekrom's clash had long been put out and forgotten. He said doing this would ultimately save us from a fate worse than death, by the hand of Unova's ruler. He also said that it would be then, that we would retire, and leave things to the next generation."

Alex was passing out what Oran berries he had as Cobalion spoke. Koria wasn't exactly teeming with berry trees and Pokémon who hoarded them, but there had been enough for a wandering Trainer at least.

"Does that an the Swords of Justice are disbanding?" Ash asked, as the Pokémon dug into the berries. Cobalion shook his head. "Far from it, Ash Ketchum. Keldeo and we three shall find the next generation and prepare them properly. Only then will we retire."

There was a long silence then as the Pokémon ate, and then Cobalion pondered. "I cannot speak for my counterparts, but I feel the weight of these long years more keenly after our tenure in service to that Witch. And seeing you, a new Dragon Emperor rising before our eyes and wielding the Alpha's Light only reinforces the fact that our days will eventually co to an end."

Alex spoke up this ti. "I have no intention of stopping the Swords of Justice, or whoever replaces you. In fact, I would suggest that this ti, we work together. The rebirth of the Empire was a bloody one, but from that crucible of war, Humanity has created sothing akin to the Aura Guardians of old. Our Scales of Balance. I would have them work with your Swords to keep not just Unova, but all of the States safe, for Humans and Pokémon. We can monitor the Human's needs well enough, and while I can speak with Pokémon, there is only so much about you that we Humans are aware of. If there is ever a danger that's beyond the Swords, do not hesitate to call upon my Scales."

Cobalion pondered for a mont, and then looked at his counterparts. Alex sensed telepathy between them but did not intrude. Finally, the rejuvenated leader rose to his feet, steadying them as they shook, and looked Alex straight in the eye, for he was almost as tall as the human. "Your…Scales. Do they have weapons? The Aura Guardians had both their powers, and their partners, and it still was not enough to save them, in the end."

Alex held out his right hand, and Lux jumped into it with a psychic nudge from his Trainer. The black and white blade burned to life at full length, and Cobalion stared. "My Scales wield blue versions of this. Made from Chargestones, and Human ingenuity. I would see their swords used for justice."

Cobalion eyed the human again, taking his asure properly, and finding that there was quite a bit more to him than most humans. Finally, he nodded. "Our successors will contact your plasma sword using Scales if they need to. At the very least…you are capable of reaching out to Keldeo, that much, I can sense."

"I'm also capable of sending you ho." Alex said, and all three of the Sword's eyes widened. "Psychic typed abilities. They're so very useful. I will Teleport you to the Original Dragon, and from there, you may do as you wish. The Swords of Justice will always be welco and beloved heroes to the Dragon Empire."

Cobalion lowered his head in a slight bow, as did the other two. "You honor us. Please, send us ho Human." And so, Alex did. In short order, he bamfed the linked minds of Unova's heroic triad to where he sensed Tao. With that done, Alex, Ash, and Jin, who had beco rather interested in the unique and yet human-speech capable Pokémon turned, to find Cynthia standing, awake, arms crossed as she looked them over.

A faint smile broke her expression as she looked at Ash. "So, Ash Ketchum. You've made so powerful friends. I take it the curly haired Dragon Emperor is the one responsible for freeing ?"

Ash nodded. "He is." His Pikachu confird that as well, and then trotted over to rub against her leg affectionately. That deepened the smile, though it faded as she t Alex's eyes again.

"That power you used to free …I need to know what it was. What its source was." Normally, Alex wouldn't have denied the renowned Champion of Sinnoh anything she asked. But, after God Itself literally showed him a vision of her ancestor and his dark deeds, he had more reservations.

Despite them, he gave her her answer. "It was the Light you experienced, Sinnoh Champion. The Light of the Alpha Pokémon, as you yourself heard Cobalion na it."

Her expression was unreadable, and she looked for a long ti at the teardrop-shaped pendant around her neck. Finally, she spoke. "My family has searched for the Alpha…for Arceus…for a very long ti. I would very much like to et it."

"I'm afraid…the feeling is not mutual." Alex said, with a slight frown. Seeing her expression and sensing her question, he continued. "One of your ancestors did…sothing unspeakably disruptive, I assu, to the fabric of Space-Ti. I don't know all the details, but I do know it was enough for Arceus to take notice. That's not a good thing. I would advise that you curb your greed and be satisfied with the fact that your mind is intact."

Cynthia's eyes narrowed at Alex. "How dare you! You have no idea what this ans to my family! To !"

Alex's tone was a low, logical contrast to hers, but the logic he dropped was able to reach her thanks to his Voice. "It ant enough to ddle with forces that should not be ddled with. You saw the Team Galactic incident. You know what beca of their leader. Take my advice, Cynthia of Sinnoh. Go ho. Help your people rebuild. They need their Champion, and Kohki isn't around right now."

She seed ready to keep arguing, but then paused as she took in his point, and sighed. She had not been ignorant through her ordeal. She recalled almost all of what Morgana had made her do when she'd been let out of her cage. "...You're right…Sinnoh needs a firm head, and if Kohki isn't available, it falls to as his predecessor. I saw how bad it was…the damage she and Pravus caused…I will resu my search for the truth of the Alpha and the Renegade, but only once Sinnoh can stand on its own again."

Alex nodded. "The Dragon Empire is already helping with that. Areas the Arceans burned through are being tended by our people, under Red's direction. I would coordinate with him. I can send you anywhere in Sinnoh you have a strong connection to. Just picture it in your mind, and I can send you ho."

She made to grab his offered hand, and then stopped. "My Pokémon! The Witch still has them!"

Alex frowned. A team like Cynthia's in the hands of a Shadow user was not a tenable situation. "Once I am done in Koria, I intend on heading to Albion next. This Morgana has caused enough chaos. I will find your partners; you have my word. For now…pull others from your Boxes and lay low. Rest. Recover. Aid your people as much as you can."

"Once I recover, I intend to join you, Redwood." She said, eting his gaze with the fierceness he rembered seeing when she battled in the Masters Eight, and he'd been younger. Without a Pokémon of his own, watching battles had occupied his life hours for quite a few years, and he was a longti fan of hers. He'd been internalizing his nerdy excitent at seeing Ash Ketchum and Cynthia in the sa place again. She continued, "I can pull my weight in Albion…and I have one partner in particular who will be very motivated for revenge."

Alex spared her the speech on revenge and vengeance, as he knew in her state, it wouldn't do her any good. She would get it either way, but he intended Morgana's victims to be the arbiters of her punishnt. From what he knew of Albion, that likely ant beheading. "In that case…I'll let you know when I head there. We can et in Wyndon, before heading north."

Cynthia nodded, said her goodbyes to Ash and Pikachu, and then was Teleported ho, sowhere in Sinnoh's north, by what Alex had sensed in her mind. Sowhat tired after expending so much energy, Alex sat in the snow again, and looked upwards. "How are we doing, Adamanteus?"

The response ca ntally, which surprised Alex, since the large steel type rarely used their ntal web. "There are…ruins here that I believe would interest you."

Alex frowned, and Jin spoke up as he heard the Steelix's impressive rumble. "What did he say?"

"There are ruins outside. This cold is deadly, though…" Alex said, before pausing, and glancing at Ash. "You have a Charizard, yes? Make it use Drought, and we should be fine, for a fairly large area." He'd taken note of how Ash's fire lizard fought as soon as he'd seen Ash call on it, naturally, and for Blaze's ego, for his own eager fire lizard kept poking him ntally, he intended to asure its strength. How far one's natural Drought ability could affect a blizzard was a good way to asure strength between Charizard, before the inevitable battle.

Ash tapped his nose, oblivious to anything this potential rival in the World Championship might learn for the long term. "I get it." He said, as he called out his partner. They shared a nod, and the Charizard ga evolved, this ti taking the Y strand of his species lineage. Once he stopped glowing, Adamanteus uncoiled, and the ga Charizard's Drought caused the snow to simply lt, for quite a wide area. In ti, it turned into a light rain, but imdiately around them, the water simply evaporated in the air from the heat he was giving off. He sensed Blaze's irritation, as his own Drought only heated a smaller area, and not in varying degrees. He'd been lazing about on his vacation thus far, but Alex sensed his motivation had returned, and he concocted a regin for the fire lizard as the trio walked into the ruins, which were now lting around them.

Jin looked closely at them, and chuckled. "Do you two recognize these?"

Ash leaned in over so others. "They seem…familiar…like sothing I saw in Galar, once…"

"They're Draconid runestones." Alex said, eyes wide. Most people knew of the wandering dragon type wielders who, in modern days, were apparently far fewer in number. In ages past they'd apparently lived in a land teeming with dragon types, until one day, their chieftain decided it best to keep them from the violence of human hands in Norstad. In those Dark Tis, many had sought dragon types for their power, to use as little more than weapons of conquest, and many species were thought to have gone extinct as they were hunted or captured. That particular legend claid that the 'Chief Hooligan' as his Gruncle had called him, was responsible for sending his people out around the world to protect and hide dragon types from those who intended to abuse them, or worse. Alex gave his companions that knowledge prir and added, "In Hoenn, it's historical fact that they're the ones who summoned, and evidently helped ga Evolve, their Rayquaza to stop a teorite impact. Twice. But they have branches all across the world, even in Unova. We have the Village of Dragons, and those who reside in the Oath Woods as well."

Jin nodded at Alex. "The professors at Ba Sing Se University have studied the Draconid's various migratory waves, and the Northern Water Tribe believes they too are descendants of those from the original Isle of Dragons."

Alex returned the nod. "It's a common tale, in multiple regions. A group of Dragon Type using nomads, stopping disasters, and calming rampaging Pokémon wherever they go. But why here…"

"Cynthia would be able to decipher these…" Ash muttered, before looking at Alex directly. "We shouldn't have just sent her away so quickly."

Alex didn't look up from the ruins, as he was noticing ancient Unown script, which was a nice change from Braille. "Cynthia needs to rest, Ash. Besides, she's focused on Sinnoh ruins…and Giratina…" He trailed off, as now he could guess why. Two and a half centuries wasn't that terribly long, for as long lived as humans tended to be these days. Volo could've been a grandparent, or a family patriarch. He could've been the one to give her a Gible in the first place. Hungry baby dragons were not typically what one handed to ten-year-old Trainers, but then, Cynthia was no ordinary Trainer.

Alex traced the wind-worn ruins then and lit them up psychically as his fingers felt for the eroded shapes hidden in the stone. Seeing what he was after, Jin helped and added in so precision earthbending, and in a few minutes, they had a legible set of words. Alex read them aloud. "All lives touch other lives to create sothing new and alive…hmm."

Just then, Alex noticed the snow in the distance shift almost sideways, and the area Ash's Charizard was warming was gradually shrinking. "Fascinating as these are, we're not prepared for this wind…and we still have a mission to finish. We need to find your past selves, Jin. Let's go back through the portal and try this again."

Jin gave a stoic nod. "I'm ready…first I need to talk to Kora. From her…I can find the others."

Ash glanced at his friend. "Have you managed to speak to her yet?"

Jin shook his head. "It should be easier in the Spirit World. Let's find out."

Alex already had an idea as to what Jin needed to do first, before reaching Kora. As they re-entered the portal, a giant pillar of nature energy burning into the snowstorm darkened sky, the words they left glowing on the now once more blizzard shrouded ruins did not deter the locals none of them had noticed, from reading the words, and finding aning from them. While that daisy chain of events was set into motion, Alex guided Jin and Ash to the Tree of Souls, and Ash spoke up as he got a good look at it this ti. "This looks a lot like the Entree…in Unova…"

Alex nodded. "Professor Fennel has a few theories suggesting that the Dream World is actually part of a much larger plane of existence…and I'd bet Pokédollars this is that very plane. Quite a few Ghost Types can feast upon dreams." Ash glanced at his shadow, and Alex's, but then Jin's movent distracted him. With a single step, he found himself before the Tree of Souls, and Alex followed after him. He seed unbothered by the sudden shift in movent, but Ash nearly lost his footing. His Pikachu yanked on his hair just hard enough to right him, as they joined their friends by the large tree.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Alex glanced at Ash. "You should probably…stay here. If you go in there, we might not see what Jin is after."

Ash arched a brow. "I'd like to take a look anyway."

Alex shrugged. "Let's give the savior of an entire region a minute first, hmm?"

At that mont, Jin peaked over the edge. "Uhh…Alex, this tree seems…empty. Did I break it sohow? I'm not good with spiritual stuff."

Alex waved his words away and climbed up. "Nonsense. You have the right temperant for it, you're just new." As he entered though, and regained so of his psychic senses, he imdiately noted the problem. "Ahh. Chakra blockage…that'll do it. I guess we're having this lesson now." He leaned out of the tree hollow to look down at Ash. "On second thought…you should join us up here."

As Ash Ketchum rolled his eyes and climbed into the Tree of Soul's hollow center, nothing happened. At least, not to the naked eye. Alex found his third eye drawn to the images around him and Jin, and he learned quite a bit about his new companions, and the reality of the world Ash had faced. There were, naturally, visions related to all three of them, floating in the tree's space, but Alex found himself focused on one in particular, behind Ash.

The spiky black-haired man was kneeling on the ground, sowhere hot and dusty, surrounded on his front by three massive silhouettes of n that Alex knew imdiately had to be Thunder Warriors of the Imperator's unification forces. Soldiers of the Imperium's Legions. Towering over Ash at at least eight and a half feet of bulky armored height, their helts were adorned with crests of red dyed hair, with open faces covered on the top by opaque eye coverings. On their bulky shoulder armor was the image of a sword, frad by a pair of wings, and on other parts of their dark green and gray colored armor, the Imperator's more commonly recognized sigil, an obsidian fist clutching a lightning bolt, adorned their chest armor. Their weapons intrigued Alex, as one of the warriors in the vision leveled a sword at Ash. Five Pokéball slots adorned each side of the blade, which itself was also a formidable weapon. The leader's seed to hum with so sort of energy, not unlike a plasma sword, while the warriors flanking him held swords akin to a chainsaw, whose blades were more like spikes for rending flesh rather than cutting wood.

A yellow flash appeared then, slamming into the leader's head with an Iron Tail that split his helt, but not his gene-hardened skull and the scene devolved into chaos as Ash's Pokémon had apparently leapt free of their balls to help him of their own accord. The vision faded, replaced by another, but Alex closed his third eye at that point. He could imagine how that battle had gone, since Thunder Warriors were known to take anyone, civilians, Trainers, anyone capable of nial labor, into slavery in service of their Imperium. They also seed to be adept battlers, though from what Alex had heard, they didn't like calling out their Pokémon, preferring instead to handle foes themselves.

He looked at his two would-be students then and sat cross-legged with them on the floor of the tree hollow. "The process of opening the energy points in one's body can be…intense. It can dredge up mories best left forgotten, emotions you thought handled can surface and manifest themselves. I don't know how different your experiences will be from mine, I had an entire trial and palatial setup to experience and face down mine in, but in this realm, they might still materialize." He ntally nudged Canis then, and as the Lucario appeared, he glanced at the three, and then at the spacious hollow around them. His eyes also saw the visions, but he focused on Alex when he spoke. "Canis will guard us and look out for any…wayward manifestations."

Ash drew a ball of his own, then. "I have soone who can help too." He brought out another male Lucario, one clearly far higher level than Canis currently was, and while initially the two steel typed jackals eyed each other like they were about to strike, Ash's finally gave Canis a nod, and Canis nodded in return. Naturally, they wanted to battle and test their aura powers against each other, but right now, they had a duty to see to.

For his part, Alex had a bit of an internal fan freakout, as he recognized the Lucario responsible for creating, and as far as he knew the only Lucario capable of using, the G Max level move dubbed 'Aura Bomb' by those who had seen its use in the first Master's Eight tournant Ash had won. Canis glanced at his Trainer, as he ntally pictured the move in his mind. Having just launched a similar amount of aura as a beam, he wondered if he couldn't replicate the attack himself, with his Trainer's help.

Alex took a breath then, as he recalled what he knew of chakras and how to open them. "I guess I should explain what these even are. There are pools of energy in our bodies commonly called Chakras that can beco clogged by the trappings of life. Each one can be blocked by sothing specific, an experience, an emotion, but when they're able to freely flow, the energy of the universe can move through you. It's...an experience. Jin, this should help you connect with Raava, and Ash, this should make your Aura powers stronger. I'm sure your Sage will refine them further, if you succeed, but he did say this was the next stage of your training."

Ash gave a stoic nod, but Alex sensed his unease."I'll do whatever I can to get stronger. Show us the way."

And so, Alex did. The hollow of the tree turned reddish tinged as he started them off and ford a pair of ntal links with each man. They flinched, as they heard his voice in their head. "That buzzing at the base of your spine, that's , trickling energy into your Earth Chakra pool. Focus your attention there, for now. This is the Earth Chakra. It deals with survival and is blocked by fear. Picture what you fear the most…"

To Alex's third eye, pictures appeared from each man's subconscious. Jin's was fire, that consud a man who looked like Tenzin, and a fierce Water Nation woman he assud was Kora. Then, the flas consud Jin as well.

Where Ash was concerned, Alex saw the Thunder Warriors from the earlier vision appeared again, this ti with his Pikachu between a pair of humming chainswords. They raised them, ready to strike through the electric mouse's head.

Alex ntally shared with them the wisdom they'd need to unblock their energy pool. He spoke to Ash first. "This chakra is blocked by your fear." He recalled how the Earth Sage had helped him and passed on his sagely wisdom. "You must rember your courage, and trust in your Pokémon. Thunder Warriors are not immortal." The scene continued then, and a pair of blue blurs, each a Greninja, struck down the Thunder Warriors with a single move. One belonged to Ash, but the other, Alex recognized as well. Apparently, Connor had t Ash Ketchum too, for it was Gren who was aiding the Greninja famous for defending Kalos from the aftereffects of Lysander's madness. "With your team, you can overco anything, Ash. Even genetically enhanced giants. You're one of the few individuals on the planet who can stand against them, and win. Let your fear go."

Seeing the manifestation of his latent fears beaten once again, Ash realized they were, in fact, still human beneath the ceramite power armor and genetic enhancents. His aura flared, as he let his fear go, and instead regarded them as worthy enemies. Obstacles to overco.

To Jin, and almost simultaneously, Alex said, "The Fire Nation has claid your predecessors. You fear losing everything you have left to the flas." Faces flashed through the man's mind. A younger sister, a mother, others throughout the rebellion and the region that he'd co to care for. Last ca a Pokéball, but that too, like everything else, went up in flas before a sneering Fire Army General with one eye, and standard Fire Nation facial hair.

Jin was clutching his head and hair, doubled over. "I have…nothing left…they already took everything I care about."

Alex put a hand on Jin's shoulder. "Fire, has several weaknesses." New visions flashed in his mind, as Alex spoke. "A lack of air kills flas. Water douses them and is far more powerful. Then there's the rocks that stomp it out, and the sand that covers them. You can bend all of these, Jin. Once you understand how, you can keep anyone else from suffering through what you have. But first…you have to let the fear go. You too are a Firebender, and it will be up to you, Avatar, to help bring their Nation back. Eous will need their military might and Fire power to hold against the Imperium."

Another mory played through the Avatar's mind then, him using his bending to stop the firebenders burning what appeared to be his ho; a rather run-down looking Earth Nation city, sporting a flag of the Fire Nation that showed its occupation. It wasn't rocks he used though, but a torrent of sand that had overwheld the soldiers and doused their fires. It bothered him that he'd sowhat enjoyed seeing the fla butchers choke to death on the blood-soaked earth of his ho, but Alex could tell he was steadfast in his decision to do so, even if at the ti, the aweso power of the Avatar, awakened on reflex, scared him. Jin picked up his Pokéball then, saw it was damaged beyond repair, and left it as he ran off to escape, and the vision faded. Alex sensed him focusing on that victory, and the victories he'd had since, naly, destroying most of a fleet with the aid of Lugia.

As his chakra opened, Alex wanted to tell him that a damaged ball didn't an a dead partner. All Pokéballs, when damaged, rerouted the occupant to the nearest linked box. He decided to save that nugget of information for later. The tinge of red in the air faded, and the two n panted. "Well done." Alex said, as he recalled which energy pool he'd opened next, while in his own trials. "Now for the second. The Fire Chakra deals with willpower, and is blocked by sha, and disappointnt in oneself." He shifted where his psychic power was poking them. "Focus there, and picture what you are most ashad of."

He sensed both n focusing on their stomach area, and again, was inundated with visions as the area within the tree shifted to a yellowish tinge. Ash was mostly oblivious to sha. What sha he'd felt during his journey had been in his younger years, and typically after losing. What lingered most in his adult life, however, was a female figure. Pretty eyes, blonde hair, Alex recognized Serena of Kalos's Elite Four, and the forr Kalos Queen, though why Ash felt sha in regard to her, he didn't quite grasp, until he heard Ash's inner monologue. "I should've been there…"

Before he had a chance to comnt, Jin's sha overshadowed Ash's and instinctually drew Alex's focus. Images flashed by pretty quickly. His ho, in flas. Another family who'd taken him in, murdered by off duty Fire Nation soldiers who saw him sandbend. His entire nation, run by pompous aristocrats, too diverse to ever fully unite under one banner without atrocities being committed. Every city he'd visited in Koria, either burned or marked by the Fire Nation's banner. "I'm a terrible Avatar…"

Alex glanced between his 'students' and focused on Jin first. "Your duty as Avatar has only just begun, and you have inherited an impossible situation from your predecessors. You are not the only Avatar whose failed Koria, but you are Koria's best hope to stop the Fire Nation. Accept your duty. Face it head on, steadfast, like the Earthbender you are."

Concepts from his earthbending training flashed through Jin's mind, and Alex felt his Fire Chakra burn to life as he affird his purpose. Then, Alex focused on Ash. "I'm going to need more context…if you're comfortable sharing."

Ash's mind reacted with surprise to his ntal words, and images flashed through his mind. A date on a calendar, circled in red. A forgetful twenty-sothing who ran past the calendar to battle an old rival. A victory over said rival, Gary Oak no less, younger than Alex knew him, but still clad in his grandfather's lab coat. Asking Gary for womanly advice for the night that was to co. Probably terrible advice from Gary about won, and life in general. A Pokémon outbreak pinging on his Rotom Phone in Galar, and a ssage from another friend, soone called Goh, who invited him along. Galar wasn't far from Kalos, and Ash had a competent enough team to fly him there in ti for dinner, probably.

The outbreak happened to be an outbreak not of Dreepy, as promised, but of Dragapult. It was well into the night before Ash and Goh escaped the violent horde of angry dragon ghosts. A repressed mory of a phone call with a worried, and then very angry Serena, followed by silence that had lasted years now. "Ho boy…" Alex said, before attempting to help. "Young n make stupid choices, Ash. But you're not that young anymore. You've learned. Grown. So has Serena. The only way you'll ever know how she feels, and get her to forgive you, is by talking to her. That's probably why you've had nothing but silence. Accept your stupid mistakes and learn from them."

Ash nodded, understanding what he needed, and now intended, to do and with another hum, his deep blue aura flared, before settling. They were both proceeding faster than he had, but Alex had no intention of stopping now. With four chakras total now open, he wondered if he might not be good at this, but then focused, before his ego could overinflate. "Next is the Water Chakra. It deals with pleasure and is blocked by guilt. Focus on the sensation of energy. That is your Water Chakra." The air around them turned orange this ti, as both n focused, and Alex nodded, though he did note a discrepancy in the pattern of color. Red, yellow, then orange? He briefly wondered if his own trials had been out of order for so reason, but then focused on what mattered: the students before him now also attempting to transcend their limits. "Picture what causes you the most guilt." He said in the minds of both n.

Jin's ca first, as he recalled the shattered Pokéball, and his shattered nation. Ash, for his part, had little to feel guilty over, as his sha had also been tied up in his guilt. What little remained revolved around his friends, and how few of them he'd seen in recent years. Decades, even. He realized he had many apologies to make, and that Serena would be the final one, assuming they made it back to the real world. Ash's chakra flooded open, and he opened his eyes. "I…I think I opened it. I do feel stronger…"

Alex t his eyes, nodded, and then returned to Jin's mindspace. "There is sothing you should know, Avatar. With a region as…suppressed…as Koria, you might not fully grasp how Pokéballs function." He explained then how they functioned on a conceptual level, and half of Jin's guilt seed to almost fade.

"But…I don't have a Box connection. PC usage requires money in Koria, and it's monitored. Where did my partner end up, Alex?"

Alex pondered, ntally stroking his beard. "I'm not sure. But we have PC network experts who owe Unova a favor or three. I can have them transport it to my Boxes, once we're back in civilization. Assuming it's still in the system, it will have been asleep, in a kind of stasis, since last you saw it. And as for the Earth Nation…"

He gave the Avatar a ntal map of not just the Earth Nation, but all of Eous. "Eous is like your Nation. Diverse, massive, ho to many peoples. Many tis, has the Eousian Empire fallen, and many tis has it risen again. You may be the Avatar, but you are also one man. You can only do so much, and right now, there are more important things for you to deal with, than politics. When Koria is free, the word of its savior will carry enough weight to, perhaps, change things for the better for your people. Until then, we must focus on advancing."

Jin steeled himself, and his chakra opened as well. "Let's keep this montum going." Alex said, as the orange tinge faded, and normal colors returned. "Next is the Air Chakra. It's empowered by love and is blocked by grief. This one resides by your heart."

The air around them turned green, as both n focused on their respective energy pools. Alex continued. "The answer to this Chakra is the sa, so I'll refrain from prying into your grief for this. Regardless of who you've lost, all you need to understand is that your loved one's affection for you has not left this world. The Sage who taught elaborated on this concept. Evidently, love is a kind of energy, and energy cannot be destroyed, just changed in form, and reconstituted into new love. Those we lose stay with us, on so level, likely until we join them."

Jin's brow furrowed. "I was taught a different concept."

Alex nodded. "Humanity has thousands of suppositions about what follows death. In this instance, I'll trust the Sagely ghost over a cult doctrine likely designed for claiming and clinging to political power. Focus on the reality of your lost loved ones still residing within your mories. The emotions those bring are real, Jin. Perhaps rembering them is all it takes." He paused then, smirked, and said, "All lives touch other lives, to create sothing new and alive."

Hearing that, Jin's chakra humd open, as Ash's had monts earlier. Both n seed worn by diving into their emotional baggage so many tis, and Alex nodded sagely, mostly to himself. "By my count, we're halfway there. I say we take a food break, and resu after."

"I thought we couldn't stop." Jin said, one eyebrow arched.

"I didn't, when I faced mine." Alex answered, "but my Trials were more...intense. And rushed. We have ti enough for a al. Who wants burgers?"

Jin and Ash shared a look. "Burgers? Is that so kind of...Unovan food?" The Avatar asked.

Alex nodded. "Burgers for us, and curry for our Pokémon friends."

Ash rose, and stretched, but he had the sa look as Jin. "I can make the curry." He leapt from the tree hollow then, startling their guard dogs. "Food ti!" He said, throwing his chosen eight partners into the air, as two were already out.

Alex got his first look at Ash's team, and took them in. Gengar and Charizard he was aware of, but he also saw a Dusk Lycanroc, Sceptile, Greninja, Garchomp, Lapras, and Heracross. A strong, well-balanced team, and most capable of ga Evolution. He psychically chucked his own partners out as well, and the teams mixed, greeting their fellow Pokémon with cheerful noises, while others locked eyes and sparked rivalries.

Alex stepped up by Ash as he seed to take in his team as Alex had done with his. "Quite a team you have, Alex. I have to admit, I expected them to be…older, since you said you were a Champion."

Alex smirked. "Was your Alolan team old when you claid victory? As I recall, most seed younger than mine." Ash chuckled, and Alex spoke as he retrieved dehydrated burgers and a portable grill from his bag. "This is actually my B Team. You may have heard we had a…pretty violent conflict in Unova. My main ten needed a break. They more than earned it." Then, out ca the buns, which were kept mold free in the airless dinsion that was his pack. Pruina scooted over and hydrated their als, two burgers per man, while Ash set up the curry pot. Alex gave him so high-quality berries, that he had fewer of, and Ash added so Gigantamix, which ensured there'd be enough for everyone. Their flas were perfect, and required no fan, the curry itself could be moved with waterbending quick enough to stir it and keep from burning, and it was Ash who added the final ingredient, before the curry and rice quadrupled in size. Alex gave each of them a plate as their teams were sprawled out on the grassy, light side of the area, and nobody ventured near the dark half of their surroundings.

Both Ash and Jin seed distracted, as they munched on their hamburgers, at first by the deliciousness of the food, but then likely by the visions they'd seen so far, and the visions to co. Ti passed, and eventually Alex stood up, stretched, and looked aningfully at his 'apprentices'.

"I think that's enough rest for now. Co. Let us finish this." Alex leapt back into the tree hollow, and the pair followed him up, as the Pokémon were left to mingle and spar. After considering which chakra pools were where, Alex noticed the Unovan trial had opened the mind before the throat. In this instance, he opted to follow the body's natural order instead. "Next cos the Sound Chakra. Located in the throat, it deals with truth, and is blocked by lies. Naly, the ones we tell ourselves."

By this point, the two n knew the drill, and focused on their respective throats. Jin was confused at first, as he'd told too many lies to count. Ash on the other hand, had rarely lied, and couldn't think of one. Alex focused on him first. "Having trouble?"

Ash gave him a ntal nod. "I can't think of a lie that's big enough to block my Chakra."

Alex thought for a mont, and then smirked. "I may know one lie you've made but might not be aware of. Depending on how accurate the cartoon is." He felt Ash's skepticism but continued on anyway. "If it's sowhat accurate...aside from the Unova arc...I can think of your Priape. In the show, you apparently left him to train as a top tier fighter. Said you'd co back for it. So day. But as far as I know...that never happened."

Alex watched as Ash's brain processed, and then cringed in reaction to the realization that he had told his Priape he'd be back. He'd misrembered. "I thought I told him to follow his dream...but you're right...I did say I'd be back for him…"

Alex frowned, as he sensed the forrly unblocked chakra clog up further. "Shall we see what he's been up to for a few decades now?"

Ash blinked. "You can do that?"

Alex shrugged. "I can try. It's like a sort of...reverse Future Sight. A useful formula I've been working on. It should show us up to the present. If you want."

Ash nodded. "It's been so long…show ."

Alex nodded. "Picture your friend, as you knew him." He focused on Ash's bond, and love, for his partner, and with a bit of psychic power and intense focus, Alex was able to see the violent ape's past, and project the images into Ash's mind.

They saw his Priape, fighting nurous battles, winning most of them. Then, as with every fighter, he eventually lost to a stronger one, a Machamp whose flurry of super-powered fists knocked him out. A man with an impressive jawline tried consoling the violent pig-monkey, but the crushing defeat led to his eventual release by the man with the chiseled jaw. Priape found his way back to his group of Mankey, and ruled over them, but his violent temper made him more of a tyrant than a good leader. Still, in Mankey society, that wasn't unusual at all.

"It might just be best to leave him there." Alex said, once his efforts ended. He felt very tired, but he could get them over the final hurdles. They'd all need a rest after this, and after, they would begin the hunt for Jin's past lives. Again.

"No." Ash said verbally, and his aura flared, as his throat chakra opened. "I need to make this right. I will make this right. I can tell his fighting spirit was crushed. Priape was one of my first Pokémon." He looked at Alex, and Jin's eyes opened completely now, as he watched the verbal exchange. "Would you leave one of your first like that?"

Alex just stared at him, wondering if he'd forgotten a certain bug type as well. "If it ant they'd live happy lives, the lives they want, then yes. That's why I only usually take those who genuinely want to Battle. To beco stronger. To compete in the crucible that is the Pokémon League. It's to avoid the heartbreak of losing them. I wouldn't forget one of my main ten, and if I sohow did, I'd also want to make it right. But I had a feeling you'd feel the sa."

"And thus, his Chakra is open." Jin said, as he took Redwood's asure again. The more he learned of the odd westerner, the more impressed he was. Quick to help, knowledgeable, psychic, not to ntion an impressive Trainer, a Champion, even. He was essentially who Jin had wanted to be, once upon a ti. But those dreams had been crushed.

Alex glanced at the Guardian's Avatar as he sensed his line of thought. "Your turn."

Redwood gleaned the latest thoughts of the Avatar, still focusing on his throat chakra pool, and sensed the block. Lies took more effort than reaffirming one's emotions or outlooks on life. Lies were sinister and had a tendency to fester and spread like a mold. One of the many reasons Alex avoided using them, as often as he could anyway. Thankfully, conversing was one way to get rid of them. "Did you ever have a favorite Champion, growing up?" Alex said, so Ash could hear as well.

Jin gave him a smirk. "Leon. That World Tournant match with him and Lance…I watched that a hundred tis. That was the first ti I'd really seen a Battle, on that level. My sister preferred Cynthia. She said Leon was dumb, because he's bad with directions, and has a Charizard."

That, got them both chuckling. And then Jin's smirk faded. "My dad showed Battling. But he…passed away, and things got…difficult. More than they already were. He did well at hiding what the Fire Nation was, from us…but eventually my fellow citizens of Hujiang revolted. I thought I lost everyone, when the Fire Army retaliated…I'd gone out on a well-paying job, and we returned to a pile of ash." His mind space turned black with anger then. "Those…flaming Mukheads expected us to attack them, once we returned. Figured they'd have more than enough excuse to kill us, too. But all we asked them was why they'd done what they did. Over and over. Why. And for that one question, they tried killing us anyway…I…stopped them. And realized I was the next Avatar of our regional Guardian. I could've stopped them…if I'd been there, I could've stopped all of it. Like I did in the north."

Alex shook his head. "You had one Pokémon, and a reflexive sense of the other elents. Even with Kora's strength, they would've killed you."

Jin flooded him with skepticism, and Alex brought his heavy brows together. Images from his own experience in war, using his similarly strong superhuman abilities, and how little they had ultimately mattered, individually filled the skeptical man's mind. Yes, he'd been the deadly tip of the spear, he and his partners, but it had taken his whole company to keep them all alive. Everyone, working together, teams in near perfect harmony as they blocked and countered the superior weapons of the Crusaders with Champion level Pokémon moves. Jin was genuinely shocked, as uncensored carnage had that effect on people.

"Stop lying to yourself, Avatar. Even at the height of your power as Guardian, Aang was brought low by a Pri Archon, because Aang didn't have an army of genetically enhanced warriors with him. You would've died if you'd been in Hujiang, and the Fire Nation would have total victory with an Avatar of their own."

As the truth of Redwood's words sank in, the Avatar faced the reality that the man was right. Whether it was energy beam lasers or mounted living flathrowers, both were overwhelmingly powerful. His energy pool beca unblocked with a slow but gradual increase and the blue tinge to the air faded.

"Next, is the Light Chakra. Located in the forehead, it is the source of your third eye, and it's what will power and channel most of your abilities. It is blocked by illusion. We'll go one at a ti, for this one…Jin, you're first." Jin nodded at Alex's words, and the two closed their eyes. Ash took the opportunity to stay lost in thought, as he tried to recall who else he'd eventually released. Butterfree had gone on to do what he loved and had eventually run into him and Pikachu again. Other nas and faces flooded his mory, and he glanced at Alex, who'd ntioned a 'B team'. Ash had enough partners for several rosters of ten and began to wonder if he shouldn't make more combinations. His mind began pairing partners from the many regions he'd traveled, and that occupied his thoughts as Redwood helped Jin. He was the one who needed this power most, after all.

Alex looked between his students, trying to figure out how to expand their final two chakra pools of the mind, and pure instinctual connection to the energy of the universe. Ash glanced at Jin, after a few minutes of just silence as Redwood seed to stare intently at the floor. The silence dragged on, awkwardly, longer than it really should have, because eventually, Alex saw a formula he rather liked, and hadn't done for quite so ti now. Professor Aristole had required a short lecture to open his own Light Chakra, but Alex saw an easier formula. To open one's mind, one presumably had to be in the right state of mind.

Five Minutes Later…

"So, you see, everything is connected. It's all just energy, if you think about it. An Infinite source of it. The greatest illusion of life is that we're all separate. When we're not. People. Pokémon. Plants. We're all connected on a…heaving oblate spheroid of energy that is this planet. Teleport requires awareness of this universal connection, and Psychic Types, most of them, can sense it instinctually at a very young age."

As Alex dispensed his version of what Professor Aristole had relayed to him, in not all too different surroundings, the purple haze that had ford in the now much smokier tree hollow intensified, as his latest traveling companions opened their Light Chakras, almost in perfect sync. Ash chuckled, then. "Oblate spheroid."

"It's like, really purple in here." Jin said, and the other two n chuckled. Then, the purple faded, and the gray returned.

"Aww, the purple is gone." One of them said, followed by more chuckles. Outside, the gathered teams watched the tree in confusion as they heard the deep laughter of three grown n and saw a line of smoke trailing from the hollow. While it had made them sigh, Canis and Eremus had explained to the others that it was best to just leave the humans alone for like, two hours, when this happened.

Alex moved to put away his Rotolighter, along with the rest of his smoking apparatus, but the tiny spark in his self-made invention sparked his hand. "Oi. Hooman. Use more. It's been days! I need to light my fiiiire!"

Ash and Jin just stared, mouths slightly ajar. "His lighter is talking to him." "Did you understand it!?" "What is it with this guy and inanimate objects?"

Alex assured his lighter that he would be well-used, and let the tiny fire/electric type, who he'd nicknad El Fuego, float beside him. This chakra, he could open as well. His eyes started to burn a deep blue, until the air around them turned violet.

"Oh wow, it's purple again!"

"Now, we open the final Chakra. Ti to focus, lads." Alex said, and the psychic reverb in his Voice made them both sit a little straighter as they focused on where he was lighting up their energy pool with a stream from his own. Thus far, he'd made it easy for them to 'see' where they needed to focus, but this one was harder, more faint, and at the very crown of their energy network. Ash found it, and began to focus his aura on it, as he had with all the other chakras. Then, Jin found it as well, and used the instincts he had for earth and waterbending to open the final door between him, and Raava.

Since the day he'd stopped the Fire Army, he'd been told of the region's Legendary Pokémon, the Spirit of Light, Raava. Koria had many stories of her, especially among rebels, which at this point in Korian history, was everyone not profiting from the Imperium's occupation. Jin had heard many tales, so which had apparently even co from Avatar Kora herself. He was eager to et the Avatar who to this day was still spoken of like a ghost of a legend, but who had very much been real. The Imperium had broadcasted armor cam footage of Aang's death to the entire region, for over half of their occupation. The Pri Archon's Iterators crushed any hope the common people might have had in their Guardian, but the existence of a ferocious waterbending Avatar had eventually been impossible to deny. Nobody knew how she had died though, which always unnerved Jin the most.

"The Thought Chakra is based in your link to the cosmic energy of existence. It is blocked, by earthly attachnts. You have to be willing to let them go, let them flow away in the cosmic energy flow, so that you can wield the energy of the universe. Jin, in your case, because of Raava's nature and divine mandate to guard this land, you won't be able to detach yourself completely. The Original Dragon is similarly bound to Unova. You'll likely tap into her, and then, I assu, we can start this hunt for your lost power." Alex looked at Ash, then. "You, might see Arceus…if you're really able to let everyone you love flow away."

Jin had few attachnts left and understood that it was not a permanent removal of emotion and attachnt, rely one required to allow the universe to flow into one's mind. Or sothing. This was not the first ti he'd heard of the concept, but the Professors of Ba Sing Se had made less sense than Redwood, and right now, Jin saw the Unovan as a literal fountain of wisdom. Ash on the other hand, had many attachnts, and like most n, didn't want to give them up. For anything. Why would he?

Ash continued to struggle, but Alex couldn't help at this point, and he left him to figure it out for himself. He knew what to do, to let that nascent hum of power flow into his body, but there had to be a price for it. There always was. Ash guessed that, with ti, it might lead to an erosion of compassion for those in one's life, but eventually, after about three minutes, Ash figured out one didn't need to constantly let the unbridled power of the universe into their energy pools. Those who could and did stay detached likely achieved enlightennt, but Ash had only been told to reach that level and unlock it. The lesson from several chakras earlier also rang in his head, as he knew that love would not disappear.

Jin's eyes had begun glowing first. A soft, blue-white light burned from them, but the Avatar was calm, perfectly still, as he communed with the Legendary Guardian he was destined to ta. Ash's eyes flared from deep blue to a brilliant yellow-gold, and Alex felt the Alpha's presence, but this ti, it was all focused on Ash, and, he realized, different from the other clones he'd already t. After seeing more than one, he could tell them apart by their nascent personalities.

Alex let them be and waited quietly for the pair to return to full consciousness. Ash's Pikachu ca in about halfway through Ash's ti spent communing, and his yellow aura joined his Trainer's, making it spark with electricity. Ash finished first, and glanced at Alex, but otherwise said nothing of his experience. Jin's eyes stopped glowing, and as they did, he glanced at Alex.

Though Alex was unaware of what the two had experienced, they now both had a better idea of who he was, and the obstacle he would eventually beco. When neither of the two n spoke, Alex broke the silence, and t Jin's gaze. "Do we know our first target?"

Jin nodded. "Kora and Raava said we need to find the first Avatar. Kora never went that far back…she wasn't super spiritual for most of her life…and all Raava knew was his na. Wan."

Alex nodded and leaned out the hollow. "Nox! Lux!" The two ghosts, plus Ash's Gengar, approached the tree, and Alex began speaking to them as one would a human. "Do either of you know of Wan?"

Nox chuckled, and nudged Lux with a black elbow. "Do we know Wan. This guy."

Lux shrugged his electric arms. "Never heard of him."

Nox tilted his spikey head. "Really? What about you?" He asked Ash's Gengar. The Gengar shrugged. "Wow. You'd think every ghost would've heard of the man who sundered the balance of the Spirit World."

"Wait," Lux said, eyes narrowing. "The ddling idiot Human who unleashed the Shadow from its Light counterpart?"

Nox nodded. "That was Vaatu. Wan freed him from Raava's hold."

Lux blinked. "Oh. Wow." He looked at Jin with a new appreciation for his power, if he really was her Avatar. "We had...different nas for them, back where I'm from..."

Alex arched an eyebrow, but the ancient Rotom didn't elaborate. "Nox. Any idea where Wan might go, separated from his other selves, and Raava?"

Nox visibly pondered, and then gave his Trainer a grin. "There's an old Passimian spirit he befriended, if the legends are true. He has a pretty chill Oasis. We could start there."

"Lead the way." Alex said, gesturing. He and Ash recalled their partners, including El Fuego, and the trio followed the dark ghost deeper into his ho realm, leaving the Tree of Souls behind them. As they left the perfectly divided area connecting the north and south poles of the Earth, Nox gave them a warning.

"Walking the spirit realm isn't like traveling on the pri plane. Stay between , and Ash's Gengar." Alex relayed the ssage, and the three n, two ghosts, and one electric mouse stayed in a line formation between the pair of Gengar.

As they traveled, Alex noted the various vistas they moved through, fey-lit forests, wide, open grasslands, and then finally sothing resembling a jungle, all passed by very quickly. Nox explained then that traveling the Spirit World could go very well, or very poorly, depending on where the realm itself wanted to send you. Thankfully, it seed between their guide and the Avatar, their planet's physical connection between the two planes through Raava's power kept them on course.

When they did finally arrive, Jin seed twitchy. "This place…this forest…I…I rember…it's this way." He walked past Nox then, who glanced at his Trainer, and shrugged, before floating after the Avatar.

"Here he cos now." A softer male voice said.

Jin and the rest of the party erged from the forest to the sight of an oasis, surrounded by colorful vegetation, and a lack of trees. Within the oasis itself was a ghostly Korian man with pale tones reminiscent of those from the Fire Nation, long unkempt brown hair, and a lack of clothing. Beside him, was a creature that strongly resembled a Passimian. It was thinner though, almost goofy, and yet Alex recognized that in death as in life, the Passimian species from the small island off the edge of the African part of the supercontinent, Ryugu, was shredded. The black and white fur babies had beco insanely popular once they'd been discovered, but this one had clearly been an Alpha, just going by its size. It had a lanky torso, also thinner than the species found in Alola, and yet, Alex didn't want to fight the wiry creature. He seed friendly.

What Alex noted first about the lemur, and what set the mood for this reunion, was the object the creature was manipulating with its near human hands. An object Alex knew very well, and one that both Ash and Jin were now familiar with too. The lemur creature hit his bong, a frankly lovely and primarily green piece, that also had swirls of color which matched the plants around the oasis. Whatever he had in his slide, was sparkling, and green.

The black and white creature physically spoke then, and Alex could only describe his higher pitched tone as delightful. "Welco, slly Humans, to my Spirit Oasis. I take it you've co for my friend here."

Alex and Nox just smirked, Jin blinked in surprise, and Ash glanced at his own Gengar. "Slly?"

The lemur creature nodded, and his large flappy ears nodded with him. "Oh yes. Quite slly. Especially the large one." He said, nodding at Alex.

Alex perford a brief pit check and nodded. "That's fair. But I haven't seen a shower since arriving in Koria."

The lemur held up a long, clawed, finger. "Ignorance is no excuse for poor hygiene! Wash yourselves in the outer pool, and then join us, friends of the Avatar." The outer pool was a ring around the oasis, and Alex simply jumped in, knowing he could bend the water from his clothes later. He sighed, as the water was warm, but spirits that looked disturbingly like translucent Basculin with white stripes began approaching him.

"Umm." Alex said, loudly, as they ca near, and Nox readied a Shadow Ball.

"Please do not shoot my fish!" The lemur creature shouted as he let his latest hit from his implent go with a plu of sparkling smoke. They eat slly Human pollution, and keep the waters clean."

"Ahh." Alex said, and Nox lowered his hands. "Eat away, little friends." He said to the fish, who blinked, as they perfectly understood the large human. Ash joined him after disrobing, but throughout their shenanigans, Jin and the man who could only be Wan had locked eyes and began wordlessly communicating.

The first Avatar rose from the oasis, nude save for a wrapped cloth around his vulnerable bits. Compared to Jin's physicality, he was a stick. He stepped towards Jin, who tapped into Raava. His eyes began to hum with her Light, and though he tried to hide it, Wan was shocked by how weak she'd beco. "Hello again, old friend. It's just like old tis." Raava smiled, and nodded through Jin, and Wan turned back to the lemur creature. "Thank you, Aye-aye. I won't forget this."

"Nor will I, Stinky. Now go ho already." The lemur creature hit his bong again then and exhaled a cloud of sparkling smoke as Wan and Jin's eyes t. Raava's Light blinded the area, and then, it was gone, and so was Wan.

Alex and Ash joined Jin by the front of the oasis then, freshly cleaned, and looked around. Ash spoke first. "Aw man, did Wan disappear already?"

Jin just smirked and closed his eyes briefly. A ghostly image of the First Avatar appeared, floating out from Jin's body, colored in the shade of Raava's Light, and now clothed with relatively simple garnts that could've co from any Nation. Behind them, the lemur let out a peaceful, happy sigh as he felt the Light long thought lost, after what happened to Kora. Vaatu's victory had deterred and depressed many spirits, but here was the proof that the Light never really died.

"Wow…" Wan said, with a slight ghostly reverb to his voice. "This is a lot easier when it's less crowded…"

"Wan." Jin said, getting his attention. "We need to find the next Avatar. The second. Do you know him?"

Wan chuckled. "Ah yes. Jiro. He was of the Air Nation. A bit too carefree to handle the problems of his day…he had a rough existence. It took a long ti for people of all Nations to understand that I'd been reborn, and that this would continue to be a thing. As for where he'd go…well, he was an Air Nomad, so my guess would be where the Sky Bouffalant roam. Understand sothing, Jin…not all of our past lives have…stuck around. Ever since Raava was ripped from Kora, they've been on their own, and over two decades waiting for you, is a long ti in the Spirit World. The older ones have likely run out of energy and returned to the cycle of life. But we could find soone more recent. I'm afraid I don't know many of them though…I wasn't exactly consulted often, after a certain point."

Jin nodded. "So, first Jiro, and then Aang. He was strong, and I don't think he'd just disappear, knowing what he left behind."

The three n rested at the oasis then, and the Aye-aye spirit bid them farewell after a 'day' of rest and recovery from the exhaustive process of opening one's chakras. The lemur was actually pretty chill once he realized he and Redwood shared a habit, and they exchanged Leaf seeds before parting. Wan often appeared to them as they traveled, manifesting from within Jin whenever Nox was unsure of their heading. Eventually, they found it, after running afoul of a Dusknoir who saw them as lost spirits, and a very irritated Aegislash that Cinder brought down with a combination of Quick Attack and Blaze Kick. They ca upon a verdant paradise, and it was Wan who spoke as he manifested again. "This spot, in the physical world, was where the first Air Nomads tad their Bouffalant partners for the first ti. It's a source of strength for those who fly."

Then, in the sky, they saw them. Several ghostly humans, frolicking with long departed sky buffalo above the idyllic fields of grass. One of the humans saw them arrive and gestured to the rest. Wan just watched, in awe. "If I'm right…every single one of them is a forr Air Nomad who served as Avatar of Koria at one point…and yet sohow I'm not surprised they found each other."

Alex glanced at Wan and took the opportunity to ask about things he hadn't yet experienced. "Do Humans usually co here, to this realm after death?"

Wan shook his head as the Air Nomads landed. "Only those who beco lost, vengeful...or do sothing in life to warrant a truly endless and inescapable prison. A rare few choose to spend their eternity here by entering when their body dies, but over ti they beco Spirits as well. Only a few places in the world have people who are in tune enough with Ghost Types to project their entire essence into this place. It usually doesn't end well for them."

"Avatar Wan! At last!" An Air Nomad who could only be Jiro said, as they approached. His translucent form was gray, and faded around the edges, but still held intact by his spiritual power. He was dressed like the other Air Nomads with him, clothes very similar to those elo and Tenzin had hidden beneath more simple coverings. He was also bald, as Tenzin had been.

"Jiro! I'm glad you're still here, old friend. I see you've gathered so of the other Avatars." Wan said, nodding at those who he knew. Surprising almost no one, it was actually Air Nomads who had typically been able to connect with Wan, but over ti, even they had lost the skill to reach that far back within their selves, and as such those like Aang and Yangchen were not among those gathered.

"It's not just us. I found our Torterra, from your era. She's begun gathering lost Avatars of the Earth and Water Nations. Avatar Roku and Avatar Kasai are gathering the fire Avatars near the Fire Sage Temple with the help of their dragons. I don't know how long we've been at this, but surely we've found most of them, by now." Alex listened quietly to Jiro in the background, but one word in particular had caught his ears.

"You said there's a Torterra gathering disconnected Avatar spirits? How? A slow, land-bound tortoise seems like a poor choice for such a task." Alex said, throwing so fake shade at a species he adored.

Jiro bought it, and the man's tone turned serious. "You must be thinking of the Torterra from Japan, and elsewhere. Those in Koria are…were…different."

Wan spoke up, then. "In the chaos of Humanity's fall into the Dark Tis, much of the supercontinent was plagued by raiders, bandits, and violent Pokémon. The Torterra of the Koria region were Dragon Types, and they were by no ans bound to the land." Alex just stared, eyes wide, but said nothing as Wan continued. "They sheltered the people of Koria, keeping the raiders away with powerful Earthquakes, and other elental attacks. So, even began favoring the elental affinity of the people they sheltered."

Jiro spoke then, his tone sad. "Unfortunately…all but the Air Nation's Torterra were butchered over the years. The Earth's was slain by ambush and beca a al for a pompous king. Its flesh poisoned him. The fire-favoring dragon tortoise was challenged by the first Fire Lord, and in slaying him, beca the line worthy of ruling the entire island chain. So of the Fire Nationals saw this act for the barbarity that it was and left the islands en masse. So say they built a new city, that ascended into the sky. Ours is the last of her kind, and she resides in this realm because were she to return to ours, Humanity would undoubtedly end her, as well. When Raava was separated from Kora at the Harmonic Convergence, it was our Torterra who kept many of us from dissipating outright. We owe her everything."

With their path clear, Jin took in the gathered Air Nomads, and even with only roughly thirty lives out of six hundred and twenty-four, Alex could tell the Avatar was stronger when they sparred with their earthbending. They spent varied amounts of ti traveling the length and breadth of the Spirit World, sotis guided by Nox, and sotis guided by a growing sense of his other selves from Jin. Often the past Avatars would manifest to share their wisdom, and through them, both Alex and Jin were able to increase their bending prowess, usually by practicing on each other. Jin was a tough opponent, moving through the earth like an Ekans in sand, and then hitting with the force of a Copperajah. Alex found that, instead of 'steelbending', he'd mastered an aspect of earthbending relating specifically to the ground typing, naly, sand.

It was a hard elent to block, it could wear away any earth shield, and only getting it wet stopped it. Fire only caused bits of burning glass to hit him instead of sand. Not that water stopped Jin. He used mud just as effectively, turning it into rather tough armor to block with. Alex also realized, very quickly, that Jin had a far better ti bending the nature energy around him. While Alex could switch what elent he controlled fairly quickly, Jin had a connection with nature energy that Alex, and all other humans, lacked. This let him draw upon each elent with ease, and more importantly for combat, speed. The older Avatar spirits actually understood what Alex was doing but were impressed that he could passably mimic bending styles. It was then he usually told them of his draconic typing, and the control it gave in conjunction with psychic power.

Absorbing more Avatars only made Jin stronger, as they visited the spirit side of the Fire Nation, which was 'closest' to where they'd found Wan. Avatar Kasai, the fifth Avatar, had been helping Roku, Aang's predecessor, with finding the lost spirits of their firebending kin. Many had burnt out before they could be found, simply fading back into the universal flow of energy without Raava to sustain their conscious minds. From Kasai, Alex and Jin learned ancient firebending forms, which while silly in aesthetic, had a flow to them that Alex realized was ideal for moving the flas. After seeing, and learning, those techniques he was able to move the flas like a perforr Ash had claid to see, and often after dinner, Alex would take his Cinderace, and go hand-to-foot in a fiery spar. Ash also did this, with his Lucario, and evidently had learned Alakazam's style of martial arts during his tenure on the Mind Sage's island. It surprised Alex that special attackers like Alakazam would have a martial art, but then, Connor's partner had shifted form, and psychic beings that intelligent likely figured out how to achieve a form suited to close combat with ti. Ash had to keep his shoes off to use it effectively, as it required a surprising amount of dextrous toe work, but the results spoke for themselves. His Lucario did not go easy on him.

Finding the allegedly flying Torterra, was more difficult, so instead, they relied on Jin's sense of his past selves. Over ti, they ca to a densely wooded area that reminded Alex of Oranguru's swamp with its pale green haze and frequent lack of passable terrain. Jin stopped suddenly, and then changed directions. "He's close. A Waterbender."

"Give. Her. Back!" A loud, male voice shouted. A more sinister voice answered it. "Never. Her face belongs to , now. Disperse already…your spirit cannot endure this much longer." In a swampy clearing ahead of them, the party saw a faded gray Avatar spirit slashing with waterbending at a denizen of the ghostly realm, who dodged his attacks with ease.

Avatar Szeto, the fire Avatar before Roku, appeared then beside Jin. "Korruk! You are not alone anymore, old friend!"

The fire Avatar vanished back into Jin, and his eyes began to burn light blue. The voices of the recombined Avatars spoke in unison then. "Keep your faces neutral, or this spirit will steal them." He glided through the earth towards Korruk then and placed a hand on his opaque back. The Light Spirit's power briefly blinded and revealed his opponent, and as it faded, Jin took in the creature his past life had such hatred for.

It had the body of a Centiskorch, but instead of a bug, it was very much a ghost. Ominous purple flas surrounded the creature as it recognized Jin as a threat. "Ahh…the latest Avatar. An interesting face…but not my type."

Alex's voice echoed in the Avatar's head, then. "Violence doesn't always have to be the answer. Diplomacy is worth trying." Jin noticed then, the ghostly centipede was poised for an attack, but was holding. Jin stood up from the bending crouch he hadn't noticed he'd fallen into, and the purple flas went out.

"Na yourself, Spirit. Why was Avatar Korruk attacking you so fiercely?" The sternness in his voice didn't extend to his face, thus rendering the creature's single hit KO attacks useless. It coiled around the Avatar, and Jin turned with it, not wasting a movent.

"I, am Koh. The Face Stealer. Your past life was shouting sothing about his wife…oh, right. I rember. Korruk, was a Mudbray. He spent his life as Avatar gallivanting, abusing his natural talent for shows of strength, and impressing females. I was appalled to see the Light Spirit's gifts wasted on such…base, primitive filth. So, when he finally found a female to procreate with, I stole her. And her face."

Koh t Jin's eye level then, and 'blinked' as the face in question manifested. An intense light-blue aura shield ford around Jin; a trick Alex had shown him how to manifest. Koh recoiled, blinking the face away to that of an angry Priape. "This power…"

"Release her." Jin said, with a cold emotionless demand, punctuated by the unnatural reverb in his voice.

"Or what, Avatar? Her face is mine now." The ghostly centipede coiled in on itself now, defending, and readying for a fight.

"Or I crush a bug." Jin answered.

Koh seed irate, and the Priape face changed to that of a Gyarados, with its perpetual expression of infamous rage. "Do you have any idea who I am!? How dare you!"

Jin stared him down. "You are not nearly important enough. I am done with your sches, Koh. I have Korruk's mories. I know what you've done, Face Stealer. To n. Won. Pokémon. Children. I offer but one chance: release her, and your pathetic existence continues. I'll let so other life of mine deal with you."

The Avatar's aura beca brighter, as Raava shared in Jin's righteous rage. She saw Koh as a pest, but it was not her duty to exterminate such vermin. She had been placed to maintain the Balance against Vaatu, and other all vile entities spawned by the Shadow, a cri that Koh had not committed. Jin however, could make the decision to take a life, or not. It was up to her Avatar, and their humanity, to keep things in check.

Koh knew Raava was weaker, but this latest Avatar, an earth Avatar, was too strong. Like Kyoshi before him, Jin had the steadfastness of a mountain, when he wanted to. This was an Avatar capable of striking the final blow atop the nurous weaknesses Avatar Kora had inflicted on the Fire Nation during her life. A man who would change Koria, and perhaps even the world as a whole. Dealing with him in a new body would be easier, but that didn't an there was no fun left to be had. The ghostly worm's face shifted to a sneering Pansage as he said, "Vaatu won, Raava. It's over."

"It is never over." Jin said, as a powerful female voice lded with his. "The Harmonic Convergence has not yet passed…" The Avatar glanced directly at Alex then, and he blinked in surprise as he felt Raava focus on him. "There is still ti…a Way to achieve an era of Light instead of Shadow." A mory ca to Alex then, from Lux, of the planets of the Sol system, all perfectly aligned, a vision from the Tree of Souls that had flashed by while Alex was occupied. While they still rotated around the sun, their synchronicity with the other planets in the Sol System was perfect, unnaturally so, and when Alex wondered why that was, Raava's power sent him another image via his Rotom sword. An image of Mars. Evidently the red planet had a hand in this unnatural alignnt, but it did present an opportunity for Raava, and the rest of their world, to avoid ten thousand years of darkness and mayhem under Vaatu. Again.

If there was a way to change the outco of whatever 'harmonic convergence' was, Raava didn't elaborate yet, instead turning back to focus her gaze on Koh. The ghostly centipede hesitated in answering, and Raava, through Jin, pressed him. "The longer you hesitate the more faces I will draw from you. Let. Her. Go."

That, finally made Koh hiss. The flas returned, and he screeched "Never!" Before sending them at Jin and trying to burrow into the earth. In hindsight, it was a poor tactical choice. The Avatar dispelled the ghost fire with the dissipation he'd learned from Alex mid-spar, and then, he raised the earth Koh tried hiding in. The chunk of earth that trapped the ghostly centipede began glowing a bright gold color, as it broke apart, and ford a swirling, rotating cage of rock chunks around Koh. Then, one of the rocks slamd into his stomach, and the Gyarados face was upchucked back into the Spirit World. It retook its form from life, and then flew away, presumably to find peace or perhaps just to escape Koh.

The centipede was irate, but no matter how he gnashed and struggled, he could not break the Avatar's grip. His energy was too robust, and finely controlled. Sohow, this very young Avatar already had his chakra pools open. The face of a Zarude appeared this ti, enraged, and shouting. "If you kill , you kill what remains of her! Let go!"

"Not until every Human face you've stolen returns to this realm, so they can potentially find peace. You can release them now, the easy way, or I can draw them from you by force!" Jin said, as his open hand controlling the swirling rocks twitched, ready to close, and strike another weak point on Koh that would make him upchuck another spirit.

The ghostly centipede seed terrified of having to violently disgorge another essence it had taken into itself, but that hesitation led to another hard strike, on his back this ti, and the Zarude ca free. Now ghostly, translucent, but free, it swore impressively at Koh, before leaping away into the spirit wilds. A new face appeared now, that of a child long dead, but still trapped in the endless hell that resulted from having one's face claid by Koh. Her expression was heart-wrenching. Furious that Szeto and Korruk had not lied about the vile spirit going after kids, Jin readied another strike. The expression on the child's pained face reminded him far too much of his sister's, but this ti, Koh pleaded with it. "All right! All right! You have made your point, Avatar…I will leave the faces of Humans alone…I'll take them from those who break the laws…just…stop hitting with your boulders…"

Jin did not, however, let the centipede down on his word. "Go on then. Release them." The rocks continued to swirl nacingly, but they weren't pelting Koh anymore, for the mont. With a violent shudder, the ghost centipede aid at the ground, and the souls of at least twenty people ca tumbling out, all at once. Jin glanced at each of them, and his aura burned as he realized that Ummi, Korruk's wife, was not among them. The rocks swirling around Koh turned sharp. "Last chance, worm... Let. Her. Go." Avatar Korruk's voice could be heard loudest in unison with Jin's.

Koh's newest face shifted from a Noctowl, to Ummi's face again. He eyed the Avatar for a long mont, and then let her spirit go. Korruk floated free of Jin's body and went to her. The two talked quietly, as Koh continued to speak, "I'm keeping the Human criminals I still have. Their cris are unforgivable." Koh said, showing the painted face of a clown. "Pedophilia." He blinked and shifted to an angry Fire Nation man. "Raping and pillaging." An old man's face appeared then, though what Nation he'd belonged to was impossible to tell. "Destroying sacred sites. And other such cris."

Jin held, despite Korruk very much wanting to bring down the earth attack, and finally end this nace. The younger Avatar consulted Raava, and she judged Koh's words to be true. Releasing such humans would return that foulness to the universal pool of energy, and all were better off without that kind of filth. "Fine." Jin said, letting the rocks fall, as his eyes continued to burn with the Light Spirit's power. "You will take the faces of those who commit such cris. No more innocent Humans and Pokémon. No more sches. Don't make us co back here, Koh."

"Oh, we'll et again Avatar…but I expect you will have a different face." The Centiskorch-like ghost scurried away into the swamp then, and Jin let him go. Ummi floated away as well, and eventually Korruk returned to his current existence's body.

"Let's keep moving." Jin said, as he turned towards the next strongest spiritual signal from a forr self of his and began walking.

Walking turned out to be impossible for this one, and one soon beca two as they found Avatar Aang, along with Yangchen, atop a mountainous peak that reached above the clouds that required flying Pokémon, or airbending, to reach.

Only Alex and Jin had ascended, and as they landed atop the suddenly crowded peak, the man who was clearly Tenzin's father turned to them. "Ahh. At last, you've found us. I expected the Avatar, but who have you brought with you?"

Jin then explained concisely who Alex was, why he was here, and what he could do. Like most Avatars, Aang was impressed by how convincingly Alex replicated their bending culture in Koria. "Avatar Aang was one of the few modern Avatars to learn and understand Energybending in his lifeti. That was the term we used for those like you, Alex. Foreigners who learned to wield the elents through their awakened psychic prowess." Yangchen said, after he and Jin demonstrated their skills. "I've rarely seen such control though. Humanity has grown stronger. As I told you they would, Aang." The 'younger' bearded Air Nomad stroked his chin as he pondered Yangchen's words. Most Avatars, in death, appeared as they had at the height of their power, and connection with Raava.

Alex pondered the dead Avatar's wisdom as he flowed a breeze towards Jin, who sent it back his way. "Energybending...it sounds like what Pokémon do when they use Moves. I've watched their energy flow hundreds of tis. So can control it more than others."

Aang nodded. "Appa, my Sky Bouffalant, did it when he used his Airbending. They seem to do it on reflex, as naturally as we breathe."

Jin absorbed the pair then, and as he did, he made to leave, only to pause as Alex grabbed the shirt-covered shoulder of the young Avatar. Turning, he saw what made Redwood pause, and just stared, as a creature from a storybook slowly floated out of the mist surrounding the mountaintop. If it was a Torterra, it was unlike any Alex had seen. Though it had the right shell type, the face was completely different. Their features resembled Tao and Rayquaza the most, but the longer Alex looked, the more he could see the turtle lded with the dragon, and why Korians had called this beast a Torterra. He didn't need his abilities to tell it was dragon and grass typed. He was glad. That was a rare combination, and the other examples of it were…special. If not silly.

The massive beast hovered in front of the pair, and then smiled, as she inhaled. Her tone had gravitas that shook the very air as she projected her ntal voice. "Raava. And the Tar of the First Dragon. You are a most welco sight, in these dark days."

Jin walked up to her, as she leaned in close to them, and both turtle and human-avatar-of-spirit glowed impossibly bright as they exchanged a heartfelt reunion long in coming. "There is still hope, old friend. Sothing is disrupting nature. The planets remain aligned. This should not be…and yet, while it is, we have a chance."

The dragon typed turtle gave a slow nod to the Light Spirit. "I have gathered many of your Human's past lives…but not all. Many are there that I was unable to save…"

A multitude of pale translucent forms flooded from the turtle's back then, and Alex noted there was actually a settlent atop it, long abandoned, but still standing, unclaid by the jungle that covered the rest of the turtle's shell. That, was by far the largest number of displaced Avatar spirits that their group found. The draconian turtle disappeared after discharging her load and wishing them luck, fading into the relative safety of the Spirit World once Jin had reclaid his power. By reclaiming each Avatar, Jin was treated to a brief history of their life and deeds, and the lessons they'd learned. After absorbing so many, his own trials and suffering seed par for the course, and sohow lesser, in the face of the evil in the modern era. His suffering had been put into perspective, and Jin knew that he was not the sa person who had entered the Tree of Souls.

Between Redwood and his past lives, he was becoming an Avatar unlike any before him, though, unlike any before, he was reconnecting with hundreds of his past selves. Avatar Aang, as it turned out, had been the one to contact the most of his past lives in a ti when he desperately sought a thod to stop the Fire Nation's overwhelming power. Their answer had been to fight, and so Aang had, only to fall short before one of the Imperator's sons, and a Legion of Thunder Warriors. His lesson stuck with Jin, thankfully, as he understood that he would simply not be able to remove the Imperium's influence over Koria by himself. He would need help, a team, as Aang had called it. In his era, Aang's team had consisted of Boomi Sr., the Omashu Gym Leader's grandfather, Kuzon, who was still alive thanks to Imperium enhancents even after three centuries, an earthbender of a noble family in the Earth Kingdom, the Beifongs, and a woman from the water tribes, who Aang had apparently fallen for. The more Avatars that Jin absorbed, the more he understood that he too would require a team. He briefly considered Ash and Alex, but he also understood they had goals and dreams pulling them away from Koria. No, he decided eventually, his own modern 'Team Avatar' would have to be from the current era, and like Aang, he intended to enlist benders from each nation. His first candidate was elo, and he had a feeling the airbending rebel would leap at the chance to be a part of it.

After what felt like weeks of traveling and searching, they had found over four hundred of the lost Avatars, but unfortunately the effort turned depressing the more they searched. Over and over Jin was told that his forr selves had already passed on by other ghost types, fading away without the power of Raava to sustain their consciousness, and power, after being severed from Kora.

After the tenth such failure, Ash spoke to Jin one 'night' around their cooking fire. "Maybe we should head back, Jin."

The Avatar firmly shook his head. "I've delayed long enough. If I leave, those we have left to find will be lost without ."

As he said that, a voice echoed around them, and the Alakazam from the Mind Sage's temple astrally projected himself into the space above their fire. His psychic-based image flickered, but the ghost energy he combined it with kept the connection going. "Those you have yet to find will persist, Avatar. Unfortunately, for now, they are beyond your reach. Those lost have also reincarnated, and you can find their essence here, in the physical world, to acquire their strength, and free the new minds they inhabit from your past mories. This task will take much of your life, Avatar Jin, and you will walk this realm again, but for now... it would be wise to return."

Jin glanced at Alex, as he'd co to value the man's psychic insight, but Alex simply shrugged. "This is your decision, Jin. Regardless of your choice, you have my aid, Avatar."

A rare smile cracked the clifflike visage Jin had worn since experiencing the mories of over four hundred of his lives. And while his own origin was tragic, it had been put into a far larger perspective. This was not the first era in which the Imperium of Man had tried to invade and weaken the kingdoms of Eous, and it would likely not be the last.

Finally, the Avatar made his choice, as the Psychic Sage patiently hovered over their fire. "I will trust your wisdom, Sage." He said confidently. Alex had told him of the Sage's power, and the others across the world, about their wisdom if not their larger role. "Take us back, Mind Sage."

Jin could tell not all of his lives agreed with his choice, but the ti had co to move on. His developing sense of his other selves had been silent for so ti, and if new lives were being burdened with his old ones, he was obligated to do sothing to help. He also had a feeling the process would be harder than simply having Raava absorb their essence.

As Jin made his choice, Alakazam opened a hole between their worlds, and it drew them into it. In a mont, they'd returned to the pri plane of their dinsion, and once more found themselves in the presence of the Mind Sage.

Sensing their first, and most obvious question, the Alakazam projected his psychic baritone to them, as they manifested in his chamber. "You have been away for the better part of a month...though I am sure it felt much longer. Welco back."

By Alex's count, that put him around two to three months into his mission, and almost halfway through sumr. "Is it ti for stage two?" He asked Tao ntally, as he reached out to the dragon.

"Yes." Ca the reply, and no other words of wisdom or advice followed. Alex needed none. He had known for so ti now that the plan had shifted, now that the Imperium very likely knew he and Tao were getting involved with Koria.

At this ti, it seed Alakazam was having a conversation with Ash as well, leaving Jin to glance around awkwardly as the silence dragged on. Finally, the Sage spoke again. "Avatar Jin. Your next life lies in Ba Sing Se. Retrieving it will be difficult. Alex, go with him, find a good anchor, and then prepare for the next conflict. The Fire Nation has beco worse in your absence, Jin. The Fire Princess confird you were alive, before she fell during the final battle of the siege in the north. The Coalossal of the Imperium was felled, but Chief Unalaq lost his life as well. The next conflict we face will likely be the last. Ash will be staying here, until the ti for that battle arrives. Go with the Light, Avatar."

As the Alakazam made to bamf the two of them as close to the Impenetrable City as he could, an Avatar spirit manifested from Jin. It was Avatar Aang. He looked at the Sage with a pained smile. "Thank you, for helping. I won't forget what you've done for us, partner."

A single tear fell from the Sage's eye as he put his closed fist together in the Air Nomad style of showing respect and bowed his head. "Your thanks are not necessary. I am honored to be able to aid the Avatar again. I am glad you are back, Aang. We will need your wisdom, before the end."

With that, the Sage Teleported the pair to Ba Sing Se, and then focused his attention on his student.

Ba Sing Se - Koria Region

They appeared on a small hill outside the city, and Jin frowned, as he took in the capital of the Earth Nation. The connecting pillars of the walls still stood, but the others had long since been brought down, and the urban sprawl of the destitute war orphans and penniless refugees had spread to the farmlands around the city. The only part of the city's famous wall that still stood, only did so because it was an entrance, and above that entrance flew a gigantic flag of the Fire Nation. It didn't seem made of cloth either. Probably sothing fireproof.

Within the massive city was even worse. Alex followed Jin, as he seed to have a better idea of this city, but the sll alone was worse than New Tork, and the abject poverty was slowly making him furious. As a westerner, he'd always heard that so Eousian kingdoms had the kind of absurd wealth gap between the obscenely rich and the dirt poor that had marked humanity's final era, before their fall. Rampant Capitalism had left its mark on their history, and pretty much every continent, but it seed so tenants of old systems, or more likely new systems with old inspirations, still remained.

Seeing Alex's face, Jin gave a grim smirk. "Yea…it had that effect on , too. Don't worry though…everything in this city is a lie." Jin led him underground then, with earthbending, and they soon ca to the Undercity. While the poverty above was what the nobility of the city expected to see, down here, there were weapons, hundreds of trainees practicing earth, water, and even firebending. Food was given out freely to mbers in ragged uniforms and wretches from the upper city alike, and Alex actually spied so crates from Unova, that he'd assud were either lost, or moved by Tenzin in the kerfuffle at Minjujuui City. He was glad they were helping, but the locals seed to have their own food, too.

Jin explained that, because the governnt had been crushed so easily by the Fire Nation, the citizens had long ago decided to take the matter of food and shelter onto themselves, rather than wait for the pompous aristocrats to free enough currency into the economy to pump it up. Jin kept his face hidden as they walked, and while Alex's bulky fra got looks, nobody stopped him, as he was clearly being led sowhere.

The place he was led to, was actually a room, not unlike the one he and Akos had shared before they split up. Two simple earth beds with deflated straw mattresses. "This will do." He said, before Jin left to go reconnect with his people. Alex sat on his bed, planted so berries in the nearby planter, and then focused his mind, not on the universe or the world's leylines, but the clusterpsyduck of ntal psychic webbing that made up the connections between his partner Pokémon.

Once he felt he had his A team's attention, a single sentence reverberated in their minds, and so listened, while others were too busy to even notice.

"Alright boys… Assemble."