40

Victoria glared at the wormhole as it closed, fists clenched and taking deep, shuddering breaths as the roaring fire of her rage burned in her stomach. She'd arrived just in time for Leo to vanish in that portal, and she couldn't do anything about it. Going in after him was suicide. She knew that much. You needed a guide to traverse ultra space, or else who knew where you'd end up? At least, that was what Lusamine's research had indicated.

Emperor roared furiously behind her, stomping the ultra-beast he'd been "fighting" into the ground.

Victoria scowled and ground her teeth, the sounds of Prince's yowls of victory reaching her ears as he undoubtedly mauled whatever beast he had chosen as prey. Her attention was on none of that. Not the blonde girl being looked over by her Lucario, her Garchomp curling around her protectively and snarling at everything that came near; not her pokemon, cleaning up the stragglers; not Stein, savaging a tentacle that had been torn off of a Nihilego; she wasn't even paying attention to the remains of the wormhole. Her attention had one target only now; the Tapus that were slowly descending from the sky now that the battle was over.

All four were here. Tapu Koko of Melemele, Tapu Lele of Akala, Tapu Bulu of Ula'Ula, and Tapu Fini of Poni.

"Explain," she growled when Tapu Bulu landed in front of her, the bull-like pokémon snorting at her – then freezing at her glare. "What. Happened."

"A GOOD BATTLE!" Tapu Koko shouted excitedly, still crackling with electricity.

"Leo fell into a wormhole," she snarled, whirling on the yellow and orange pokemon. It flinched back in surprise, blinking rapidly and looking at the other three Tapus for help. "How did this happen? Where did it come from?" she snapped.

"WE DON'T KNOW." Tapu Fini said, her voice lilting and musical despite the sheer volume. Victoria didn't know if the Tapus couldn't control the volume of their voices or just wouldn't, but either way today she found it incredibly annoying. "THE MOON ALERTED US. THE SUN IS SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS."

"And?" She pressed.

"NOTHING ELSE. IT IS UP TO THE MOON NOW."

Victoria scowled at the answer and took a step forward, almost menacingly, before stopping herself. No, now wasn't the time for that. Her initial instinct was to immediately head to Lusamine to hack out a rough plan of action for getting Leo back, but the Champion part of her reminded her that she had a mess to clean up. The Tapus sure wouldn't be of any help, and she had what was essentially an alien invasion to explain to the public. Without actually telling them what it was.

She rubbed her forehead. They needed to get the Kahunas here, ASAP so they could take on a lot of the workload. And she needed to tell Lusamine what happened, so she could direct her own panicked energy at trying something, anything, to track Leo. At least she had one consolation in this whole debacle. So long as Leo landed on another planet and wasn't left drifting out in space, she had faith he could survive for long enough for help to arrive.

And she would send help. Even if it meant battling Solgaleo himself. She would not lose him. She would not.

Cynthia sat with her team arrayed around her – at least, those who were still combat ready. Her Garchomp, Lucario, and Roserade were the only ones, the rest had fallen in battle and were now being treated by Aether. She had tried to get everyone to go with Aether to the medical wing, but the ones who were awake only accepted the most basic of treatments and treatment for poison, then refused to go anywhere else. So now here she was, sitting in Aether Paradise unable to do anything. It had only been three hours since the attack, after all, and everyone was still running damage control.

Lucario nudged her and she smiled at him, though she didn't feel it. Everything that had just happened was hitting her like a rampaging Rampardos; there was just too much happening. What even was all that? And what happened to Leo? What was that…hole in the sky? Ancient Sinnoh records told of a rip in space and time that would spawn pokemon from different time zones – most notably during the conflict that destroyed the temple atop Mount Coronet – was this something like that? She grit her teeth and stood, shaking her head.

She'd given them enough time to get their shit together. Now she needed answers; Victoria seemed like the most likely choice, but Lusamine had clearly recognized the pokemon as well. The problem was, as far as she was aware, Victoria was still back at the tournament grounds. So Lusamine it was.

"Find Lusamine," she said, glancing at Lucario. The canid nodded and closed his eyes as Garchomp and Roserade roused themselves, her dragon stepping forward and pressing her head into Cynthia's back with a rumble of displeasure. "I know, but we have to find out what happened," she soothed, turning around and putting a hand on the dragon's neck. She rumbled more, clearly unsatisfied, and wrapped her arms around Cynthia protectively.

"Cario," Lucario said, and promptly jogged out of the small medical room they were staying in.

"Let me go now," Cynthia said soothingly, pulling herself out of Garchomp's embrace. The dragon reluctantly let go – however, as soon as she turned around to follow Lucario she felt Garchomp's face press into the back of her neck, her jaws closing around Cynthia's clothes as she was lifted into the air like an unruly pup. "Put me down!" she protested, but it fell on deaf ears. Garchomp lumbered forward, squeezing through the doorway and following after Lucario, who gave the dragon and approving nod and raced forward.

"We talked about this, girl, you can't carry me everywhere," Cynthia complained as she dangled from the dragon's jaws, her shirt starting to choke her a little. Garchomp snorted into her hair, telling her exactly what she thought about that, and continued through the halls of the Aether Paradise unphased. Overprotective twits, the lot of you. She thought to herself without any heat. The care her team showed her did warm her heart.

Though it did nothing to maintain the dignified image she tried to project, being carried around by her Garchomp.

It didn't take long to find Lusamine. Lucario stopped just outside a large metal double-door, pointing inside, and Garchomp dropped her at the doors. Roserade came running after, brushing one of her flowers against Cynthia's leg to let her know she was there as Lucario opened the doors for her. Cynthia cleared her throat and smoothed her shirt out, grimaced at the drool that had soaked her back, patted Garchomp's neck comfortingly, and stepped through the doors.

The large, auditorium-like room was empty save for Lusamine who sat in front of a computer off to the side, talking with someone over the video phone. A large screen was situated in the center of the far wall, lit up with warning signals and indicators over a map of Akala – most centered around the tournament grounds. Cynthia's eyebrows furrowed. So they did know what this was.

"Miss Lusamine," Cynthia said, approaching and finding herself not really caring that she was interrupting. Yes, it was rude, but she deserved to know what was going on, and what happened to Leo. The boy had saved her. Righteous anger flooded her that she quickly suppressed, annoyance bubbling up at the emotion. Anger was natural and right, but in this situation it would cloud her judgement. Hence, it had no place.

"Cynthia! I apologize, just a moment please," Lusamine said, glancing at Cynthia with a small smile. Her eyes were red and puffy, and Cynthia faltered slightly. Then she saw who was on the video phone, and stilled. Professor Samuel Oak, the arguably greatest professor of their time and inventor of the modern pokedex, a device that has been making waves in the scientific community even despite the very careful selection of people allowed to have one. And his expression was carefully blank. "We are doing all we can to -"

"We will discuss this later," Professor Oak said bluntly, and the video call ended abruptly. Lusamine sighed, her shoulders sagging slightly before she straightened herself and turned to Cynthia.

"Where is Leo?" Cynthia said bluntly, and Lusamine winced.

"Are you alright? What are you doing out of medical? I sent doctors to you specifically," Lusamine asked in lieu of answering.

"I'm fine. What happened, Lusamine?" Cynthia asked again.

"No, you were wrapped up by a Nihilego and potentially poisoned. It may not feel like it, but believe me, that poison is no joke. It's a very specific type of neurotoxin, a high enough dosage can drive you mad. We have to be sure you were not affected," Lusamine said, standing and putting a hand on Cynthia's shoulder. This gave her pause, and she furrowed her brows, a wave of slight anger trying to bubble up in her stomach again. Once again she suppressed it with a thought, though she could feel her pokemon's worried gazes on her back.

"They said they didn't find anything wrong with me," Cynthia allowed, finally relenting to the topic. "They gave me some medicine, then went to check on the rest of my team,"

"Oh, good. That's a relief. I'm sure we'll want to keep an eye on you for the foreseeable future, however, just to be safe," Lusamine said, putting a hand over her chest and sighing. "Your team will take some time to recover as well. If they were afflicted by poison it will take a few days for them to purge it, even with the help of modern medicine. Nihilego poison is…persistent," she explained.

"What were they?" Cynthia pressed. Lusamine frowned at her for a moment, seeming to consider what to say or if to say anything.

"Extraterrestrial pokemon," she finally said. "From outside of our dimension. It will take some time to explain fully what they are, but the point of the matter is that Leo fell through one of their…wormholes, the portals that are used to travel through dimensions, and we have no way of getting to him," Cynthia digested that for a moment.

"No way?" she pressed.

"No. Believe me, I've tried," she said bitterly. "Victoria is convinced that the legendary pokemon of Alola might help. I am less certain," Cynthia furrowed her brows and worried her lip, mind running a mile a minute as she tried to connect what little she knew about Alola's history with what happened here. Lusamine mentioned that they were extraterrestrial, extradimensional pokemon. Alola has long since called themselves a guardian region – she never understood what that meant. Does it mean that they are guardians against these foreign pokemon? If so, there must be some way for them to predict and counter these…incursions.

"There must be a way," Cynthia decided. Lusamine's smile turned fragile as she shook her head.

"There is nothing you can do. I have everyone I can working on this," she said softly. "But we've already done extensive research on the subject, and almost all research into the subject of travelling dimensions has hit a dead end so far."

"Sometimes all you need is a fresh perspective. I have to try; he was saved me from the same fate. I can't just let it go," Cynthia argued back, now getting irritated that Lusamine was giving up so easily. Said woman sighed but nodded nonetheless.

"Fine. You may help as a representative of the Sinnoh League. I will send you pertinent information at a later date. In the meantime get some rest, heal your team. I have work to do; despite my seeming negativity, I do have a potential lead. There is someone who may have left this world and come back before, but we have to find him first." Lusamine shook her head. "But I'm rambling now. Go," she said, not unkindly.

Cynthia nodded in thanks and promptly left, spinning on her heel and leaving the room, her pokemon close behind. Her immediate intention was to go get her stuff and pull up some of the documents her grandmother had given her, about the history of Sinnoh in order to look up space-time rifts, but Garchomp had other plans. She reached down and plucked Cynthia off the floor again, rumbling as she ambled off, Cynthia flailing in her grip.

"Let me down!" she protested.

"Rest first," her Lucario's broken aura speak came through as said pokemon moved to stand beside Garchomp as his red eyes met her own. "Rest first," Cynthia deflated a little. She wanted to do something, but…it had been a long day. And she didn't get much sleep the previous night either, up as late as she was reading up on history for Spiritomb/Magearna. She rubbed her face in embarrassment even as Garchomp continued on through the halls, carrying her all the way. That was when Roserade started to play a song, blowing on a grass whistle.

Cynthia felt her eyelids droop as the pokemon move washed over her, trying to lull her to sleep. Well, that was just cheating.

Leo was not having a good time. Rummaging around the interior of a abandoned, vine-covered pokemon center with only Zuko to light the interior – who was tiredly slinking about, sniffing for any medicines he could find – was not his idea of a good time. Much less with half of his face swollen from the Nihilego poison, said poison feeling like fire running through his veins. Anger and frustration bubbled in his chest, amplified by the poison, as he flung open a chest revealing a small stash of potions. Maybe five or six, and while helpful, that wasn't what he needed.

He needed antidotes and revives to get his team up and running again.

A horrendous shrieking sound had Leo's head whipping up – immediately wincing and groaning in pain as the action ignited the nerves in his face and neck, under attack by the swelling – and when his vision stopped being so blurry he focused on Xena.

She had ripped a hole in a wire-mesh cage, visible in the flickering fires from Zuko, and was now looking pointedly at Leo. With a grunt he grabbed a few of the potions, dropping them in the canvas bag he'd looted from an abandoned storefront, and hobbled over to the cage, weaving through and around destroyed and ransacked shelves and boxes, and carefully stepped into the cage.

Zuko whined as Leo paused to press a hand gingerly to his face, wobbling unsteadily, being careful not to get too close as his fires were still burning. Spiritomb let out a low hiss, one eye poking out of his pocket to look at him with concern.

"I'm ok, just…" he trailed off, not bothering to finish that sentence as he started to search. Thankfully, it turned out fruitful. Ten revives, all properly sealed, three full restores, and a few antidotes lay in white containers alongside half a dozen various other useful items. Leo resisted the urge to chug an antidote – as it would at least alleviate the poison in his system, though not fully counter it. Instead he carefully placed it all in his pack, put a hand on Xena, and let her lead him out of the pokecenter with Zuko lighting the way. He passed a small sign that read "Hau'oli Pokemon Center," and paused to stare at it a moment before continuing on.

As soon as he entered the lobby, sunlight streaming through the large glass double-doors and through the domed glass ceiling, he plopped down on the ground, winced again, and started setting up his little medical station. Starting, first and foremost, with reading the backs of the antidotes to choose one he thought would counteract Nihilego poison.

He'd paid attention when the doctors were prescribing Lusamine with medication, just in case he ended up running into another Nihilego. Turns out that was a wise precaution.

"C'mere, you two," he said waving over Zuko and Xena as he screwed off the cap of an antidote, taking a small sip. Pokemon medicine wasn't as effective on humans, but antidotes, at least, weren't completely useless. He just had to be careful not the take too much, so he'd only sip it. Slowly. And never an entire bottle, maybe an eighth of one.

Zuko and Xena both plopped down in front of him, allowing him to administer antidotes in case they were poisoned, and sprayed potions on the worst of their injuries. Spiritomb hissed at him in confusion when he sprayed the keystone with a mist of potion, seeming to have no effect, though the ghost usually had always recovered naturally, or with the help of a direct pokemon move like heal pulse. Still, Leo hoped that would at least help it feel a little better.

"Now onto the fun part," Leo whispered, putting a hand gently on his swollen face and hissing. He needed to find a hospital, too, so he could get some antibiotics or pain meds for himself. There had been a first aid kit in one of the back rooms, as well as some medications for humans that Leo didn't recognize and therefore didn't want to mess with, but it wasn't sufficient.

Shaking those thoughts from his head, Leo pressed the release on Santiago's pokeball, the unconscious Slowking appearing on the ground with his eyes closed and breathing steady. Leo cracked a revive open and dumped the powdered contents into his starter's mouth, then leaned back and let the medicine work. It wasn't immediate, like in the games, but it would eventually wake him up.

Next was Link. The little Bellossom looked absolutely terrible, his leaf kilt wilted slightly and looking far paler than Leo had ever seen him. The immediate application of some medicine seemed to help, but it would only go so far, so quickly. Link was tough, but Leo bet that he'd need some time to recover – time Leo wasn't sure they had. As he sprayed a super potion on the bruises that had formed on Link's arms, Leo's mind wandered to the packet of information Lunala had left in his head. He'd given it a once-over, but…no, now wasn't the time for that.

He had to get his team healed up first.

Last was Diana, and she was in no better shape than any of the others. Unconscious though she was, it was a chore to check her over entirely; he had to rely on Xena lifting her up and flipping her over to check her back, and spray potions on there. A careful inspection of the spike that had been cut off by Kartana revealed that there would be no lasting damage – the spikes were made of solid stone and were mostly for defense purposes, so nothing important was lost – but it had been worrying at first. A few new scratches in her armor was the worst of the physical damage to Diana, which told Leo she had probably been knocked out by the sheer force of the blow, or by poison. Which meant liberal applications of antidote.

Giving Diana medicine was odd. As her armor was so thick, and she didn't actually have a mouth, he was forced to finagle the medicine up her air vents, allowing it to be sucked into her and absorbed by her body.

That out of the way, Leo leaned back against the ruined front of the center reception desk, wincing as another spike of pain ran down the left side of his face, and let out a breath. Xena and Zuko both watched him closely, the silence of the center and the city deafening. \

"I need to see what Lunala…left me," he said, wincing as he spoke and gently putting a hand to the swollen side of his face. It was…tender. "Keep an eye out. Don't stray too far. Spiritomb's pretty out of commission too," he ordered, closing his eyes and sighing. Then he let the bubbling thoughts that Lunala had left him flow to the forefront. It started with one simple idea.

Get to Mount Coronet.

A single, snow-covered mountain with a ruined parthenon-esque temple at its peak stood against a cloudy background, snow gently falling from the skies. Then the image faded, and more images popped into his head, along with a vague understanding. There were three places in the world where ultra wormholes – passages through space and time into other dimensions and alternate universes – could routinely appear. The first was the majority of Alola, a place where the fabric of space was, almost universally, weak.

The second was a specific cave system in Galar, squirrelled away in the frozen south of the region.

The last was Mount Coronet – the seat of the "gods," as it were. Only ultra beasts very rarely appeared there, as after all, very few were truly stupid enough to try that. Not when the literal god of the pokemon world had its strongest physical connection to said world at the top of the mountain. Leo forced down the questions that were bubbling up at the topics of the first part of this mental information package, instead allowing the information to continue to flow.

This is a decayed world, and one that you were not supposed to go to.

Fleeting images of Necrozma's impact onto Lunala flickered through Leo's mind, from the space-bat's point of view. And, for a moment, he saw a sliver of a fraction of how Lunala saw the multiverse and inter-dimensional travel – a million different pathways intersecting with dozens of different worlds, some connected to each other as alternate timelines, some not; but all, in some way or another, connected by the golden web of ultra-space.

Pathways between dimensions. Pokemon dimensions. Not his original world.

But the impact of Necrozma slamming into Lunala knocked them off course – just slightly. Two worlds, sitting right next to each other (on a cosmic scale); one similar yet obviously different to the one he was used to, the other? An alternate timeline. A ruined world.

Get to Mount Coronet.

This is a dangerous world. It is not without hope – those are barren and dead – but it is potentially dying. A world without Guardians. A world without Heroes.

A world without Spirit.

Images flashed through Leo's mind then, of disasters rising and civilizations falling. Volcanoes erupted, and a glowing red behemoth rose from the lava, the eruption decimating towns. Seas churned and raged, massive waves rising high into the sky as the skies above crackled with lighting. Alola swarmed with ultra beasts, Guzzlord devouring an entire city on its own before starting on the ground below. And in Alola these beasts made their home, different species from different worlds banding together to make a living in this foreign plane. And, unfortunately, this world seemed to be the source of the ultra beast invasion.

Cities lay abandoned, and pokemon roamed freely. Humanity was all but gone, all that was left was pockets of life sheltering against the disasters that walked the world. Shadows of their former selves, and pokemon were not much better.

But that was all Leo could glean. There was little else to learn, because that is where the information started to end.

I am sorry I could not be of more help. This world it outside of my jurisdiction, and I am not familiar with it. At this, Leo caught another glimpse of the multiverse at large. Many Solgaleo and Lunala roamed the cosmos, travelling between worlds, between dimensions, managing the passageways and spaces between space, and briefly, images of fighting off invaders. This is all I could glean in the short amount of time I had – as it is, I have to focus on not being eaten by Necrozma. If I can, I will make it back to you. I marked you with a psychic signature that will guide either myself, Solgaleo, or any other we send to you. No matter where you are in the world.

Just because ultra wormholes are most common in the three places mentioned, does not mean they cannot be opened elsewhere.

But, that is no guarantee in light of these new events. Mount Coronet is, I believe, your best bet. Devoid of most beings that would seek to harm you. That does mean traversing the ocean, however. The choice is yours – wait for rescue, or seek salvation?

Leo let out a breath and opened his eyes to see Santiago, slowly pushing himself up. He grunted with the effort, looking around as he was. When he turned his inquisitive, pained gaze to Leo, he could only shrug. Though he winced from the movement, it sending a wave of pain through his neck and face as it pulled at the inflamed, angry skin.

"This seems…horrible," Santiago said, glancing at the still forms of Link and Diana.

"I dunno, could be nice. No people, plenty of pokemon…lots of things trying to kill us," Leo said dryly. "Sounds like a proper vacation."

"Yes, vacation," Santiago grunted, rubbing his stomach and giving Leo's swollen face a look. Nothing was said, however, as he simply…observed. "So what's the plan?" he asked.

"I'll let you know when the others wake up. And when I have a better idea. Long story short, we're in another world. It's most likely up to us to get back home. And I'm worried we may be hunted the entire time," Leo said bluntly, leaning back against the lobby desk and letting out a long sigh. Santiago just stared at him for a long moment, shoulder's slumping as he realized that Leo wasn't joking, and laid back down to stare at the sun through the broken glass-domed roof.

He cursed, and Leo silently agreed. This was even worse than he had originally anticipated. That said, he did still need to do a recheck of what supplies he had – besides what he'd already found.

Pokeballs were decently plentiful, he'd found a box of them in the storage area, and he had three vacant ones that fell through the portal with him. They'd been in his pocket, same as the knife he had in his back pocket, and the little, mint-tin sized survival kit that he kept in his pockets at all times. It was just a little thing he'd whipped up a long time ago but never had a need for until now. Just in case something crazy happened to him again, like falling through a portal to another world.

"If I had a nickel for every time that happened, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it's happened twice," he joked to himself, shaking his head as he popped the lid open and examined the contents. A pack of waterproof matches, a whistle with a compass on it, a small spool of fishing wire, a needle, a metal striker for fires, a small razor-blade, a tiny bottle of disinfectant, an equally small bottle of water purification tablets, two safety pins, and a small, push-button flashlight. It was a surprising amount of stuff he could stuff in there, but now it didn't feel quite like it was enough.

Well, there was no survival kit like a team of pokemon, so it didn't really matter. And he got the feeling that there would be plenty of looting to be done. Especially if Lunala's directions were accurate. A journey to Sinnoh would be…tiresome.

He'd have to check a map to get a good bearing on his path – supposing that Alola was a bust and he wouldn't be able to find a way back home in the region – but that meant sailing across the sea to Sinnoh. He wasn't going to hedge his bets on there being a pokemon who could teleport him all the way to Sinnoh, not when even Merri, Professor Oak's Alakazam, couldn't make the trip from Pallet to Alola in one jump. Plus there were very few pokemon that could fly across the world, the first and foremost being –

Leo stopped his thoughts there, hands pausing as he checked up on Link's breathing. The little Bellossom's color was starting to return, but he probably wouldn't have a full recovery for a while. Nihilego poison was annoyingly persistent, even for a pokemon's biology, and while the antidote would help flush it out somewhat, it wasn't a cure-all.

But that wasn't the important bit. The important bit was that one of the pokemon that can fly across the world – relatively swiftly, too – was Dragonite. And he just so happened to know where a colony of said dragons lived. Hopefully. Even if this was a different world. It was worth a shot, at least.

"Ok, first goal. Get to Poni Island," Leo mused. He might even pay the Altar of the Sunne a visit, just to double check the accuracy of Lunala's statement. But that also brought up another point – Lunala mentioned that this might be where the Ultra Beasts that invaded the tournament grounds originated from. If that was the case there's a fair chance they might pursue him, in which case he might need more team members solely for the numbers. That, or powerful allies, like a Tapu.

He winced as another small spike of pain shot through his face, grinding his thoughts to a halt. So much to do, and so little time.

He had to admit, this world had a beauty to it. Leo stood in the middle of the street, looking up at the abandoned superstore he had just finished looting for supplies. His body still ached and his face still hurt, but it wasn't anything he couldn't force his way through; and he now found himself looking up at the nest of Toucannons that had made their home in a half-collapsed wall, vegetation growing up and around the building itself and into the birds' nests, vines curling around stone and rebar.

It was, in a way, beautiful. Despite everything.

"Let's go," Santiago said from beside him, hoisting a backpack of his own and giving Leo a look. Xena stood on his other side, another backpack full of supplies – she carried the non-essential items, as she was one of his main combatants, so she could just toss the backpack and go – strapped to her back. The dragon bobbed her head in agreement, eyes scanning the surroundings suspiciously. The rest of his team, sans Spiritomb, rest inside their pokeballs. Link and Diana both had woken up, but with the Nihilego poison still effecting them and Diana still injured from whatever hit her, he wanted to let them rest.

Zuko needed the rest as well, though Xena insisted she stay out, as did Santiago.

"Yeah. It's a long walk to Iki Town," Leo agreed, tearing his eyes from the superstore and the ruined city beyond. Skyscrapers covered in vines…it was scenery he'd only seen in his dreams; exploring a ruined city appealed to his inner explorer. But they had a journey to make, and a Tapu to see. Tapu Koko's shrine lay just beyond Iki Town, Leo remembered the path even though he'd never taken it, and he wanted as much protection as he could get.

He squashed the little voice that told him the Ultra Beasts would not be roaming free if the Tapu's were still around. He needed to see it.

So he turned and started walking, new boots crunching against the cracked asphalt of the road as he walked. It was quiet, all things considered, and not just because of the lack of people. Even the pokemon seemed subdued, none of the vigor that inhabited the Alola he knew present in them as they went about their day-to-day activities. It was disconcerting, and Leo readjusted his half-filled backpack almost absently, touching the pokeballs at his waist. Hopefully it wasn't true of everywhere.

For three days he walked, occasionally stopping to inspect the rare car or bus that were all, inevitably, useless for one reason or another. (Most commonly, a pokemon had savaged the internals or the tires were blown.) It was three hours to sunset on the third day that he reached Iki Town, or at least what once was Iki Town, home of the Melemele Island Kahuna.

Craters and cracks covered the ground, the remains of makeshift barricades completely overgrown with vines surrounding the remains. Leo stood just outside the gates, Xena and Santiago flanking him while Zuko ran ahead, and took a deep breath. Some small part of him hoped there would be people here, but apparently not.

"Careful," Leo advised, slowly walking forward while adjusting his hat so the sun wasn't in his eyes. The poison and swelling of his face hadn't gotten any better – in fact, he'd say it'd gotten worse, despite treating it with antidote and a few other medicines he'd found along the way – but there were times where it was manageable. Now, however, direct sunlight stabbed his eyes and forced him to move slowly and carefully.

Santiago laid a hand on Leo's shoulder as they walked, gently guiding him through the old battlefield – past spears stabbed into the ground, bones of deceased pokemon and people, and the shattered remains of pokeballs – towards the other end of the village, where the path to Tapu Koko's shrine was. The deeper they went, the more barricades there were, even if they were destroyed. Sharpened bamboo stakes stabbed into the ground as makeshift fences, mounds of dirt covered with grasses and ferns dotting key positions in the town – each with their own variation of damage to mark the battle that happened here. And all throughout, Leo could not shake the feeling of being watched.

Sure, there was the odd Yungoos or Alolan Rattatta watching them, but this felt different.

Leo kept an eye out and continued on, dreading what he might find.

The path was long and winding, and nearly completely covered in vegetation. Eventually, though, Leo did manage to make it to the long, wooden bridge that crossed a massive chasm, on the other side being the Tapu's shrine. Santiago and Xena were silent, Zuko running up to Leo with a whine and butting his head into his stomach. Leo scratched the Typhlosion's head as he considered the situation. He had to cross somehow, and the bridge did look intact…

He swallowed thickly, and, after a lot of testing the bridge's stability, crossed with little fanfare. Silence met him on the other side – there were no bugs, no pokemon, no sounds other than the wind and the roaring of the river in the chasm below. His pokemon stayed close as he slowly approached the Tapu's shrine, nothing more than a rock entryway set into a cliff.

Bones littered the exterior. Ultra beast and normal pokemon alike claimed the outside of the Tapu's shrine as their graves, the massive, skeletal remains of a Guzzlord notable among them. Leo carefully stepped around these remains, taking extra care to not disturb any of them lest he provoke a ghost, as he made his way to the shrine. His pokemon were all silent as well, carefully maneuvering around the remains and approaching the entrance to the shrine.

Lightning blocked his path. Yellow bolts as wide as he was tall zipped around the entrance, crackling softly and filling the air with the smell of ozone as they did so. It was amazing to Leo how there was little to no sound, and as he peered through the lightning, careful to not get too close, the barrier of electricity started to change. It split apart just wide enough for Leo alone to slip through, and he glanced back at his team cautiously.

Xena had her head respectfully bowed, though glanced up just long enough to wave Leo onward. Santiago nodded to him, gem on his crown glowing as he prepared himself, and Zuko whined piteously, not liking any of it. Leo could understand that sentiment, swallowing thickly and clenching his fist. This was as clear an invitation as it could get.

With a deep breath, he approached, stepping through the lightning barrier and into the shrine's interior. Immediately the barrier closed behind him, though it opened again when Leo tried to exit. It was just blocking any of his pokemon from following. He made a dismissive motion with his hand to assuage the worries of his team and turned to the shrine's interior, mentally preparing himself for what he might find.

It was surprisingly pristine here, despite the harsh battle that happened inside and the lightning that raced along the walls, illuminating the interior and filling it with a soft buzzing sound. The shrine itself was intact, little more than a large fan of leaves colored with a few blue paint designs, and two or three empty stone braziers before what could only be a stone altar. Otherwise it was empty – save for a single orange feather, undoubtedly taken from the fan atop Tapu Koko's head – resting on the altar. Leo sucked in a deep breath, steeled himself, and approached.

He expected something to happen when he touched the feather. Nothing did, and he stood there holding it starting at the walls in confusion.

"Do I take this?" he asked aloud, to no response. For a few more minutes he waited, but there was no change in the shrine. So with a mental shrug he slipped his backpack off his shoulder and put the feather in a safe side-pocket, hoping he wasn't offending anyone by doing this. But there was little else he could really think of to do, having been allowed into the shrine like this.

Pain lanced through his face as he slowly turned and started back out of the shrine. This wasn't worst-case scenario, but it wasn't a great idea either –

"WOOOOLE!" a sudden battlecry tore through the relative silence, and Leo darted out of the shrine to behold a terrifying scene. An obscenely muscular, giant red mosquito stood in the clearing outside, bones crushed beneath its feet, and Xena picking herself up from where she'd been tossed. Zuko and Santiago growled at the Buzzwole, the latter already charging up a flamethrower to fry the ultra beast, while Leo's thoughts raced.

"No, wait!" Leo shouted, but it was too late. The moment Zuko fired, Buzzwole arced through the flames to slam a fist into Zuko's gut, tossing him backwards with alarming speed. Santiago fired a psychic blast, momentarily freezing the bug and allowing Xena to leapt at it, claws bared, but it broke free a moment later and grabbed the dragon by the arm. Dragon fire raced over its body as it spun, hurling Xena at Santiago and sending the two to the ground. The Buzzwole cried out happily and flexed its muscles, sparking a small memory in Leo's head as his team slowly righted themselves.

It was a stupid scene from the anime, but…

Leo flexed his muscles and struck a pose, ignoring the pain of his muscles. Buzzwole froze, eyeing him, and took a different pose. Leo mimicked it and, with a happy buzz, the ultra beast took another pose. Then another, then another, until Leo had well and truly had enough, the pain of his swollen body and the poison still in his system making the entire process extremely arduous, and his team was staring at the scene incredulously.

"Buzz!" Buzzwole cried happily, slamming its fists against its chest. Leo did the same, and, just as quickly as it came, the bug type launched itself into the air with a mighty leap, vanishing over the top of the jungle. Leo fell to his knees in pain, bringing a hand to his face as he tried to get his body back under control.

"I can't believe that…worked," he muttered.

"Leo! You, can you help?!" Santiago called worriedly, and Leo looked up. There, slowly waddling across the bridge to the graveyard wearing a tattered nurse's hat, was a Chansey. Well. Leo thought through the pain. Maybe my luck hasn't completely run dry yet.

"How can you just sit there and do nothing?!" Gary shouted, not really expecting an answer as he sprinted out of the room. Professor Oak winced as Gary slammed the door shut behind him, running off deeper into the lab. He let the boy go, stomach twisting itself into knots at the conversation that just happened. Gary had always been smart, but to be able to hack into his personal computers and record the video calls he'd been having with Lusamine? He'd have to double up on his security. That did, however, mean that Gary had learned about what happened to Leo though…

He sighed and stood up from his chair, feeling far older than he was even considering he was in his fifties. It was a fair reaction from Gary, if he was honest. He'd already lost his parents, Daisy had been distant for a long time and was only now starting to reconnect, and Leo, who he had become fast friends with, was now just…gone. Oak would be lying if he said he didn't feel similarly to Gary – it was his daughter that had died – but he had responsibilities. He had to be here for Gary and Daisy. He had to be the adult and make sure everything was taken care of; he couldn't just run off on an adventure to go save Leo like he would've in his pre-champion days.

But, unlike what Gary believed, that didn't mean he wasn't doing anything. His cousin Samson was already on the case, doubling down on research on the ultra-wormholes alongside Aether, and studying the Ultra Beasts that the Tapu defeated and Victoria captured. The ones who hadn't made it back through the Ultra Wormholes. And he himself was dedicating part of his staff and own time to researching the subject and looking up lore to the legendary pokemon of Alola. At least, the parts that weren't already dedicated other projects that couldn't be dropped…

Kanto was a mess.

He shook his head and stuck his hands in the pockets of his lab coat, ambling out of the lab and out towards the pastures, letting his thoughts wander a bit as he, too, wandered. No, I know where I'm going. He thought to himself as his feet carried him forward, down the long path between the fences of the pastures, pokemon watching him go as he was joined by his ever-faithful Arcanine.

Professor Oak laid a hand on the great canine's shoulder, fingers running through his fur as he headed into the forest surrounding the pasture's borders. It didn't seem like a long time before he reached his destination, but was in fact close to an hour, as the trees cleared and he beheld a familiar sight.

A small shrine nestled in the woods, a house on stilts, built by his own hands back when he first took over this abandoned laboratory in the then-smaller Pallet Town. It was a peaceful place, and though the red paint was starting to peel he liked it just the way it was. Because it did what he wanted it to do – he closed his eyes and focused for a moment, willing his aura sight to manifest, and slowly opened them.

Celebi was there to greet him.

"Hello again! Doing well, I see," she buzzed happily, flying a quick circle around Oak and Arcanine, earning herself a happy yip from the pokemon. Professor Oak nodded, smiled politely, and raised an eyebrow at her leadingly. "Now I know why you called me," she started.

"What happened?" he said, tone not…demanding, but leaving no room for argument. Celebi was his contact to the inner workings of the world – with her help, he had been gradually learning how the world worked alongside his own scientific research into the subjects. She didn't always answer his calls, but the times she did were…enlightening in some ways, and incredibly frustrating in others. Knowing that Kanto would go to war, but being unable to do anything about it without sacrificing things he wasn't willing to give? Frustrating. Learning about the bonds of aura between people and pokemon? Enlightening, even if he did have to delve deeper into it himself, after Celebi gave him the hint.

"…plans are changing," Celebi said slowly. "Some things have been accelerated. Others have been slowed,"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Professor Oak asked, and Celebi sighed heavily, visibly sagging.

"I told you before. The future is always in flux; when you're told a prophecy or see the future, typically speaking you're peeking into a time stream that has not been decided yet. The job of a Celebi is to try and steer individuals and the world to a better future; a lot of times through these visions. I may show people a future so they run as far away from it as possible, or so they run towards it. Or simply as a warning. What you do with this information no one can influence, though. My role in this world is that of a messenger. A 'here is what you're heading towards from the choices you've made; here's how to make the most of it' kind of thing.

"That said, the future this world was barreling towards heedless of my warnings has been altered by the appearance of new players in this game for the future," Celebi said.

"Leo?" Oak asked, raising an eyebrow.

"And Victoria. And his friend Jack. And Lusamine, now that she's been freed. And Lance, and the Ultra Beasts…and YouTube," Celebi listed off. "But primarily Leo and Jack. Their actions and presences have allowed for certain players to be freed up, or moved around, or have accelerated events while extending the timeline for others. YouTube is responsible for that last one, by and large, though Leo is solely responsible for accelerating events in Alola," Celebi reasoned, no small amount of distaste in her tone when she was talking about YouTube.

"…so everything that you've been warning me about in Kanto?" Oak pressed.

"Has been pushed back. The war is still coming, but it is in flux now thanks to Victoria's efforts. It may be worse than thought, it may be not as bad. The issue comes from the timing. It won't start for a bit yet now, and the conflict will not be as…above-board and quick as we first thought," Celebi said. Professor Oak frowned and ran his thumb along his knuckles. That was…disheartening. He may have to push off Gary's journey for another year or two if the war is still going on by the time he comes of age in, what, two, three years now? He's a few months shy of twelve, so yeah.

Him and Ash, come to think of it. There's no way he'd let Delia's boy run off into a war-torn region on his own.

"Okay, I knew this already though. It's why I was planning on sending Gary to Alola to start his journey. But none of this explains what happened to Leo. Why did he get tossed into an Ultra Wormhole?" Oak asked.

"I can't say for sure. My sister in Alola is asking but Lunala isn't answering her calls, and Solgaleo is…being Solgaleo. I can tell you that he should be Ok? So long as we can regain contact with Lunala. Unfortunately this is outside of my jurisdiction, so my knowledge is limited. You'd have to ask Mother to know more," Celebi said slowly, shaking her head.

"Mother?" Oak asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes! I am a local Celebi, normally I stick to Johto. Other Celebi watch over other regions. Mother is the Queen Celebi of this hive; she watches the timestream of the entire world. You, uh, might be able to talk to her by going to the shrine in Ilex? That's where Leo met her," Celebi reasoned, buzzing about the shrine thoughtfully. Professor Oak scowled and rubbed his face with both hands, a deep whine rumbling out from Arcanine's chest as he shoved his face into Oak's side.

"Just…please tell me this wasn't fate, or destiny, or something like that," Oak said. "Tell me he'll be ok, that he'll make it back,"

"Destiny is the goal you choose for your life. Fate is the events that conspire to get you there," Celebi said cryptically. "Leo's fate is his own. His destiny too. There's other destinies that you need to be more concerned about. I have to run now though, bye!" And just like that the hyperactive psychic bee shot into the sky and vanished with a pop, disappearing from sight. Professor Oak furrowed his brows at that last, cryptic message, turning on his heel and heading back down the path once he was certain Celebi would not be returning.

He was lucky he got any answers at all out of that, even as his mind whirred. He'd been hoping for a more definitive response about Leo's fate; this just meant he'd have to focus even more on helping get everything pulled together. Focus efforts on finding Leo, and trying to recover him from Ultra Space.

His walk back was leisurely, Arcanine blurring off at random points to go chase a local Raticate, or to harass the Spearow population to keep them from forgetting that he was top dog, not them. As if they needed reminding, with his Dragonite roaming around.

It wasn't until he set foot back inside the lab that a sudden, terrible idea popped into his head. Gary wouldn't…would he? Celebi's final warning rung true in his head as he turned, half-prepared to call for Merri, only for the Alakazam to teleport in next to him. Impressed amusement radiated off of Merri as she floated there, not even bothering to ask before she teleported him in front of his wayward grandchild.

The wayward grandchild who had a backpack stuffed full of supplies on his back, his Rockruff's pokeball on his belt, and was hanging out on the docks just outside of Pallet town, a ticket for the ferry to Cinnabar in hand. Oak's eyes were immediately drawn to the black-haired young boy to Gary's left, small lighting-bolt like birthmarks on his cheeks and a Pichu sleeping in his nest of black hair –

Oak did a double-take at that. That couldn't be…could it? He knew Ash's starter was a Pikachu from when he met him when Oak was a kid – during a strange time travel event with Celebi. He couldn't have gotten him this early…could he? The topic never actually came up. Still, the Professor turned his attention away from Ash Ketchum as he scrambled back, the Pichu sparking in annoyance at the sudden disturbance.

"And where do you think you're going?" he asked calmly. That, more than anything, seemed to throw Gary off. His grandson gaped at Oak for a moment, then his expression twisted into a scowl.

"I'm going to help Leo!" he announced.

"Yeah!" Ash chirped in reply, and Professor Oak sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose. For as smart as Gary could be, he could be so incredibly stupid.

"And what was your plan? Ride the ferry all the way to Alola?" Oak asked rhetorically.

"Aunt Victoria will let me," Gary deflected, not because he didn't have a plan, Oak knew he did, but because he didn't want to let his grandfather know what said plan was.

"Victoria will physically kick you all the way back to Kanto," he muttered, knowing just how irritable the woman was right now. The past few days had been trying for her, and Oak is half surprised she hadn't run at the nearest legendary looking for a fight. Mew knows Oak had, when his daughter had died. "Back to the lab with you. You too, Ash – where did you even find that Pichu?"

"He fell off of a cliff a few days ago while I was out exploring with Rockruff. I caught him and he's stuck with me ever since," Ash defended, reaching up to grab at Pichu almost protectively and receiving a small electric shock in return. The boy winced and rubbed at his hand while Oak sighed, grabbing both of the boys by the collar before they could rush off, and Merri immediately teleported them away.

He stumbled a little as they reappeared back in the lab, Merri catching him with a gentle psychic force before he could tumble over. He ushered the boys off, confiscating their supplies but letting them keep their pokemon with them – a mistake, he knew, but he couldn't bring himself to take them away. Gary was surprisingly compliant during the whole process, which immediately alerted Oak that he was planning something else.

It would be…trying, keeping him away from Alola. Could he even?

He won't stop trying to get away. Already he's showing signs of turning himself dark like Leo – trying to block himself from my sight. Merri whispered in Oak's mind. The aging Professor sighed and looked at the ceiling, his thoughts abuzz.

Bad things happened. There was no stopping that, and no one could truly ever claim to know the future. Not even Celebi could accurately predict it. Gary was going to throw himself into that world whether he wished it or not – he had the stubborn bullheadedness of an Oak, and Leo's influence compounded that issue with a false sense of maturity and the knowledge of a survivalist. He could try to stop Gary. But eventually he would start his journey. That was the logical thing to do – he wasn't ready for a journey. Not yet.

But you could prepare him for it. Merri whispered, then teleported away. Oak sighed. That was true. And Ash would be a problem too, he was sure. The boy had far too much aura to have a normal fate; if most people were a candle, and Leo was a campfire or bonfire, then Ash was a wildfire. It was almost blinding to look at him with aura sight – and Oak knew the boy had some sort of relationship with legendary pokemon. There was no way he didn't.

The Professor put those thoughts aide in favor of looking through the files Lusamine had sent him about ultra wormholes, though the thoughts of Gary and Ash lingered in his mind. His cousin Samson ran a school over there, right?

Little did he know, he had already decided on what to do about the two. He just had to accept it.