Chapter Fourteen: Pandemonium

Hastily, Celeana readied her meagre collection of Pokeballs, fumbling with them as she tried to open the spheres.

Something she'd done in her dazed stupor had seemed to work—all of a sudden, there were two bright flashes of light, and the radiance dimmed down to reveal her Kirlia and Froakie standing in front of her, needing just a few seconds to survey the situation at hand before assuming a battle-ready pose.

Next to her, the silver-haired boy had let out his team, five Pokemon staring at him in silent obligation. She recognised four of them—the Larvesta, Vibrava, Milotic and Swellow, but the other member of his party was unfamiliar to her.

The creature was small and foxlike, slate-grey coat accented by red and jet-black, and he looked at her with his slanted teal eyes, the Pokemon's form relaxed and a state of utter calmness.

"A Zorua," Ryou confirmed. "I was in Unova for a short while when I was younger, and I managed to get him and my Larvesta while at it."

She nodded, uncertain of the meaning behind his words, and returned her attention to her two Pokemon waiting for her instructions.

"Froakie, W—Water Pulse." She had no idea about the various type match-ups, despite having read about it when she was younger—but she did know what her Pokemon's strongest moves were. "Kirlia, try a Confusion—I don't know if you've learnt Psybeam..."

Stop underestimating your Pokemon, the creature laughed in reply. Yes, I am not experienced with the move, but I am able to use it—I assure you that Psybeam's power far succeeds that of a meagre Confusion.

The blue-haired girl gave a sheepish nod, an embarrassed smile decorating her face. "Sorry, Kirlia." The Pokemon had become much more confident and maybe a little arrogant since she'd evolved, but that was a welcome change from the fragile Ralts that she once was.

The frog-like creature leapt into the air, a compact sphere of azure liquid churning in his arms, and he flung the Water Pulse towards the massive Legendary with all his might.

Following her partner's attack, Kirlia moved in silence, wasting a little time to twirl in a circle gracefully and showing off. She was serious, however—psychic energy gathered in an ovoid shape, transforming itself into a beam that was filled with several different hues.

Growling, the Dialga had felt the attack, and the Legendary roared, sending a deafening clap of sound rippling through the galaxy-like setting.

It spied the two Pokemon—almost midgets compared to the beast's massive frame—and glared, ruby eyes holding a look of clear annoyance.

"Well, the Dialga felt it," Celeana muttered, disappointed with how the Temporal Pokemon had reacted to her two strongest attacks. Then again, she was just a rookie, and a Coordinator at that—she couldn't have expected that much of her Pokemon. "Whether it did d—damage is the question."

Ryou shrugged. "There isn't much we can do against it," he reasoned, before calling his team of five Pokemon to come forward.

He issued commands to each of the creatures, but his strategy diverted a little from hers—instead of just telling them to use their strongest attack, he was clever enough to employ a little more in some of his Pokemon.

Larvesta was first, shooting a thick column of silky threads at his opponent to slow the Pokemon down, holding him in place as a Flame Burst hurtled towards the Dialga at an impressive speed.

His Vibrava—the Pokemon that Celeana assumed was the anchor of his team—she performed a Dragon Dance, flitting around in the air as a flaming aura surrounded it. The dragonfly-like creature then somersaulted, zooming closer before attacking with a harsh Steel Wind.

Milotic's support Aqua Ring and Light Screen shimmered around the entire team, and Swellow swooped in from time to time with a few powerful Aerial Aces. His Zorua wasn't the strongest Pokemon, but it worked well as a distraction. The little Dark-type giggled and sneered as he took the appearance of Pokemon after Pokemon, confusing the Dialga and vexing the Legendary even further.

"Guard up, guys." The silver-haired boy spoke with unusual seriousness, and he wasn't looking at Celeana even more—instead, his unwavering gaze was focused on his opponent with the intent to subdue.

The coordinator could just watch—she knew that her friend was a skilled trainer, and that he would be able to hold his own against the huge Legendary for at least a while, but she didn't know if he would be able to defeat the Dialga.

"Lend him some a—assistance." Celeana wasn't sure what the word assistance meant, but she'd heard Ryou use it once and she was pretty sure that she'd got the meaning right. "I know that both of you aren't used to battles, but at least support him with Water Pulse and Psybeam."

Her Pokemon obliged, but it was obvious to tell that they couldn't keep up the assault of attacks forever.

The Celebi in the girl's arms flew up, giving the carrot-haired child a reassuring look before attempting the join the fight.

Three question marks lit up around the Time Travel Pokemon, the Nasty Plot blazing a murky indigo as the ghostly afterimages merged themselves with the dual-typed Pokemon's tiny frame.

It then dived amidst the chaos, body lighting up in a pale, vivid shade of emerald. Celebi flung its hands outwards in an almost desperate gesture, several small orbs of chartreuse green floating towards the Dialga and shaping themselves into thick, scintillating vines that wrapped themselves around the Legendary's body.

"Giga Drain?" Ryou's attention flickered away from the battle for just a split-second, and his optics rested on the mythical creature figure in front of him. "That's a pretty strong move."

Despite the trainer's words, Dialga hadn't been defeated—yes, the Temporal Pokemon had weakened from the damage, but it wasn't down, and that was the main problem.

The Celebi's face contorted into a fearful frown, and she tried another approach. Her large cerulean eyes shone with a cyan gleam, and that same blue glow snaked around the beast's body, pinning Dialga to the spot and creating waves of psychic energy that pulsed through her opponent's frame.

Bellowing, the dual-typed Pokemon they'd been fighting stomped downwards, causing yet another quake to shake the nebula that they were standing in.

"Foolish humans." Dialga's voice was deep and ethereal, brimming with haughty wrath and deranged hatred. "Are you trying to defeat me by sending my subordinate into battle? The Time Traveller does absolutely nothing compared to the controller of Time itself!"

A long silence followed, as if every creature in the wide, never-ending space had been stunned to a halt, and Celebi sank to the ground, body paralysed in utter terror and wings stiffening too much to even keep itself afloat.

"Dialga..." Leaving the opponent to its rampage for a few moments, the mythical creature turned around, bowing its head in an apologetic fashion. "Dialga is right. As my superior, and the master of one of the oldest forces in existence, it is far more skilful than me—and all of us combined."

Following the Pokemon's sentence was a deafening crash, and everyone jerked their heads backwards to inspect the scene at hand.

The Temporal Pokemon reared, the cyan diamond etched in its chest lighting up in a glorious sapphire blaze and the metal, fin-like structures on its hind extending. The beast's mouth opened, and an inhuman scream escaped from deep within.

The display, however, was nothing compared to the blinding column of light that shot forth, pure white with a centre that was coloured with a bright lapis blue.

Sheer force caused the trio to be blown backwards ruthlessly, the impact rocketing against the entire galaxy and causing their surroundings to shatter and twist, as if they were being manipulated by some sort of unseen magic.

Celeana tried to fight against the attack, morals of cliched fairytales telling her to not give up, but Ryou gave a firm shake of his head, dragging her back and regarding her with a pensive look.

"I know you don't want to let the Dialga win," he mumbled. "But there's nothing we can do. You're as good as dead if you try to survive his Roar of Time."

The blue-haired coordinator struggled for a moment longer, unhappy with the justice that had been doled out, but the logical side of her head won and she found herself responding with a mute nod against her will.

With that, the spacial area around them splintered once more, the scenery breaking in an instant and revealing nothing but an empty vacuum of pure, hollow white that dragged them down.

All at once, the girl's feet ceased to travel, and as the ground beneath her simply vanished, the white around her was almost blinding, some unseen might dragging them downwards. Her vision blurred, stomach giving a nasty lurch as her head tilted towards downwards.

Panicking, Celeana flailed, landing her hands on the first thing she could—which happened to be the dark hood of Ryou's jacket. Instinctively, she wrapped one loose arm around the trainer's neck, not caring about how much she was flushing—there were more important things to worry about right now.

She clung on to the fabric as if it would decide her life—she was pretty sure it would—and buried her face in the thick material, willing to do anything to get rid of the terror pulling in her throat. 

The pale-haired boy twisted back, his face a picture of flustered embarrassment at the contact, but allowed the girl to remain.

Above them, Celebi was trying to use what little psychic powers she had mastered to keep them afloat, but it just succeeded in stemming their descent and having a visible effect on the small child above them.

The terrifying wait, however, was much shorter than their initial drop into this abstract future—and really, it was the one thing the coordinator could be grateful of.

• • •

"There's someone coming," Ryou commented, directing the group's attention to the far horizon. "Don't return your Pokemon yet."

Celeana strained her eyes, trying to make out the feminine figure making their way towards them. As much as she hoped that this mysterious human was on their side, it was likely that she was the one that would try to destroy the world this time.

Yet, when the girl came into view, standing several feet opposite them, she found several pairs of eyes—including that of humans and Pokemon alike—land on her.

And this attention was because of the teenaged female across them—with long, cerulean tresses whose exact shade matched her own and a figure and a set of clothes that replicated hers down to the tiniest detail.

Her eyes were closed, lids pressed together in a relaxed manner as a friendly, unassuming smile spread across her face—an image of harmless innocence.

Then, her eyes flickered open, and a pair of clear amethyst eyes stared back at them, the happy beam still plastered to her face.

The coordinator paled, her initial confusion giving way to a plethora of panic—she recognised those optics as the sly ones that had met her own, in the black void on the path to Verdanturf—the girl that had spoken to her with that chilling, emotionless tone.

Her mind went blank, the panic giving way to unrestrained hysteria that caught in her throat as a feline creature emerged from behind her replica.

The catlike Pokemon gave her a sinuous smile, flaming gaze particularly bright against their backdrop of yellow sclera. She had the same stature as Celeana had remembered—that overly saccharine, smug grin that always slithered its way to her face; the way each graceful movement was dragged out to an unnecessary extent.

"Hey there," Celeana's so-called clone spoke with warmth, but a colder undertone was cleverly intertwined with each word. "Meowstic, would you mind greeting them for me?"

It's no problem at all, the Psychic-type replied in that creamy tone of hers, pushing off with one leg and performing a fluid turn to face the trio head-on. I would be more than happy to obey your orders.

With that, she raised her short arms, a capsule of fizzling magenta surging into place at once. Then, with a swift flick of her clawed hand, she aimed the attack with utmost precision, shooting the large sphere of psychic energy towards them.

"What the—" Wasting a moment to shoot a confused glance at the coordinator, Ryou commanded his Zorua forward. "Shadow Ball, Zorua—now."

The small fox darted forward, a globe of darkness bursting from his fanged mouth, but despite the type advantage that the trainer had foresee, the Dark-type's attack wasn't quite able to do anything, only just managing to counter the huge ball of fiery power.

"Celeana?" Ryou's voice was firm—a tone which meant that she couldn't dare to escape. "What in Arceus is going on? How is this even related to you?"

"I—I don't know," the blue-haired trainer stumbled for words, the deafening thumps of her heart causing her ears to ring. "T—The Meowstic here...she was in my past, and...I..."

She paused—not because she was out of breath, but because her sinuses had overworked themselves and she didn't understand. She didn't know what was going on, nor was she completely aware of her "past"—she had just been eight at that time.

Fragmented pieces of confused sentences escaped her lips, much like how she'd heard the ginger-haired child behind her speak when they'd first met. "I don't remember! All I know was that I was hurt; I was scared, and..."

"That's not making sense," the boy replied urgently. "Celeana—"

Her name was the last word she could register before she heard a wily figure whisper in her mind—oh dear, how pathetic. You do need my help again, don't you?—before her vision started to shake like it was an unstable camera, splotches of black clouding her vision and seeping through her surroundings like dark ink.

When the girl's eyes opened once again, they were coloured amethyst.

• • •

Whoop, a new chapter. It's so happy, I know xDD *ducks to avoid flying Aegislash*

And things are getting angstier. Finally ;w; //throws confetti in the air ~ I have nothing much to say about this chapter?? Except that the ship moment was really badly written. As you can see, I have zero experience in writing romance. Oops.

dAMMIT CELEANA WHY ARE YOU THE MAIN CHARACTER I NEED MORE RYOU SCREENTIME >:(

Besides that, thank you SO MUCH for 2.8K reads and 387 votes! That's about a 300+ increase in reads :o My next goal is 402! :)

Critiques are most certainly welcome, and don't forget to read, vote and give your thoughts in the comments! Please be 100% honest!

~ nyxia ☆