The New Normal - 13-14

The New Normal – 13-14 – The Summoning

(Drake POV)

The Dragon Pulse flew forwards, but instead of shredding Cyrus in two, it suddenly froze in mid-air.

At first, Drake had thought that an invisible barrier was holding back his attack, but as he looked closer, he noticed that the very air around Cyrus was starting to twist and warp. The Dragon Pulse was not just blocked – it was caught and trapped within a space of endless nothing.

And then he realised something. It wasn’t just the Dragon Pulse that had stopped moving. In fact,  everything had stopped moving.

He tried to take a step forwards, but his leg refused to obey him. No, he was moving, but space itself denied him his movement. He felt his teeth grit as he willed for his leg to move, but no matter how much he struggled, he was completely frozen in place as the normal laws of the world suddenly refused to obey.

Worse, when he turned to look around, he realised that he was not the only one trapped. His Salamence, for all of its immense strength, was doing no better. No amount of raw strength would allow it to fight against the twisted laws of space.

His mouth opened as to report the current situation to the rest of the League, but no sound came out. The sound waves that was his voice couldn’t even travel far enough for him to hear himself.

He had been turned mute.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the growing dread in Lucian’s eyes as the man stared horrified at Cyrus and the glowing Red Chain that the madman had in his hands. That red glow ominously grew brighter and brighter, but they were all completely helpless to stop it.

And then it happened.

He didn’t know if his eyes were finally failing him after all these years, but he could have sworn that the space in front of Cyrus was suddenly ripped apart, and an otherworldly crack just began to tear itself through the fabric of reality. In his eyes, the image of Cyrus turned blurry as light seemed to bend in a manner that it should not, causing Cyrus’ figure to ripple and distort chaotically.

A large wave of overwhelming force suddenly erupted from where Cyrus was standing, causing the many pillars that were dotted around Spear Pillar to also began shaking violently – to the point where some were utterly ripped from their bases.

However, instead of falling over, some of them floated upwards into the air, while others fell sideways, and others remained standing despite no longer being connected to anything. Then, the sky itself was began to shatter as a spiderwebs of cracks somehow started to appear across the once blue sky until the crack grew so large that it ruptured into a large hole.

The Red Chain seemed to pulse once more, and Drake suddenly felt time itself freeze in place – before quickly resuming like nothing happened.

It was like he had just blinked and missed a second of time passing.

However, he wasn’t able to dwell on that fact for much longer as he watched in muted horror as space itself continued to be shattered and twisted around him. Before long, the view of Spear Pillar in front of him was no longer as it once was as the natural laws of the world refused to be applied to the area.

Then, he heard it. A single terrifying roar that seemed to echo unnaturally into his soul. It was so loud that he was sure that the entirety of Sinnoh would have heard it, if not the entire world.

“GAGYAGYAAH!”

A primal fear instantly enveloped him, as if he was now facing a being that should not be. Despite his years of hardened experience, just the sound of the roar itself caused his knees to buckle involuntarily, and he would have collapsed onto the ground if he was allowed to move. Just on the edges of his vision, he could see a flood of terror filling his Salamence’s face, and his once unstoppable starter looked like it wanted to do nothing but run away from here.

He was no different.

However, they were not afforded the luxury of retreat, and were forced to continue watching as another large hole began tearing itself open through the fabric of reality. 

A singular white and purple claw ripped itself through the hole, revealing a shoulder containing a pink and pearl crystal. That pink crystal then started to glow brightly, before a loud CRACK could be heard, and the sound of shattering glass soon followed.

Space instantly collapsed around it, and the distortion effect that had plagued Spear Pillar momentarily went away as the Legendary of Space forced itself into existence, responding and bound to the call of the Red Chain, which wrapped itself around the Legendary. Then it pulled itself to its full height, towering over everything as it turned its gaze on the world.

Palkia was here.

Drake’s breath was caught in his mouth as his eyes took in the full stature of the Legendary of Space, and the Red Chain that kept it bound to Cyrus’ control. However, he wasn’t even able to stare at the Legendary for more than a brief second before the Pressure that it emitted was so intense that it felt like an anvil was pressing down on his eyes. He was quickly forced to divert his eyes, his gut screaming at him that he would have been blinded had he chosen to stare further.

Instead, his eyes involuntarily moved towards Cyrus, where he noticed that the former CEO-turned-terrorist’s face contained none of the smug satisfaction or relief that he would have expected. Nor did it contain even a hint of sadism or megalomania. Instead, as he seemed to be immune to the distortions of space happening around him, he merely glanced at Palkia and performed a short nod, but there was no awe or even happiness in his expression.

He remained as blank faced as he always did, like the successful summoning and domination of a Legendary was nothing to him.

As much as it galled him to admit it, Drake knew that everyone here was at the mercy of the madman. With the control of one of the creation trio in his hands, and one that held dominion over space itself, there was absolutely nothing they could do at the moment. They were all forced to watch helplessly as Cyrus raised the Red Chain into the air again, seemingly about to give a command to his newly dominated Palkia to enact whatever maddened scheme ran through his insane mind.

…If only they had a way to break free from the prison of space that they were trapped in.

=============

(John’s POV)

As soon as I got the alert about Team Galactic’s attack at Mt. Coronet, I quickly saddled up on Port and flew there as quickly as possible, knowing that time was of the utmost essence. I prayed in my heart that the defenders of Spear Pillar would be able to hold the line, and that Cyrus would not be able to enact his plans.

However, even as I rushed over there on Port as quick as I could, I felt the summoning be completed before I even saw it. And the subsequent roar that echoed throughout the sky told me enough about what had just happened.

“GAGYAGYAAH!”

Instantly, Port let out a surprised shriek as he froze up in the air, his body instinctively jerking downwards as he unconsciously tried to land. I could feel the terror radiating out of him, his face turning into one of utmost dread, as if the very idea of flying towards the source of that bellowing roar was anathema to his survival instincts.

The rest of my team were no different, as I felt their Pokéballs rattle with fear as they too felt the aura of the being that was just unleashed.

The Jennys that accompanied me fared even worse, and the Staraptors fell into an uncontrolled panic as soon as they were blasted by that intimidating aura. Many Jennys were almost thrown off of their saddles as their Flying types flailed around in primal horror.

And I couldn’t even blame them. Even though I intellectually knew what kind of being that Cyrus intended to summon, it was a whole different experience actually enduring it in person. I clenched my shaking hands tightly as I forced my heart to settle down, and I wiped away the cold sweat that had formed on my brow.

‘No, John. You can’t run away.’ I repeated firmly to myself, trying to muster up all the determination and courage that I could to fight off the instinctive fear that coursed through my every bone, ‘This is a fight for the fate of the world. You have to stay strong.’

I don’t know how long had passed as I slowly forced away my fear and cowardice. But eventually, I managed to get enough of a grip of myself to help calm down my own Pokémon.

“…We need to be there, Port.” I said to him reassuringly, trying to project as much confidence as I could into my voice, “This is the fight we’ve been preparing for. We can’t wimp out now.”

“…Man…Mantine! Mantine!” He remained a little hesitant at first, but fortunately, he was able to gather his resolve.

I smiled proudly at him, thankful for his courage.

Therefore, with renewed determination, Port continued to fly forwards straight towards the source of that power. Unfortunately, the Jennys were taking a little longer to recover from the terror, so I went forwards without them.

There was no time to waste.

However, we didn’t get very far when I suddenly felt space shift around us, and all of a sudden we found ourselves ‘teleported’ back a small distance, as if the last few seconds of movement were somehow reversed. We kept trying to move forwards, with me even having Port try to fire off a few moves to break through whatever it was that was holding us back. Yet despite our best efforts, space itself seemed to deny us our movement as we failed to make any progress with making it to Spear Pillar.

Growling, I took out my phone and reported the situation to Cynthia.

“Cynthia, I’m not able to reach Spear Pillar.” I stated, “There’s this spatial phenomenon—”

“That’s preventing us from getting close, I know.” She snarled, “We highly suspect that the Legendary that Cyrus chose to summon was Palkia, which would explain the spatial distortion effects. But we can’t get any accurate reports as all communication from within Mt. Coronet have been cut off. We think that has something to do with the spatial distortion.”

“If we can’t get rid of this warped space, we won’t be able to stop Cyrus.”

I could hear the desperation and worry in her voice that leaked out of her usually confident persona. She knew she couldn’t express weakness as Champion of Sinnoh in a time like this, but the situation had spiralled completely out of control with Cyrus’ successful summoning of Palkia and the fact that we couldn’t actually reach him to stop him.

I wracked my head for ideas, but was coming up short. I had absolutely no idea what kind of Pokémon would be able to overpower Palkia’s dominion over space. It was, after all, THE Legendary of Space. Nothing could contest it in its domain. No Pokémon, no item, no invention.

But despite those hopeless thoughts, I refused to allow Cyrus to tear the world that I had come to love apart in his insane quest for nihility. I refused to allow all that I had accomplished fade away into ash and dust. I refused to allow Cyrus to tear me away from my friends and loved ones.

Raw, unfiltered, determination blazed through my eyes as I clenched my fists so tightly that it almost drew blood.

He would not win here. I had one last card to play.

“Cynthia.” I said, my tone completely even as the plan formed in my mind, “I need you to open up Snowpoint Temple for me. I think I know what to do.”

“…What does Snowpoint Temple have to do with this?” She asked, but I wasn’t done yet.

“Cynthia.” I said again, speaking with a tone of utmost seriousness, “Do you trust me?”

“I do.” She replied instantly and firmly, “I will always trust you, John."

Despite the surge of love and affection that ran through me as I heard those words, I knew that this wasn’t the time for it. “Then I’m going to need you to open up the Temple for me. And give me access to the three Plates.” I said.

“…I see.” She had likely figured out my intentions, “Was this the revelation that you felt earlier?...I suppose it doesn’t matter right now. Do it. I will help and deal with any consequences of your actions later. If you think this might be the key to dealing with Cyrus, then I am willing to authorise any measure. Collect the Plates and head to the Temple straight away, I’ll call ahead.”

“Thank you.” I replied, honoured by her trust in me, “I promise to not abuse your trust.”

“Just stop Cyrus for me.” She responded, before her tone fell into a small whisper, “…And John, take care. Stay safe.”

“…You too.” I replied affectionately.

Not needing to hear anything else, I immediately changed course and flew over to Celestic Town, where the three Plates were being kept. As I landed, I could see many of the residents running around in sheer panic – just like I did, they must have felt the sheer power radiating out from Palkia and knew what was coming. They ran around in fear, as if the world was ending.

And if we failed, then it might actually be true.

Shaking myself from those terrible and unneeded thoughts, I rushed over to where the Plates were being stored, ignoring the wide-eyed looks from the guards and scientists as they ushered me in. I knew many of them had a whole plethora of questions on the tip of their tongues, but they knew that this was not the time or the place to ask them. Instead, the scientists that recognised me all gave me firm nods, which I quickly returned before scooping up all three Plates and heading over to Snowpoint Temple.

I sprinted down to where the inactive Regigigas was, with all three Plates held tightly in my arms. But after a few minutes of tired sprinting, I finally stood in front of the Legendary Titan.

And then, it happened.

I felt my body stiffen up as the same foreign sensation from before suddenly enveloped my entire body once again. I could sense the small tendril of connection connect with my mind, poking around in my brain as if trying to ascertain my intentions.

Suspecting that this was Regigigas itself, I willed the idea of stopping Cyrus to the forefront of my mind as I fell to one knee in front of the Titan.

‘I ask of you, oh Legendary Titan. Grant us your strength.’ I pleaded to it in the confines of my mind, praying that my words would reach it, ‘A villain is seeking to destroy the world, and he has already subverted the power of a Legendary to accomplish his goals. The Legendary of Space under his control has proven too formidable for us to fight, so please, we need your help to stop him. We need your help to save the world.’

‘Regigigas, if you can hear me. Please, awaken from your long slumber, and bless us with your strength once more.’

I didn’t know how long I stayed in that position, kneeling in front of Regigigas as I was, but my thoughts remained entirely sincere as I prayed for its assistance. No other thought entered into my mind. In my earlier days, I had once bandied around the idea of capturing a Legendary into my team. Yet, in this current moment, none of those thoughts entered into my mind.

My only goal for awakening Regigigas was to stop Cyrus. Nothing more, nothing less.

I wasn’t sure if it could actually feel my resolve, but then, I felt the three Plates suddenly being pulled out from my arms. I opened my eyes to seem them all glowing brightly; the dotted lights on their ‘face’ all pulsing with blinding light as they began to float into the air.

The Plates began to circle around Regigigas, spinning around with ever increasing speed as the light being emitted from them grew to a fever pitch. They spun and spun and spun, until suddenly stopping entirely as the three Plates ‘stood’ upright.

It was there that the incredible happened. The Plates slowly began to expand and grow, with new material somehow manifesting from nothing. At first, small stumps appeared below them, made of Ice, Steel, and Rock respectively. Those stumps grew quickly into legs, and the same process happened for their arms. Their forms stretched until they towered over me, and their forms began to morph into the familiar sights that I was used to.

After a few seconds more, the three restored Regis stood in front of me.

Regice, Regirock, and Registeel, all looming over me in all of their resplendent glory as I continued to kneel in front of them.

Furthermore, I could sense the incredible amount of Ice/Rock/Steel energy that was leaking out from them, to the point where the ground that they were standing on was rapidly being transformed into their respective Types.

It was like the effect that their Plates had but far, far stronger.

I did my best to swallow whatever sense of awe that I felt being in the presence of the three Regis, and before I could say anything, Regirock stepped up to me, gazing down on me with its rocky gaze.

"ÜN ÜN ÜN ÜN ÜN ÜN"

Despite not understanding what Regirock was trying to tell me, I instinctively understood that it was testing me subconsciously. It stared at me for what felt like an eon, before its eyes flashed rapidly once more and it turned to its ‘brothers’. Then they turned around again, facing Regigigas as all of their eyes began to flash – communicating silently with the Legendary Titan.

That was when I sensed it.

The chamber containing started to rumble ominously, and that rumbling quickly turned into violent shaking as the gems on Regigigas’ body began to glow with intense light, lighting up the entire chamber in a gray, blue, and red hue.

A large crack suddenly spread out from beneath Regigigas, and it slowly began to raise its arms into the air – shaking off the moss that had grown on top of its long unused arms. Its legs then began to move, and it took a small step forwards. Despite the sluggishness of the action, the impact from that small step managed to unleash a powerful tremor was enough to knock me over and shatter several pillars that were supporting the Temple, unintentionally demonstrating the power that Regigigas wielded.

At this point, we had caused such a commotion that the Jennys that were guarding the entrance had come down to check out what was going on. I briefly saw the horrified and shocked expressions that were glued to their face as they saw the Legendary Titan come to life once more, but my attention remained locked onto Regigigas.

The Legendary Titan took another step forwards, causing another mini-Earthquake as it did, and it pulled itself to its full height, causing it to tower over even the other Regis. To my surprise, it turned its mighty gaze upon me, which caused my entire team to force themselves out of their Pokéballs as they stood next to me, presenting themselves to the Legendary Titan.

Seeing this, for the first time since I entered the room, I moved to join them, pulling myself off of my now-tired knees as I stood up straight. I stared deeply into the Titan’s eyes as I mustered all of the confidence and resolve that I felt.

“Regigigas. Please, help us.” Was all I said to it, knowing that it would be up to the will of the Legendary Titan now.

“Sla…king…” Tyrant also said from next to me, reinforcing my own words.

“…Zut…Zutt…“ It seemed to respond, and I could tell that there was still a hint of lethargy in its ‘voice’, which was likely the doing of Slow Start. But that lethargy was quick to leave as it slowly began to build up energy.

“ZUTT. ZUTT! ZUTT!!!”

It then arched its ‘head’ back, and raised its arms fully to the skies. The other three Regis mirrored the actions of their progenitor before they all unleashed an almighty roar.

““REGIIII!!!!””

Their combined roar was so powerful that it literally released an enormous wave of force that managed to tear out the roof of Snowpoint Temple. Not only that, but I felt the floor itself also rapidly starting to rise, as if Regigigas was ripping out its own chamber from the ground itself.

Somehow, I didn’t turn deaf from that.

Tyrant swiftly moved to cover me as loose rocks began falling from the ceiling. The Jennys that had come down to see what was going on also quickly released their own Pokémon to protect them from the falling debris. However, instead of falling to the ground, the rocks all were absorbed into Regirock, like they were being magnetically pulled towards the Regi.

I didn’t have time to dwell on that as I found myself in the freezing, snow-covered plains of Snowpoint City once more. I barely heard the questioning shouts from the many other Jennys that had now come to investigate what was going on, and as always, my attention remained firmly on the Legendary Titan.

Regigigas was staring in the direction of Spear Pillar, likely able to sense the power that Palkia was emitting even all the way here. I didn’t know what it was thinking, but all I knew was that when it turned its almighty gaze back onto me, I somehow could feel the approval in its eyes as it stared at me.

That approval told me all I needed to know. It would be our ally. I was not in command of it, but I would be fighting alongside it.

That was enough.

Before I could even express my thanks, Regigigas abruptly launched itself into the air, with the three Regis following after it as they all propelled themselves towards Spear Pillar. Shaking myself out of my shock, I quickly returned my entire team and set off after the Regis, feeling a sense of renewed hope and conviction return to me as I flew alongside them.

With Regigigas by my side, it was time to bring the fight to Cyrus.

A.N. Regigigas finally awakens and is now on course for a fight between itself and Palkia! I’ve had this moment engraved into my mind ever since I figured out how I wanted to end the Team Galactic plotline – it has literally been in my mind for months now. It had been my intention from the very beginning to have Regigigas clash with Palkia, and for John to be allied alongside it. I am very happy to be finally able to write this scene for you all, and I really, really hope you enjoyed it!

Oh, and for those curious about what those roars were from Palkia and Regigigas, those were written as their roars were written in the games. Also, I wonder if anyone caught that the summoning of Dialga had actually failed. Again, thanks for reading!