Sun. Sky. Warmth. Light. It was approaching winter, and yet somehow even the bitter cold felt warm in the afternoon daytime. Because it was the first time many of them had truly been able to experience daytime at all.
It didn't matter that it was just outside of a collapsed cave. It had once been Owen's home. Yet, that history was small compared to the feeling of freedom and proper air on their real scales and living bodies.
It was different. It was something Owen hadn't realized he missed. This whole time, when he'd visited the living world for however brief it had been, they were shielded by the light crystals. Their bodies could not stand living beyond a Dungeon, let alone in the world itself. They were not "alive."
But that also shielded them from the pleasant elements. They never truly felt the sun. What they felt from within the Voidlands was a sad echo of what they had been torn away from. But with Xerneas' blessing, with that final power to push them back to living, Owen finally felt the sun again.
He cried. He didn't sniffle or sob, but the overwhelming sensation of warm stone under his feet and fresh air over his belly was too much. He went to his knees, felt the little pebbles. Then he wandered just outside the remains of the cave and touched the grass and the dirt, fascinated by that familiar sensation of green blades along his scales. He dug his claws into dry soil and marveled at the healthy, firm roots that clung to the earth and refused to let go. He laughed at that valiant effort and let it stay.
The others were reacting in their own ways. Mispy was stretching her sharp flower petals and plunging her vines like roots into the soil, basking without a care. Demitri was hugging the ground like an old friend, spreading himself to absorb more of the sun. Gahi had taken to the skies, flipping through clouds high, high up with whoops and hollers.
They were alive.
Next, he checked on Zena, who had also been freed of the Voidlands' bonds. The sea serpent had coiled around a warm rock to enjoy it in some basic, instinctual way. When their eyes met, she jolted and tried to look regal.
"I, er—"
"It's so warm," Owen said.
"Oh, it... yes. It is. I'm... not sure why I..." She relaxed her stance, less graceful. Owen smiled at that, and she smiled more.
"I could just stay here forever," Owen said, falling onto his back to stare at a partly cloudy sky. Delicate wisps of cotton across a perfectly blue canvas.
"We do still have work to do," Zena admitted. "I don't want to lounge around all day when we could be doing something productive..." But despite this, she made no gesture to give the warm rock some space. And Owen couldn't blame her, not when he was using the grassy hill as an infinite bed.
"Goodness..." Lucario took a long, long breath, stretching his limbs, soaking the sun. "Eons, so many eons it must have been... Well, perhaps not literally. From studying the calendar, it had only been a thousand years or so..."
That pang returned, that strange dissonance of staring at 'Rhys' yet knowing it wasn't actually him. Owen still didn't know if the others could tell or not.
They had been part of the second wave to emerge from the Voidlands. Jerry, Eon, the Trio of Mind, and Jirachi had gone ahead to Kilo Village to see if they could use their powers with Jerry's guidance on the area to help rebuild quickly. That left Team Alloy, Zena, and their mentor to investigate Hot Spot.
"Hey, Rhys!" Demitri called, sitting up. "Are we ready to go through Hot Spot and, um, recover a few things?"
"Recover?" Lucario asked. "Ahh! Of course. It may be in ruins, but there is still certainly a chance to rebuild. Some Rock users can certainly help with the cavern reconstruction..."
"Should we wait for anybody else?" Owen piped up. "I mean, you know, since Xerneas is probably reviving more of us..."
"From what I understand, Xerneas will need time to revive more of us," Lucario explained. "Unfortunately, even though he has been made whole, he spent a great deal of time as a Void Titan. His powers are diminished."
"Do you know when they'll be back in full force?" Owen asked. They all faced the entrance to the cave—one of the few spots that hadn't collapsed into itself—and began to walk.
"Don't know," Lucario said. "This is unprecedented. We've never been 'fallen gods' on the road to recovery. I can barely do anything timewise. I'm sure artifacts from my being are more powerful than I am at the moment." He paused. "Oh, that reminds me, do I have permission to kill Nevren later?"
"Uh, I, uh..." Owen blinked. He said it so nonchalantly... "What?"
"Nevren. He's Palkia's other half, you see, and he's quite evil. I'd rather Palkia be the dominant personality, even if he's a little misguided at times." Lucario hummed, nodding.
"I mean, that still sounds like it might be a problem," Demitri said. "Rhys died, but you're still here, after all."
Mispy's expression darkened. She avoided looking at anyone. But she happened to look at Owen, who must have shared the same grave expression because she winced.
"Ah." Lucario continued to walk ahead. "Well, yes. But, I do think... in certain circumstances, it's... There are, ah..."
Gahi's antennae twitched. Owen avoided looking at anyone.
"We should trust what he's saying," Owen explained quickly. "There must be a way to, uh, make sure Nevren doesn't cause even more trouble when he reunites with Palkia, that's all."
Lucario gave a thankful nod to Owen before continuing into the caverns. By now, he had to hop and skip over a few rocks and stones that had been part of the complex. Sunlight shined through large cracks in the ceiling of the cave. Those who were more soft-footed had to be careful where they stepped.
Owen had to admit, silently, that even the uncomfortable walking and wading through their old home's remnants was better than the Voidlands.
"It's all ruined..." Demitri fidgeted with his claws, head low. "I know we only spent a few months in there, but it's still hard to accept that it's all gone..."
"It's not all gone," Gahi said. "We c'n rebuild it, easy! Especially now that it ain't all shrouded in evil anymore!"
Mispy glanced at the sky, where there was still a tear in reality that led to the Voidlands. "Mm..."
"Bah, yer all pessimistic" Gahi stretched his wings and sped forward, which in turn made everyone else try to pick up the pace.
"I wonder if my tub-bed is still intact," Zena mused aloud. "Owen, would you like to check?"
"Yeah, and then after we can see—"
Demitri let out a shriek of terror. Everyone immediately entered a battle stance and rushed over to him, only to find that he was staring at a beheaded stone copy of himself, the head settled nearby and cracked in a few places. "W-w-w-wh... what... h-happened? That's... me?! Is this a threat?!"
"Oh, it's your old body," Owen hummed.
"Don't sound so nonchalant!" Demitri said. "That's... me! I'm... I'm dead?! I thought Xerneas..."
"Demitri, Xerneas made a new body for you," Owen said. "The Voidlands is a place where the living and dead are, like, interchangeable. I think what happened was, when we were attacked in Hot Spot... Dark Matter must have stolen our spirits, and our bodies... turned into this."
"Lifeless stone..." Mispy approached the statue of Demitri, but then peered over it and stared into where the head had been.
"Mispy?" Demitri asked. "Something wrong?"
"Detailed," she commented.
Zena was looking at Owen now, expectant.
"Uh, yeah." Owen rubbed the back of his head. "It's his body turned to stone. All of it. Guess it kept everything inside the same, too."
"Could be useful," Mispy explained.
"Useful how?" Zena asked.
"Oh, you're right, it could be useful," Lucario commented. "If you're careful enough, you could chip away at the outer layer and study the—"
"I don't," Demitri interjected, "think I want to hear this. It's weird. And creepy."
He couldn't stop looking at his own statue, so Mispy picked him up and advanced through the caves.
Gahi gave Lucario a disapproving look. "I'd expect that from Nevren, not you."
"Ah." Lucario winced and bowed his head. "Sorry. Voidlands insensitivities, I suppose."
Owen gave Lucario an uneasy look, but then went ahead with Mispy. Zena followed closely behind, searching for her old home.
After a few more minutes of walking, Mispy looked distracted by something else. She glanced occasionally back at Lucario, but said nothing and nudged Demitri.
"Huh? Oh." Demitri nodded. "Hey, everyone? Mispy and I are going ahead to check something. We'll catch up with you guys later, alright?"
"Not gonna come with us to Rhys' old place?" Gahi asked. "We're pretty close to it, what's goin' on that way?"
Demitri shrugged. "Mispy senses something that she wants to check on. It's safe around here, right? The Dungeon part is further in?"
"Wait, there's a Dungeon?" Gahi asked.
Mispy looked unsurprised but still disappointed. Owen sighed; they should have figured Gahi hadn't paid attention during the briefing.
"Just meet us soon," Owen said, nodding at the pair.
Lucario nodded in approval. "Right. And I believe your old home is not far from here."
With Demitri and Mispy splitting off, the rest of Team Alloy and Lucario continued down the ruined pathways. All they needed now were the Fire Spirits, but Amia was still in the revival queue for her to be there.
Maybe, Owen thought idly, he could clean up their old place as part of the recovery process and use that as a pleasant surprise.
"Found it!" Gahi called, zipping toward them again and gesturing ahead.
Finally, their old home. To Owen, it was still foreign aside from when he had spent some time visiting. To the rest of Team Alloy, it was where they'd lived once before, and where they'd returned to during this whole Guardian business. The same format they'd always enjoyed.
There was an empty room for Demitri and Mispy; Rhys' overfilled room of hoarded trinkets and memories; Gahi's sand pit; the storage room, which was probably going to be desperate for a cleaning; and, of course, the kitchen and living area they'd just entered, miraculously untouched and unharmed.
It was all still there. For once, Gahi was moving slowly, opening a few cupboards gently to marvel at the intact cups and bowls. He ran his claws over some of them, mumbling about dust. Then, he went into his room and called Lucario over.
"Oi, Rhys!"
Lucario was frowning at the cupboard, pulling out a bowl and blowing into it. "Time has not been kind to these."
"Rhys!" Gahi called again.
Lucario raised his head, as if reminded of something. "Ah! Yes, Gahi?"
There was an uncomfortable silence as Gahi grew suspicious. Owen held his breath. Zena must have picked up on it, because she subtly slid closer to Owen.
"...Wanna check my room?" Gahi asked, enthusiasm wavering. "Figure it looks nice'n all, was thinkin' about makin' a bigger sand pit er somethin'."
"Ah, of course." Lucario nodded. "Well, certainly. Better sand. You know, sand is sometimes used as a symbol for the constant march of time. Hourglasses, erosion, eternity... I do like sand."
"Ehhh sure." Gahi's enthusiasm was visibly eroding.
Lucario started to advance again, but then Gahi spoke up. "Hey, so... eh, yer really... Rhys, right?"
"I'm sorry?"
"Yer actin' different. Real different. Y'got his voice an' his body, but it ain't..."
"Ah, well... yes, you may call me Rhys."
"How come yer phrasin' it that way, though?" Gahi asked. "Yer all... weird."
"Gahi, uh," Owen said, "maybe it's because he's... not... He's still out of it." Was he supposed to lie about this? He glanced at Zena for the answer, but she looked just as conflicted.
And the silence that followed felt too tense for Owen to even breathe.
Gahi's antennae twitched. Owen could sense the tension rising in the Flygon's chest, nearing some kind of fight or flight response.
"It's been quite a few days," Lucario explained. "I assure you, I'm... I have Rhys' memories. The same soul, the same spirit. Just, as you know, I'm also Dialga, now. And my mortal body had been that of a Lucario, hence why I'm able to take this form."
"Then," Zena said cautiously, "is there a reason that you speak... so distantly about Rhys? You can't even say that you are Rhys. But you must be."
Owen's expression darkened as he looked away. Well, I'm not really Wishkeeper anymore, even if I have his memories.
Lucario let out a little sigh and brought his hands behind his back like he didn't know what to do with them. "I apologize," he said. "It's quite a lot of memories to sort through."
"Whose?" Zena asked.
"Wh'd'you mean, whose?" Gahi protested the very concept. "This's Rhys! Right? Rhys? Pops?"
Owen couldn't see the expression Rhys gave Gahi just then from where he was standing, the subtleties of whatever color or shine might have been in the Lucario's eyes. Even with Perceive, he wondered if he could truly see whatever it was that made Gahi's wings droop and his expression fall. Like he'd been awash with tar right where he stood.
"Rhys?" he asked again. "How come... how come you don't react to the name anymore? That's yer name... it's..."
"I need time, Gahi," Lucario replied placatingly. "Everything is going to be fine."
But the damage was already done, and Gahi wasn't going to be forgetting it any time soon. Owen saw that pain in his eyes. He looked away, teeth pressed gently against his tongue. The weight of the realization was starting to crash over Owen, too. Rhys was standing right there, and yet he was so, so far away. Same body, same memories, even the same very soul, and yet he was gone. Forever.
Why? How was this even happening? Why did he have to be Dialga?
Why couldn't Dialga just let Rhys exist?
That simple, selfish thought crossed his mind only briefly. The scared little breath that followed was when Owen realized how Eon must have felt. Eon may not have remembered his life as Wishkeeper, yet his fragmented mind had done everything in its power to restore Owen to something he 'remembered.' Owen wondered, if he had the means, would he have seriously entertained the idea of trying the same to Dialga... just to see Rhys again?
In that moment, Owen wasn't sure of the answer. But in the moments that followed, he knew, with all the knowledge he had now, he would never follow through with it.
Instead, he had to help Gahi manage his grief. They were out of the Voidlands, but the damage it caused would not leave them.
"What a mess!" Lucario exclaimed.
Owen jumped—had he been lost in thought all that time? He scanned around to see that Gahi had been pacing uncomfortably around the halls, while Lucario had wandered into his old room. Despite having the memories of the place, he seemed startled by what had happened.
The sad part was it didn't look so bad compared to what Owen remembered.
"Well, this just won't do," Lucario muttered as he set right to work. He looked through a few busted objects and frowned at them, waving his hand before forming what seemed to be a waste bin made of cyan aura. He tossed several objects on the shelf into it with little hesitation.
"What're you doin'?" Gahi asked, wings perking up again.
"I'm cleaning up?" Lucario said with bafflement. "I can't believe what this mess looks like. How very distorted was—"
"Stop that," Gahi said. "What're you gettin' at?"
"What?" Lucario paused, but only so he could stare at Gahi. "Surely you'd be glad for this. It must be such a mess."
"That ain't... that ain't right."
"Gahi..." Owen wanted to reach out, but his arms didn't move. It was a mess. Rhys had a problem with throwing things away. A lot of problems with that sort of thing, with how much of a mess his room was. This was an improvement.
But... Owen knew Gahi didn't see it that way.
"Wait, how about that, why're you tossin' that?!" Gahi protested when Rhys picked up a busted, failed technology of Nevren's, some kind of bracelet.
"It's unusable. Junk. No use having it." It rumbled as it was tossed with more trash that Owen, admittedly, couldn't recognize or discern the use of.
Lucario reached for another on the shelf, but by now Gahi had stepped into the room to look through the trash.
"Rhys loved this!" Gahi said, holding up a beaten-up looking doll with smudges and stains on it from the many years it had endured.
"It's filthy. I'll get another if I must."
"They don't sell'm anymore, this is old! Y'gotta keep it."
"Well, perhaps it's from a time gone by," Lucario dismissed. "If I keep everything from that long ago, this room would be hopelessly overfilled."
"But this one is important," Gahi said, enunciating and speaking carefully, like that would somehow make Lucario hear him more clearly.
"All right. If that's what you insist, I'll consider it. But please, let me continue cleaning. Surely there are other things you can do?"
Lucario gave Gahi an apologetic look, but Gahi only shook his head and stepped back again, watching intently.
More trash got thrown away. Rhys' old room began looking unrecognizably tidy. He had to go out a few times to place the aura bags somewhere else before conjuring a new one.
But then Rhys picked up the letters. The letters Elder had sent to him for years and years.
"What?" Gahi said. "What're you—"
He tossed them all into the bin.
Owen wasn't sure if it was that action alone, or if it was the final straw, but something switched in Gahi's mind just then. Owen wondered if he would even need Perceive to have sensed it. Regardless, he wasn't fast enough to react to Gahi, who grabbed him by the neck and slammed him into the wall.
Rather than look hurt, Lucario seemed only stunned and confused.
"Who are you?!" Gahi demanded.
Lucario stared back, a calm frown growing on his face. "Right," he said. "I'll... have to talk about this now, I suppose."
There was a strange, blue aura, but a different color than what Owen was used to. Lucario raised his paw...
<><><>
Demitri went down the ruins with a sad sense of nostalgia. He occasionally bumped against Mispy, if only to remind himself that she was still there, while carefully inspecting the walls for signs of Void Shadows he knew rationally were not there.
But this had been there they were originally claimed. Where he'd been turned to stone and plunged into the Voidlands. This wasn't even his own body. It was a 'new' body forged by Xerneas. His old body was still petrified. Forever. The very organs were still there. His old... his old brain was probably still in there, to, wasn't it? Was he the same person? Gods, was this how Ax and the others felt?
Something wet snapped around his shoulder and Demitri jumped. "Oh, M-Mispy..." It was just one of her vines, which had opened and nibbled on him.
"It's okay," Mispy said. Her voice came a lot easier when it was just the two of them, barely a stutter to be heard. "We're alive. Remember?"
"Yeah. Just trying to get used to it," Demitri said. "We're still us, right? E-even if our bodies are..."
"We are." Mispy nodded. "Don't think too hard about it. We are."
"Okay." That was all he needed for now. He could sort out how that all worked later. "Thanks, Mispy. By the skies, it's been so long since we've had the chance to just be alone together." Living space was so cramped back in Null Village. Now? Demitri almost felt aimless. What were they supposed to do anymore? Gather power?
No, that was true. Gather power, sure, but more specifically they had to get Owen back from Alexander. Everything else was secondary.
But for now, they had to wait for everyone to recover their Legendary strength. And that meant... he and Mesprit would have to reunite.
A second vine wrapped around Demitri and pulled him close into a tight embrace. Mispy nuzzled him just under the chin, and he sighed, giving in.
"I'm sorry," Demitri said. "I'm just all worked up over everything again, aren't I?"
"Just a little." She nipped him on the snout and continued ahead. "It's a lot... huh?"
"A lot a lot," Demitri agreed. "In some ways, I hope Mesprit can have a better handle on it. Do you think he and Uxie are close? That'll make this a lot easier..."
"I think so. Little ways. So..."
"We'll still be together. That's my biggest worry, um, actually. If that's how it works..."
Mispy smiled, but her eyes seemed sad. Demitri wondered if she was scared, too. No, she had to be. But it would be alright, right?
But before they could talk more, Mispy's antennae twitched. The Meganium glanced ahead and frowned, as if confused.
"Mispy?"
"Mn." She advanced, so Demitri stumbled after her, nearly tripping over her vines.
"What do you see?"
She suddenly gasped, staring at the ground. Through the ground, in a way. She spun around and grabbed Demitri, planting him on her back. "I'll explain on the way," she said, crawling as fast as she could back to the others.
<><><>
"Gh—" Gahi had tried to throw Rhys, but the moment he tried, the Lucario just disappeared! How did that work? He was supposed to be the fastest Pokémon on the team, not Rhys!
Growling, Gahi scanned the room and some sixth sense felt the presence of a mind behind him. He swung around, only to see that Rhys was standing right there, holding both arms up placatingly. "Please, Gahi. Let's talk this out."
"Talk it out," Gahi snarled back. "Who're you supposed ter be?! Owen, use yer Perceive, he—"
But Owen was standing completely still, reaching toward where he and Rhys had been seconds earlier. He wasn't even blinking. In fact... his flame. Even his flame was frozen in place. Next to Owen was Zena, out of the way of the entrance, a disappointed frown eternally on her face.
"Whuh?" Gahi breathed out, but then glared at Rhys again. "What'd y'do?!"
"They are fine," Rhys said. "I stopped time. Your, er, old commander, Eon, had a similar power. I granted a weaker version of it to him, and a different sort of power to Nevren, long ago as a sort of... kinship. A gesture of trust. Which, of course, had been betrayed later, but I digress..."
"Y-yeah. Dialga, right." Gahi's tail flicked, mind buzzing with thoughts that felt foreign. Calming little thoughts that he tried to tune out and ignore. It was probably the weird-talking letters in his Psychic Orb again. He didn't need their advice. "Yer Dialga, but yer still Rhys. So what gives?! Why're you so... different!?"
"Gahi..." Rhys reached out helplessly, but then let the arm fall. "I... I'm sure you've had... experiences in the past where you knew someone, and then perhaps spent a long time away from them. When you meet them again, they seem so different. Has that ever happened to you?"
"I dunno," Gahi replied honestly. "Kinda don't remember a whole lot. It's all scrambled so I just live in th' moment, y'know?"
"Live in the moment." Rhys gave him an odd smile that Gahi didn't understand. "Oh, to live in the moment. I think that's quite against how I am, in some ways. By my very nature."
The tension was building in Gahi's chest again, but in that silence, Rhys began to pick up trash. Every time he touched something, time seemed to flow again for that material.
Gahi wondered if Rhys had done the same thing for him, for the air, some other strange time magic that kept everything from being broken apart from the forces at play. Things that Owen would have probably spent kilos trying to explain to him, and Mispy giving up explaining the same after the first sentence.
"You use that body like it's all second nature t'you."
"Well, it is," Rhys admitted. "The body you see now is my mortal form. Temporary. Compact, too, so I can actually fit in this cave. I suppose if we had a talk with Willow, she would have also been able to help, but..."
He didn't like the way 'Rhys' talked. Was this why Owen seemed so distracted? Why Demitri seemed close to crying the whole walk?
"But y'got his voice, an' his fur, an' his fightin' style," Gahi said. "Y'got time magic now, sure, but..." His chest felt tight as it slowly sank in that the odd feeling he had... was the fact that he was looking at Rhys, but who he was talking to was not 'Rhys.'
And as this foreign Lucario stood up and gathered more of the letters, stacking them into another bin made of aura for trash, for discarded trash, Gahi asked one last time, "Can't y'keep just one letter?"
"Gahi..." He gave the Flygon an apologetic smile. And just then, it seemed the pause on time had come to an end. Owen and the others were moving again, looking briefly startled because, if he had to guess, everything had probably jumped, and the room was suddenly a lot cleaner.
"Uh—what happened? Did I zone out?" Owen asked.
"No, I believe I had a lapse as well," Zena said. "Gahi? Rhys? Are, er, are you... making up?"
Gahi's eyes felt hot. His jaw clenched. "He's... n-not Rhys," he said. "He's... not Rhys..."
And the look, the look that Owen just gave him. That bright, sad pity in his eyes. Gahi couldn't take it. For an irrational instant, he hated Owen because it was obvious they all knew, and he was the last to find out. Always the slowest one to catch on, as usual. The slowest to realize that Rhys was dead. The slowest to realize that it was just a body Dialga was controlling to make him ignorant.
All lies.
The Lucario was about to say something, but Gahi didn't want any of it. His wings and legs and all of his energy was singularly focused on getting away, away, away. Gahi became a blur, everything was a blur, as he sped past Owen, past their home, past Hot Spot, into the sky.
And he screamed for anyone who could hear.
<><><>
Mispy had seen Gahi depart, but she didn't have to see him to feel the massive waves of passion coming from his aura. So much pain.
"I think he found out," Demitri said sadly, leaning against Mispy's back while riding her. "Oh, Gahi... I should have told him..."
"It's okay." They could talk to him later. First, they had to tell the others about what they'd just found deeper in the ruins. "Call them," she whispered.
"Oh, right. Um, hey, guys!" Demitri called. "We kinda found something you need to see!"
Zena, Owen, and Lucario emerged from the caverns, all three looking different kinds of solemn. Zena, pensive; Owen, concerned; Lucario, guilty, and a tinge of pity.
"Uh, so it's... further down in the... Is everything okay?" Demitri gestured toward them.
"Gahi is coping," Lucario said with a sad nod. "I'd like us to reach him, but, ironically, he is the only one with wings out of all of us, and I do not think he would appreciate speaking to me if I flew after him."
"Ah. Well. Wait—can't you two fly?" Demitri looked at Zena and Owen.
"Oh, yeah, I can..." Owen tapped his chin. "I keep forgetting that. But he's also really, uh, fast. I wouldn't be able to catch up to him if he doesn't want to talk, and if he's not here..."
"Not necessarily," Demitri said. "He might have just panicked and left, and maybe now he doesn't know how to come back."
Mispy nodded along. She hadn't considered it, but that seemed very likely, knowing Gahi. Maybe now he was trying to think of a way to save face.
Still, that could wait. He would return when he wanted, and as stupid as Gahi could be, Mispy doubted he would be stupid enough to flee and never be seen again. He needed time, and for now Kilo was safe.
"Let's be fast about this," Owen said to Mispy. "Can you take us there? What is it?"
"I think you'll want to see it instead of us just telling you," Demitri said. "Mispy?"
"Mn." She led the group down Hot Spot again, and the team made occasional glances back to see what Gahi was doing. He had stopped flying some time ago, but Mispy could sense his presence nearby on the ground, emotions still running high. In some ways, she was glad that Demitri couldn't sense auras, too. It would surely be too much for him to handle.
Occasionally, Mispy stole a glance or two in Rhys' direction. Or... no, it wasn't Rhys, Mispy reminded herself, staring at the body of who had once been her mentor. It was Dialga, who was once Rhys, who was now taking on his mortal form. Someone similar, yet so very different, despite having the same exact aura. Just stronger. Stable. Those little imperfections in Rhys that had been so familiar to Mispy weren't there anymore.
Why did she miss those? They'd always been so unsightly.
"Mispy?" Lucario asked. "Are you alright? I... am sorry if I am doing something to offend you."
Mispy's throat locked up, and she only shook her head and picked up the pace. Only after a minute did she allow herself to breathe normally again. Demitri put a hand to her back and pressed. That calmed her.
Then, she felt it just ahead, but that in itself wasn't right. It had been underground...
Just around the corner was a dim cyan glow, characteristic of aura energy. She glanced warily at Lucario, who had a knowing, tense look on his face.
That confirmed it.
"Here," Demitri said. "It's... right there."
Owen stopped. Zena gasped, ribbons over her mouth, as she stared first at Lucario, and then at the aura in front of them.
Because aside from the colors, it was like seeing double. Standing before them, made entirely of solid aura, was another Lucario, with matted fur and a serious expression.
It was all that remained of Rhys.
"What... what is that?" Owen asked, taking a shaking step forward. "Rhys? But he's..."
Mispy remembered, though. She remembered fighting something like this before they'd fallen into the Voidlands. She wished she could explain it to them, who seemed to have forgotten this technique Rhys had been capable of.
"Ahh... now I remember," Lucario lied. "Yes. I had spent a lot of time looking into the ways to manipulate aura and the power that flows through all Pokémon. It got to the point where I was able to channel all of my energy... into something solid to pass along to others. The best way to open those channels... was through battle, and to have that power funnel into them with each blow.
"I knew that my time was at an end when facing Dark Matter. Knowing that if I lost in some terrible way, Dark Matter would try to gain my power for himself, I had taken nearly everything I had and plunged it into the earth, dormant, waiting for a time when it would be safe again. That time is now."
He nodded, sighing. "Owen," Lucario said. "Out of all of us... you need that power the most."
"What?" Owen asked. "Wh-what do you mean?"
A cold sense of dread washed over Mispy's back. And at the same time, that autonomous aura copy of Rhys entered a mindless, practiced battle stance.
Owen had to kill what remained of Rhys.