Chapter Forty-Six: Sphere Pillar



Terra's POV



Bad news: Team Rocket has gotten there before us.



Worse news: Someone else has gotten there before Team Rocket.



It's those cultists, the ones Celebi called Larry and Sho. They've marked off one of their chalk circles right in front of the cave entrance. And they don't seem to care that three Rockets are staring them down in a confrontational manner.



Me, Cyan, and the others quickly duck behind some large rocks to watch what happens. By now I've learned how to extrapolate the strange hairdos in this world to match the characters I know from mine. Two of the Rockets are Attila and Hun, which interests me because I've always kind of wondered what gender Hun really is. The third is our old friend Hitoshi, who looks pretty pissed off that a pair of nobodies are standing in his way.



"You will leave this sacred ground immediately!" Sho says. "Or face the wrath of the Arms of Phancero!"



"Um, arms?" Larry says nervously. "Phancero is a bird. It doesn't have arms."



"That's the point of us being its arms!" Sho says.



"Are you still mad at me because I lost the Weepinduo?" Larry asks nervously.



"What in ol does that have to do with anything?" Sho asks. "Just shut up, before I take your voice!"



Hitoshi turns towards Attila and Hun. "Are we gonna let them sass us like this? We're Team Rocket! Whatever we say goes!"



Hun shrugs. "Steelix, move these annoyances aside," they say, pulling out a Poke Ball and releasing its contents.



An enormous Steelix now looms over the cultists. Sho and Larry don't seem perturbed. Sho takes a position that looks like some kung fu pose, raising his staff to the heavens. It's the same staff from before, made of red wood in the shape of a Charizard's head and wings.



The staff begins to glow.



The staff begins to change.



The red wood flares into a brilliant orange. The wings extend and start to flutter. The blank eyes open and glow, fire flickering from the now-open mouth. Where once there was a staff, now there stands a serpent, if 'stands' is the right word for something without legs.



"Quetzalcoatl," I whisper. Not that it does me any good. "A flying serpent."



"Forward, Charizard 'M!" Sho orders. "Destroy the intruders!"



"Steelix, counter it with Rock Tomb!"



The winged serpent-creature charges forward, shooting a massive blast of fire from its mouth. Steelix fires off a barrage of rocks, but the serpent dodges effortlessly.



Hun curses under their breath. "Attila! Send out the superweapon!"



Attila grins and throws a Poke Ball. Out of it comes about the meanest-looking Raikou you can imagine. "Raikou! Use Thunder!"



The Raikou roars, summoning a bolt from the blue. The serpent dodges it effortlessly and shoots another Fire Blast at Raikou. The attack misses, scorching a patch of grass nearby.



"Larry! Get over here!" Sho yells. "Send out Sunra! I need coverage!"



Larry hurls a Poke Ball, and a Jolteon leaps out, tanking Raikou's second Thunder attack with what I presume is Volt Absorb. It charges towards Raikou and hits it with Double Kick, knocking it back a bit.



Cyan turns to me in alarm. "How are we going to get inside the cavern now? It's all-out war out there!"



I turn to Ali. "I'm going to need you to bring up two rings. One will lead into the cavern, the other will lead back to the hideout in Celadon. That way, whatever we dig up, we can get it back to Celadon without much incident."



Ali nods, saluting. "Aye, aye, Terra-Kun!"



Cyan turns to Abe. "I'd like you to go with me. If anything happens, you have an Onix and three Diglett. You can have them tunnel us out safely."



"What about Terra, Wes and Alice, though?" Abe asks.



"There's safety in numbers, so they can stay here in case they need to fight off the cultists or Team Rocket. Otherwise Ali will be on her own, and she won't be able to defeat any of those Pokemon by herself."



"Hey!" Ali says. "Ali is strong!"



"It's not bad to be cautious, though," I say. "Maybe we need to step farther away from the battle right now, so we don't get seen, or hit by a stray attack. Thunder and Fire Blast are both notoriously inaccurate, and one of them might hit the rocks we're hiding behind."



Wes sighs. "An' jus' when things were gettin' good, too."



---



We manage to find shelter in a hidden grotto somewhere east of the cave entrance. Ali uses her rings, and Cyan and Abe enter Terra Caverns safely.



Wes groans to himself. "Figures I ain't wanted in th' treasure caves. An' I was lookin' forward to it, too..."



"You realize if you were in those caves, you'd have to mine," I point out. "Which is a LOT of work."



"That's a point," Wes admits. "But th' treasure! I wanted first go at it!"



"I was hoping to get to study the Pokemon inside Terra Caverns," Alice says. "But I guess if I was busy mining I wouldn't be able to get a good look at them."



I sigh. "I just hope Cyan and Abe together can get some powerful ores out that we can use against Team Rocket. How are a bunch of kids supposed to stand against a mafia that powerful?"



Wes sighs. "Y'know, it jus' ain't that easy. I thought I could lick Team Snagem with enough explosives, but they caught me, an' they would've killed me wi'out Gladion an' his lil' pet savin' me. Life ain't fair, Terra. Might as well get used to it."



"We need an army," Alice says. "It takes an army to stop an army, and Team Rocket has built up a pretty formidable army. Six Pokemon apiece aren't going to cut it for us."



"The Unown were an army," I say. "But I'm not sure what happened to them after the incident in Holiwood. I think Palkia sent them back to their home dimension?"



"Ali saw Palkia-Kun trap the Unown in square tiles," Ali says. "Ali doesn't know where Palkia-Kun sent them. Palkia-Kun didn't want Unown to cause trouble."



"You met Palkia?" Alice asks Ali. "What's it like?"



Ali sighs. "Ticked off. Didn't like Unown. Treated Unown worse than Rockets." She pouts. "What did Unown ever do to Palika-Kun?"



"Well, they did melt reality in a back alley in Holiwood Town," I point out. "Which wasn't entirely their fault, because of Gladion's Teeter Dance, but it was still pretty scary."



"Maybe if you had the chance to talk to Palkia," Alice says, "you might be able to convince it to let the Unown go and help you?"



"How are we supposed to find Palkia?" I ask. "It lives in another dimension. It's not like I can summon it like Shu summons Giratina."



"Shu summons Giratina?" Alice asks.



"Yeah... with a Griseous Shard and a Poke Puff. I've never seen it actually succeed because Lance had been controlling Giratina at the time, but apparently it worked at some point."



"You think we could summon Palkia in a similar manner?" she asks.



I shrug. "Don't know. I know we summoned Celebi with a trifle, but I'm not sure what kind of offering Palkia would like. Maybe a pearl?"



"If Ali was Palkia-Kun," Ali says, "Ali would want donuts."



"Ali always wants donuts," I quip. I reach for Kappa's Poke Ball. "Kappa, do you know anything about what Palkia likes?"



Hmm, the Unown hums. If I remember correctly, he does have a certain affinity for Pale Spheres, an ore that might be found while mining. Should I communicate this to Cyan and Abe?



"It would help," I say. "Just be careful in there. Maybe bring Yoshi along?"



Kappa nods, or at least does something resembling a nod. I'll go tell them, then. Stay safe.



"You, too!" I say, pulling out Yoshi and watching the pair step into (or float through) Ali's rings. "Don't pick any fights you can't win."



I don't intend to.



---



Kappa's POV



I sense a strong aura within the cave, a powerful wave of energy, flowing through rocks and ore veins, even into the soil and water. Jirachi's aura. Its energy, taken from the Millennium Comet, imbuing all of Pokearth with the energy necessary for life to grow.



It's dizzying, honestly. It's hard for me to keep my eye on anything. I sort of float like something bobbing on the water, up and down, unable to keep my hover smooth.



Too bright, I say to Yoshi. Too much aura. Bouncing off the cave walls, permeating everything... even with my eye closed, there's just too much aura. Too much information.



"Well, I can't speak Human like you do," Yoshi points out. "And we're supposed to ask Cyan and Abe to fetch a Pale Sphere for summoning Palkia."



That is true.



Sometimes I wish I had lungs so I could just take a deep breath and get on with it. But I don't. I breathe aura. And the aura in this cavern is like a jolt of pure oxygen to a human's lungs -- life-giving, but acutely painful.



I can do this, I tell myself. I have to do this.



Yoshi turns towards me. "You can climb on my back and lean against my egg if you can't see straight. I'll carry you."



Thank you, Yoshi.



"Don't mention it. I was hatched in the Distortion World. I'm used to places with strange aura."



I was raised in another dimension, and I'm still not all that used to this one, I admit. But I'm learning.



As Yoshi walks through the Terra Caverns, I close my eye and try to shut out the excess aura. It's screaming at me, overwhelming me through sheer force. It's positive aura energy and it makes me feel stronger, but at the same time, it's painful.



Eventually we reach Abe and Cyan. Abe looks down at me. "Hey, little guy... you're looking kind of pale. Are you all right?"



I'll survive, I say. I came to ask you if you've found any Pale Spheres while mining. We need one to make contact with Palkia with.



Cyan sighs. "We're not mining here. Jirachi told us the mining was disturbing his sleep. He was nice about it, but he warned us that if we continued to disturb him, it could have drastic effects on his ability to energize the world and all that."



"And he might accidentally Doom Desire us," Abe adds. "In his sleep."



"Apparently a restless Jirachi is not a good sign," Cyan says. "He's done it before, and he says he's really sorry for it, but it's not something he knows how to control."



Lovely, I think. A cosmic reflex temper tantrum.



"I've heard there are Pale Spheres buried deep within Mt. Moon," Abe says quickly. "Did you know the spheres are actually living things, not sentient, but like an inorganic fungus? Plant them underground, and they grow. No one knows how they do it or even where they come from, but that's what they do."



Fascinating, I say. So in effect, we need to offer Palkia an... inorganic fungus?



"I guess? Maybe he thinks they taste good. I never really found any information in my research on what Palkia eats."



"He has to feed off of something," Cyan says. "I suppose my father would know, except he's... he's..."



Abe gives her a sympathetic look. "Hey. My dad left my mom ages ago. I know how hard it is to lose a parent."



Cyan shakes her head. I feel waves of grief and confusion washing over her. "No, you don't. I lost my father long ago. Lance lost himself. He was always so determined to end human exploitation of Pokemon, he couldn't see what humans and Pokemon could do together... He couldn't see the good in people."



"And now Team Rocket has him, and we have to decide whether we're going to rescue him or not." Abe sighs. "He may be getting what he deserves, but you don't deserve what you're going through."



Cyan sits down on a rock, hiding her face so we won't see that she's crying. She thinks. All of us can see she's crying.



Yoshi walks up to her and puts a claw in her lap, nudging her chest with his forehead. "Saur..."



Cyan leans over and strokes him, petting his leathery head. "Thank you, Bulbasaur..."



It takes about half an hour before she's ready to move again. Then we head back through Hoopa's ring.



And nothing can prepare us for what's on the other side.