Characters: Zinnia, Renee, Steven, Wallace, Emmy
Warnings:
Mention of suicidal ideation
âItâs go time!â Renee said as she barged into Stevenâs room.
âWhhhhhh⌠whaaaat?â Steven said, rubbing his eyes. Wallace groaned, covering his head with his pillow.
âRenee, why are you up this early anyways?â Wallace asked, his tone obviously annoyed.
âThe meteor! Today! Zinnia left a note!â
âWhat on earth are you talking about? What do you mean meteor?â
âShitâ; Renee thought. Wallace hadnât known the entire time, and right now was about the worst time to break the news to him. Steven was giving her an angry, tired look as well for slipping up.
âLook, I can explain!! I just need to get somewhere by 10am!â Renee said, frantically shaking her hands in front of her.
âRenee, itâs early. Give us like⌠10 more minutes, then we can get everything sorted.â
Renee gave Steven and Wallace 15 minutes to wake up, and once they were out of the bedroom and had gotten breakfast, she explained herself to Wallace, with some help from Steven. For it being the near end of the world, Wallace didnât seem all that phased.
âSo youâre saying⌠plan A was to send it to another dimension, and now plan B is to destroy it with a legendary old god⌠right.â
âThatâs⌠right. And I need you to boat me over to Sky Pillar.â Renee replied.
Wallace nodded and took a sip of his coffee. Reneeâs attention then turned to Steven, who had been looking irritated all morning – but by seeing his leg constantly shaking and his fingers constantly tapping, Renee was able to tell he was probably on the verge of panic.
âThereâs no room to screw this up.â Renee thought to herself.
It was hard to wait for Wallace to finish eating, but once he did, he didnât even bother to change out of his pajamas before getting his shoes on and motioning to Renee to come join him. Renee was briefly stopped by Steven, whose expression changed to a worried one.
âBe safe, okay? You did it before, you can do it again.â he whispered to her.
âDo whatâ
âSave the world.â
Renee smiled genuinely and hugged Steven for long enough that Wallace had to remind her to get moving. Wallace then kissed Steven goodbye and told him heâd be back soon.
Renee noted to Wallace that she wanted to stop by the Space Center to grab the Aqua suit – invented by Team Aqua 10 years prior – because it was able to withstand the pressure of the outer atmosphere. Renee said that, according to Zinniaâs line about âspace stuffâ in her note, it might prove to be useful.
Upon arrival, the Space Center was notably emptier than usual – probably because it had just opened. Still, it was an eerie feeling as Renee looked past all the empty exhibits. Renee and Wallace went up to the reception desk and asked for access to the upper floor – a quick flash of Reneeâs trainer ID as champion and they were in.
Upstairs, it was⌠a mess. Papers everywhere, chairs in disarray, and in the center of it all was Professor Cosmos, staring blankly at the large computer screen with a clear visual of the meteor.
âUh⌠Professor CosmosâŚ?â Renee called out, and the professor suddenly perked at the noise.
âOh! Renee! How clever of you to visit right now! Do you see the screen? Weâre all doomed! Doomed I say!â Cosmos said, his speech slightly disjointed. It appeared as though he hadnât gotten sleep in a while.
âAlright, thatâs nice and all, but I know that the Aqua suit is in storage here – can I borrow it?â
âIf it helps you feel better about our impending doom, be my guestâŚâ
Renee gave Cosmos a disappointed and puzzled look, but nonetheless followed him to the back room where the suit was kept, while Wallace waited in the room outside.
The backroom was dusty and filled to the brim with shelves of boxes and filing cabinets. Cosmos handed Renee a rather hefty box, and nodded, not saying a word.
Renee briefly checked inside to confirm that it was indeed the suit she had worn 10 years ago, and it was. Renee thanked Cosmos and moved the suit and helmet to her backpack, which barely fit. She also found a miniature suit fitted to her vaporeon Izzy at the bottom of the box – Renee chuckled a bit to herself remembering it, and put the tinier suit in her backpack as well.
With that, Wallace and Renee were off. They both thanked Cosmos once more before leaving. After exiting the Space Center, the two headed for the docks, where Wallace had his speedboat parked. The warm sea air and rippling waves were calming, even if Renee was currently trying her best not to panic.
They walked down the old wooden planks that made up the dock, and hopped into the speedboat. Renee shuffled around her full backpack for a bit before pulling out a pokeball – and promptly releasing Izzy from it. She figured Izzy would enjoy the ride. Izzy stretched out her legs and yawned, and Renee made sure to give her a scratch behind her fins.
Wallace smiled, and once the two were properly secured in the boat, Wallace started it up with a growl. The boat slowly started moving, and soon enough, they were speeding through the waves with a destination of Sky Pillar.
It didnât take too long to get there, considering Mossdeep was close by to the miniature island the tower was located on. They arrived, and Renee and Izzy hopped out and thanked Wallace. Renee couldnât really hear Wallace over the crashing waves, but he gave her a heartfelt smile and a thumbs up before speeding away.
The trainer and pokemon crossed the beach and went up the ancient stone steps to the rocky platform the tower was located on. Looking up, Renee could see it was massive. She had read about the Sky Pillar briefly while studying – it was built by the Draconids in ancient times used to contact the heavens – but she never could have imagined it was truly this massive.
Entering the tower, Renee was immediately concerned as to the stability of it. It was thousands of years old, after all, and it showed. The entire tower smelled musty and sections of it were crumbling and falling down. And it seemed, as Renee looked around, that she was alone. Renee sighed before a loud, familiar voice called out to her.
âRenee! Youâre here early!â Zinniaâs voice rang out from the floor above her.
Renee looked up, and Zinnia was standing confident and proud with her arms out, with a smile of someone who had nothing left to lose. Without waiting for a reply, Zinnia swiftly slid down the ladder that connected the first and second floors and ran towards Renee, her whismur Aster being carried under her arm.
âIâve been waiting for you.â
âWell, here I am!â Renee replied. She looked up through a gap in the floor above that went through multiple levels of the crumbling tower.
âWe, uh⌠you were gonna use your salamence to fly up to the top, right? Weâre not climbing this thing, are we?â
âNope, sorry! Câmon, a little exercise wonât hurt! Plus, I got a story to tell you – you seemed to enjoy mine from yesterday.â
Renee groaned, but her interest was piqued at Zinniaâs mention of a story.
âAlright.â Renee said. âBut donât climb up too fast!â
Zinnia snickered.
âHey, Iâll try!â
After pushing her hair back behind her ears, Zinnia was off, and Renee and Izzy went off after her. As fast as Renee was, Zinnia seemed a lot more nimble and athletic than she was, even carrying Aster under her arm. As the two were racing each other to the top, Renee could hear Zinnia yell down to her – the construction of the tower helping echo her voice.
âA long, long time ago, there was a girl.
And through incredible hardship and heartbreak, she had inherited the power of a god.â
Zinnia continued telling the tale as they climbed.
âThe girl felt confused, scared, and alone – but with the help of her sister and many others, she was able to feel comfortable with herself once again. The region then went through a period of war, and a cataclysm similar to the one the occurred 10 years ago occurred as Kyogre and Groudon ravaged the region in a primal battle.
The girl was able to use her power to stop the cataclysm, and the world seemed safe once again. But just after the last raindrop had fallen and the last bit of earth was scorched, a meteor threatened to destroy the very region she had saved.
It was with the lorekeeperâs connection that she could mega-evolve and fly into space to destroy and meteor – and as it would turn out, this would occur every 1,000 years. First a cataclysm, then a meteor, like clockwork. But the lorekeepers and the girl were persistent, and time after time, Hoenn would be saved.
That girl was Rayquaza.â
Breathing heavily, Renee could smell the clean air of the sky beyond the clouds on the floor above her. Zinnia looked tired, but she was handling it better than Renee was.
âOf course – I call her something different, but right now that doesnât matter.â Zinnia said as she climbed the ladder to the top floor, not breaking a sweat.
Renee didnât have anything to respond with, as she was so winded. Izzy pawed at her pantleg, concerned, but Renee just petted her for reassurance.
As Renee finally ascended to the top floor of the ruined tower, she could already see Zinnia standing in the middle of the top floor, her stance confident. The difference in air pressure was beginning to get to Renee in the midst of her exhaustion from climbing the tower, but she still looked onward to Zinnia, waiting.
âIn hindsight, if it wouldnât have been too late, it wouldâve been nice to come here at night. I used to watch the stars with her all the time⌠but you heard enough from me about Aster yesterday, anyways.â Zinnia sighed.
âI loved her⌠with everything I had. I want to be with her again, and now, I wonât have to wait much longer.â
Zinniaâs last statement left Renee confused, but she didnât really have time to react to it. Zinnia set Aster down on the ground, and it ran away from Zinnia to join Renee.
âAre you ready?â Zinnia said to Renee, a glint in her eye.
âReady as Iâll ever be.â Renee replied, in between her panting.
Zinnia grabbed the delta necklace she had been wearing the entire time and slid it off around her head, and grasped it in between both her hands. She turned to the sky, and raised her hands high above her head. Then she started mumbling in a language Renee couldnât understand.
âWith jewel bright and borrowed might of the spirits of the departed⌠through sacred rite, in thy great sight, my life as well I offer⌠I summon thee to aid this fight and save us from disasterâŚâ
Zinniaâs whispers turned into a shout.
âRealize them, upon this world!!â
âEMMMMMMMYYYYYYYY!!!â
There was a glint from between Zinniaâs closed hands, and then silence. And more silence. All the quiet, except for the wisp of the winds around the tower. Zinnia fell to her knees, and while Renee couldnât see her expression, she could feel her devastation as Reneeâs stomach dropped as well.
âNo⌠no⌠sheâs supposed to⌠this canât be happening⌠did I fuck up?â Zinnia said, her voice choking up.
More time passed, and all was still. Until, suddenly, a green glint in the sky caught Zinniaâs attention. She turned to Renee, whoâs face had turned to one of shock, with a massive grin on.
In seconds, a blast of air swept past the two and their pokemon, nearly taking Renee off her feet – and there she saw âherâ… Rayquaza. But the air pressure and exhaustion from climbing had finally gotten to Renee, and in combination with the surprise, Renee dropped to the ground and passed out.
—
âShit! Did I kill her?â a voice said as the dust cleared. Though just as the woman who spoke finished her thought, she was met with a weak punch from Zinnia.
âEmmy!! You son of a bitch! You left me for dead!â Zinnia yelled at the person, who was evidently Emmy. Her voice was cracking as she was crying while she spoke.
Emmy didnât say anything, she just looked onto Zinnia with a look of concern. After a moment of silence, she grabbed Zinnia into a hug. Zinnia was upset about it at first, but eventually hugged Emmy back – as much as it pained her to admit it, she had missed Emmy too.
âIâm so, so sorry.â Emmy said, as she began to tear up a bit as well.
The two let the moment sink in for a while before Emmy broke the hug and pointed over to Renee.
âSeriously though is she, like, alright? Who is she anyways?â Emmy said as she ran her hands through her hair.
âSheâs alright I thinkâŚ? And sheâs, uh, a new friend.â Zinnia replied.
âOh, well, thatâs nice. I was about to say, sheâs kinda cuteâ
âOH! OH MY GOD! Thereâs a meteor about to destroy Hoenn and you keep going on about cute girls!â
âWell, what can I say? Itâs on brand for me.â Emmy looked to the side for a bit. âAnd⌠a meteor? Was I really gone for that long? Itâs⌠really that time again, isnât itâŚâ she said as she put her hands in a thinking position, piquing Zinniaâs interest.
âWhy, whatâs wrong about it?â Zinnia asked.
Emmy looked pained. âIn order for me to mega evolve all the way up to the meteor, you have to follow me up there. You wonât survive⌠IâŚâ Emmy stopped for a second. âItâs always hard for me to do thisâŚâ
âPshh, big deal. Iâve been trying to die for the past year! Who cares!â Zinnia blurted out, not entirely realizing what she had just said. It took her a second to process her own speech and when she did, her expression changed to a tense one – meanwhile, Emmy was completely horrified at what Zinnia had just said.
âEXCUSE ME? No. No. Thereâs no way Iâm letting you do this. I canât. There has to be another way-â Emmy said, but she was cut off once she heard Renee stirring behind her.
âUgh, quick, just turn back into Rayquaza so I donât have to waste more time explaining the whole legend thing to Renee!â Zinnia told Emmy, who nodded and quickly transformed back into the form of the dragon god.
Renee felt groggy, but she at least felt like she was able to breathe more easily now. As she awoke, she could see Zinnia in front of her, smiling and lending her a hand.
âHow long was I out?â she asked Zinnia. Zinnia shrugged and responded.
âNot too long, I promise.â
Zinnia helped Renee to her feet, and Renee looked on in awe of what was in front of her – the dragon god, Rayquaza. As she started on, Rayquaza cocked her head – as if she was examining Renee. Zinnia put her hand on Reneeâs shoulder.
âWell⌠this is who I wanted you to meet. And with that, I must bid you adieu-â Zinnia said, but just as she finished speaking, Renee cut her off.
âWait! You canât just go into space without a suit!â Renee said, as she took off her heavy backpack and put it on the floor. She opened it up, and the Aqua suit practically popped out. She lifted it up and compared it to Zinniaâs body type, squinting her eyes.
âHmm⌠Iâm⌠not sure if itâll fit you? I know! I can go up in your place! You can trust me, Iâve rode a legendary pokemon before!â
Zinnia looked slightly shocked, but tried to hide it. As Renee propositioned the idea, Rayquazaâs head perked up.
âNo way, Iâm the lorekeeper, Iâm the one riding rayquaza into space!â Zinnia said in a defensive tone. But it seemed, Rayquaza had other plans.
Rayquaza uncurled from where she was sitting on the tower and flew over to Renee, the dragonâs face coming incredibly close to Reneeâs. Renee didnât know what to say or do, and just stood in awe of the dragon godâs massive presence.
âWoow⌠looks like she likes youâŚâ Zinnia said in a nearly sarcastic tone that made Renee think that Zinnia had suspected this would happen. Rolling her eyes, Zinniaâs arm went to her belt, where she grabbed a pokeball off of it.
âHey, if you wanna dethrone me from the moment Iâve been waiting for all week, be my guest – but youâre gonna have to defeat me in a pokemon battle first!â
âDo we have time? I promise Iâll make it quick.â Renee replied, and as she was ready to call Izzy in to battle, something unexpected happened – Rayquaza positioned her head low and looked to Renee, as to indicate she was on her side.
Zinnia threw up her arms in disbelief.
âGod, of COURSE youâd side with her that easily! Fine, whatever, go ahead, fight me!â
Zinnia sent out a tyrantrum, and quickly, Renee nervously gave her first command to Rayquaza.
âDragon⌠pulseâŚ?â
Swiftly, a beam of energy formed around Rayquazaâs mouth, before hitting and quickly fainting Zinniaâs pokemon. Zinnia sighed, expecting the outcome, and tiredly sent out her next pokemon. One after another, Renee and Rayquaza defeated Zinniaâs pokemon, to the point where Zinnia didnât even bother mega-evolving her salamence. With her salamence fainted, the victor was clear – Renee was going to space with Rayquaza.
Zinnia looked sorely disappointed, but Renee patted her on the shoulder and smiled at her.
âHey. Iâll be alright.â Renee said, and her voice sounded genuine. Zinnia sighed.
âWhatever.â she replied. âGet into that suit and go save the world, champ.â
Renee nodded, and went to go and equip herself with the suit. It had built-in oxygen for at least 20 minutes from takeoff, which should be more than enough time. Zinnia helped Renee and Izzy get their suits on, while Rayquaza waited idly by. Once suited up, Renee grabbed a cord included to securely leash Izzy to herself, and mounted Rayquaza, holding onto her horns.
Zinnia smiled at her one last time.
âDo what I couldnât. For Aster.â
Renee nodded, and set her key stone necklace into an activated mode. She lightly tapped Rayquaza with her foot, and with that, Rayquaza jetted into the sky above – leaving Zinnia and her whismur below, both waving goodbye.
The pressure was hard to bear, even with the suit protecting her, but Renee held onto Rayquaza for dear life. Once the two were in the upper atmosphere and the meteor was visible, Renee activated her keystone – and in a twist of blinding light and energy, Rayquaza was able to mega evolve. Renee was a bit worried they wouldnât make it, considering a bond was needed for a successful mega-evolution, but it seemed to work just fine.
The meteor approached closer and closer, and Renee soon realized Rayquaza wasnât stopping – so she tucked herself behind Rayquazaâs mantle as best as she could and braced for impact. Surprisingly, Renee didnât feel the impact of the meteor much – Rayquaza plunging through it was like a hot knife going through butter.
When they came out on the other side, Rayquaza stopped and turned around. Renee peeked from behind Rayquazaâs mantle, only to see the giant space rock suddenly break into millions of tiny, green glittery pieces, and her eyes lit up.
The world was safe.
On the ground, the reverberated sound could be heard all across Hoenn. Upon hearing the loud boom in the sky, Steven and Wallace jumped off of the couch and ran outside to the front porch. Looking to the sky, they could see green sparkles raining down, and their eyes grew wide. They hugged and kissed each other, crying out tears of joy, knowing that they could spend another day with each other.
Meanwhile, back up in space, Rayquaza reared back. And to Renee, something seemed off. And thatâs when she noticed it – when the sparkling debris of the meteor cleared, there was something that remained⌠a triangle glyph, floating in space.
Renee wasnât sure what it was, but before she had an opportunity to indicate anything to Rayquaza, the glyph started moving on itâs own through space. Up, down, left, right, up down – it was almost hypnotic. It became redder and redder in color until eventually stopped in the middle of its path and began vibrating. As Renee squinted, she could see tendrils slowly emerge from it, before suddenly something emerged from the glyph, causing Rayquaza to jolt backwards to dodge it.
The creature was unlike any that Renee had ever seen before – it definitely wasnât human, but it didnât necessarily seem like a pokemon either. While thinking, Renee unconsciously loosened her grip on Rayquazaâs horns, and was suddenly launched into the space around her when Rayquaza unexpectedly flew forwards to attack the unknown being.
Rayquaza summoned more links of golden chains in an attempt to capture the alien, but suddenly, it shifted forms and became faster than Reneeâs eyes could track. Rayquaza then attempted to just outright blast it with a dragon pulse, but the alien changed itâs form once again and managed to tank the hit – even repairing itself afterwards.
There wasnât much Renee could do besides watch. Izzy attempted to shoot a hydro pump at the alien, but all she managed to do was shoot a bunch of water on the inside of her helmet. Renee was worried – as strong and cunning as Rayquaza was, the alien almost seemed like it could predict all of Rayquazaâs moves⌠maybe it was somehow a psychic type? To add onto that, Renee was slowly running out of air. While Rayquaza had made a couple of good hits on the alien, and it seemed tired, Renee wasnât sure if this battle would end in time.
As she watched the two fight in the space in front of her, Renee had an idea. It was a crazy, wild idea, but if Zinnia had taught her anything, it was that no idea was too far fetched. Renee pulled out an ultra ball from her belt and threw it as hard as she could – but due to the low gravity, it didnât go far. Rayquaza turned her head and noticed, and used a powerful beam-like attack to purpulse the ball directly to the center of the alien.
1⌠2⌠3⌠click!
By some sort of miracle, the alien was caught! Renee cheered to herself, and Rayquaza looked both a bit confused and relieved. Renee spacewalked a bit to retrieve the newly captured creature and secured the ball to her belt. Rayquaza flew under Renee, and Renee was able to grab back onto Rayquazaâs horns. After a long battle, the two were finally able to fly back to earth.
Rayquazaâs exit was quick and informal – she just dropped Renee off on top of Sky Pillar, nodded, and then left. Renee was a bit winded by the whole experience, so she took off her helmet and laid down on the stone floor for a couple of minutes. She was expecting Zinnia to call out to her, but when she didnât, Renee sat up and looked around, only to find that Zinnia was nowhere to be seen. Renee huffed and looked to her backpack and left belongings, all of which were still in place. But Then Renee noticed something poking out of her bag that hadnât been there before – so Renee half-crawled over to her bag to take a look. It was a note from Zinnia.
—
Dear Renee,
Sorry I left so suddenly. I figured itâd be difficult to say goodbye in person, so Iâll say it in writing. To put it bluntly, Iâm leaving. Iâm going to go somewhere far away (I was thinking Sinnoh), and thereâs a likelihood youâll never hear from me again. Donât take this as meaning I donât like you! I just have a lot of things I need to think about, thatâs all.
Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for everything. Say hi to Steven for me.
Regards,
Î
—
That night was the night of the Litleonid meteor shower, a shower that occurred every 10 years.
After an incredibly stressful and fast-paced day, Renee thought it would be best to attend to viewing on the grassy picnic hill behind the space center. There were a couple of other people there, but it wasnât too crowded, since Mossdeep was a small town.
Renee couldnât help but think about Zinnia – she had brought up the falling stars a lot. She hoped deep in her heart that wherever she was, Zinnia was alright too. Reneeâs thought was cut off when she noticed someone walking up behind her.
âHey, mind if I join y-â a womanâs voice said, but just as she crouched down to sit with Renee, she lost her balance and went tumbling down the hill.
Renee jumped up at the shock, and ran down the hill to help her get up.
âAre you alright?!â Renee frantically asked, as the woman got up and cleaned the dirt and grass off of herself.
She looked to Renee with a smile.
âI am now.â
The woman looked around a bit before speaking once more, her red eyes shining in the light of the stars.
âWell, to continue my question from earlier – would you mind if I joined you watching the meteor shower?â
âNot at all!â
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