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Chapter 80
Part 1
Celebi.
Can you hear me?
Don't be afraid. It's me, Char. I found a way to talk to you telepathically. Does it work?
Oh, for goodness' sake, Char! This is getting ridiculous!
…Huh?
How many times are you going to make me signal you?! I JUST settled down again! Good grief, I don't have unlimited energy, you know!
I'm sorry? This is the first time I'm talking to you!
Oh, rubbish. You've been bugging me non-stop since – Wait. Is this REALLY the first time you're talking to me?
The very first time. I just got this power.
Oh. Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you! You just kept asking for the Call and I was getting so exasperated sending all the signals. But if this is your first time, you had no way of knowing that! Oh goodness, now I feel awful. Can you forgive me?
So how come it's the first time for me, but not for you? I'm guessing there's some temporal discrepancy between us?
Exactly right. Time doesn't run the same way for both of us, especially when the tower is not in your present.
Alright. I'll keep that in mind. Do I even want to know how many times I'm going to ask you to use the Call?
Nope! I can't tell you that. If I told you, you could try to contradict me and change the future. If you did that, you'd end up discontinuing your whole timeline, and nobody wants that.
But you just said I asked for the Call enough times to tire you out. Is that going to be a problem?
Oh dear, you're right. You're absolutely right. So I suppose I should give you a number. Let's say, hmm. Let's say you've asked for it at least five times. So as long as you ask for the Call at least five times, you should be safe from starting a paradox. Oh… and just make sure you don't tell me we had this conversation. In fact, just to be extra safe, you'd better treat every time you talk to me as though it's the first time. Alright?
Got it. Thank you so much, Celebi, for all your help. It sounds like you've already done so much to help me and I haven't even seen it happen yet.
You're so welcome. I'm happy to know that I'm helping. I think Lord Dialga will be very pleased with both of us. Now… you were going to say something?
Yes. I need the Call right now. Maximum power.
Really? Maximum power? Um… you may or may not have never asked for that before. Are you sure? Do you know how dangerous that is?
No idea. But that's what I need right now.
Alright… if you say so. Just be VERY careful about how you use it.
I understand. Hurry if you can. Lives are depending on this.
Goodness! I'd better go then. Good luck, Ammi.
Head spinning. Fire burning sour. Keeling over. Nearly vomiting. Consciousness fading.
Fading away for a moment.
Waking up holding a claw against the ground. A strong claw. Deep-red scales.
Jirachi wasn't kidding. The power to communicate with Celebi drained him fast. He knew he'd need to keep future conversations shorter, or he'd risk falling into a coma.
All the same, the newly-transformed Charmeleon was pleased at how quickly he recovered, how effortlessly he pushed himself back to his feet. How deep his fire burned. No longer a candle-flame. No longer a mere smoldering ember. He was now a living, breathing bonfire. Glorious scalding heat within his veins, simmering beneath his scales.
Scales. He was still getting used to having scales. No longer could he feel the air currents against his skin, and no longer did it matter to him. All he needed to feel was the radiance of his inner fire.
No longer did he fear pain. Weak attacks would glance right off. They couldn't draw his blood anymore. He knew he wasn't invincible – maybe he could have been, if he hadn't wasted one of his wishes on learning to read – but right now, he certainly felt like it.
And there it came: the Call. His greatest new power. The scream of deafening silence, intensifying far beyond what he ever thought was possible. It carried no words. Celebi didn't need to warn him, or use the Call to communicate with him.
This time, he supplied the words.
So mind-melting was the signal. So extreme that Char lost his sense of self, lost all spatial awareness, lost track of his own body. And it only grew, and grew, and grew, until nothing existed but a supernova in his mind's eye, blotting out everything else in existence, until his soul liquified into the ether.
I am the supernova, he realized, moments before the signal peaked and let him speak his words of command. I am the flashpoint of an earth-changing explosion. Just for this one single moment, I am the new Master of Ambera. I am the eternal, never-ending flame. I am the victor. I am the one who decides fate. I am the future.
Also, I'm never asking for a full-powered Call ever again. Ow.
Then came the moment, the sustained hum in the silent signal, and Char knew that all the Pokémon in Ambera were about to hear what he had to say. Or so he wished, at least. He knew it wasn't going to extend any further than the Great Basin Desert. Even then, he only needed to address his command to certain Pokémon. It would pass harmlessly and invisibly through all the others, just as it would whenever he'd tell everyone to ignore the Call.
And so, he spoke his command, enunciating each word carefully:
EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, CEPHEUS HAS ORDERED A FULL RETREAT, AND FULL CANCELLATION OF ALL PLANS TO OCCUPY BASIN CANYON, PRESENT AND FUTURE.
Char had decided upon his command far in advance – something simple, straightforward, and effective. Something that had virtually no chance of fundamentally changing the Pokémon he commanded.
But only then, in the middle of giving his supreme order, did Char begin to grasp the gravity of what he was doing. The potential he now wielded to rewrite history with only a few words of heartspeak.
How easy it would be to change so many things.
He could make Pokémon tell him secrets. Tell him the truth.
He could turn Cepheus to his side. Recruit him as a resistance leader.
He could recruit all the attacking Pokémon, too. He could turn them on Enigma. He could order them to attack her. He could even order them to become double-agents and work with the resistance, while pretending to work for Enigma.
How easy it could really be.
Is this what Enigma felt whenever she wielded her power?
He remembered the words of one wise Pokémon: "Don't stop to think when you should be acting. And don't go acting when you should be thinking."
And oh, how he needed time to think. He needed to stop and consider all the unforeseen consequences that could arise from even the simplest of commands. He very much needed to confer with Aster, and more importantly, with his conscience. It was no time to contemplate such things in the middle of broadcasting a command. It would need to wait.
He stopped himself from adding anything more to his command. He let the signal fade to nothing.
When he came back to his senses, the canyon had fallen hauntingly still. No more fighting. No more rumbling underfoot. All of Cepheus's forces now believed there was a retreat order, and so did all of the resistance members. And hopefully, so did Cepheus himself.
Cepheus… didn't look so good. He only stared blankly at the wall of fire, muttering a quiet string of words.
"I don't understand…" whispered Cepheus to himself. "Impossible… I don't understand… It couldn't… I couldn't… there wasn't… What have I… what is this…"
There it came, the marching of hundreds, returning to the Firehall from which they came. A bewildered and disheveled army of Rhyperior, Swampert, Garchomp, Sceptile, and several species he didn't even recognize, all came wandering in from the deep tunnels.
"You called a retreat," said a Greninja who looked like a squad leader. "But as we teleported here, we do not know where the exits are."
Cepheus didn't respond. He didn't even seem to notice someone was talking to him. He only kept staring forward and muttering strange things to himself, his eyes flicking between his own thoughts.
Char pointed at the wall behind the throne. "Exit's that way," he informed the Greninja. "Knock a hole in that wall and you can leave."
The Greninja glared at the Charmeleon for a moment, flipped the end of his tongue back around his neck, and walked right past, taking the long procession of Pokémon with him.
The retreat went smoothly and was disturbingly uneventful. Twelve Rhyperior drilled a long, deep hole into the wall until the rocks crumbled and the sunlight streamed in, revealing that the Firehall was exactly at ground floor, nearly level with the bottom of the canyon. Following that, the armies of Pokémon filed out, and kept filing out… ghosts phased through walls, soldiers trickled out from the depths of the cave complex… until all that remained in the Firehall was Cepheus, Char, and about a dozen of the Gold Division warriors who'd come to regroup from their battles, some looking very tired, injured, and heartbroken. Char noticed Daemon, Prince, and Kain had survived. Raptor and Markov from Team Remorse were there. The Grovyle from Team Absolution was there. Two Sandslash were there, and neither of whom were Shander.
Not nearly enough survivors. Not even half of the Pokémon who'd stood in the Firehall that morning before the attack. They'd better still be down there, Char thought. These had better not be all the survivors we have. Because if we actually suffered devastating casualties from this… I am not going to be merciful. I am going to march into Enigma's throne and turn all of her minions against her without a second's hesitation.
Even when the commotion had died down and it seemed as though no more Pokémon were coming up from the caves and wandering out into the desert, Cepheus still hadn't budged. Still he stared into the grand fire at the opposite end of the room, speaking nothing but gibberish mumbled under his breath, as though praying to the dancing wall of color for the answers to his questions.
"He's never lost a battle before," Raptor informed Char. "Never ever fathomed a situation like this. Broke him."
Char shook his head. "No. I think I did this. I broke him," he simply said.
"What is that supposed to mean?" grunted Daemon, but Char had no intention of replying.
The flames in his heart burned sour. Something already had gone wrong. He'd only used the Call once, and already he failed to account for something. And as evil of a Pokémon that Cepheus was, Char wasn't comfortable leaving him with a broken mind. Most importantly, Char needed to understand how his new power worked; Cepheus was only his first test subject, and he wouldn't waste this opportunity to learn how the Call had affected him.
So Char summoned the Call again, this time a very small one, and commanded Cepheus to speak his thoughts out loud and explain his problems to Char.
"I issued a command. I called for a general retreat," Cepheus explained, finally breaking his stunned silence. "But I cannot remember why. I cannot recall the precise sequence of events leading to this decision; I only remember the imperative need that I withdraw all forces … and never return. But this does not make sense. I would never have made this decision under my free will. And yet I… did. I remember making the decision. But Enigma will want to know why I failed. If I cannot give her an adequate reason for my failure, she will have me executed. But I cannot remember the reason for giving the order."
"Serves yah right, ya filthy -!" Markov shouted.
Char held up his palm at the Feraligatr to silence his outburst. Somehow, it worked.
"Furthermore… I do not remember how I could have issued such an order to the entirety of the canyon," Cepheus continued. "Even you, my foes, were aware of it. And I boast no power of telepathy; there is no way I could have spread a message so quickly to so many Pokémon at once. I would accept my defeat, if only I could come to understand how we arrived to this point in time. I only remember…"
Cepheus narrowed his dark and frightening gaze at Char, but somehow it didn't seem so dangerous, now that Cepheus was surrounded and outnumbered by the Gold Division's warriors.
"I only remember you threatening me," Cepheus said in deep contemplation, pointing a claw at the Charmeleon. "I do not even remember what your threat was. And yet… for reasons I do not understand… I gave in to your demand."
Char crossed his arms. "You want to know what happened? I'll tell you exactly what happened," he said with far more confidence than he ever pictured himself having. "I have a power known as the Call, similar to Enigma's power. When you refused my demands, I mind-controlled everyone in this canyon, and stopped the battle myself. You can't remember why you gave the retreat order, because you didn't make it. I made it. I only told everyone that you made it."
Char's admission of the truth shocked the Gold Division warriors far more than it shocked Cepheus. Daemon and Kain looked absolutely flabbergasted, and Prince reeled back as though he'd just beheld the face of Arceus himself. The small circle of Pokémon took a collective step away from Cepheus and Char.
Cepheus chuckled quietly at Char and turned his head away, as though to tell Char he was not worthy of his attention. "You idiot," Cepheus scoffed, weak and defeated. "Do you have any idea of what you've done?"
"I did what I needed to save the lives of my friends," Char shouted defiantly.
"Hmph. That's not all you did," Cepheus grumbled, crossing his own arms now. "I can't help but notice how you also saved the lives of all these little obedient soldiers who came with me. You could have ordered them all to tear their own hearts out. You could have ordered them to climb to the top of the cliff and leap into the canyon. But no,you only told them to leave, and never to return. Out of what I can only assume is some… most curious sense of altruism."
"That's exactly right," Char said. "Because I'm not like you. I don't use Pokémon as expendable pawns in a game of chess. I don't need to draw blood to get my way."
"See, that's what I don't understand about you," Cepheus snorted, giving Char one last evil gleam of his eye. "You apparently care so much about preserving the lives of Pokémon, and yet you somehow fail to realize that you've doomed me and several thousand innocent Pokémon to death."
"What are you talking about?!" Char demanded. "What, are you saying that Enigma's going to punish you for failing your mission? Is that it? And I'm supposed to feel sorry for you? And how is that any different than what would have happened if we won the battle by tooth and claw? You want us to feel guilty for standing up for Basin Canyon just because your commander is a heartless maniac who's even worse than you are?!"
Cepheus shook his head sadly. "No, Charmeleon. Had I lost this battle fairly, had I made some miscalculation, had I been overpowered or outsmarted… Enigma wouldn't have cared. One battle lost does not break her trust. But you took away my free will. You saw fit to alter my mind, forced me to disobey Enigma. And disobedience is an entirely different matter. As it stands, it is very unlikely I will escape from her severest punishment."
This triggered an uproar from the Gold Division warriors.
"Perhaps you shouldn't have thrown your lot with Enigma in the first place, ever think about that?" said the Grovyle.
"Oh, look. The heinous murderer is begging for our sympathy," said Daemon. "How adorable."
"SHUT UP!" Char shouted, nearly blowing flame out of his mouth. "If nobody has anything constructive to add, I WILL mind-control you to be quiet."
The murmurs of the group were replaced by a unanimous, horrified silence.
Char grit his teeth and shouted at Cepheus again. "Yeah? And what's stopping you from just defecting? Joining us and turning on her? Setting all those Pokémon free? There's no reason they have to die."
"For someone who seems to know so much more than he should about Lady Enigma, you certainly know nothing at all about her," Cepheus commented in a defeated tone, pacing past Char and towards the wall of fire. "Why – don't – I – join – your – side…?" he loudly sang until his voice echoed from the domed ceiling, spreading his arms to the heavens. "Depending on the severity of my insubordination, she will cut funding to Amaranthine, casting at least sixty percent of my people into poverty and death… or she might decide to skip the poverty part, and simply issue an attack order and slay some percentage of the innocent population." He laughed, dark and bitter and rich. "Silly little Charmeleon. Did you imagine I was referring to the little peons under my command? Those useless Pokémon standing outside in the hundred-degree sun, waiting patiently for our talk to conclude? I have no control over whether they live or die. When I'm done with them, they will only be assigned to another project. I am king of the most ancient and venerable region in all of Ambera. Its population alone exceeds that of this little backwater you call a 'region.' And the first duty of a king is to provide for the safety and security of his people no matter the cost. I obey Enigma only because she has forced my hand, and now holds my kingdom for ransom. I fought her, and I fought her, until I no longer could fight her. In the end, I gave in to her demands.
"Do you realize? She only lets her generals keep their free will because she will execute us, or worse, the moment we step out of line. We cannot lie to her, because she can read our memories and minds. Can you fathom how difficult it was for your beloved Adron to escape from her? What do you think happened? Do you think he had a change of heart one day and decided to leave? Do you think it all happened in a day, Charmeleon?
"With Our Lady, things are never so simple. Whenever she brings someone onto her cabal, she takes collateral. She knows we may change our minds once we get to know her, and so she removes that option from the board. Do you know what collateral she took from Adron? I promise you that it hurts him more than all the blood ever to stain his blade. He sold out his own clan-brothers for his freedom. His freedom is the very reason Adiel is now doomed to a lifetime of slavery to her, bound by harsher chains than ever he was. He has never forgiven himself for that, and I believe he never will until his dying breath."
The mighty Nidoking turned around to face Char again, his cape whipping through the air behind him. He pointed somewhere far away. "Do you think, for one moment, I would still be taking orders from a psychopathic little vermin ghost like her, if there were any other feasible means to protect and provide for my kingdom?" he shouted bitterly. "And somehow, based on your performance history, I do not get the impression your resistance force has either the finances or the competency to play the same role. Or even to protect anyone from her, for that matter. That is why I'm not joining your side."
Char closed his eyes and sighed for just a moment, simmering his fire. He gave a small, genuine smile. "Thank you," he simply said to Cepheus.
"For what, spilling my heart to you?" Cepheus grunted dismissively. "You probably brainwashed me anyway."
Char shook his head. "No. For showing me that I've made a mistake. So let me fix my mistake. Let's save your kingdom."
The very notion of cooperating and possibly trusting this vile servant of the Master got a venomous hiss from the Gold Division Pokémon, but a quick glance from Char made them fall quiet again.
"I assume that lying to Enigma is out of the question," Char considered. "There's no way to hide the truth from her, is there?"
"There could be… a slim chance of deceiving her, given enough mental fortitude, were it not for the five hundred little knights who also believe that I called for a retreat," Cepheus said. "So yes, precisely. That's out of the question."
"Then what's stopping you from just telling Enigma you were mind-controlled?" he offered. "Then she'll know why you were defeated, and she'll know why you're all suddenly disobedient. Nobody has to die."
"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha…" laughed Cepheus, darkly and evilly. "Ah-ha-ha. Oh, you poor, poor fool. Listen to yourself. Listen to all these bright ideas you think you have. Answer me this, Charmeleon: are you sure youwant me telling her the resistance figured out how to use the Call? Everyone knows what the Call is, there have long been hopes and theories that it might be harnessed, but you seem to be the first in Ambera who knows how to use it on purpose. It would seem most irresponsible to leak your greatest secret to your most dangerous enemy, don't you think?"
Char stopped himself from thinking too hard about this question, or giving too much pause. "Why do you care whether or not I keep the secret? Last I checked, you work for her!" Char said pointedly.
"Char, don't fall for this," Markov begged. "He's trying to earn your trust because he thinks you'll be useful to him later. He's only trying to save his own hide. This is the kind of thing he always does."
"You still don't realize what's happening, do you?" Cepheus sneered back at the Feraligatr. "You think I am the one in control here? Do you think any of you are in control? This Charmeleon cannot be used by anyone. This Charmeleon is the one who will be doing the using, and we are all at his utter mercy. Hah… the irony. I have my Master, and now you have yours."
More and more, the Gold Division warriors looked at Char with genuine fear and panic – the same fear and panic they used to direct at Cepheus himself.
He turned to Char and said candidly, "To answer your question – I've already said that my sole interest is the benefit of my kingdom. And since you've expressed an interest in sparing my subjects from the effect of your blunder, our interests momentarily align, and I find it appropriate to repay your act of altruism with my own. So listen closely: understand that if Enigma learns there exists a Pokémon who can summon the Call voluntarily, she will stop at nothing to find you. I cannot foresee what she will do once she finds you. Maybe she will brainwash you, maybe she will invite you into our little cabal, and maybe she'll even kill you. But make no mistake: she will focus all her efforts on finding you. She will find you. And she will absolutely bulldoze everything and slaughter everyone that gets in her way."
Char huffed, tapped his toe against the ground for a few moments in thought, then replied: "You said she can read your mind, so isn't she going to find out about me either way?"
"No, because you're going to use your Call ability again," Cepheus said. "You're going to use it on me, you're going to use it on my obedient soldiers, and you're going to use it on your friends here. Then we can all go our separate ways, I can declare this a legitimate defeat in good faith, and Enigma will be none the wiser. The only remaining question is what narrative to weave about what transpired here. That is the final piece of the equation which I've been pondering." He turned to the Gold Division Pokémon who all balked at his plan, and said to them: "And I know you're all going to be smart and let your Charmeleon friend do what needs to be done. Otherwise he's going to need to mind control all of you not to leave the room."
Char looked down at his own claws, wanting to let the gravity all sink in for a moment – that he could so trivially insert narratives into the minds of other Pokémon, and that even Cepheus himself now feared him. But it wasn't quite time to dwell on anything. "Do you have any ideas?" he asked the Nidoking warlord.
"I believe I've thought of something," Cepheus hummed, touching his chin. "Char, I saw you step out of a very particular type of portal. Very distinctive shape and color. I recognize that type of portal because we have one of them deep underground in Amaranthine, which supplies us with our feral-shards. Those are Spacial Rift portals. So, here's what you're going to do: you're going to overwrite my memory, and the memories of my minions, to believe that Primal Groudon emerged from the Spacial Rift and demanded us all to leave. Make certain that you project your own image of Groudon into our minds, otherwise we will all imagine it differently, and Enigma will suspect the memory is false. As for your friends here, it is your decision whether they should share the same memory, or whether you feed them a different memory. If you decide to be truthful to them, I strongly encourage you to at least erase their memories of this conversation, and make them believe you saved the canyon because you triggered the Call involuntarily. Keep the true nature of your power hidden for as long as possible; it could have unforeseen consequences, or fall into the wrong claws. Like mine."
Char readied himself to ask for the Call again – something strong, but not nearly at full power again. As he did so, he decided firmly that once he "fixed" the narrative of Basin Canyon, he would not use the Call again for a very long time. It was far too fearsome of a power to be used on impulse. If he wanted to use the power for good, and treat the minds of other Pokémon with respect, he would need quite a lot of advice and soul-searching.
Yet… as he was busy scripting and rehearsing his new commands in the silence of his mind, he noticed something extremely peculiar.
There was one little detail of Cepheus's plan that almost seemed like bait for a trap, or probing for information, or… maybe it was actually nothing. In fact, try as Char might, he couldn't think of a way to ask about the little discrepancy without outing one of his own secrets. And if it really was nothing, there was a risk he could be giving Cepheus dangerous information.
"Go on. Take your victory. Take your godforsaken feral-shards," Cepheus snorted, now looking incredibly bored. "And one final word of advice, Charmeleon… don't let anyone tell you how to use your power. I can see in their eyes how painfully your friends now want to use you to solve all of their problems. They see you now only as a tool. As a means to an end. And I can confidently say from several decades of experience that life as a mere tool for the whims of other Pokémon is not an existence worth living."
Char glanced now at his friends. They did not appear so friendly anymore. They gazed at him with repulsion and disdain, knowing there was nothing they could say. It actually made him feel quite guilty about not being any harsher on Cepheus after everything he'd done.
As he summoned the Call one more time, Char gave the Gold Division warriors a subtle smile, hoping to convey two simple words, not through mind-control but through simple and pure brotherhood: trust me.
And so it was done. The memories were rewritten. Primal Groudon, in his boundless rage, was the one to emerge from the portal and chase away the intruders. Cepheus left, never to return, taking his brainwashed legions of followers back to Enigma with this story firmly cemented in their minds.
The battle of Basin Canyon was won. Once the Sandslash returned home and settled in, even Enigma wouldn't bother them anymore… not with the threat of a primal legendary Pokémon to oppose her plans.
But even after the foes had all left, what remained of the Pokémon standing in the Firehall did not look so thrilled about what Char had done.
Daemon approached him with slow, careful strides. "Char…" he said darkly and furiously. "You didn't listen to us. Please tell me you realize he tricked you. Please tell me you realize he was in control of that entire exchange. Please tell me you realize you just let him get away with it."
"…He knows," Prince told him. "He was playing his own games right back. Why do you think he didn't erase our memories?"
Daemon was silent for a moment, as though he hadn't realized this fact. "For all we know, maybe he did," he growled back at Prince. "We have no way of knowing what's real anymore."
"Char… if it means anything, you've still got my respect," Prince said solemnly, stepping closer to him. "You saved the canyon, and you saved us from suffering more casualties. Without your miracle, Cepheus would have gotten away all the same. We have nobody but ourselves to blame for our own failures. You won this fight. You had every right to choose mercy. If we wanted him dead, we should have been strong enough to defeat him ourselves. You did nothing wrong, and I'm prepared to stand up for you if anyone asserts otherwise."
Char sighed, dropping down to sit on the floor and rub his temples as he always used to do as a Charmander. But it didn't feel so effective now that his head was covered in a thick layer of scales.
"You're right. I'm not going to erase your memories," Char said. "I'm not going to hide anything from you about what happened today. Despite what Cepheus says, I know I can trust you guys. This isn't the first time you've had to deal with keeping secrets. This is the resistance. You've been doing this all your lives. So… yeah. I don't know what happens next, but it's true. We have the Call on our side now."
Though reluctantly, Daemon's gaze softened, as the enormity of the moment slowly seemed to dawn on him. An entire spectrum of fire flickered in his eyes – realizing Char really did serve a purpose to the mission, but realizing Scythe wasn't around to help them decide what to do next – realizing Char could be the answer to all their problems, and then realizing he would only prove Cepheus right if he only treated Char as a weapon – realizing that he needed to return Char's trust with his own.
"Scythe was right," Raptor realized. "All along, he was right. Again. And Prince was too. The Call was the answer."
"Yes… he was," Daemon admitted, gritting his teeth and looking conflicted. "I can't imagine how any of this was planned. For all I know, this all happened by luck. But whether by luck or not… it has so happened. And here we stand."
Daemon turned to address the survivors. "Nobody hears about this," he ordered to them all. "If Char has decided to let us keep our memories, it falls upon us to prove we are worthy of keeping them, and to revere this secret. And make no mistake, this is a dangerous secret, and it must be handled delicately. Understand?"
"What are we expected to tell everyone, then?" asked Kain. "How would history remember this moment?"
Daemon bit down on his tongue. "For now… and I can't believe I'm saying this… do what Cepheus says," he decided bitterly. "Until we decide how we should go about treating this delicate matter, The cover story will be that the Call activated involuntarily and repelled Cepheus. I will privately tell High Intelligence the truth later. They can help us determine the next best course of action. But for now, this remains a secret, even from teammates. Understand? Do not give Char a reason to silence you himself."
There was a weary murmur of agreement.
"Good. Now split up, search your assigned zones. Find more survivors," Daemon ordered. "Absolution, begin escorting the tribe home. Get them settled in, and they can fortify the canyon against any future attacks and help us search the lower floors. Reconvene here in ten hours. And Char?"
"Yes?" Char responded, climbing back to his feet.
"Just – do whatever you want. Obviously nobody has control over your actions anymore," Daemon said with fake ruefulness. "But I hope you will see fit to reconvene with us. Whoever has survived, I think they would like to know who saved them."
"I will," Char said with a nod. "There's something I still need to do here, once the tribe comes home. Until then, I'll help search for survivors, too."
"Thank you," Daemon simply said. "And also… thank you for the victory. Even if this happened by luck… thank you for being lucky."
It took a long time, well over half the day, but the handful of remaining warriors scoured every single tunnel of the complex in search of survivors. At first, they only found surviving soldiers who'd been abandoned by Cepheus. After being healed and directed towards the exit, some fled at the first possible opportunity. Others expressed a desire to quit working for the Master and stay. Unfortunately, the traitors needed to be kept in confinement for several weeks to ensure any of Enigma's active mind-control would wear off, but they didn't seem mind – they seemed thrilled at the idea of never having to see Cepheus or Enigma ever again, and some found Basin Canyon to be more beautiful than anything the Master had.
In all, there were about forty surviving enemies who defected. They would later become known as the "Canyon Guard", beloved by Jahzara's tribe and happy to atone for the role they played in the attack, by helping to ensure the Master would have a much more difficult time were he ever to try uprooting the Sandslash from their home ever again. Some of them had even participated in the original raid that had purged the tribe from the canyon in the first place; they became the leaders of the guard.
Eventually, the survivors started to appear. Shander and one of his brothers were the first to be found, deep down near the dungeon entrances. The Bisharp from Team Righteous came wandering out of the lower dungeons by herself, saying that there were others down there she couldn't rescue. Alastair from Team Flamewheel was found alive, collapsed unconscious in his sleeping quarters, and only needed some healing. With every survivor found, Char felt a surge of relief. Perhaps he wouldn't have to remember the day as a great tragedy after all. Perhaps he wouldn't have to spend the rest of his life wondering who he could have saved if he'd just have used his Call a few moments earlier, and not given Cepheus those sixty seconds.
In the early evening, the entire tribe of Jahzara, escorted by Kain and numbering about two hundred, came marching down the center of the canyon. While several entrances had been prepared for them. Shander decided all those entrances should be closed, and they should all be guided into the new entryway to the Firehall.
Shyly, hesitantly, reverently, the tribe crept back in. Some clearly believing they were dreaming. Some thrilled to see how much of the place was the same way they left it. And some seemed afraid, as though they couldn't believe this wasn't some awful trap set for them. Some outright refused to enter, and chose to stay outdoors all the way until the Watchers would chase them inside. Char had to wonder how terrible the original battle of their banishment had been, to instill them with such fear and aversion to this beautiful underground castle.
As the Sandshrew and Sandslash settled back into the deepest floors of the canyon, more survivors were found stuck in the dungeons. Kain's Machoke friend was rescued, making Team Absolution whole again. As were two more of the Sandslash princes. Brock was found pinned under a collapsed tunnel after he'd woken up and started screaming for help. In fact, almost all of the original team of Gold Division warriors were confirmed survivors and present at the reconvening.
Almost.
After the day of the settlement, the tribe organized a great burial ceremony for all bodies, friend and foe alike, which had been recovered from Basin Canyon's tunnels. Among those corpses were some of Char's friends.
Marrow was gone. Shander reverently marked his grave with the last club he'd ever used, and hung his skull helmet on the end of the club. Char stared into the eyes of the helmet for a long moment, realizing how much it reminded him of the way Marrow had carried his helmet one of the last times Char ever got to see him. Though he felt the formidable urge to cry, Char found his new bonfire-heart to be much more resilient to sadness and despair than his Charmander heart ever was – rather than sadness, he felt his heart churn with rage and vengeance. He knew he would need to channel those feelings later, use them to drive himself to be a leader Marrow would have been proud of. But Char did find himself shedding a few small happy tears at the end, when he remembered how content Marrow was in his final moments, after having found purpose in his sacrifice he'd so desperately searched for.
I'll make Scythe laugh, Char remembered. I don't know how, but I will. I promise.
Nidoroch, too, was gone. He was found dead on the sixth basement floor, near the entrance of the dungeon. At first he was thought to be one of the enemies, but Raptor recognized the detect band he wore the day of the settlement. Char immediately started fretting about how Gemstone would take the news, wondering if she would still want to stay on Team Ember after learning it. He knew he would let Gemstone stay if she wanted to stay, or leave if she wanted to leave. She could do whatever she wanted. But if she decided to stay, Char knew he had very big shoes to fill if he presumed he could make Team Ember the best family possible for her.
Kabir was gone. He'd obviously used a self-destructing move in his final moments to collapse a tunnel and take some of the enemies with him. Though at first Prince seemed to be taking things gracefully, once the Smeargle was buried, Prince punched a hole in the canyon wall above his grave and stayed there for something like an hour with his head hanging, staring at the patch of freshly overturned dirt beside him. Char thought Prince looked angry at himself, and considered himself a failure for letting this happen.
"Legend is alive," Char promised him after he'd spent a long while at Kabir's grave. "He told me you wanted him to escape. We didn't find the body, so I'm sure he's waiting back at the division base." He also wanted to add that he was pretty sure Legend survived because an immortal Espeon had escorted him to safety, but decided it best to leave that detail out.
"Yes… I know," Prince had whispered, staring somewhere far away. "And for that I'm thankful. Admittedly… I wouldn't have wanted them to see me like this. This isn't the first time I've lost teammates… I promised myself I would be stronger."
"Do you… think Team Flamewheel will keep existing after today?" Char had asked.
"Of course it will," Prince replied firmly. "And not because of the survivors… but because of you. You, Char, are what I've waited all my life to find. The future of the resistance lies with you. And wherever that future lies is where I will stand."
The seventh Sandslash prince, the one known as Salveth, was found down in the dungeons, appearing as though he had starved to death. Perhaps the dungeon had turned on him for some reason. Perhaps in the end, though it was too late, the poor prince realized the truth of Basin Canyon.
In all, four allies and twenty foes were given a respectful burial in the canyon's ravine. At the conclusion of the ceremony, there were only two Pokémon officially left unaccounted for: Legend, and Adarc.
But eventually as the dead would have surely wanted, the grieving and mourning needed to be set aside for a moment. The Basin Canyon mission was a victory which deserved a wholehearted celebration, and there were happy matters to address.
At nightfall, after the burial ceremonies had long been concluded, all the present Pokémon – the entire tribe of Jahzara, the Gold Division warriors, and the defected soldiers who would later become the Canyon Guard – were all assembled in the Firehall at the scheduled time that Daemon had set. Daemon himself was several hours late – he had spent an unexpectedly long time visiting the graves of Marrow and Nidoroch, and it was well past nightfall when he wandered back in and gave his victory address.
Daemon announced the official story of the battle – that Char's Call had activated and rendered Cepheus and his soldiers docile. He gave credit to Scythe, who somehow must have suspected that Char's Call was coming, and must have planned for Char to be a backup strategy in case the original plans would fail. The Sandslash selected a new king, one of the six surviving princes named Shiel. There were talks about installing a teleport-blocking forcefield, since there apparently existed a few hundred teleport compasses somewhere in the Master's possession which led into the canyon's caves. And finally, there started talks about feral-shards – when mining might begin, how many could be expected to be sent into circulation, how many were agreed to be sent to the Gold Division as payment. On behalf of his tribe, Shiel promised the Gold Division as many feral-shards as they wanted, and shipping would begin in only a few days.
On that note, it was Char's turn to surprise the entire convention of Pokémon with some very good news.
"Between the time Cepheus attacked the canyon, and the time the Call activated, it was about fifteen minutes," Char declared before all the Pokémon in the room. "But for me, it was about three months. You see, I fell into the Spacial Rift, the place where feral-shards come from. And I spent my time there making a good friend."
As Char approached the wall of fire, a particular black-rainbow portal opened in the air, and out of the portal there drifted a small creature with a great big smile. All the Pokémon collectively gasped in wonder and fell completely silent.
"Uh! Hey! Hi, everyone!" Jirachi shouted as loudly as he could. "So I've been told, you guys really needed these space-rocks out here. And I sort of have bajillions of them. So Ama and I came up with a plan. We figured out a way to link this room to the Spacial Rift. It's really complicated since the time stream isn't exactly parallel, but I totally figured out a way! So if anyone ever needs one of the spa – feral-shards, you can come into this fireplace room, and shout a secret password either out loud or with your mind, I'll hear it, and I'll come right over and bring you one! You could even make it a whole ceremonial thing if you want! Imagine Pokémon coming from all over to make pilgrimage to Basin Canyon so they can evolve! Or if you don't want that, you can just tell me how many you need and I'll go get them if I can. No more having to get them out of dangerous dungeons and stuff. And I have Ama here – or Char, you guys call him – all to thank for everything. He thought of it all."
Of course Shiel and all the Sandslash were rather ecstatic at the idea of befriending the legendary Jirachi. There would need to be some negotiations about how evolution ceremonies could be held, but as they immediately decided to rename the Firehall to the Evolution Hall, Char figured they found it quite favorable of an idea.
Jirachi dipped in mid-air, making a bowing gesture. "Thank you, Ama," he said, quietly so that only Char could hear. "I can't grant wishes right now, but this way I still get to see the beautiful smiles on Pokémon's faces when they evolve. Which I bet they wish for all the time! I guess it's really like granting wishes after all. You were always so good with these kinds of ideas. I really miss your ideas, you know."
"Aww, I can't be that smart," Char said back, playfully prodding him. "I'm so dumb that I forgot I could have just spent fifty years there learning to read, and saved one of my wishes."
Jirachi stuck out his tongue. "C'mon, Ama. We both know you would have gotten so frustrated and bored, you'd have broken down and taken the wish anyway. I would have given you ten days. And besides, I'm totally an awful teacher, I wouldn't have been able to help."
"That's generous; I would have broken down in two days, maximum," Char laughed. "Just looking at footprints for more than five minutes gave me the worst headache. But hey, at least I got some practice using my new body. I really wanted to stay for longer, but I was starting to forget things about the real world… Ah, I'm probably going to stop by and visit a few times if I can. For more of that chestoberry tea, of course."
Jirachi suddenly got all excited. "OH! OH RIGHT! I ALMOST FORGOT!" he shouted to everyone. "Everyone who evolves at an evolution ceremony will get a free dose of my magical EVOLUTION TONIC, totally for free! It makes the transformation totally painless!"
Soon, Jirachi drifted back into the black void, the portal closed, and the whole of the room erupted into joyous applause. Looking at them, Char felt like more of a leader than he'd ever even felt with Team Ember. It was a good feeling, but also something very humbling, knowing he was the reason for the happiness of so many others. Scanning the room, he saw Prince looking at him with an expression of something like hope and pride. And he saw Daemon with a face he'd never, ever seen the hellhound make before. It wasn't quite a smile, it wasn't quite joy… but it was like he had the eyes of a young Houndour for a moment, staring at something he didn't understand, but curious to know what would become of it.
He remembered how Jirachi had told him once that Ama, his human self, loved to see Pokémon smile, too. He wondered if this really was his natural element, being the reason a whole room of Pokémon was happy.
He remembered one day, after about a month of living at Palkia's palace, when Jirachi had said something he still couldn't stop thinking about.
"Who doesn't love to see other Pokémon smile?" Char had jokingly asked, one day while they shared dinner at one of the infinitely long tables in the dining hall. "Isn't that just… something that's true for everyone?"
Jirachi had replied, "Oh, Ama. If only you knew. If only you knew…"
Season Finale: Twitch reading on Sunday, May 1st, Publication on Monday, May 2nd