Pedestal: Chapter 154

I hit the ground.

It wasn't soft, squishy, boiling hot magma ground, though. It was solid and smooth and cool to the touch. As I cracked open my eyes, I saw that it was lighted, too. A cold white light.

I stood up, shakily, my legs not wanting to support me. The world was dark around me—no. Even as I noted that, it flared to life with bars and boxes and blurs of white. It wasn't static, always shifting and swirling around me. Not the white world, not the black world, and not the static-y world. It definitely didn't feel like a dream, either, if the aching in my body was anything to go by.

Nick was lying on his stomach a couple feet from me, and as I watched, stirred with a groan. I was more alarmed to see Chase on the other end of our disk of solid white, however. He hadn't even been close to catching us. I had no idea how close we were to the lava—or where we were, okay—but that was a distance to go. ...I wasn't even sure he would've caught me, too. Or could have.

"My child, I am so sorry." I jumped. The voice was deep, warm, but all too close. I whirled around and found a creature—no, it had to be a Pokémon, but I couldn't immediately place it. It was massive and white and gray and had a halo of gold around its middle.

It felt bizarrely familiar, too.

"Wh-Who are you?" I asked, hating the way my voice shook.

"This is my fault," the Pokémon said sadly, craning its long neck over to look at Nick. He had gotten to his hands and knees, face bloody, and looked like he had just spotted Chase. He ignored us and crawled over to his starter. "I... should not have let things get this far out of hand."

"What are you talking about?" I demanded. If this thing just saved us, then that was fine. Great, in fact. But I was tired of cryptic answers and invading psychics and who knew what else.

It swung its head back to me, lowering it, and looked at me with scarlet and moss eyes. It still struck a chord, but I was positive I had never seen this thing before. "I am responsible for this," it said plainly.

"...How?"

"I..." It sat down and folded its front legs in front of it, suddenly avoiding my gaze. Guilty? And it had just told me that it was its fault. I didn't know what was its fault, though. It gave a short sigh. "I am responsible for all the creation in your universe. You are my child, as much as anyone else is."

Legendary Pokémon, but there were so many creation myths and legends out there, I still couldn't immediately place it. My family had never been particularly religious, so I didn't have much basis for my guessing, unfortunately. "You... made us?"

"Humans and Pokémon alike, but you were very definitely separate creations," it stressed. It finally looked down at me again, eyes sad. Across the white disk, Nick and Chase were finally reunited, soft words and growls and hugs included. They didn't seem to care about this massive Pokémon in front of us at all. "My Pokémon came first. I created humans, based on separate feelings and thoughts, later. I am still not sure it was a good idea."

Okay, so not fond of humans. I could deal with that, after years of dealing with Ike. I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes, trying to appear threatening. "That's all well and good, but why should I care?"

"I am trying to enlighten you," it replied. There was something in its voice that was... almost parental, but definitely not scolding. I dropped my arms but maintained my glare. "...I understand your anger, my child. And I am sorry for it."

"Just... if you want to talk, keep going." I turned and started over to Nick and Chase.

The Pokémon did just that. It seemed really keen on telling me this, for whatever reason. I probably would've been fascinated at any other time, but now, I still had to figure out what to do with Nick, and whether or not we were dead and in some sort of afterlife.

"Humans are different from my Pokémon. They are relatively defenseless, so they rely on wit and technology. They create wars and rely on lies far too often. I have never been sure that they were good for this planet, or my other creations." Oh. I glanced back at it, only mildly surprised at the sorrow in its tone. So it was another human-hater with the power to actually do something about it, it seemed. That was great. Just what I needed. Another angry legendary thrown into the picture. "I do not want to act rashly. I never did. I... had learned my lesson many years prior," it added shamefacedly.

Considering we were all still alive and now it went from an angry legendary to a sad one, I felt a little better. As I neared Nick, he looked up at me, all confusion and regret and fear. I didn't get any closer. What did I say to him? I had lunged for him, I had tried to save him. I wasn't completely sure why. Probably just more memories battling with my current feelings. Then there was this new development...

"So I devised a way of testing humans."

"Testing us?" Wait. That rang a bell.

"Yes, my child. I tried to test humanity as a whole, but you were too hateful and too chaotic. So I followed a single human, and I tried to gauge whether humans were ultimately good, or ultimately bad."

Suddenly, a lot of Lola's words were making far too much sense. She was the first. She was a litmus test. "...Lola?" I asked weakly.

"No, a young girl named Abigail."

That was even worse. She had been Lola's friend and traveling companion—the one killed by the Abomasnow. It also explained her "kind of". She hadn't been the first, she had been with the first. ...Wait—first. That implied there were more. I looked back at Nick, and a chill went down my spine.

He was staring up at it with the same shocked expression. "This Abigail... What happened to her?" he asked. Of course he wouldn't know.

"She died, by her own causes. They were looking for Ursaring in the north of this country, and they upset the territorial balance and brought about an Abomasnow, enraged and blinded by her fury at the unjust invasion. I learned nothing but heartbreak and that humans are more self-destructive than I realized," the Pokémon told us, eyes downcast. The white behind it flashed into pure black, leaving us the only source of light. The floor seemed dimmer in the darkness.

Lola and Abigail had started the Abomasnow, the same one that later killed her and Matthew. Not to mention the assault of Hanna and I. Had that started Lola's plans? Or had she always been like that? Was she only out for revenge because of her friend's death?

"But, her friend... I was going to try again until I reached my decision. Her friend suggested someone with power, as a real test."

"Me," Nick said flatly. The Pokémon inclined its head. He remained expressionless, but Chase tried to nuzzle his snout into his chest with a whine.

It took me a numbing moment to actually process what that meant. Abigail hadn't been good or bad. Nick... He had done some terrible things. Murder. Several times. His own friends. Sent the region into chaos. Ruined the trust between trainers. And he had been the test as a representation of us all.

I suddenly felt sick. I knew what Nick had done, and so did he, and so did this judgmental white thing. He had been the test and that had been a pretty epic fail by anyone's standards.

But wait. If it started watching Nick after Abigail had died... That would have been just before we had gotten attacked. Nick still would have been good at that point. It could have seen several months, almost a year of him as he was. Happy and dorky and charming and strong and always so helpful. At least it wasn't so black and white...

"You were controlled by your grief. I cannot fault you for that," it told us. Even if it excused the initial problem—like I had—it still couldn't ignore his acts past that. I didn't know exactly what he had been up to, but directly or indirectly, he was responsible for so many deaths across the region. If you added in The Tournament, it spiked to thousands. He had started all but a rebellion.

"...What are you going to do?" Nick asked, face still a mask.

"I will rectify this as best I can. I will protect the lives that I can. But... This has gotten too far out of hand."

"But what are you going to do?" I cried desperately, panic making my stomach churn even worse. The haloed Pokémon turned to me and although I couldn't see its mouth, I could tell it was sad beyond comprehension. A heartbroken creator. About to destroy its own creations.

It couldn't end like this. Not in this bizarre world, not if we were already dead, not after everything had happened. Not another decision taken out of my hands.

Chase seemed to be thinking along the same lines. He reared up, shielding Nick from view with his wings, and roared at the other Pokémon.

"My dear Garchomp..." It didn't sound condescending or trite. It managed to sound as if it genuinely cared. Maybe it really did. "I am so sorry."

I was tired of all of the apologizing during the night, too. I grimaced and looked around for something, anything that... I didn't even know. I felt like a hostage of the situation. I was, yet again, at a loss for what to do, and even if I could do something, it wouldn't amount to anything significant. This had to be some sort of legendary, and even if we weren't already dead, we only had a severely wounded Garchomp between us and it.

"Don't be sorry, then!" I burst out. "Just... don't do this. Whatever you're testing us for, don't. Humans can be cruel and selfish, yeah, but... Look at them!" I gestured to Nick and Chase. "Teams! Teammates, allies, friends. Humans become Pokémon trainers so we can befriend them and care about them. Even pets are loved."

"I know." Again with the amazing ability not to sound sarcastic or mean, but understanding.

I was on a roll, no matter how shaky. "A-And, the Pokémon love their trainers. Look at Chase! My team is back... there, and I know they're worried sick about me. They've done so much for me, and they love me, and I love them. Humans can be mean, and violent, and hateful, yeah. But we can be compassionate and generous and really nice, too."

"I know. That is why this is such a difficult decision," it said, sounding gently amused.

"Then... Each person is good and bad."

"But destructive in both aspects," it said primly. It nodded towards Nick once more. "I have seen a great deal in this time, and it is that both love and hate can produce violence in its name."

I really couldn't argue with that. Maybe this situation wasn't as dire as I was thinking, though; it acknowledged the good in humanity. Well, just that it led to bad things, too. Still, maybe this situation wasn't entirely hopeless. It hadn't started spewing fire and brimstone, anyway, and it still sounded like it hadn't made up its mind.

"...You saved us." It came out sounding accusatory. I tried to soften my tone, and elaborated, "You could have let us both die—we're not dead, right?"

"No, you are not," it said fondly.

"Okay. So, that means you saved our lives. All of ours, and you easily could have let us fall. That means you have to hold out some hope for humanity, right?"

"I would not be stuck with this perplexing dilemma if I had not." It shifted and got back up onto its feet—hooves?—and shook its tail. Not quite a wag. "I still wish to hope for the best, but I am not young. I am not naïve. I am running out of patience, especially with all of the violence in your world as of late."

Also the cause of humans. "But..." I couldn't argue that point, really. I felt as if all that was left for me was begging for my life. I looked back at Chase, still growling and still curled around his trainer. "...Nick was good. He was. He only did that stuff because he missed Matthew." It was a weak attempt and probably something everyone present already knew, but I wanted to strengthen whatever defense we had.

"That, and other reasons." Nick tensed up; I could see his shoulders between the gap of Chase's wing and his back. I tore my eyes away and back up to the Pokémon. "He was trying to protect those he had left."

Nick made an uncomfortable sound, and Chase growled again.

I remembered him giving himself up for his parents. Another case of good, even amongst his crazy days. "See! Humans are capable of a lot of love. We care. We just... like to take things too far sometimes."

"I have no doubt of that." It tilted its head, peering down at me quizzically. "I have known you now for years as well, my child. I have known a great deal of Nicholas' friends and family and his life. Abigail was the same. I have experienced human life, and I have seen its woes and triumphs. But this does not draw me any closer to a decision."

"You could always just... give up and leave us alone."

Ignoring my remark and its previous tangent completely, the legendary told me, "I have seen great love out of humans and not necessarily for their own species or their own blood. This is not shared by many Pokémon, and is a great gift in the world. It is true you have a knack for uniting many species together in these teams of yours, and a great many humans have the talent for it. I am proud to see such unity."

I stayed silent and looked at Nick again. He still looked pretty tense. Was he still worked up over the fact that he was a test? Did he feel guilty? Angry? Pained? Chase caught my gaze and shifted, putting himself in between us completely. He was still loyal to him. At least someone was.

...What did this legendary see out of humanity, if it had been following Nick around? Matthew, dead, and the catalyst for a violent breakdown. Tears and desperation and wrath. But... happiness. Joy, jokes, hanging around with Hanna and I. Our teams, all playing and messing around with each other. Going shopping together. Battling and training together. Eating snow cones and taking stupid photos. Three greater tragedies of training.

Had it seen him release Lassie?

Had it seen how Kamala and Lassie tried to save him through me? Had it seen what Nick had done to Hanna? How much had it watched, and then—how much did it understand?

"...Violence is inherent in nature itself. I am simply worried that it is too extreme in humanity," it said, breaking into my thoughts. It sounded like it was trying to rationalize its actions.

"...Not everyone is like that," I mumbled. Did it think training itself was violent? If so, I couldn't say much. Yes, Pokémon battles could get messy and dangerous. But life itself seemed to be that way. For me, at any rate. "Most people go their entire lives without harming anyone else. I think you're just following around the wrong people," I sighed.

"Oh?" it asked, sounding entirely too curious.

"Uh, y-yeah." I tugged at my shirt's collar and kept avoiding its eyes. "Don't... go for someone with power. Power corrupts, and most stronger trainers? We're all pretty crazy. You should, uh, try again or something. Start with a kid. Kids are innocent and pretty harmless. Then watch, over years, and hopefully the kid will be a decent trainer so you can see how the average human is like. Why would you want to go after someone with power?"

"That was my mistake. I gave in to deceitful advice. It had the angle that if someone with power could survive corruptness and depravity, anyone could," it said quietly, shying back towards the end of the disk. Around us, the blackness finally flared back into white bars, circling us. I blinked in the sudden brightness.

Its mistake. It had taken its advice from Lola... She really had been at this for awhile, then. "...How was it deceitful?"

"She... manipulated several factors before I caught on. She influenced your path."

"...Ato," Nick bit out.

"Yes. I believe it was that Xatu that helped her in that."

I still couldn't see him, but he must have been able to look up at the white Pokémon. "But... He used that Future Sight well before any of that happened. Lassie was still a Snorunt at the time... Doesn't that mean that that would happen all this time?" he asked, anguish in his voice.

"The future is not a straight path from the present. Time is fluid and can be influenced, or outright changed. Of course, some paths are more likely than others, and it seems, at times, that others are all but guaranteed... I have been led to believe that several outside forces were actively trying to shape it."

"The ghosts," I said at once. It nodded. "And... an awful lot of psychics."

"I was... not as stealthy as I probably should have been," it admitted Mareepishly.

"So a lot of Pokémon knew, and at least one other human. Lola. ...No, that's a lie. I knew, too." That hurt to say out loud, but really, I had known. About Nick. Lassie's warning and the ghosts' warning overlapped some, but all of it led to this.

And then it struck me.

I burst out laughing. It was bitter and heartbroken, and I couldn't pretend otherwise. Clutching at my sides—laughing with hurt ribs wasn't my smartest move of the night—I grit my teeth and tried to hold back very sudden and very unwanted tears. I couldn't pretend they were all from the pain. "L-Let go," I responded to the looks I got. Nick had gotten to his knees so he could look over Chase's back. I was glad to see that that expressionless face of his was gone, at least.

"What?"

"I-I was supposed to l-let go," I said, hardly able to breathe. Oh god, I was an idiot. I had been so caught up in thinking I had the warning right—again—that I missed how literal that had been. To my credit, the warning had been anything but literal up until that point (the darkness bit came to mind), and maybe it even had been a bit more metaphorical, but still. Not that I would've had time to think much, either... "The ghosts. Th-They told me... ow. They told me to let go."

I looked over at Nick. He had ducked down behind Chase again, so that only his eyes up were visible. He appeared reproachful.

I let out one last, harsh bark of laughter. "I could have... I could've let go. You would've fallen, maybe died. Maybe this thing still would've caught you. I don't even know what's going to happen once this chat session is over, anyway. It could still drop us into the lava. Still... I could've let you go, at last. You would have died, and there went our problems. All this guilt and anger and confusion... gone. And our benevolent creator here would've stayed confused and stuck about humanity. Could've bought us another year, decade, or maybe it would've given up on us all right then and there—"

"Would you have really let go of me?" Nick cut in.

I deflated instantly. "No." No use lying about it, either. Even if it hadn't been my fault. Even if he had jumped in himself. I still would've tried to save him. Talking and thinking about killing him was one thing, I realized. Doing it or having to watch his death? Another entirely. I was positive, by now, that I couldn't do it. Not by myself.

In that second, when I had lunged forward and I had grasped onto his wrist, feeling his pulse and warmth and sweat and how alive he had been, hanging there... I knew. I knew I would be a wreck if he had died. I couldn't let it end like that.

I didn't know if I needed some sort of closure, or if I was a total pansy, or if all of the death up until that point had made me revolt against capital punishment, but I didn't want Nick to die. Yet (I hoped; I couldn't quite let go of that anger still bubbling under the surface). Not by his own hands, not by Hanna's, and certainly not by mine. He would just have to be handed over to society and prison while I figured myself out...

"Humanity is pathetic, that's what we are," I hissed, hanging my head. I certainly was. My prior resolve was gone, evaporated by my panicked grab and all of this simple talking.

"You love," the legendary said warmly.

Then, it did something that sent a shiver down my spine.

It leaned down and nuzzled its face into my shoulder, nearly sending me to the ground. It didn't have fur, and instead had some sort of hard skin, and up close, its eyes were even more soul-searching. My breath hitched. There was something inherently... wrong about touching this creature. I felt, bizarrely, as if I wasn't allowed to. I didn't have permission, or something. Something was off, either way.

But then, that was erased by a total feeling of comfort. My shoulders sagged and I let out my breath in a contented sigh. I felt... okay. Not rejuvenated or spectacular or anything, but just that things would be alright. I hadn't felt that in a long time, and that part certainly felt great.

It lifted its head away from me and the world reverted back to cold light and harshness and confusion once more. I looked up at it, shocked and a little afraid, worried about the Pokémon that could instill such feelings with a simple touch. Not that that was so strange in the Pokémon world, but it wasn't something I had really come across before. And now was not the time to muddle my feelings further. Probably contrary to its intentions, I now felt guarded and ill at ease.

"Don't do that again," I said faintly. I cleared my throat and added a stronger, "Please."

"If you wish." It didn't sound hurt, and instead sounded as if it was happy again. "...Humanity loves. I am glad it is still capable of that, even if some of its members can be slightly self-depreciating at times."

Had it just made a jab at me?

While I was puzzling that out, Nick spoke up again. "Don't confuse the issue. It sounds as if you've made up your mind about us already."

"I wish I had. I am close, and my patience is wearing thin, I will grant you that..." it trailed off. It looked down at me again, and for a brief moment, I was worried it would try to touch me again. "I am hopeful, however. I have not been hopeful in some time. This night has been... enlightening."

"...You've been watching?"

"Naturally."

"How much have you seen?" Nick asked guardedly.

"Enough to know of the hurt you all carried with you."

"You all...?" I echoed. "...You mean, Hanna and me, too?"

"Yes. I am already aware of you both through your connections with him. I was surprised to see it all come to a head at such a time, though."

"Yeah, tonight... wasn't a good night for any of us." Hanna on a rampage, me wavering between murderous and wanting to sob myself into a coma in a corner, and Nick on all ends of the sanity spectrum. Great representation of humanity there.

"I have seen enough. You still seek to protect each other."

"Well, yeah," I mumbled, rubbing my arm. "I don't want Hanna to... get worse."

"Not just you." It looked pointedly at Nick.

"Why are we here?" he asked, blatantly ignoring the hook. "What was your motive for saving us? What do you plan on doing with us once we're done here?"

"I still have some business to attend to, I'm afraid. But I won't drop you on Heatran if that's what you're worried about."

"More the lava than the lizard," Nick huffed.

"Why do humans lie?" it asked with curiosity bordering on childishness.

"What do you mean?" he asked, suspicious.

"You have not been truthful this entire night. Not to yourself or anyone else." Nick looked uncomfortable again. I looked between the two—and then caught Chase's glare at me. The heaviness in my stomach told me my hunch was right.

"...You have been trying to protect us." I was trying to accusing, and instead came out with a whine.

"No I haven't," Nick replied at once. Chase growled to add emphasis.

"You didn't want Hanna to kill you, but once I wavered... You went back to her. If you couldn't save us both, you wanted to save me." The words came and I instinctively knew they were true, no matter how at odds they seemed with the entire night. I shut my eyes tight and shook my head. "Why... Why any of this, then? Why hurt Hanna in the first place? Why fight us here, tonight?"

"He hurt your friend so he didn't have to hurt you," the white Pokémon supplied. "He tends to try to save as many as he can, but also tends to choose when decisions become difficult."

"Shut up," Nick snapped.

"But... why at all? I wasn't in any danger..."

"The so-called 'followers' he amassed during his journey. He was concerned."

"I said shut up!" he roared, and this time, Chase joined in with a snarl and a snap of his jaws. The dragon uncurled himself from his trainer and put himself in between them once more, tail lashing angrily and bloodstained teeth bared. "Stop telling him useless things—things that are in the past and they've changed now!" He turned back to me, desperate and rebellious. "I-I don't care what you think of me, not anymore. I'm too tired for that. But please, please don't think of me as your friend anymore. I'm not. I've hurt you far too much for me to deserve that title anymore, and it'd be best if you finally thought of me as the villain here."

"Even now, he would prefer to sacrifice his image in your eyes so you could be more at ease."

"Shut up!" Nick shouted. Chase opened his mouth and released a brilliantly blue jet of fire at the Pokémon. I jumped back, shocked that it actually came to this. The Dragonbreath ended, and the white legendary seemed unharmed, although as far as I could tell, it had taken the attack. Nick grimaced and Chase tensed up again, but neither seemed very surprised that it hadn't done much. Probably just proved a point. Nick turned to me with a scowl. "It speaks nonsense."

"...Don't worry, the friendship phase is over," I told him flatly. Too much had happened for this to be a magical fix for my feelings. I felt hurt at his look of relief, however, so maybe I wasn't as emotionally distant as I would've otherwise liked. "Your motives... I kinda don't care at this point. I can only react, you know? And I can't really react to motives. Only actions, and there have been plenty of those. So... yeah. Don't worry."

"You, too, have mixed feelings. You are not as cold as you'd like to believe," the pokémon said gently. I crossed my arms and half-turned my back on it.

"You never answered my other questions," Nick said in a low voice. "Why are we here?"

"I wished to speak to you."

"Why?"

"I wished to apologize."

"For what?"

"For everything." If I hadn't known any better, I would've said it sounded ready to cry. It sounded so final. I just hoped it hadn't reached an unfavorable verdict just yet... "...I must wrap this up now. This half-world of light and dark is unhealthy for all of us to stay in."

"We're going back? You're coming with us?" I wasn't sure which to be more surprised about.

"Yes," it replied shortly.

"...Why are you coming back with us?" Nick asked hesitantly. He reached out and wrapped his arms around Chase's neck, reigning him back in.

"I must fix what I can, and save who I can," it repeated.

"...You can't save everyone?" I asked, realization dawning at last.

"No."

"You just said the future wasn't set in stone..." The panic started to set in. Someone else would die? Multiple lives would be lost? I couldn't handle much—any—more death. "Why can't you just rewrite things and save everyone?" I really hoped that meant that it didn't want to just save Pokémon or anything.

"I must fix what I can," it repeated, more forcefully. That wasn't reassuring in the least. "My children... It has been a great pleasure to watch your lives and come to know you. I only wish you had not ended up in this tragedy. I am so, so sorry."

"...Talk about choosing who you save," Nick groaned, burying his face in Chase's shoulder. "It's us or them? Really?"

"I have yet to make a decision on humanity as a whole." I tilted my head back and chuckled weakly. Dodged a bullet there... But for how long? I had a feeling we impacted its thought process quite a bit. Chase, too, probably. But I couldn't get a read on it. "...Farewell."

That was a goodbye. It was supposed to be taking us back. That was not good.

It turned towards Chase and Nick. The realization hit him at once, I could see it. Chase followed not a moment later and shrunk back, raising his wings defensively for his trainer. I started towards them without realizing why. It was another reflexive, instinctual lunge for him.

Nick turned and looked at me, and for a split second, we locked eyes. So many things conveyed. So many emotions and thoughts.

Then, he shut his eyes tight and leaned against Chase, just as the white pokémon leaned down and pressed the tip of its snout against the dragon's forehead. Bright, white light enveloped us all.

-.-.-

When I could see again—or came to, I wasn't sure which—we were back in the oppressive heat of the volcano. We were on the rock, the one across from Hanna. Des was already waddling back across the bridge. Pokémon, alive and dead and in between, lay all around us.

But what caught my attention wasn't that, nor was it the massive white creature floating behind me.

It was Nick Sayre and his Garchomp, laying side by side. Eyes closed and the ghost of a smile. Chase curled around him, protective and loyal even then. Both of them dead.