Nothing was left for Lucky to understand. After falling off of Zapdos' back, all events which followed were rendered unrecovnizable through the confusion. He had fallen, striking a surface that he couldnt immediately map out.

Lucky would have assumed it to be a skybox, yet a little reminder in his HUD told him otherwise

[Light Screen is in effect.]

"That's still going on..? Will'O, fella..." He couldn't help but reiterate it-he truly didn't deserve such a great Pokémon.

Like it or not, though, Lucky was all but stranded on his own island with naught but a few inexperienced Pokémon left. Rather than try to fonf a way off the predicamrnt, wouldnt it be better to let them watch the end of a spectacle? He let loose his Type-NULL and his emotional support dragon from their balls and settled down.

There were some pretty heroic escapades going on, he was aure, at the end of this grabd battle. Lucky was sure that his Pokémon would apprecoate the show.

Zapdos fell, trailing flames and smoke. Lightning burst in cruel jolts from his titanic wings as he battered a hole in the cloud floor of the rain storm and finally dropped down to Altitude 2.

But as he tore his way downwards, in fierce resistance every step of the way, it wasn’t just Zapdos that dropped.

It was the other shoe.

“Trainers, stand down IMMEDIATELY. Cease fire on Zapdos and the shrine! This situation has... developed. It is no longer safe to proceed. This is not a war. This is a research operation. We value life, not wager it for the greater good. We work on principles, fairness, and the pursuit of knowledge. Sacrifice is not necessary."

Sarah opened her UI to reply but Zapdos lurched, falling another another fifty feet. The bottom fell out of her stomach and she swallowed her reply, gripping hard to to the wings of the massive creature as it wheeled through the sky.

The comms burst with chatter and shouts and hurried replies. Questions and clarifications as Ash explained what had happened.

She hadn’t known. She couldn’t have known. Her programming had clashed with the reality of the world. The fantasy of a Pokemon world filled with mindless creatures had colliding with the reality of those creatures being just as sentient as the NPCs.

This is what happened when you brought Pokemon two steps closer to reality. You ended up with a thousand ethical and moral problems, and the realization that you couldn’t just handwave their because you were ‘in a game’.

If Ash was real then so was her Beautifly. So were Zapdos and Moltres and Sarah’s Emboar. They could all talk. They could eat and sleep and dream and argue and tell you what they wanted. They could all consent to fight for what they believed in, or stand back and watch as others fought in their place. They could all understand what it meant to die, and they all had the words to say ‘No’.

So when everyone had a voice, who did you listen to? How could you determine who was ‘right’?

Did you follow the loudest voice? Did you search out the quietest? Did you call for people to speak for each part of the land? This was the age-old questions of representation in a society. Pokemon being as sentient as the NPCs wasn’t a shock to the system, it just meant that suddenly you had thousands of times as many constituents.

Sarah snatched a breath from the torrents of air that tore past her. The world around her screamed with the rising whine of charging cannons. She held tight, mind racing, heart hammering like a forge in her kindled chest. Her breath came out in sparks and starts.

So who was in charge?

The Dreamworld had two leaders. Clear and elected. But…what was Asper? Was it a democracy? A meritocracy? A republic? It sure as hell wasn’t about to be a dictatorship! No one person could decide what they should do.

Sarah set her sights on the Duraludon below her. The new objective flashed in her UI. They needed to work together to move forward. They had to set aside selfishness and haste and forged a path into a future not built on the corpses of a few but from the voices of all. They needed to FIND ANOTHER WAY

SPOILER: Click to show

{Sarah's Raid Theme}

In moments those cannons would open fire, targeting Zapdos. She’d get thrown or blasted off, that much was certain. No problem, she could fly. Well, fall. But what then? How would she survive the long trip down?

Her train of thought was jostled as Zapdos wheeled roughly, throwing up sheet after sheet of light screens and filling the air with gleaming purple walls in an arc of hard light.

Sarah watched over her shoulder, and as the last sheet of psychic glass went up she heard the rising note of charging cannons come to a sudden stop. Silence. She fixed her gaze on one of the Light Screens far below.

Sarah let go of the wing.

In the first moment of freefall, three important things happened.

First, she toggled the gravity on her belt, setting it to 0.8. She could have stopped it at zero, but she didn’t want to hang in the air in the middle of a battle. She wanted to move, just not at terminal velocity.

Second, she opened her UI and sent out Braixen, who appeared in the air beside her in a flash of lavender fur.

“What’s happening?” Focus asked, squinting her eyes against the rushing wind.

“We’re falling, but not for long. Cover your ears!”

Third and most prominently, the cannons fired! Beams of super-magnetized energy ripped streaks through the clouded sky, searing their paths into Sarah’s retinas like chemtrails. Each shot sounded like a the plug being pulled on a thousand TVs. A sudden ZIP as electricity was cut off and the attack was loosed.

The beams crashed into the Light Screens, bursting in explosions of violet light. None of the attacks were aimed at Sarah, but she felt their energy rattle her chest like a passing bullet train. She felt their static like she was holding your face an inch from a high-voltage fence.

“Focus!” Sarah shouted, waving to her partner to uncover her ears. She pointed at a Light Screen below them. “Can you extend that screen?"

Focus gripped the Noonlight wand in her tail. Lavender flames crackled on her lips as she grinned. "How far do you want it?"

Sarah smiled back, and swung her arm to point at the battery of Gigantamax Duraludon that rose from the pool of crimson energy. “Over to there!”

Braixen laughed, and with a wave of her tail she bent the Light Screen below them into a delicate slope. Approaching it at high speed it now looked less like a flat, deadly pavement and more like a gently sloping prismatic pathway. It’s fine. They’re both Nintendo Properties.

The pair hit the ramp and started sliding. Sarah get her feet under her and pulled Focus up, the pair now surfing down the shimmering sheet of psychic energy. Braixen worked at double speed, pulling more of the light screens out of thin air, crafting curves and rises to keep them at a manageable speed as they raced towards the Duraludon.

Zapdos was right! His life had value far beyond any that his death could give. And besides, the birds weren't a currency to be spent for access to the next area. They were allies! Friends they had worked beside for months to fix Asper! She’d fought alongside Moltres at Noonlight. She’s ousted the false Princess to save Articuno at Precipice. And now what? She was expected to kill them rather than find another way?

Sarah had faced choices like this before. She’d been responsible for deaths, through negligence or for what she had deemed ‘the greater good’. But right now she felt clear certainty burning like a silver fire in her mind.

Right now, sliding down a psychic path under the shadow of a thunderbird, everything seemed clear. Seemed realer than it ever had before.

Was it because this raid was a microcosm of reality? Was it because the choice was easier when you knew exactly what was on the line? When the hard calls came with a list of pros and cons.

Or maybe having an avatar just pushed players to be more idealistic. To become the character that they wished they were in real life.

Sarah squeezed Focus' hand as a mélange of red and purple flames built around them. The fire engulfed them, crackling against the Light Screens. It streaked behind them, burning like the tail of a comet as they roared down the rainbow road towards the Duraludon.

Sarah saw bursts of solar and lunar light crash into the cannons. "orioncayge Laguna!" Who else could it possibly have been? She cheered them on as she raced towards the battle, Moltres' words roaring in her ears.

'The story of the world is written in fire.'

Well here they all were, burning like stars, ready to write something new! Not a conclusion, but the end to a bright and glorious chapter.

Silvermoon watched the other trainers, watched them throw themselves at Zapdos, at the Shrine, and kept their grip on Saint, helping keep him up despite the chaos. There were thousands of voices screaming, for life, for death. And they were forgotten, the two of them unmoving amidst the rushing and attacks.

"It would be so easy for you if I just gave in, wouldn't it?"

Or- or just Silvermoon, Saint clinging to them exhausted and desperate, begging. Telling Kasey to stop it, like they had done anything- like they had done any of it. Like they hadn't stood back, too afraid to do anything either way. Like their argument to Moltres had been even the least bit effective- not just a personal rambling of their own history, which a great phoenix had no hope of understanding or connecting to.

"What a weight off your conscience! What a relief! 'Ah, because Moltres and Articuno say it's fine, I'll follow suit!' You think my life is a majority vote? You think infants fainting from the stress of battle hold a flicker to MY sacrifice?"

"Moltres burns her life because death itself brings her joy, if she can but die in battle. Articuno gives his that he might have worth again, trapped and powerless as he is in the realm of Dreams."

"I get no joy from conflict— I fight only to live. And my life has value— far beyond that of a weapon. I have worth! I have value! I am worth the weight of my own life! How dare you ask me question that?"

"Your 'inspiration' is just another set of claws in my back. Try to take my life. Try to sap my fighting spirit. But I will not yield."

"Trainers, stand down IMMEDIATELY. Cease fire on Zapdos and the shrine! This situation has... developed. It is no longer safe to proceed."

"This is not a war. This is a research operation. We value life, not wager it for the greater good. We work on principles, fairness, and the pursuit of knowledge. Sacrifice is not necessary."

“We will not ask our most powerful allies to take their own lives for the safety of our operation. Humanity has weathered the proximity of the Corruption until now– we’ll double our borders, block off Mistra for now.”

“The Corruption readings in the Area have been stable– I do not believe it will cross over anytime soon, especially if Zapdos is willing to guard the Northern Steppes.”

“If Zapdos will agree to a compromise, I will meet with him on the ground and proceed with interpreters.”

“Trainers, heads up. The cannons have not been deactivated. Repeat, they are still online. I’ll need you to take them out manually, or they’ll force Zapdos to the ground and force-trigger the Shrine Activation sequence.”

“Trainers, I have trusted in your skill, ability, and judgment since we first landed in Asper. For what may be the last time, I must ask you to trust mine.”

"Enough of this!"

It's all

"You three who returned my wings, I ask you what you would have me use them for. You asked what I wanted. I cried for you to leave. I would fly you to a distant land, across distant seas, carry you on my back to the corners of the world, if you would leave me be."

just

"Humans, I am not your weapon, I am not your friend, but neither am I your enemy. I would aid you as no others can, of my free will. I would fight with all my strength alongside you, as I have against you. Do not be so foolish as to kill what you cannot control, as your violent kind have always done!"

noise.

"Aid me now. Reverse what you have wrought."

Kasey kept their grip tight on Saint, but not really to keep him up anymore. They clamped their teeth down, and looked for Tuesday .

Tuesday, who had always been there, had always been able to help Silvermoon. She always seemed to know what to do. Tuesday, a paragon of gold and ice, and unwavering courage and unshakable confidence.

And Tuesday was

throwing herself against Zapdos, against the Shrine, forcing them ever-closer to the ground.

"I-" Kasey buckled, crumpling to their knees, unable to hold up both of them. Their voice was a useless noise. They didn't know what to do. They didn't- it was all too much- There was too much going on, and they didn't know what to do. They wanted to rip the helmet off, and go to bed, and hide. Let everyone else decide- What was their voice when drowned out against the endless?

Saint 's voice cut through the noise.

His hands were holding them up. His touch was cold, and shaking. His, or theirs? Kasey had no way of knowing. He looked scared- admitted he was scared- but he wasn't suggesting to log out, or even hide.

It was something he would do if Kasey wanted to.

<SILVERMOON!>

The scream was primal- feral- afraid. Kintsugi had dug their claws against Zapdos' wing, entire body tensed and hunched- head jerked back painfully, grip filtering through the feathers.

The canons. The magnet beams.

His helmet.

Kasey ran, scrambling desperately to their feet. Saint was forgotten. Tuesday was forgotten. They grabbed Kintsugi, as tight as they could. "No- No-" They sobbed, boots slipping against the wing, unable to do anything to help.

And then there was a sharp yank on their back, Kintsugi seeming to glow. <Hold on! We're all here!> It was the ponyta- the one Verai had given them, the one Moltres had helped. Kintsugi hissed, digging in a bit more.

And then more- their Meowth shoving against one foot, Eevee tugging hard on the trailing edge of their cloak.

Gumball, unhelpfully standing atop Kintsugi, honking irritably in the direction of the duraludon.

And Saint, arms tight around them, weight comforting and familiar.

<C'mon! Let's help, let's help!> Phoenix beeped, running forward as far as he could, the pidove swooping in behind him. Pidove scooped him up, the pair divebombing the nearest Duraludon, an explosion of feathers and fire.

<Breathe, Silvermoon.> Kintsugi said, like he wasn't the one most in danger.

Kasey took in a slow breath. They couldn't fix this how they were. They could only- "Just be brave. We'll be okay. Okay- On one- Two-

"Three-" Silvermoon wrapped their arms tight around Kintsugi, as he released his grip- the pile of pokemon and trainers ripped from Zapdos' wing.

It was all a haze, smoke and clouds, people moving and fighting- People Silvermoon had considered idols still lashing out against Zapdos, despite everything that had been said.

But what did they want to do?

With a grunt, Silvermoon spun, facing the nearest Duraludon- towering and imposing, and conveniently drawing them all towards it via the magnet.

Their pokemon got ready, a surge of psychic energy and claws and desperate honking-

And Silvermoon shifted their grip, still clinging to Kintsugi with one hand, the other finding Saint's, fingers lacing together.

...well. That was just the way of the world, now, wasn't it?

People made mistakes. People hurt others without meaning to. People didn't think twice about their actions, didn't have a clue about the consequences unless and until they came home to roost. It was as true in the real world, the world outside UNOVR, as it was in this one.

There, maybe it would be getting the one-day shipping and not caring that a warehouse employee would be worked to the bone to get it there in time, or splurging on an Internet purchase from China and not thinking about the sweatshop worker making it for pennies or the cargo jet spewing pollution to move it across the ocean.

But there, at least, it was easy to dismiss all of that as systemic. There is no ethical consumption under capitalism, etcera, etcera. Throw ten bucks to Amnesty International once a year and call it even.

Jinx started heading downwards, her training guiding her wings carefully so that while she descended, the pace wasn't nearly as steep as Zapdos' had been, and she could control where she was going along the way. At least that chaos hadn't been for nothing.

Here there were no nameless, faceless corporations that valued profits over people, or billionaires who would commit untold atrocities if it meant adding a single cent to their bank account, to blame for it all. (Not yet, anyway.) Here it was just... people. People doing as they were told. Following orders.

Jinx wasn't a huge history buff, but she knew enough to know that "just following orders" wasn't enough of an excuse there.

Professor Ash meant well. Zapdos meant well. His siblings meant well. Cygnus meant well, even if Jinx had some qualms about his methodology. The players meant well... mostly, anyway. A few were still attacking Zapdos, apparently, and Jinx was definitely giving them the stinkeye, but as she got closer, Jinx could tell that most had redirected their attacks to the Duraludon waiting below.

It was hard to escape systems, here and there. The warehouse wouldn't close for lack of one order, and the cargo jet would still fly even if this shipment was a package or two lighter. Her attacks had been only a small sliver of the total damage done to Zapdos in this raid, and the cannons would still be a potentially-deadly problem even if there were one less Duraludon down there to man them.

But what could she do to fix any of it?

What could she do now that the victim of the system's unthinking processes was staring her in the face?

(Well. Not literally. Jinx was still above Zapdos, although not by much now, and Zapdos' gaze was always directed either at the players on his own level or at the Duraludon far below. She wasn't even on his radar, any more than he had been on hers before the raid.)

First step: do no harm. That much, she had down at least. No Pokemon out to fight with still, even if she wanted to.

Next: do what she could to right what had gone wrong.

In a genuine way. Giving back directly to those she had harmed. No ten bucks to Amnesty International. (Not like it existed in the game anyway.)

In real life, Jinx--Sheila--figured she did that by giving back to her community, caring for her husband and daughter and the rest of her extended family, looking after those who were in her circle.

In UNOVR... Jinx wasn't sure if she even had a circle. But there was no better time to work on that then now.

Jinx slid onto a nearby bit of Light Screen shield and let out the two Pokemon she had brought with her that hadn't already been knocked out. Both Steel-types, as it happened, like the Duraludon below.

As she released them from their Poke Balls, Jinx went into her User Interface and turned on the setting for Pokemon speech.

She was here for them, now. She was listening. She wouldn't demand their silence for her sake ever again.

"Minnie? Jim?"

"Hmm?"

Jinx wasn't even sure which Pokemon's voice that was. She had never heard them speak to her before.

"I, uh, I can hear you now. Like, your actual words. Clear as mine."

"Really?" Okay, that was Jim speaking, his mouth was moving along with it. And that voice was deeper and louder than the other one, so that must have been Minnie? Aw, Minnie's voice was cute. And if not for this raid, Jinx might never have known.

"Yes, really. And I'll keep it that way, I promise. If I have the option to let you guys talk, it's only fair to do that, right?"

"Huh. Alright."

That was... a bit of an under-reaction from Jim. But then, she'd just gotten him not long ago. They barely knew each other. He could just be hiding his feelings, but Jinx got the sense he didn't know what to think of it all, and you know what, that was valid. This was all a lot to process.

Minnie, though... Minnie was positively beaming.

"That's so cool! How does that work? Oh, I have so much to tell you, where do I even start... wait..."

Jinx nodded and waited patiently for the Cufant's next words... but as the Cufant started glowing, her form shifting and growing in a matter of seconds, Jinx realized that the Cufant's reaction to this news had led to more than just words.

Or, not the Cufant, not anymore. The, uh. Copperajah, apparently. The little lady wasn't so little anymore.

"Way to go, Minnie!"

"Thank you, thank you! Now, uh, this is some sort of battle, right? Who are we fighting?

...oh boy. There was a lot to fill them in on. But all they needed now was the basics.

"We're taking down those Duraludon! And you've each got attacks good against 'em, I checked. Jim, hit 'em with a Mud-Slap! Minnie, use your High Horsepower!" Both Ground-type moves. The ground was still far below, but Ground was working for them rather than against them this time around.

"Hit 'em with everything you've got! A life is on the line! Oh, and Minnie?"

"Yes?"

"I can't attack like some of these guys can, but I still wanna be part of things... mind if I ride on your back? Looks like there's plenty of room up there."

Minnie knelt down and extended her trunk in front of Jinx as a makeshift ladder. "It would be my pleasure."

There, though, Minnie was wrong. Because as Jinx rode through the sky on the back of a metal elephant, watching the cannons fade out one by one, a giggle escaping her lips all the way, Jinx was sure that she was getting as much pleasure out of this experience as her Pokemon now was.

Maybe a certain kind of responsibility wasn't so bad after all.

"And why do we fall, Bryan? So we can learn to pick ourselves up."

Big Bee fell at terminal velocity towards the Surge Steppes, and the cold rasp of the wind pulling against his cheeks really drove home the 'terminal part'. He loved Batman, but he wasn't confident that this was going to be a fall that he could pick himself up from.

Intrusive thoughts shot through his head. How far is this? Gotta be at least a few miles. Will the raid end before I can hit the ground? I was never good at physics but this is going to hurt. I wonder if we kept in the Clanwar ragdoll physics?

He banged on the side of his flight helmet, willing it to pull him back into the sky. The sapphire embedded in the helmet sparked in protest before giving out entirely. No dice. "Dammit Cygnus! This one could have done with another round of testing!" Big Bee pulled off the helmet and stashed it in his inventory. Perhaps he was being unfair. Most helicopter flight helmets weren't rated for voltages exceeding, uh, however many million volts Zapdos had just hit them with.

And so, with no way to save himself hitting the ground, and barely any Pokemon left, Big Bee found himself looking around in a strange, ethereal calm.

Trainers soared through the sky, falling towards the Duraludon. Burst of sunlight and moonlight tore the cannons apart. Lovers kissed and fought side by side. The players were almost completely united in their goal.

It was everything he'd wanted.

And though the fight wasn't over, in true UNOVR style the party had already begun! Laguna and orioncayge had turned one of the Light Screens into an impromptu dance floor, and were filling the sky with blast of celestial excitement. "Oh hell yeah! We've gotta get over there. Taka!" Big Bee called, excitedly slapping the shell of Blastoise who was falling alongside him. "Set a course for the dance floor!"

Taka's body rumbled, and spun around so he was facing away from their destination. His jets activated, blasting the pair through the air.

Big Bee whooped in excitement, one hand gripping Taka's shell and the other holding his bandana in place. Together they shot through the air in a glorious, arcing spray. They landed hard on the glittering light screen, and Big Bee bounced up, high fiving everyone. "Amazing! Fantastic! Talk about a light show!" He laughed, happy to be alive and happier to be in the company of his best friends. "If only Yggy Br00ks were here," he said, looking around for his little sister.

Around them the battle raged with glorious abandon. A celebration of the future they were striving to create. Together.

"Taka!" Big Bee shouted above the roar of the beams. "It's time to do our part. Mega Evolve! Z-Move! The works! Do whatever it takes to take out those cannons!" He climbed up onto the shoulder of his starter and pointed at the target. "Fire!"

Taka's back slid opened to reveal a third cannon, and his blasters shuddered as they unleashed a torrent of water. It was like the rainstorm above them had unleashed every drop simultaneously. It was a vertical tsunami that fell right on the heads of the Duraludon, short-circuiting their cannons in a wave of crackling fireworks.

In a world of turmoil and conflict, the players had come together under the banner of love and companionship. They had fought to recognize the rights of everything within the realm, and to show that every life was worth preserving.

Big Bee felt his heart swell, and the wind whipped away his tears of joy. "We did it guys," he said, slapping Laguna and Orion on the back. "Did you have fun?"