Twitch Plays Pokemon

“Have a seat,” said Giovanni as he stretched out a hand to indicate the chair on the other side of his desk.

“Oh, I have many seats in my collection.” Bill giggled as he sat down.

Giovanni stared at him.

“Just a joke.” Bill waved his hand. “Continue.”

“I suppose that I should thank you for getting me out of prison and re-establishing me.”

“Oh, people are a lot easier to confuse and control now,” said Bill. “It was really amusing to convince Brock that his new ledian and venonat were rock pokemon. It was a good opportunity to collect hi old pokemon and let new ones get exposed to the Voices. While the joke wasn’t quite as funny on repetition, it still didn’t go stale. And I have lots of money in my collection. Sometimes one has to trade parts of ones collection for the opportunity to add something else.”

“I still don’t get why you’re supporting me,” said Giovanni as he frowned. “We both steal pokemon. If anything, we’re competition.”

Bill waved a hand. “Oh, you can go on using your brutish methods and I’ll stick with my own. The more pokemon you use to delay Alice, the happier I’ll be. Just remember to act as though you never met Red.”

“Isn’t she your-“

“When it comes to what Alice is to me, this is all you need to concern yourself with: Delaying her will make me happy. Harming her will make me very angry. You don’t want me angry, Giovanni. All the twitched ones are special to me. Any one of them would have been a worthy addition to my collection. But Alice is even more so. Once the Voices have left her, I wish for her to join me in immortality, once I discover its secret. The Twitched one has no need for food, water, sleep, rest or medical attention. This is already a large improvement, but it is a temporary solution. Besides, I wish to collect a future Twitched one at some point and as patient as I am, I’ll need the Voices to move on before then.” He grinned.

“And what about me?” asked Giovanni, his expression dark.

Bill leaned back in the chair. “Well, Giovanni, as wonderful a specimen you would make for my collection, as I said, sometimes we must trade for the opportunity to acquire other specimens.”

“Lord Bill! Lord Bill!” squealed Zigzagoon as he ran. “I’ve got important news! Fo’ shizzle this time!”

Bill rolled his eyes and turned to face the pokemon. “Yes? What is it this time?”

“You’ll never believe it, Boss! A’s gone to this spinny tile place! Where she spins! A lot! And stuff!”

Bill blinked. “I’m well aware of this already.”

“Whaaaat!?” squealed Zigzagoon.

“You really seem to be proving yourself to be the most useless pokemon I’ve ever stolen. And I have some idiot’s level hundred feebas from before the spread of Helix’s chaos. I might have actually made things easier for the Voices by collecting you. At least Digrat was occasionally useful to Red.”

“But Boss! I’ve been telling you what I’ve seen!”

“Nothing useful. Now head back. Having you collecting useless information is preferable to having to listen to you. I really hope that I can get something better from Alice soon.” He lifted a file with a picture of a sandslash, a masquerein, a squirtle, a nincada, a wooper and a swablu. “Yes. These look more promising. Now to be patient. I have had plenty of practice with that.”

......................................................................................................

“I’m back, Lord Bill!” panted the man as he leaned against the doorframe.

“So you are, Miguel,” replied Bill as he swivelled in his chair to face his visitor. “Please avoid spreading that cave dust onto the carpet. As you might imagine, it is quite the collector’s item.”

“I thought you’d want me to report back as soon as I left the cave,” Miguel protested.

“I did. And yet you still managed to be late. What happened?”

“That cave is a death trap! I was chased around by wild pokemon for ages! And after Alice beat me, I had nothing to defend myself with!”

Bill inclined his head. “Fair enough. What is your report?”

“She took the dome fossil, Lord Bill.”

Bill raised an eyebrow. “Mind showing me the helix fossil as proof?”

Miguel scowled and pulled the fossil out of his pocket.

Bill smiled and leaned back against the chair. “It seems that Alice takes after me in more ways than just intelligence, curiosity and love of pokemon.”

“Yeah, she was looking at everything as if it was really fascinating to her and making notes in a journal. Can I go now? I have the fossil and I want to take a shower. You can transfer the rest of my payment electronically.”

Bill bit his lip. “I’m afraid that there’s a slight problem with that. That fossil has been exposed to the Voices. Whatever pokemon revives from it now belongs to me.”

“We had a deal! You said that I’d be able to keep the other one!” yelled Miguel as he pointed at Bill.

Bill pressed a button and a robot arm bearing a sinister tubular object descended from the ceiling and pointed at Bill. “And so you did. Until now. But don’t worry. You’ll probably see it often. You see, you’ve also been exposed to the Voices. Twice now. You also belong to me.” He pressed another button and an ultra ball fired from the cylinder, smacking Miguel in the forehead and absorbing him. The ball disappeared in a flash of sparks.

“Captured wild HUMAN!” said a message on Bill’s screen. “Give a nickname to HUMAN?”

Bill typed in a few commands and the screen responded with, “Miguel was sent to Box 2834.”

“You’ve already brought me a lot of pride, Alice,” said Bill. “Now bring me some more pokemon.”

We're trying to trade a nidoran for a mew! That has to be the best trade ever!

There was a knock at the door.

“Come in,” said Bill.

The door opened and a boy walked in. His eyes were dead and he said, “It is done, Lord Bill.”

“Excellent!’ said Bill as he smiled and leaned back in his chair.

“Alice was actually fooled!?” asked Lanette as he eyes widened. “I’d have thought it’d be obvious that there’s something wrong with him!”

“Alice is very clever and observant,” replied Bill. “She probably did notice. But it isn’t Alice that we needed to fool, is it? The Voices’ ability to sense the world has ... limitations. He probably seemed like an ordinary boy to them, albeit one foolish enough to offer such a ludicrous trade.”

“That’s another thing, my Lord,” said Lanette. “You’re giving them a mew!? Seriously!? For a nidoran!?” She shook her hands as she raised them into the air.

“Dear Lanette, when it comes to getting a pokemon influenced by the Voices, not even a mew is too high a price to pay.” He turned to the boy. “Hand him over.” He held out his hand.

The boy walked over and placed a ball into Bill’s hand.

Bill raised it to his ear, listened and smiled. “Yes! I can almost hear them!”

“But, my Lord! Did it really have to be a mew!?” asked Lanette.

“Yes. It’s a deal that’s too good to be true, isn’t it?” said Bill. “The Voices wouldn’t be able to resist. And if a mew is valuable, think of how valuable one influenced by the Voices would be. One raps what one sows. And I’m planning quite the reaping.” He lifted another pokeball. “Return.” The boy was sucked into the ball.

Bill turned off the camera. “So, they finally beat Koga. It seems that even though I convinced him that he’s still a gym leader, he retained some of his skills from his time on the Elite Four. Not that I’m complaining. He delayed the Voices quite nicely. Quite amusing that they were so desperate to get a psychic while struggling to get past a bug. And what a bug it is! Certainly a worthy addition to my collection.”

Bill leaned back in his chair and smirked as his files on Alice’s boxes were updated. “So, Voices,” he said. “Do you remember Abby? I know I do!” He shot a glance at a pokeball and grinned. “Come on. You have the charizard you always wanted waiting for you. All you need to do ... is you the PC.”

“Do you think they’ll take the bait, my Lord?” asked Lanette.

“The bait is too large for them to ignore,” replied Bill. “Just as it was with mew. They managed to avoid any releases when they took that bait. That will only increase their confidence. Some of the Voices will argue and demand caution, but dividing the Voices is in our best interests. It’s what causes them to make their biggest mistakes. And it is time that they made another one of those. I’ve only managed to get hold of one of their pokemon since they made Alice the next Twitched one. And I am certainly not satisfied. I miss the rush of Bloody Sunday. It’s been too long. The reaping is at hand!”

“Did you plan this, my Lord?” asked Lanette.

“Let’s just say that I was pleased when I realised what Old Amber would give rise to in my new world.” He turned back to watch the screen displaying Alice. He frowned. “Wait. What’s happening to her swablu?” His mouth slowly opened as he stared at the images on the screen. “Coprolites!” he roared as he kicked his mainframe, sending sparks flying. “The level five charizard has to compete with an altaria with trace!?”

Lanette rushed over to him and embraced him. “My Lord! Are you alright?!”

Bill breathed in heavily. “It’ll be fine. That altaria would make a better addition to my collection than a swablu would have. I have the perfect place to stick her. And there are other opportunities to bait Alice and the Voices.” He turned back to the computer and stared at the wreckage. He then placed his face into his palm. “Great. Now we have to fix this before Alice is tempted to use the PC again.” He froze and lifted his head again, smiling. “Wait! This can work out! Alice is not the type to sentence everyone else’s pokemon to imprisonment out of spite to me. She’ll resist if the Voices order her to! I think it’s time that Alice and I had some alone time. After all, it’s not right that we’ve spent this much time apart.” His grin widened.

Bill leaned back in his chair, smiling.

“You seem happy, my Lord,” said Lanette.

“Of course. I convinced Alice to help fix the PC system. Her intelligence really does rival my own at her age. I’m so proud. What’s more, she’s entered the power plant. I can’t wait for her to meet our new, experimental pokemon. I want to see it in action and how it reacts to the Voices. Plus it’d be more bait. Alice always did love cats. Check the cameras. I filled the power plant with them when I placed it there.”

The screens were filled with images of Alice and the purple and grey catlike pokemon.

“Go! AATUUUUN!” cried Alice as she threw a pokeball.

The masquerain jumped and awaited orders as the wild pokemon before them slowly turned to look at them, narrowing its eyes.

Alice froze as her eyes widened and her jaw opened. “R-return!” she cried, calling her pokemon back to its ball. “Run!”

Bill narrowed his eyes. “Why’d she react like that? It’s not like her to treat a mystery that way. I have to know. Reactivate the bot network to sweep for what’s going on in Alice’s mind!” He picked up his phone, dialled and waited. “Green? It’s me. You know how I asked for a few of favours in return for that pokemon I created for you. Yes, the one listed as ‘unown pokemon’. Your uncle needs a better spell checker. Anyway, I’m calling it in. I need it to use its abilities to find out what’s going on in Alice’s mind.”

“Ooh! Ooh! What about me, Boss!” said Zigzagoon as he hopped in place.

“... Fine. You can check too.”

(/)

“It’s conclusive,” said Bill. “This is what Alice was thinking at the time.”

He pointed to the screen and Lanette leaned over to read the text.

“I don’t know about any pokemon like this, but the Voices know. I can feel it. I feel their knowledge about how powerful and dangerous it is. I have to keep my pokemon away from it!”

“Well now!” said Bill as he leaned back in his chair. “That’s certainly encouraging me to continue with these experiments.”

“Lord Bill! Lord Bill!” squealed Zigzagoon as he ran into the room. “I go great news, Boss!”

Bill pressed his face into his hand and then looked up again. “What is it this time?”

“I learned some important stuff you can use to fight the Voices!”

“I see. What is the supposedly game-changing information?”

“I found out that A’s kirlia is in love with a potato!”

Bill remained silent for a moment before saying. “And what is the source of this ... enlightening information?”

“I took a look-see at A’s notes! The Voices sometimes make her write graffiti in it. One note said, ‘Kirlia X Potato’!”

Bill blinked once. “Let’s assume ... and I’m threatening the health of my brain cells by allowing this, but let’s assume that this is ... a reliable source. Could you please explain to me, preferably using an explanation that won’t lower my IQ by hearing it, how this information is of use to me?”

“You could hold the potato hostage!”

Bill blinked once more. “So, your suggestion is to hold the potato hostage. To provoke Kirlia. Who is in the PC and therefore cannot react to the news that his ... soulmate is in danger. When we don’t even know which potato this is referring to.”

“Yes, Boss!” replied Zigzagoon. His eyes gleamed with eagerness.

Bill walked passed. “Excuse me. I have to attend a funeral for some brain cells.”

“And here ... we ... go!” said Bill as he pressed “enter”.

The display changed to read, “3 days until extraction”.

He leaned back and smiled. “Now what will you do, Alice?”

“Will she even know, my Lord?” asked Lanette.

“Of course she will know!” scoffed Bill. “When she helped me fix the system, she left herself a way back in. You think I wouldn’t notice that? That I wouldn’t expect that? I know Alice. Right now, she is being alerted to the changes in programming by one of her devices. Probably her Teachy TV. She knows that I scanned her as she fixed the system and with her signature imprinted in the programming, I can take every pokemon she has directly from the PC without her visiting at all. She clearly isn’t going to be tempted to use it while under the influence of the Voices again and my experiments have proven successful. I’m not going to get much more benefit from Alice keeping the Voices any longer. I have something better planned for her anyway. I may as well take the direct approach now. If she wants to stop me, she has to go to the only PC in Kanto with the power to hack my system that isn’t already part of it.”

“The Hall of Fame,” breathed Lanette.

“Exactly,” said Bill. “I will be quite proud if she manages it. It seems that she was planning something similar anyway. She was probably going o disable the Randomiser. But if she does, it will merely be a setback. While I have only managed to get one of her pokemon ... and it lacks intelligence, it is still a pokemon infested with Helix’s chaos and exposed to the Voices. I will be able to spread the effect even further next time. By then, the Voices should have a new host and I’ll be ready for the final stages of my plan.”

He frowned. And placed his hand in his palm. “I forgot about the sabotage that extends the timer from when Camilla was the Twitched one. Oh well, I suspect that Alice will make it in plenty of time anyway.”

(/)

Bill smiled as he saw the new code being added to his system. “She made it!” He frowned. “What’s this? Yellowhandmode.exe?”

He began to type, but an error message displayed. “User ‘Lord Bill’ has been denied Administrator privileges”.

“Clever girl.”

Lanette approached Bill slowly as he stared out the window. “I’m sorry that you weren’t able to defeat the Voices this time, my Lord.”

“Oh, I’m not worried,” said Bill. “As I said, I wanted for them to have a different host from Alice when I collected them. I have different plans for her, after all. They’ll be back. They always come back. I can wait.”

Lanette bit her lip. “My Lord ... You know that I am your humble servant, but ... why are you so obsessed with the Voices?”

Bill turned towards her and raised an eyebrow. “Is it still that unclear? Even to you? The Voices are a power made of a collection of beings from another world! They are unlike any pokemon ... any discovery at all before them! They are unique! Only the rumoured deoxys comes close. They will be the greatest addition to my collection.”

“So, ... this is just for collection?” asked Lanette.

“Come now, my dear Lanette,” said Bill. “You know how far I go for my collection. But there is indeed more to it than might be obvious from that statement.” He turned and stared out the window again. “There was a time when each region on the planet was like a separate world. The inhabitants of each knew neither the cultures, people nor pokemon of the other ‘worlds’. They even claimed that the world had something ridiculous like ‘150 pokemon’. When one region had the power, they could move themselves into another and force their influence on the region, even making some of the old inhabitants into slaves. Does this sound familiar? Nowadays, we don’t tolerate such behaviour except from the Voices. Why are they given free rein to act that way? Are we telling all the forces of the multiverse to treat us the same way? Nowadays, we know that when someone enters a new region, they are subject to that regions laws and can’t impose their old region’s culture onto the natives. So why do the Voices get to do otherwise? No. When I display the Voices as my trophy, I will show all the multiverse a message: This world belongs to Bill, and so does anyone who enters it.”

Bill smiled as Alice and Zigzagoon lapped up the ice-cream.

“I’m still angry with you,” said Alice.

“I thought you would be,” replied Bill. “If it’s any consolation, you were the most successful in your struggles against me so far. If there is one thing that proves our relationship, it is you intellect. That ‘yellow hand mode’ addition was genius. I’ve been forced to ask some of my agents to spend most of their time trying to keep it disabled.”

Alice dropped her spoon. “So, you’re just going to carry on doing all those horrible things to the next person!?”

“Well, probably not the next one.” Bill shrugged. “You’ve set my plans back a bit. I probably won’t be able to get very involved in the life of the next one. I’ll be busy. I’ll probably have to wait for the one after that. I am patient. But I may as well arrange to capitalise on any mistakes they’re bound to make.”

“When you talk like that, it makes me regret that I don’t have what it takes to hate you.”

“Don’t think of it as a weakness, Alice,” replied Bill. “Your loving nature is what gave your pokemon the power to reach the Hall of Fame so that you could hack my PC in time.”

“And yet, you’re still here, planning to try again.” Alice waved her hand.

Bill shrugged. “My plans have not come to fruition yet. Maybe there’ll always be someone to stop me.You’ve done your part. I have something else to offer you.”

“And what’s that?”

“Now that you’ve had a taste o the Voices’ power ... No need for food, water, sleep, rest or medical attention ... A case of what is almost invulnerability ... Will you join me in immortality?”

Alice stood up. “I’m sorry. Thank you for the ice-cream, but spending an eternity with you is not something I can accept right now.” She turned around and left.

“Not right now,” said Bill. “But maybe someday.”

Why do you do this, Voices? You promised me a great army to conquer this dreaded region, so why do you sabotage it? I heard rumours of the mighty deeds you led those before me into doing, yet is it true that you are not a power, but a curse?

No! I will never surrender! With your aid or with your enmity, I will crush the leaders and conquer their towns! I will show the mighty Cynthia the power of Kalos! And whether or not she chooses to ally with me, I will take this land for Kalos!

This boy wishes to rule our region. He claims that he will lead our region to a new age of glory. We will see. He is also rumoured to be the latest host of the legendary Voices. That alone would make him interesting. The previous hosts have all achieved great things, but they have also been debilitated at most tasks. Would he really make a great leader? I intend to find out. I will not hand over the region before he has proven himself to me. And for my first test, I will see what he does with this egg.

This boy wishes to rule our region. He claims that he will lead our region to a new age of glory. We will see. He is also rumoured to be the latest host of the legendary Voices. That alone would make him interesting. The previous hosts have all achieved great things, but they have also been debilitated at most tasks. Would he really make a great leader? I intend to find out. I will not hand over the region before he has proven himself to me. And for my first test, I will see what he does with this egg.

When I was young, I heard stories about the Voices and the strength they granted their hosts. When they came for me, I hoped that they would give me the power to fulfil my dream. I know about Sinnoh’s oppression. It is a cruel and violent land, ruled by the criminals and the gym leaders. Only the mighty Cynthia and her allies have managed to fight back.

It is filled with creepy, disgusting, monstrous abominations of pokemon. Yet it is to them I need to turn, for it is with pokemon that war is fought here. I need an army if I am to conquer this land and bring it into the light. We shall be an army of the Sun.

I must confess that in my time with the Voices and after seeing trainers like Cheryl, I see that not all pokemon are bad. My army is even somewhat ... cute. I am proud of their efforts.

Cynthia’s gift may mean that an alliance with her is not out of the question, even if receiving the gift was quite inconvenient.

Throughout this journey though, I have suffered setbacks. Some smaller than others, but the loss of some members of my army has hurt me more than I expected. I have now seen first-hand the tragedies of life in Sinnoh that I came to prevent. I did not expect to feel this way about pokemon, nor did I expect that the Voices would sabotage my army that way. I was angry with them at first. How dare they do this to me?! Yet now, I see the truth. Only some of the Voices want to help me. Others are as much my enemy as the Team Galactic crime lords and the Gym Leaders I need to defeat to take another town. It is a pity that the helpful ones are also the incompetent ones. Perhaps I would conquer this region more easily under my on power. I suppose that I’ll never know. What I do know is that no matter what the Voices do to me, I will never give up. My army of the Sun will rise, we will take this region for Kalos and we will usher in an age of light.

“So .... What’s your name?” asked Aooo.

“Four.”

“Why ‘Four’?” asked Aooo.

“Because I am the fourth child of my father. I will prove myself a worthy son!” Four clenched a fist.

Aooo cocked her head. “Son?”

“Yes! Son!” snarled Four.

“Are you sure?” asked Aooo. “You look like a girl to me.”

“Yes! I’m sure!”

“All right, Miss Number! I won’t question it. If I had my way, I’d be at home, knitting and writing fanfiction, rather than fighting you. And I know what it’s like to be two things at once. Even if I’m only two things, not four.”

“That aipom was so sexy,” thought her trapinch. “I hope that hitting him made him notice me.”

Aooo picked up the object in front of her.

“OH, HI! YOU’RE AURORA, AREN’T YOU!? BUT YOU LIKED TO BE CALLED ‘AOOO’ AND THAT’S OKAY BECAUSE THERE’S NOTHING WRONG WITH HAVING LOTS OF NAMES! WE GODS KNOW THAT MOST OF ALL! BUT LET ME INTRODUCE MYSELF! I AM LORD ROOT! GOD OF SPEECH! AND ALSO OTHER STUFF THAT I CAN TELL YOU ABOUT LATER, BUT MOSTLY SPEECH! AND I AM SO GLAD TO BE HERE WITH YOU! I’VE WANTED TO SPEND TIME WITH THE VOICES FOR SO LONG! AND WHY SHOULD HELIX, DOME AND AMBER HAVE ALL THE FUN!? OF COURSE, HELIX GOT HIS LAST BODY DESTROYED AND DOME AND AMBER ARE CURRENTLY SEALED IN THE FORMS OF SOME OF THEIR GREATEST SERVENTS AND STRIPPED OF MOST OF THEIR POWER AND TRAPPED IN BILL’S PC, SO I GUESS THAT IT HASN’T BEEN ALL SUNNY DAYS AND AURORA BEAMS AND ROSERADES FOR THEM EITHER WHICH IS WHY I’M HERE BESIDES JUST WANTING TO SPEND TIME WITH YOU BECAUSE I HAVE TO HELP YOU BEAT BILL!”

“You also want me to beat the IT guy?” asked Aooo.

“YES! I DO! I DON’T LIKE HIM EITHER, BUT I ALREADY LIKE YOU AND I HOPE WE CAN SPEND A LOT OF TIME TOGETHER BY MORTAL STANDARDS! THIS IS SO COOL AND CLAW IS GOING TO ENVY ME SO MUCH! WE SHOULD GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER BETTER! DO YOU KNOW ANY GOOD JOKES!? I LOVE JOKES! ESPECIALLY ONES ABOUT POTATOES!”

“Do you ever stop talking?”

“ONLY REALLY WHEN CLAW OR AMBER STOPS ME AND WHAT DO YOU EXPECT!? I’M THE GOD OF SPEECH! AND CLAW AND AMBER AREN’T HERE NOW AND IT’S GREAT THAT CLAW ISN’T HERE! SUCK ON THAT, CLAW! I GET THE IMPORTANT MISSION ALL TO MYSELF! BUT DON’T WORRY! I’LL GIVE YOU PLENTY OF GREAT ADVICE! ALSO, I LOVE HOW ACCEPTING YOU ARE OF WHO YOU ARE! I HATE DISHONESTY! BUT MAYBE YOU COULD DO MORE TO RAISE AWARENESS AMONG THE PUBLIC ABOUT YOUR KIND! I SUGGEST WEARING PRO-LYCANTHROPY T-SHIRTS FOR A START BUT I’VE GOT PLENTY OF OTHER GREAT IDEAS TOO!”

“Another voice telling me what to do,” thought Aooo. “I’ve got to get rid of it. Maybe it’ll fetch a few bucks.”

Aooo looked at the pokeball she had been given. “And now I’m supposed to do something else.” She sighed. “’Deliver the mail!’ I’m not a postman! ‘Complete the pokedex!’, ‘Become the champion!’, ‘Climb Mt. Silver!’, ‘Free the gods!’, ‘Defeat the IT guy!’, ‘Get a date!’, ‘Catch that pokemon!’, ‘Fight me!’, ‘Call Joey even though he’s right there!’, ‘Kill Bill!’, ‘Buy pokeballs!’, ‘Praise Root!’! Why doesn’t anyone tell me to do what I want to do!? Having some pokemon is nice, but why can’t I take them home and spend the rest of my time knitting and writing fanfiction? I’m getting better!” She paused to listen.

“Down, B, left, B, A, left, down...”

“Grrrr!”

Aoooo covered her furry ears. “Why are they doing this to me!?” she cried.

“Because they are The Voices,” said Treesus.

Aoooo turned around and looked at her pokemon with widened eyes. “Treesus?”

“Lord Root has told me about what this means,” said Treesus. “They are The Voices, and this is the only way they know to stop Bill. That’s why they take control of trainers. It’s the only way they can complete their mission. And their mission must be completed. Bill needs to be stopped. All the gods agree.”

“But why me?” asked Aoooo. “I never asked for this kind of responsibility! I’m an artist! Not a warrior!”

“The gods and The Voices collectively chose you,” said Treesus. “Conventional trainers don’t interest The Voices. They admire unusual strategies. You’re creative and have a unique place in this world. And your connection to pokemon, which lets you straddle the boundary between pokemon and human, attracted the gods. You are a symbol of the fact that no matter how different we all are, we can unite to achieve important things.” He walked over to Aoooo and lifted her chin. “Lord Root is sorry that the process is painful, but Johto and Kanto have been wounded by Bill. Cleaning the wound hurts, but it is necessary for the healing to begin.”

“Helix!” said Armor. “You have returned to us! How is this possible?”

“It wasn’t easy,” replied Helix. “Bill’s randomiser is embedded in my last body. It was preventing me from reincarnating. But Alice has been hacking it. She has severely weakened it. That was how you were all able to incarnate and how I was able to finally revive, even if we are at less than our full power. Dome and Amber’s exposure was greater, so they are still trapped in alternate forms for now, but once the randomiser is destroyed, we will all be able to return to full power and to deal with Bill.”

“Excellent!” said Armor. “Are we supposed to climb Mount Silver and defend her from attack while she finishes the process? Is that the meaning of Amber’s vision?”

Helix’s face fell. “I’m afraid that I don’t think so. Alice has stopped hacking the randomiser. We have to convince her t finish or to destroy it ourselves. With force if necessary.”

“Why would Alice stop?” asked Skull.

“I don’t know if Bill has taken control of her mind, if she fears what will happen when the randomiser is destroyed, or more likely, a combination of the two,” replied Helix. “Remember that Bill still has her love, as little as he deserves it. She may fear what we will do to her father. In addition, she may fear what will happen to her pokemon. The derandomisation should not kill them, but they will not remain unaffected. And as a commeownist, Alice may be reluctant for us to return to our spots as gods and to have all other mon return to their rightful place. She wishes for all mon to be equal.”

“But surely she realises that this is for the best?” asked Armor.

“Realising that it is for the best is different from having to take the final step oneself,” replied Helix. “Bill is preying on those last doubts of hers. We have to convince her. Even i it means showing her all the might of the gods.”

He lay curled in his pokeball, catching up on his sleep. In his dreams he saw his adopted family.

“You miss them, don’t you?” said a voice.

He stirred. “Yes,” he replied. “I may look different from them, but I’ve always felt that I was meant to be more than I was born. Then I could make them proud.”

“I’m sure they would be proud of you now,” replied the voice. “But maybe you really are meant to be more than you were born.”

“What do you mean?”

“An old enemy of mine has returned. I’ll need help to defeat her. The Voices are very good at accomplishing goals and they chose you. That gives you the opportunity to do great things.”

“I’m just a grass starter.” He shook his head. “Everyone knows that The Voices never perform great deeds with grass starters.”

“Like the roots of grass, grass starters are meant to connect with others. To bring balance and stability. You have a friend who is a water starter. Their power is well known. It was one of Umbrellagor’s kin who proved that the gods could be defeated. And I need one to be defeated now. Fire was always one of her few fears. Perhaps this is was it was cursed. But if you bring balance between the will of water and curse of fire and maintain the connections between your team ... If you help protect them until they can defeat my enemy ... then I will grant you a blessing. I will make your kind one of my own. Dragons. And you will forever be known as Aipom Jr., Prophet of Amber.”

“Keeeeeeenyaaaaaaaaaa!” yelled the Voices.

Kyogre frowned. “Fine! If that’s how you want to be, then you can KEEP your precious Anarchy and Domecracy and Commeownism and fossil praising! I’ll get my OWN champion! With Fishtatorship! And hammocks!”

...

Kyogre cleared his throat. “Congratulations, Grayson! You have been chosen!”

The seaking continued to sleep.

“You will guide a champion to be better than the Voices champions!”

The seaking continued to sleep.

“Good luck! And Me-speed!”

The seaking continued to sleep.