The New Normal - 13-15

The New Normal – 13-15 – Raid Boss

Flying off with Regigigas and the three Regis was a surreal feeling. I could still feel the aura of domination that radiated out of the Legendary Titan, I didn’t feel the need to bow my head in awe. Instead, the aura seemed to wash around me harmlessly. Unlike Palkia’s own aura, which battered into me like a constant storm, Regigigas’ seemed to protect me, helping me resist the Pressure from Palkia as we continued to fly forwards.

We managed to fly up to the point where the spatial distortion had previously made the path forwards untraversable, and I turned to Regigigas.

“Can you feel it? The way that the natural laws of space is warped here?” I asked, “That’s why I called for you – why we need your help to stop Palkia. We’re willing to fight, but we can’t even get close to it—”

I was interrupted as Regigigas let out a series of beeps before it punched the sky, causing a huge cracking sound to reverberate through the air. The air itself seemed to break apart from the power of Regigigas’ punch. It sent forth a massive shockwave that caused Port to tumble backwards from the resulting impact alone.

There were no esoteric effects attached to that punch. No, the sheer power of its punch simply demanded the world to bend to its overwhelming might, breaking through any and all worldly resistances. Palkia’s spatial distortion was no different, and it crumpled before the almighty force of the Legendary Titan.

Still, even with all of Regigigas’ strength, it was clear it would take several more punches before we could actually reach Spear Pillar, as each punch could only smash through so much of the spatial distortion. Not only that, but I also noticed that the distortion would ‘repair’ itself after a short while, so Regigigas couldn’t just tunnel its way through and leave a path for us to follow. We had to be next to him for the entirety of the way.

It was at this time that my radio sparked to life, “John! We have reports that you awakened Regigigas, can you confirm?!”

Oops, I should have reported back earlier. I was too caught up in the excitement of managing to awaken Regigigas, “Yes, Cynthia. Can confirm. Regigigas has awakened and is an ally.”

“Thank Arceus.” She let out a sigh of relief, “I knew it wasn’t wrong to place my trust in you. So what’s the plan now? Is the Legendary Titan as as strong as we hoped?”

“Very much so.” I confirmed, “Regigigas has already set off towards Spear Pillar, and it actually managed to break through a small portion of the spatial distortion that Palkia had generated.”

“That is excellent news.” She replied, and I could feel her usual confidence slowly returning to her voice, “In that case, are you able to persuade Regigigas to come over to where we are? If not, can you ask it to hold and wait for us as we run over to you? If we’re going to confront Cyrus, we should bring as much firepower as possible.”

“Understood.” I returned, “Let me get on that now.”

I put away the radio and turned to Regigigas, who was continuing to pummel through the spatial distortions as if they were nothing more than flimsy walls blocking its path. Honestly, I was a little mesmerised by the sight; it was incredible to see just how powerful a Legendary was. Yet, as I continued to stare at where the spatial distortion broke on Regigigas’ fists, my eyes and head were starting to pulse with pain, and I forced myself to look away.

I don’t think the human mind was meant to comprehend a literal hole in reality – where the rules of the world were warped beyond all reason.

Shaking myself out of it, I finally spoke with Regigigas, “Regigigas.” I said to it, “Would you please wait and allow my allies to join you? There are safety in numbers, and considering the threat we are about to face, we would like to bring as many of our number as possible.”

To my relief, Regigigas actually stopped its pummelling and turned to me with an inspecting look. Yet, instead of responding directly, Regirock floated up to me.

“ÜN.”

I had no idea what that meant, but since Regigigas didn’t seem to be moving, I took it as a ‘yes’ and reported the same to Cynthia.

“Excellent, then we’ll head on over to where you are.” She said, “Please wait for us. We will be there shortly.”

With Cynthia and what I assumed would be the rest of the reinforcements coming, I used that opportunity to take a breather and mentally prepare myself for the battle to come.

But most importantly, I wanted to speak to Regigigas and confirm our battle plans.

“Regigigas.” I said to it, turning its attention towards me, “We will all be joining you in your fight against Palkia, but we may need you to be the focus of its blows. I think you are the only one who is capable of actually surviving a hit from Palkia.”

Once again, instead of responding, it had Regirock turn and ‘stare’ at me.

“ÜN.”

I blinked in confusion for a moment, before quickly realising that Regigigas was just using the other Regis to communicate for it. It was a bit odd, but I shrugged it off as just being another quick of a Legendary. They obviously wouldn’t operate the same as your common Pokémon.

On that note, I made use of our small break to observe the other three Regis, who continued to diligently scan the surroundings for any imminent threats. I noticed that they were more automatons rather than living Pokémon, as they seemed to solely serve under the will of Regigigas – behaving more akin to a hive mind.

Nevertheless, as we waited, Regigigas seemed to be getting ready for the fight ahead as well. It was flexing its muscles, and I could tell that it was shaking off the rust from its Slow Start.

By the time we reached Palkia, I was confident it would be fighting in peak condition.

After waiting around a few more minutes, I started to see figures flying towards us on the horizon. Recognising the Togekiss that was leading the pack, I quickly spoke up to Regigigas in case it thought that they were enemies.

“These are our allies, Regigigas.” I said, “They are here to help.”

All three Regis immediately spun towards the newcomers, and their eyes flashed with light for a moment as they scanned the new arrivals. From what I could see, Cynthia was far from alone. Behind her were all three remaining members of the Sinnoh Elite Four, Koga, Phoebe, as well as a few Gym Leaders including Volkner, Byron, Gardenia, and Candice. Basically, most of the forces of Sinnoh had been mustered for the fight ahead.

After completing its scans and determining that the new arrivals were no threat, the three Regis returned to their usual scanning duties while I signalled that it was safe to come over.  Cynthia was the first to approach, though she made her way to Regigigas first.

“Legendary Titan, as the highest representative of the people of Sinnoh, we thank you for your aid.” She said respectfully as she fell into a polite bow, with everyone else behind her following suit, “We look forward to fighting alongside you in our upcoming battle.”

Regirock was once again the speaker.

“ÜN.”

“That means yes – as I’ve learned.” I helpfully supplied, “I think it uses the Regis to speak on its behalf.”

“…Fascinating.” Cynthia’s eyes sparkled with interest, before she quickly shook that off, “But now’s not the time for that. We’re here now, and we can’t afford to waste any more time. Cyrus must be stopped.”

“The battle ahead will undoubtedly be perilous, but victory must be brought about, at any cost.” Koga said, “There’s too much riding on the line for us today.”

“And we will win.” Flint nodded, his eyes never leaving Regigigas, “After all, we have our own Legendary by our side, don’t we? We can’t lose now.”

“I’m still amazed that you managed to awaken it, John.” Volkner added, “…But I suppose that in such incredulous and extraordinary times, it’s unsurprising for such astonishing actions to also occur.”

“Just to clarify one thing – Regigigas is hardly mine.” I quickly explained, “I awakened it, yes, but Regigigas is very much its own being. I could never dare to truly command a Legendary, only give suggestions. Besides, the awakening itself was very much a joint project. Without everyone working together to locate the Plates, I could have never awakened it in the first place.”

“Save your humbleness for later.” Bertha interrupted, “For now, we just need to know one thing. Even if you cannot directly command Regigigas, are you utterly certain that it will fight with us?”

I was surprised at her daring question, considering that Regigigas was right there. But I could understand where she was coming from – Legendaries were always considered fickle and operated on a different level to how humans thought. But I already had the answer on the tip of my tongue.

“Yes, I do.” I responded with the utmost confidence, feeling the subtle ‘connection’ between myself and Regigigas, “Regigigas will be our ally in the upcoming fight, I promise you this. Therefore, we will be fighting side-by-side with a Legendary, against a Legendary, to decide the fate of the world. Today will be the battle of Legends – a day that the story writers will write about for the years to come! And with the Legendary Titan on our side, WE WILL NOT FALL HERE!”

To my surprise, as if to punctuate my point, Regigigas let out a roar of its own.

“REGIII!!”

A large smile split my face, “YOU SEE?! EVEN REGIGIGAS ACKNOWLEDGES THE FIGHT AHEAD OF US! SO FOLLOW AFTER THE LEGENDARY TITAN, AND FIGHT WITH IT TO SPEAR PILLAR! VICTORY AWAITS!”

Everyone roared loudly in approval, their eyes alight with fighting spirit and resolve as that was the signal to begin our assault. Regigigas once again took the lead, clearing a way to Spear Pillar as it restarted its pummelling – breaking through the spatial distortion one punch at a time.

Eventually, Spear Pillar came into view, or at least, what was left of it. The last time I was here, Spear Pillar had been a ruin, but one that was meticulously well-kept, like it was frozen in time and carefully preserved in a particular fashion. However, the Spear Pillar of right now was completely different.

Everything had been warped beyond comprehension. The once grand pillars were now floating in various positions, with some even floating upside down or even sideways. The floor itself looked like it had been broken up into puzzle pieces, with large sections of the floor being lifted into the air while others somehow sunk even deeper into the ground.

And what was even more incomprehensible was that, depending on the angle that you looked at Spear Pillar from, the entire place could even seem shorter, wider, or even completely flat. It was almost like staring at a 2D object even though it was meant to be 3D, and my mind started to hurt just trying to understand it. My companions were no different, and I heard a few groans of pain as they clutched their heads at the sight.

But then I felt a reassuring bond connect to my mind – one that promised equal parts strength, stability, and protection. It was Regigigas reaching out to me, shielding my mind from the worse of the symptoms. It also extended its protection to the rest of my companions, allowing them to actually refocus themselves.

With us no longer being plagued by unnatural headaches, all of our attention was focused on the figure standing at the centre of Spear Pillar. Cyrus was there, his hands clutched onto the Red Chain as a protective barrier enveloped his form. Yet his form was blurred, to the point where his figure was little more than a blurry silhouette.

It felt like he wasn’t even in our own reality at the moment; as if he was shuffled off to a different reality of space.

However, what was more concerning than Cyrus was the titanic figure behind him. Palkia’s enormous form hovered over him protectively, with the Red Chain enslaving it to Cyrus’ will.

The moment we got in a little closer, two Legendaries locked eyes. I felt a pulse of raw anger pulse in my mind as Regigigas was enraged at the enslavement of its fellow Legendary.

It was a defilement that it wouldn’t let stand.

“GIGAS!!”

With an explosively loud battle cry, Regigigas rocketed forwards and charged towards Palkia. Sensing the imminent threat coming, the pink gem on its right arm began to glow ominously.

Then, it slashed downwards.

And reality was cut in two.

A spatial blade of unreality, which I recognised was likely a Spatial Rend, literally cut the charging Regigigas in half. However, instead of collapsing like I would expect it to, Regigigas exploded with a white glow of its own as it somehow put itself back together just in time for the Legendary Titan to slam into the Legendary of Space.

Of course, Palkia didn’t take lying down, and a primal screech from it caused a formless void to appear on top of Regigigas, sucking it into the black hole. But the Legendary Titan simply reached out and grabbed the black hole and crushed it in its hand, deleting it from existence.

Another Spatial Rend cut clean through Regigigas’ legs, yet Regigigas did not topple over. It remained standing and its legs simply reformed under it, reappearing instantly like nothing had ever happened.

Knowing we had to support our ally, we quickly landed on Spear Pillar and released our full team. However, even then, we hovered around cautiously, not knowing when was the appropriate time to interfere with the Legendaries’ brawl as their battle continued to tear apart the natural laws of this world.

In that respect, we were supported by the other Regis, who had all taken different positions around the two fighting Legendaries as they began their own barrage of attacks. We initially followed their lead, sticking to resorting to ranged attacks because we didn’t want to accidentally get caught in middle of the titanic battle taking place in front of us.

As our Pokémon began peppering Palkia intermittently with their Special Attacks, I carefully noted the difference in fighting styles between Palkia and Regigigas. The former’s attacks were much more flashy, with it literally ripping out chunks of reality with each strike, or warping its surroundings to an incomprehensible degree. Whereas Regigigas fought much more simply, content to shrugging off Palkia’s blows while striking back hard with its own simple, yet devastatingly powerful, punches.

During all of this, Cyrus remained in the middle, safely protected by whatever kind of barrier was protecting him. I saw multiple Spatial Rends cut right through his position, but he remained completely unaffected. It confirmed what I had suspected, being that Cyrus had likely ordered Palkia to separate himself to a different reality entirely so that he would be safe from the battle.

As engrossed as we were in the battle, we didn’t realise that the spatial distortion had begun to weaken around us. But we were reminded of that when Drake, Lucian, Crasher Wake, and Fantina came running up to support us, having been freed from their spatial prison.

“Now that was fucking terrifying.” Drake admitted, “But it’s going to take a little more than that to keep me out of a good fight.”

“But we’re here to help now.” Lucian added, “We have already taken out the remainder of Team Galactic. It’s just Cyrus left.”

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to respond as Palkia’s entire figure began glowing an ominous pink, and the pink gem that it had on its shoulder began to shine brightly. I was forced to shut my eyes from the brightness – and when I opened them again I found myself in a void of complete darkness.

There was no floor, no walls, no anything. We were seemingly standing on complete nothingness. Then I blinked again and found myself back in Spear Pillar, but with my position completely changed. Instead of facing Palkia, I was now staring at the sky as the floor had now pointed upwards. My Pokémon, who were previously all next to me, had all been split up, and I briefly saw a few Pokémon falling out of the sky as Palkia deposited them in midair.

Then the gem shined once more, and this time I found myself falling out of the sky and crashing into a pillar that was falling upwards. I let out a pained gasp as I collapsed onto the floor, only to realise that instead of the floor being attached to the ground, the floor continued to float higher and higher into the sky.

One of Lucian’s Psychic types managed to rescue me before I floated away. But as it pulled me towards itself, I suddenly found myself transported back to the entrance of Spear Pillar, luckily on actual solid ground this time.

I was far from the only person forcefully relocated. Everyone else had been knocked around and were now sporting various degrees of injuries, though fortunately nothing that would take them out of the fight.

Cynthia and Drake had been unceremoniously thrown off Spear Pillar, but were similarly caught before they could plummet to the ground.

Flint and Volkner were most unlucky, as they were somehow teleported in front of their own Pokémon’s attacks – and if it were not for their Pokémon’s split second reaction speed, they would have been knocked out by their own Pokémon.

Our Pokémon took the most damage from the sudden relocation as many of them suffered from friendly fire, though fortunately just like us they weren’t hurt too badly.

However, that didn’t solve the main issue – the newly warped laws of space meant fighting onwards was impossible.

Taking a step forwards sometimes meant taking a step back, and charging forwards was always a risk because you could end up charging into an ally that just somehow warped in front of you. Or worse, sometimes your attack would just disappear from in front of you, only to appear somewhere completely different and hit one of your teammates in the face.

Nothing made any sense anymore. With Palkia twisting space like this, we literally couldn’t participate in the fight. It felt like all we could do was watch as Regigigas and Palkia continued its violent and legendary brawl.

But I didn’t accept that. I refused to be nothing more than a bystander and wait for Regigigas to do all the work. There must be something we could do.

I grit my teeth as I brainstormed for anything that we could do to get ourselves out of this situation. That was when Regirock unexpectedly appeared by my side, and the floating rocks and debris around me instantly fell back into their rightful place.

As Regirock stepped next to me, reality seemed to fix itself. And the same repeated itself with Regice and Registeel.

I immediately understood the implications. The three Regis were immune to the effects of the spatial distortion, much like Regigigas was. Furthermore, the immunity field clearly extended to an area around them. Therefore, I realised that if our Pokémon were positioned around them, they would also be immune to the effects of the spatial distortion.

“EVERYONE! GATHER AROUND THE REGIS!” I shouted out, my voice echoing over the sounds of the battle, “THEY PROVIDE PROTECTION AGAINST THE SPATIAL DISTORTION. WE NEED TO FIGHT AROUND THE REGIS!”

Then I turned to the Regis themselves, “REGICE! I NEED YOU TO STAY BACK AND KEEP YOUR DISTANCE SO THAT OUR SPECIAL ATTACKERS CAN FIGHT AROUND YOU! REGIROCK AND REGISTEEL! I NEED YOU AT THE FRONT NEXT TO REGIGIGAS SO THAT OUR BRAWLERS CAN FIGHT ALONGSIDE IT. BUT STAND ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE FIGHT TO MAXIMIZE OUR AVAILABLE SPACE!”

To my surprise, the Regis actually obeyed my commands and began moving into position, and my companions were no different. The Gym Leaders along with Flint, Phoebe, and Lucian took their positions at the back of the fight as they followed after Regice. Meanwhile myself, Drake, Koga, and Cynthia moved to the front alongside the remaining two Regis. Our Pokémon were also split apart accordingly, and we trusted each other to direct them each other’s Pokémon as best as we could.

Once we made it into our respective positions, we were finally able to impose some semblance of order in the fight.

And the fighting began in earnest. Our Pokémon would be sidelined no longer.

With a primal roar of his own, Tyrant charged forwards at the front of the pack as he took advantage of Palkia’s attention on Regigigas. He ducked under a stray Dragon Claw from Palkia before smashing into it with a fully-powered Giga Impact, colliding into it with all of his incredible strength.

And Palkia actually stumbled momentarily from the blow. Tyrant actually managed to hurt a Legendary.

Seeing this galvanized my comrades, and they sent forth their own bruisers, eager to join in on the fighting. This time, a Spatial Rend came our way, but Regigigas blocked the attack with its own arm and sent a crackling Thunder Punch right into Palkia’s face. Capitalising on the opportunity, a duo of Outrage-boosted Dragon Claws ripped into Palkia’s side, while my Belly-Drum boosted Smough smashed into it with another Giga Impact.

All the while a devastating bombardment of Thunderbolts, Psychics, Ice Beams, Stone Edges, Sludge Bombs, Hydro Pumps, Shadow Balls, and all kinds of other Special Attacks violently exploded on top of Palkia.

Palkia let out a roar of pain as the pink gem on its arm began to glow once again. But before it could let off whatever attack it was charging up, Regigigas unleashed a Giga Impact of its own.

For a while now, I had thought that Tyrant’s Giga Impact were likely at the pinnacle of strength. A part of me liked to think that it was likely one of the strongest physical attacks ever seen.

Yet the Legendary Titan proved me completely wrong. By an order of magnitude.

Palkia, its own fellow Legendary and able to warp space to its will, was launched backwards by the impact. The ensuing vibrations and shockwaves were so powerful that not only were we all knocked completely off our feet and had to be saved from being thrown off of Spear Pillar by the Regis, but the clouds themselves were split in two from the impact.

…It made me realise that the legend that Regigigas moved the continent with ropes was very much not an exaggeration of its strength.

After pulling myself off the ground, I saw that Palkia had been thrown to the ground – having been knocked down for the first time in this fight. Everyone wasted no time taking advantage of this, and an entire mountain of sharp rocks impaled themselves within Palkia, courtesy of Regirock and a Guts-boosted Vordt. Likewise, Special Attacks of all kinds continued to blast it from a distance.

Then, Palkia’s gem quickly flashed pink, and the rocks pinning it down and the attacks that were coming its way were deleted from existence. Though that did absolutely nothing to stop Regigigas, who delivered a devastating Stomp to the face, smashing down with its powerful legs and pinning the Legendary of Space below it.

Palkia moved to swipe at Regigigas with a Dragon Claw, but to my utter surprise, Ornstein dived in front of the attack and blocked it with an Obstruct. The dark barrier wasn’t able to fully block the attack, but the very fact that it had mitigated most of the damage was already impressive enough. At the same time, Drake’s Gyarados rushed forwards and smashed a vicious Dragon Tail that bashed Palkia’s head back into the ground, before Regigigas followed up with a crackling Thunder Punch.

At this point of the battle, the tides seemed to be turning in our favour. Palkia was pinned to the ground, with Regigigas looming over it and not allowing it to escape. Our Pokémon were actually free to land a few powerful hits of their own, and they would strike in a series of hit-and-runs to support the Legendary Titan in its violent beatdown of Palkia. All of our powerful bruisers were given a time to shine, and an excited smile appeared on my face as I witnessed our Pokémon actually doing damage to a Legendary.

Never did I think that such a feat was possible. And yet here we were, with our Pokémon delivering blow after blow on the Legendary of Space. A surge of pride filled my heart; knowing that all of my training had actually paid off. Our Pokémon were managing to stand tall and fight an actual Legendary.

And we were winning.

However, that was when a flash of red caught my eye, and I turned to see the blurred figure of Cyrus raising the glowing Red Chain into the air once more.

He had given another command.

Instantly, the Red Chains that had wrapped itself around Palkia glowed and tightened. Palkia let out a roar of pain as Cyrus exerted more of his unnatural control over the Legendary, causing Palkia’s gem to light up once more.

We immediately braced for another big attack, yet it didn’t come our way. Instead, a small portal opened right in front of Regigigas as an entire artillery barrage of Draco Meteors suddenly came blasting it in the face. Regigigas let out a pained whirl as it stumbled backwards, but Registeel and Regirock quickly dived in front of the Legendary Titan and tanked most of the blow. At the same time, our healers were working overtime as they threw Life Dew after Life Dew on the Regis, doing their best to heal them back up and patch up most of the damage.

Yet that attack had gotten Palkia out of the pin. This time, instead of focusing on Regigigas like it had previously, Palkia suddenly disappeared and reappeared in the sky. Its form was no longer as pristine as when we first saw it, as the injuries that it had racked up was certainly noticeable. However, that didn’t matter when it was now glaring down on us trainers with its eyes glowing ominously – as we now became the target of its focus.

My knees buckled involuntarily in terror as we were subjected to the full power of Palkia’s Pressure. I felt the wave of unimaginable power pressing down on my shoulders, forcing me to kneel. Every bit of my human brain screamed at me that I had to do all that I could to run away from the Legendary staring down at us – to flee in cowardice in order to spare my own life.

And I couldn’t deny it. I almost did so. For all of my determination and resolve, the primal sense of fear that I felt when Palkia turned its attention towards us directly was nearly too much for me. However, before I allowed myself to succumb to cowardice, I saw the rest of my team, still ready and eager to continue the fight. Even without communicating with them, I knew they weren’t about to back down – they were here to fight to the very end.

I could not disappoint them. My hands clenched so tightly that it drew blood as I forced away all my fear – for good this time. I stood up, a newly restored sense of conviction burning through my eyes as I stared up at the Legendary of Space and met its eyes head on.

If Cyrus wanted to have Palkia prioritise knocking us out first, then we weren’t going to make it easy for him.

Bring it on.

A.N. I do apologise for splitting the battle, but I didn’t think I could cover everything I wanted in one chapter. But yes, I’m very glad I can finally put the thoughts that I had long-planned out into a chapter. I wanted the fight with Palkia to be as different from the other regular fights as possible, as befitting a brawl between two Legendaries.

I wanted to demonstrate just why everyone thinks that Legendaries cannot be beaten, especially one as powerful as Palkia. And I wanted to do the Legendary of Space justice. It isn’t just powerful – the fact that it rules over space makes it overwhelmingly so. Spatial Rend isn’t just a 100 base power move, it literally shears reality apart. You cannot fight it conventionally.

Which is where Regigigas comes in. As a Legendary itself, I felt that it was only appropriate for its strength to be able to partially override the reality warping abilities of Palkia and bring some order to the fight (as fits its Normal Typing). Not only that, but I also wanted to make sure that John and the other’s individual Pokémon got a chance to shine too, and that they’re able to actually damage the Legendary thanks to all of their training. With so many participants in this battle, I can’t highlight every single blow, but I’ll try my best to. Hope you enjoyed!