#burning himself out and leaving only her dna for his brain to repair itself with

[godsprettiestprincess]

*accidentally spread misinformation voice* I just want to clarify, as unfortunate as it is, Jedikiah and Irene do not actually brain meld in canon. He does drug her unconscious and steal her powers, but the timeline in which he both gifts her someones else’s powers so she gets them back and gives himself brain damage so his own brain radio-signal thing is rewritten into hers & links them irrevocably only exists in my brain.

[triangularjuice]

Remember? -A Pokémon Story-

Chapter 22: The End

Solgaleo looks down at you, waiting. You take one last deep breath and squeeze your dad's hand.

"Take it out," you say, trying to keep a steady voice. Immediately, the Legendary Pokémon's mane heats up and its head shines brightly. You recoil at the light, closing one eye as the other attempts to adjust. The pain starts out small, only slightly noticeable. You can feel an uncomfortable weight in your veins, like something else is coursing through it. The pain quickly escalates, once again making your blood feel like it's boiling, and like your veins are going to burst from your skin. You grit your teeth, trying not to scream. Your legs give out from underneath you, unable to hold your weight any longer. Your dad catches you and carefully lays you down on the ground, still holding your hand as he kneels over you.

You look down to see your veins start glowing faintly. It's almost like your skin is translucent and the blood flow inside of you turned a bluish-gray color. In that moment, your muscles tighten as the bluish-gray color seeps out of your skin, almost like a mist that has a little more solidity to it. Your eyes widen as you realize that this is the DNA from the two Pokémon. As the essence leaves your body, everything starts going downhill. Electricity starts discharging out of your hands, draining the remains of Xurkitree, and you start to feel weaker. You clench your jaw, withstanding the pain. As more and more of the electricity and DNA leaves your body, you can feel yourself losing strength. The illness your dad talked about is returning already.

Finally, the electricity disappears, and you feel an empty weight in your chest. You breathe heavily, trying to get in as much air as you can, but it's getting harder to breath. Your lungs are already starting to fail. With one last wave of heat from Solgaleo's mane, the Legendary Pokémon jerks its head upwards, pulling the last remaining foreign DNA from your skin. You look up at the thick, twirling mist floating in front of you as a wave of exhaustion falls over you. Letting your head fall back onto the ground, you let out a weary breath. You try to bring your knees up, but you realize you can't move your legs.

Your body is already failing. The illness is already catching up after all these years of being dormant. You stare up at the sky, a thick gray covering the stars. You can feel everything in your body slowing, and you know that this is it. You turn your head slightly to look at your dad. He's biting his lower lip, trying to keep himself together. Cato is sitting next to him, looking down at you. Your breath hitches as you try to breathe, and you swallow thickly.

"Did it work?" you ask quietly. Sycamore nods down at you, a small tear escaping the corner of his eye.

"Oui, it worked, mon coeur. The universe is already starting to fix itself," your dad says as he puts his hand on top of yours. You give a breathy laugh as blink slowly, your eyes burning. Before you get too weak, you reach up and cup Cato's face, smiling. In return, he pushes his head down into your cold hand, closing his eyes.

"Cato," you rasp, "I need you to take good care of Dad, okay? He's gonna need it."

You breathe heavily and smile up at your best friend as tears well up behind your eyes. Cato nods his head into your head, and you can feel his tears dripping onto your fingertips. Your arm becomes numb and it drops slowly from his face, too weak to hold itself up. You can feel your heart slowing with each beat, and your breathing becomes more ragged with each passing second. Sycamore puts his hand on yours once again, pulling it to his chest.

"(Y/N)," he says quietly. You turn your head slowly to look at him. You can see the tears that he had been holding back finally break free and run down his cheeks. "I love you, ma chèrie," he whispers, holding your hand against his heart. You smile at him, your breathing shallow with tears slipping down your face as you whisper back.

"I love you too, Dad."

And with those words, you feel yourself start to slip. Your breathing slows alongside your heartbeat, and your hearing starts to fade. You could make out your dad mumbling to you, but his words are lost behind a dull hum. As you take your shallow breaths, you look up to the sky again. The gray slate covering the air has disappeared, and you can see beautiful stars shining above. The corners of your lips turn up into a small smile as you look at the lights.

For a brief moment, you feel at peace.

Darkness creeps up from the sides of your eyes as your heart slows, and with one last exhale, your chest lowers and you close your eyes, the illness finally claiming your life after failing so long ago.

~~~~~

Sycamore lets out a sob as he watches you take your last breath. He drops his head between his shoulders as tears drop from his cheeks and onto the ground beside you. Ash and the Professors stand behind Sycamore quietly, unable to break the silence. After a moment, Professor Kukui steps up and gently puts his hand on Sycamore's shoulder, but your dad simply brushes him off. The moments that followed hung heavy, and felt like they lasted a lifetime. Even though the fabric of reality had been repaired, the heartbreak and hopelessness that surrounded this small group was thick.

Off to the side, Solgaleo lets out a deep growl, gently forcing everyone's attention. Sycamore looks to the side at the Legendary Pokémon and instantly straightens up. Solgaleo had separated the two DNAs and managed to manipulate what was left of Xerneas's into a ring with a small, blue crystal on the top. Sycamore quickly reaches out and takes the ring, staring at it for a brief moment before grabbing your small hand. He slides it onto your finger, his heart racing. When nothing happens, Sycamore turns back to Solgaleo, who merely gives a small gesture to your body.

Your dad looks back down at you and slowly reaches down to your neck, checking for a pulse. When his fingertips feel a small heartbeat, he nearly faints. A grin makes its way onto his face as he laughs, disbelief written in his features. Tears once again run down his face, but this time from happiness.

"Why isn't she waking up?" Ash asks quietly from the side. Sycamore turns to them, his smile fading slightly.

"This small amount of essence from Xerneas is enough to bring her back and keep her heart beating, but it isn't enough to wake her up and keep her functioning," He says to them, turning back to Solgaleo, who nods in confirmation. Sycamore looks down at you, hope bubbling in his chest and ideas materializing in his brain.

"She needs more of its life essence."

~~~~~

Professor Sycamore sits at his desk, scribbling away at yet another useless study. His mind is occupied with more important matters, but he was unable to drop his studies when he returned, so here he is, still completing menial experiments for his job. He wears his usual look: colored shirt, dark pants, and messy hair. He left his lab coat in your room on accident, and he reminds himself to grab it next time he goes in there. Suddenly, the Professor's thoughts are interrupted by an assistant carelessly rushing in. Sycamore groans, leaning his head down on the desk.

"I've told you people a million times, stop barging-"

"We found it," the assistant says, interrupting him. The Professor abruptly lifts his head, staring at the young man.

"What?" he asks deeply.

"It worked. We found Xerneas."

Augustine hastily jumps out of his chair and brushes past the assistant, shoving the door open. He maneuvers his way through the familiar halls and into the other laboratory. The room is chaotic, filled with assistants running around, papers flying everywhere, and a loud beeping covering their voices. When Sycamore enters, everyone stops and turns toward him, waiting for him to speak, but he merely looks up to the giant monitor in the middle of the room.

On the screen, a map of Kalos is visible, and in the corner, a set of coordinates blinks. The location they describe is lit up on the map. Once again, Professor Sycamore rushes out the door. He runs through the halls, trying to avoid knocking into anyone. When he reaches your door, he grips the handle and quickly enters. Cato jolts upright in his bed on the floor, startled. Grabbing a chair, Sycamore sits down next to your bed. Your small frame is tucked under the sheets, and an IV is hooked up to your arm. The small ring with Xerneas's power is visible on your hand, and Sycamore smiles at it before turning to you.

"Mon coeur, we found Xerneas," he says, "We're going to bring you back, and everything will be just the way it should be."

He reaches out and grabs your small hand, holding it tight in his large one.

"You'll be right by my side when we finally create our pure, beautiful world with Xerneas and Yveltal," he states, "Just like how I told you when you were little."

Another lab assistant opens the door to your room, irritatingly gaining your dad's attention.

"Professor, shall I send word to the boss?" he asks flatly. Sycamore lets go of your hand, standing up and turning to the assistant.

"Oui, contact Lysandre right away. He'll be thrilled to know we've located the last piece in our little puzzle," your dad says, sending the assistant away. Sycamore leans over and grabs his black lab coat from your desk, putting it on as he goes to leave your room. Before he exits, he turns back to you and smiles.

"I can't wait for you to see it, ma chère," he says, closing your door.