As the energy entered his body, the leaves on Will's form began to show a flicker of life, shifting from a withered yellow back to a dark, deep green.
"Mrow?!"
owscarada, seeing life return to the Will in her arms, shook him excitedly.
"...Ugh?"
Will opened his eyes. Seeing owscarada in front of him, he felt a wave of disorientation. He thought he'd been reincarnated for a second. Turns out he wasn't dead yet.
But... why?
He turned to look at w, figuring only w could have been responsible for saving him.
"w."
w pointed at the heart of the Tree of Beginning and waved its little hands.
Will paused, then checked his internal status.
His eyes widened. He focused on a new entry in his skill list: Aura Power (Bestowed).
Will's gaze shifted back to the heart of the Tree.
He rembered.
Hundreds of years ago, the 'Aura Guardian' Sir Aaron had poured all of his own Aura energy into the heart of the Tree to stop a war. That energy had been preserved until Ash and his friends arrived here, one hundred and fifty years from now.
And now, the Tree of Beginning had taken out that sa Aura energy to try and save Will's life.
It was just a sha...
How much energy could one human possibly have, especially after it had been weathered by ti for centuries? Even transferred into Will, it was only enough to let him cling to life a little longer.
This energy was still at a Lv. 36 equivalent after several hundred years? Incredible.
Will tried to move. His body was incredibly frail. He felt utterly drained, as if he was a high-capacity battery with only 1% of its charge left.
"Mrow?"
owscarada put her arms around Will, afraid he would fall over again.
"It's... it's okay. At least I'm alive."
Will smiled, raising a hand to pat her large head.
That's right. Will was now even shorter than owscarada. He had to reach up to pat her head.
"w..."
w floated over and hugged Will's head, sniffling.
"It's fine," Will sighed. "One year is enough." He looked around.
Having lost the Ti Ripple's power, he could no longer see Liz's phantom.
How was he supposed to fulfill his promise now? He was so close to the end.
After a mont, Will shook his head.
Even if he couldn't see Liz, he just had to keep heading toward the Johto region. After coming this far, he had a good idea of the path she would take.
A one-year lifespan. It was enough for him to finish this journey.
He just had to be a little faster.
"Since the Shadow Lugia incident is resolved, it's ti for us to leave."
"w?"
Hearing this, w flew over, asking why.
"I still have sothing important to do," Will said with a small grin, not elaborating.
"w..."
w didn't want them to leave. After spending so many years together, w had co to see them as incredibly important.
Will just shook his head, not agreeing to stay.
"w~"
w pleaded again, saying it would give them all its toys.
Will shook his head again.
"Mrow."
owscarada finally spoke up. She said they would co back to visit w in the future.
She knew Will had a deep-seated desire to circle the globe. Now, he only had one year left, and only this final leg of the journey remained. owscarada wanted to help him fulfill that wish.
"w..."
w's head drooped, its expression dejected.
"It's alright. In the future, if we see a crystal from the Tree, we'll have it send you a greeting. You can also see what we're doing through the Tree."
"w!"
At this, w's eyes lit up, and it clapped its hands excitedly.
"And... Aura power should be able to communicate with the Tree's crystals. We might even be able to talk directly through the Tree."
Will raised his palm and pressed it against a crystal at his feet.
Suddenly, the image before his eyes changed.
Will felt his consciousness fly to a mountaintop plateau. On the grass below, a giant Dragonite fired a Dragon Pulse into the sky.
Even if Will was "face-blind," he recognized that massive Dragonite. It was the Alpha Dragonite from Mt. Silver that had taught him long ago.
"This is..."
Will paused, understanding what was happening. He had just used his Aura to touch the crystal as a test, to see if he could communicate with the Tree.
The test was a success. And it seed the Tree of Beginning wanted him to see sothing.
A mory, belonging to the Tree.
The vision continued. Will's perspective was fixed; he could only see what this one 'Tree crystal' could see. But it was enough.
In the distant sky, a massive Lugia was fighting sothing. Though Will couldn't see its opponent, he knew: it was the Alpha Tyranitar from Mt. Silver.
This mory was... the original battle?
Though Will didn't know why the Tree was showing him this, he watched with keen interest.
Tyranitar's attacks were powerful. A Hyper Beam struck Lugia's wing, causing it to fly erratically. Its strength seed only a cut or two below Will's own ga-evolved form. That Tyranitar must have been well above Lv. 88, perhaps even Lv. 90.
If Will hadn't ga Evolved, his raw destructive power would not have matched that Tyranitar.
The battle lasted for a long ti. It finally ended with Lugia, in great pain, gliding away toward the south. Tyranitar, it seed, had gone silent.
Just as Will thought the mory would end...
The scene changed.
His perspective was now on a coastline. The heavily injured Lugia was diving toward the ocean. But just as it was about to touch the water...
A Shadow Lugia shot out from beneath the waves.
This Shadow Lugia bit Lugia's neck. Endless dark energy wrapped around Lugia's body, seeping into its wounds and flesh.
Although Lugia struggled with all its might, it was on the verge of death and had no strength to resist. Against a Shadow Lugia of comparable strength, it was helpless.
Lugia's body turned black, bit by bit.
Until finally... it beca another Shadow Lugia.
"Lugia was infected by the dark energy... because of that battle with Tyranitar?!"
Will was stunned. He never would have imagined that today's world-ending disaster was linked to a battle from hundreds of years ago.
The mory didn't end. It jumped again.
This ti, Will's view was from a beach.
He watched closely. A Shadow Lugia was fighting the Forces of Nature from Unova.
And this ti, Will saw it clearly.
This Shadow Lugia... was the small Shadow Lugia he had just destroyed. The original culprit that had attacked Lugia.
Seeing this, Will's heart relaxed.
At least he had truly avenged Sola.
As for Lugia... in his current state, he couldn't pick a fight with that thing. He'd have to settle the score in his next life.
"Why didn't you tell earlier there were two Shadow Lugias?" Will frowned. If the Tree had just realized sooner, he could have prepared.
"...(I only just found out,)" a voice echoed in his mind. It wasn't a sound, but a pure understanding. "(Those were not my own mories. Your Aura just now... it activated the Ti Flowers in that area, and I saw the images they held.)"
"Ti Flowers..."
Will stroked his chin, muttering the na. Then his eyes lit up.
That's right! Ti Flowers.
Supported by owscarada, Will walked out of the Tree of Beginning.
"w?" w zipped over, catching up.
"Yes, I have to go. I plan to circle around Mt. Silver and head to the Johto region."
Will had no more ti to spare. He had to leave imdiately.
"Scyther."
Scizor, who had been silent this whole ti, spoke up. He was now one of the Alphas of Mt. Silver's inner region. If they were going through Mt. Silver, of course he would escort them.
Besides, Scizor had been of little help in the battle. The thought had been nagging at him. He just wanted to do whatever he could to help Will now.
"Mm. I'll be counting on you, then."
Will nodded, not refusing the offer. He had planned to go via Mt. Silver anyway, thinking it would be a good chance to take his forr apprentice ho.
"w..."
w's face was the picture of misery, its eyes turning red. But, rembering they could communicate through the Tree, it held back its tears and waved goodbye.
"Mrow."
owscarada waved back, promising she would return.
She then slipped her arm around Will's, and they began to head west.
After walking so distance, the three of them looked back one last ti.
The giant Tree of Beginning had recovered its forr vitality. On its rock layers, the three battle-scarred Regi trio stood. They gave Will a deep bow, watching them until they were out of sight.
Will turned his gaze forward, then looked down at a blue flower bud at his feet.
He bent over, his fingers gently touching it.
A faint blue light glowed from his fingertip.
The next mont, the shy bud blood.
And as it did, four phantom figures appeared before them.
Liz, Charizard, Gliscor, and Crobat.
"When I sensed your presence disappear... I was so worried," Liz said, her phantom image looking toward Will. She wiped a tear from her eye.
"Thankfully, I sensed you coming this way, so I followed. Otherwise... I might have missed you again."
Her words struck Will's heart.
So that was it.
Liz hadn't co this way because she was following so thousand-year-old legend of the Tree of Beginning.
It was only because...
She was following him.
~~~
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