The Tree of Beginning was, in itself, a singular lifeform.
The spectral fossil Pokémon acted like white blood cells—swarming to devour perceived invaders.
This wasn't sothing w could control.
"Jessie and Jas… they couldn't have—" owth's voice cracked.
Just then, footsteps echoed from the path ahead.
Steven ca sprinting into view, trailed by an entire army of fossil specters.
His suit jacket was slung over one shoulder, white dress shirt fluttering as he ran—yet his face was alight with exhilaration.
"Ah, Natsu-sensei! You're alive!" Steven waved cheerfully.
"Why are you leading a whole mob here?!" Natsu shrieked.
"Got a bit carried away seeing all these fossils," Steven chuckled.
The phantom horde surged toward them.
"w, can ya stop these white blood cells, ow?!" owth begged.
w hesitated, then nodded firmly.
"Wait—!" Natsu's face paled.
But w had already closed its eyes. A gentle radiance unfurled like dawn.
In an instant, the Tree of Beginning shuddered—rejuvenated.
The specters halted mid-charge, dissolving into motes of light.
Jessie and Jas tumbled free from the fading swarm, reuniting with a sobbing owth.
"We're saved!" The trio clung together, bawling.
Lucario stared at the luminous glow. "This power… the sa that ended the war?"
Steven grinned at Natsu. "See? All handled."
Natsu's jaw tightened. "No. It's gotten worse."
The ground quaked violently.
Trees withered. Crystals dimd.
"w…" w's cheeks burned feverishly as it collapsed into Natsu's arms.
"What's happening?!" Ash spun in alarm.
"To put it simply," Natsu cradled w, "the immune response failed. The 'infection' wasn't purged—so w and the Tree are both crashing."
A thunderous CRACK split the air.
The waterfall outside ran dry. A colossal crystalline branch snapped, shattering mid-fall.
Lucario's pupils shrank—mories of that day flooding back.
Yet without hesitation, it shut its eyes, sensing the Tree's core. "Follow !" it barked, already sprinting ahead.
Natsu adjusted his grip on the feverish w, then glanced toward the corridor's end.
A roar of divine wrath shook the roots.
Three titans erged—Registeel, Regice, Regirock—their very presence smothering the air.
This wasn't a fight words could solve.
Steven exhaled, shoulders squaring.
"Natsu-sensei… this is what I feared."
Natsu groaned. "I knew I shouldn't have jinxed it earlier—"
The Three Guardians.
The very beings that had brought Steven to his knees in another tiline.
Steven's gaze darkened—flashes of Hoenn's cataclysm flickering behind his eyes.
Then, slowly, he breathed out.
"Take w to the core, Natsu-sensei. It's our only chance."
"But you—"
Steven raised a hand, silencing him.
"I'll hold them here."
No room for argunt. Only steel-clad certainty.
The light-haired man loosened his tie. Dress shoes clicked against crystal.
He stepped between the Three Regis and Natsu.
A kiss to his lapel pin. A kaleidoscopic burst of light.
"TAGROSS!!"
The white tagross roared, arms splitting into four fists, battle aura igniting like a supernova.
Steven's hair whipped in the wind as he stood tall behind his ga-Evolved partner, eyes locked on the deities.
"Let show you..."
A smirk. A champion's poise.
"...who truly stands above all!"
...
At the core of the Tree of Beginning...
The cavern shimred with crimson crystalline glass.
With w weakened, the entire tree trembled on the brink of collapse.
Lucario stood silent—until its gaze locked onto a pair of gloves resting atop the glass.
"These are..." Lucario rushed forward, kneeling. "Sir Aaron's gloves..."
"Natsu-sensei." Ash's voice wavered as he spotted a crystallized flower on the ground. "This is—"
"A Ti Flower," Natsu confird. "It replays the past."
Ash crouched, reaching toward the bloom—and suddenly, visions flooded his mind:
War lood. Sir Aaron sought out w, offering his life to quell the conflict through the Tree's power.
He had sealed Lucario in his staff... to ensure its survival.
Even if it ant bearing Lucario's hatred, Sir Aaron deed it the only way.
Natsu's eyes flickered.
A tug at his pant leg. He glanced down to find Squirtle gripping the fabric.
With a soft smile, Natsu took Squirtle's hand.
Lucario stood frozen.
The final image: Sir Aaron's peaceful smile.
Wordlessly, Lucario pressed a paw against the crystal where its master last rested. Then it rose. "I know how to save the Tree."
"You an..." Ash's throat tightened.
"w..." Levitating weakly, w drifted toward Lucario.
"w?" It tilted its head at Natsu, who followed close behind.
"If you form a bond with a Pokémon..." Natsu sighed, smiling. "You're responsible for it. I'll stand with you."
"w~!" It giggled—then coughed, floating feebly before Lucario.
"Aura... guide !!"
Lucario thrust out its paws. Surging aura poured into w, the blinding light threatening to tear Lucario apart.
Natsu's breath hitched.
He knew what ca next: Lucario's sacrifice to save the Tree...
But as for himself—
He stared at his gloved hand, fingers curling slowly.
Hadn't he already decided?
"My aura matches Sir Aaron's, right?" Ash jamd on the gloves, shouting. "Then I can do what he did!"
"What?!" Lucario whirled—just as Ash's hands erupted with radiant aura.
"Aura, guide !" Ash roared.
Agony ripped through Ash and Lucario alike.
The aura storm swelled outward.
Beyond the core, Steven—still holding off the Three legendary titans—coughed into his fist, wiping blood from his lips.
"Told you," he grinned, eyes blazing.
"This'd be one hell of a trip."
Ash's consciousness frayed in the white inferno.
Then—a hand settled on his head.
"Ash."
He looked up through the pain.
A young man stood above him, dark hair swaying, gaze profound.
His fingerless glove rested gently on Ash's hair as he smiled.
"Congratulations."
Natsu's lips quirked.
"You passed Professor Oak's evaluation."
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