"It's not working," Alex said with furrowed brows as his energy was being outright rejected.
It was like throwing a cup of water onto a burning building, his energy evaporating before it could even penetrate Ultra Necrozma's skin. The Legendary completely resisted every attempt to communicate. Alex could sense a deep grudge and fear within it that prevented any connection from forming. It was clear he'd have to earn its trust before they could even begin communicating.
"That's fine. We'll leave it at this for now and come back to it later."
Alex returned Necrozma to its Poké Ball and set the matter aside for the time being. Instead, he turned his attention to the loot his Pokémon had gathered. They'd been trained to evaluate a material's rank based on qualities such as hardness, flexibility, and energy density. That allowed them to identify Master ranked materials even if they weren't familiar with the objects themselves.
There was always a chance they'd overlook truly valuable materials, but Alex wouldn't have recognized them either, so it made little difference. Ideally, a materials specialist like Rhea would've accompanied the expedition to ensure nothing was missed, but that simply wasn't possible.
For the next few days, Rayce and the surviving locals watched cautiously as Alex and his Pokémon swept through the city outside their camp. They salvaged reinforced metals, energy storage devices, high-output engines, and energy-amplifying crystals. Unbeknownst to the onlookers, they were also extracting information from countless databases, either those that still functioned or those Rotom restored from the wreckage.
By the end, Alex had managed to fill his backpack up to 60% capacity with all sorts of salvaged materials and technology that Rhea would take an interest in. They also captured a few more wild Ultra Beasts who were roaming the ruins without a trainer.
The city was massive, and the amount of materials recovered was equally significant, especially in the industrial district where mass manufacturing had once taken place. There, Alex found vast batches of raw materials alongside the machines used to process them, all of which he claimed for his own use. Of course, he left behind a portion for the locals, scaled to match their meager population size.
"Is that all that was found in the last district?" Alex asked as he stared at the pile of metal, most of it consisting of vault doors and reinforced walls.
"Gardevoir," she replied with a nod.
"What about you, Rotom? Do you need more time to download everything?"
"Information extraction from all available sources is complete. Raw data is currently being archived. Estimated completion time is 2 hours," Rotom replied.
"I guess we're done here. Pack everything up and prepare to leave," Alex said.
Noticing Alex's intention, Rayce quickly approached from a distance.
"Are you leaving? How are you planning to get to another dimension?" he asked worriedly.
"I'm thinking of beating the shit out of Necrozma until it does what I want and opens a portal back to a world without light. I don't know how well it'll go, but either way, I should survive," Alex replied casually.
"I... I see," Rayce said with disappointment.
Having Ultra Necrozma as a research specimen would have accelerated their city's recovery by leaps and bounds, but Alex wasn't someone they could simply persuade. With no way to convince him otherwise, they had no choice but to rebuild their city from the ground up.
They possessed enough resources to survive in the cold emptiness of Ultra Space and, given enough time, might eventually find a way back to their original world or reach other worlds to gather additional supplies. Until then, however, they would have to endure their lives as survivors.
"Oh, here. I don't think I'll be needing this," Alex said, dropping a large crate.
Inside was a complete survival kit containing a water condenser, water purifier, seeds, condensed fertilizer, weather maintenance equipment, soil analyzers, and various other devices designed to establish a sustainable food source. It was the emergency kit Kaia had insisted he carry with him, though after observing the survivors over the past few days, Alex realized they had far greater use for it than he did.
The locals were barely managing to get by, relying on scavenged non-perishable food from abandoned homes and their meager farm to survive. Compared to his own resources and ability to leave at any time, they needed the supplies far more.
Alex had no intention of staying in this dimension for long. Even if it meant leaving 40% of his backpack's storage empty, he planned to activate the return beacon if Necrozma refused to cooperate. Kahuna Hapu would be disappointed, but if he couldn't even return to that world, there was little reason to waste time wandering around Ultra Space either.
"What is that?" Rayce asked.
"Don't know, but it should help you survive until you get your shit together," Alex replied. "I really hope you people stop being inconsiderate scientists from this point onward."
"Um... thank you," Rayce said as he motioned for the Naganadel hovering behind him to carry the crate back toward their camp.
Two hours later, Rotom finished archiving the vast amount of data and packed up the portable computer station. Alex's Pokémon also returned to his backpack, leaving only a select few behind to deal with Necrozma. His plan was to coax the Legendary into opening an Ultra Wormhole.
With a flash of light, Ultra Necrozma materialized, still weakened from its injuries and suffering from lingering status conditions. Before it could even react, Alex's Pokémon used a series of attribute-reducing moves, draining its remaining strength in an instant. The Legendary found itself surrounded by Grim, Knight, Azuking, Urshifu, and Lucario, Alex's strongest attackers, while a pair of Crobat hovered behind him, locking it down with Mean Look and preventing any chance of escape.
"Now... I may not be able to establish a bond with you, but I know you can hear and understand me," Alex said, standing directly in front of Necrozma's face as it lay helpless on the ground. "I have a proposition for you. If you cooperate and do as I say, I'll do my best to repair your body properly and restore you to the best condition possible. If you refuse, I'll kill you and feed you to my Pokémon, achieving my objective of returning the light you stole from those worlds. Nod if you understand."
Necrozma understood every word the human spoke, but it didn't believe a single promise. To it, the offer was nothing more than another attempt to take its power.
However, it also understood the situation it was in. If it refused, it would die. It had seen what humans did when they desired its light and strength. They would take everything from it regardless of its wishes.
So, slowly and reluctantly, Necrozma moved. With anger, resentment, and a trace of fear burning within its heart, it struggled to give a small nod.
"Good," Alex said. "Do you remember Alola? It's a region with four large islands in the middle of an ocean. You stole that place's light and left it in devastation before fleeing. I spoke with the people in charge there, and they agreed to return pieces of your body if it meant restoring their light. So, I want you to create an Ultra Wormhole leading there."
It didn't want to. It hated the idea of losing its complete power again, only to return to a state of suffering and agony. It wanted to flee instead, to find another place where it could recover and exist in peace, but it had no choice. Whether it cooperated or not, it would lose its light eventually. At the very least, this way, it might be able to keep its life.
Using what little energy it had left, Necrozma created an Ultra Wormhole toward the place it remembered matching Alex's description. It remembered being attacked when it arrived there, confronted by four powerful Pokémon that acted as guardians of the land.
"Good boy," Alex said with a satisfied smile before instructing his Pokémon. "Carry it through, but keep a tight hold. We don't want it running away at the first opportunity."
Necrozma scowled as it was lifted and carried through the Ultra Wormhole, only to find the familiar darkness waiting on the other side. Alex followed behind, with the Crobat couple ready to use Mean Look at the slightest sign of escape. Once he passed through the wormhole, he immediately recognized the location as Aether Paradise, which appeared unchanged from when he had last left it.
"Oh? You're pretty obedient," Alex commented. "I was half expecting to find myself underwater, inside a volcano, or falling out of the sky."
Necrozma scoffed.
"Now, I want you to return the light of this world. Without it, I won't be able to help you restore yourself."
It didn't want to. The very idea filled it with hatred and resentment. For a moment, it considered simply allowing this human to kill it rather than surrender what it had fought so desperately to obtain. Yet, despite its anger, its instinct for survival remained stronger. With no other choice, it endured the pain and began releasing the light it was owed.
VRAAAHH!
Necrozma roared as its body shone brighter than the sun for a brief moment, its radiance spreading across the sky as the stolen energy slowly returned to the world. Alex watched in awe as the darkness began to fade, almost as if someone had adjusted the brightness setting of reality itself. Colors that had been muted for so long gradually returned, and the world slowly came alive beneath the restored light.
Necrozma, meanwhile, writhed on the ground as pain coursed through its body, held firmly in place by Alex's Pokémon. Its once-blinding radiance slowly faded, leaving behind only a dimly glowing Ultra Necrozma with barely enough energy left to maintain its form.
"Good job," Alex said. "Now we wait for the authorities to arrive and uphold their end of the deal."
Suddenly, terrifying presences approached from four directions. From the northwest, a thundercloud raced across the sky, crackling with electricity. From the northeast, a powerful psychic force surged through the air. From the southwest, a massive tidal wave rose above the ocean, while from the southeast, a violent gale of leaves tore through the sky. Four powerful phenomena swept across the water, converging on Aether Paradise at full speed.
As they arrived, the storms abruptly vanished. In their place stood the four Tapus of Alola, surrounding Ultra Necrozma, Alex, and his Pokémon. Their fury was palpable as they glared at the source of the Eternal Eclipse that had plunged their world into darkness.
At once, they gathered their energy, preparing to finally defeat their ultimate enemy once and for all.