Once the multicolored light of dimensional transportation faded, along with the disorientation and tight pressure squeezing his body, Alex found himself suspended in a dark expanse filled with countless floating objects. A massive sun burned in the distance, its brilliant light illuminating the strange debris around him.
"Warning. Inhospitable environment detected. Life support systems engaged. Estimated oxygen duration: 4 hours. Recharge required within 24 hours," Rotom warned through the Deep Suit's comms.
It took Alex a moment to realize where he had ended up. He was in a familiar place he had visited before, the cold, empty void of outer space. Yet something was different this time. Looking around, Alex found that space wasn't nearly as empty as he remembered. Countless chunks of rock floated all around him, resembling a dense field of asteroids.
They were far too close together to resemble a typical asteroid belt, where individual rocks were generally separated by vast stretches of empty space. Here, the debris was packed together into a dense cloud, with countless fragments drifting aimlessly through the void.
"Rotom, what am I looking at?" Alex asked.
"Would you like me to conduct a deep scan?" Rotom asked. "Life support reserves may be depleted."
"Go ahead. I don't think we'll be staying here for long," Alex said as he looked around and eyed the closest chunk of rock he could find.
Activating the propulsion on his Deep Suit, he propelled himself toward it and landed roughly on its surface. The impact barely disturbed the rock, doing little to alter its trajectory as it drifted alongside the countless other chunks floating around him.
"Understood. Conducting deep scans," Rotom replied.
From Alex's backpack, multiple spherical drones emerged and began scanning the surrounding area. Unlike the quadcopters, these were smaller versions of the spherical drones Rhea used to defend the airship in outer space. They remained gravitationally locked to the backpack, allowing them to maneuver within a limited radius and take readings from different positions. By gathering data from multiple points around Alex, they provided Rotom with additional reference points, improving the accuracy of its scans.
While Rotom worked, Alex knelt down and scooped up a handful of dirt. The soil was frozen solid, but otherwise appeared to be plain, ordinary brown dirt. That alone wasn't enough to tell him much, so he stood and began walking around the chunk of rock he had landed on, examining his surroundings.
Eventually, something caught his attention. A tree stood frozen in place nearby, its appearance completely ordinary and, more importantly, distinctly non-alien. Alex stared at it for a moment before everything clicked into place.
"Preliminary scan complete," Rotom announced. "Stellar analysis places our current location within the spatial coordinates corresponding to the Hoenn region. Surface composition analysis indicates the surrounding debris originated from the planet. The probability of this being an asteroid field is negligible."
A brief pause followed as Rotom processed the available data.
"Further analysis suggests the planet was not destroyed by a conventional explosive event. The planet appears to have undergone catastrophic spatial fragmentation, resulting in its surface and interior being separated into numerous discrete masses. These fragments remain suspended in their original orbital trajectory, indicating that the event altered the planet's physical structure without imparting sufficient force to disperse the resulting debris."
Alex nodded. He had reached much the same conclusion the moment he saw the frozen tree. It was as though someone had taken the planet apart like a giant jigsaw puzzle, separating it into countless pieces and simply leaving them scattered across the void. The fragments had been exposed to the vacuum and other hazards of space, but otherwise remained remarkably intact.
Alex didn't need Rotom to tell him what had caused it. He already knew.
Palkia. Dialga. Giratina.
Only those three possessed the kind of power necessary to fuck around with reality on this scale.
A shudder ran through Alex as he remembered the black hole he had witnessed within the Distortion World. He still couldn't forget how that monstrous phenomenon had absorbed forces of such magnitude without showing even the slightest sign of being affected. Just remembering it reminded Alex of the terrifying gap between ordinary power and true absolutes.
Shaking the dread from his bones, Alex continued wandering across the small patch of frozen greenery he had found himself on, his eyes scanning the surrounding void as he went.
"Rotom, scan for any nearby Master ranked resources," he commanded.
"No Master ranked resources detected within the current scanning range. Probability of locating viable resources is insufficient to justify continued operation. Further search is not recommended. Current life support reserves are insufficient for extended operation and continued activity will reduce the remaining operational time," Rotom immediately replied in a tone more befitting a concerned mother.
"I figured." Alex chuckled before releasing Ultra Necrozma from its Poké Ball. "Hey, buddy. Do you detect any signs of the Ultra Dimension?"
Ultra Necrozma didn't need to hear the question in the vacuum of outer space. The moment it emerged, it picked up the thought directly from Alex's mind. It remained motionless for a moment, its attention turning toward the vast void surrounding them as it searched for any trace of the dimensional energy it was familiar with.
After a brief moment, it turned back toward Alex and gave a slow nod.
Alex's expression brightened. It seemed they might finally have a way to restore Ultra Necrozma to the peak of its power.
"Alright, take us there," Alex said.
A portal of warped space immediately opened, and the pair made their way toward it.
Before Alex could step through, however, his foot bumped into a small plant near his feet. He paused and looked down, spotting a peculiar plant half-buried in the dirt. It was little more than a frozen green bulb sticking out of the ground, which was rather odd, all things considered. Plants didn't normally look like that.
After a moment's thought, Alex realized what kind of "plant" he was looking at. Curious, he crouched down and dug it out of the frozen soil before bringing it with him as he stepped through the portal.
A moment later, he found himself in the familiar world of Ultra Forest, an expanse of green filled with towering evergreen trees.
"Habitable environment detected. Elevated oxygen levels within acceptable range. Deactivating life support systems," Rotom announced before powering down the suit.
Alex deactivated his Deep Suit and summoned all his Pokémon before sending them out to search for Sparkling Stones. With Ultra Necrozma already at 95% of its full power, they were finally on the cusp of restoring it completely.
Meanwhile, Alex stared down at the frozen bulb he had picked up from the void of space, examining it carefully. His suspicions were almost certainly confirmed, but he had no idea whether the "plant" was still alive. Curious to find out, he began pulling all sorts of Potions from his backpack to see if he could bring it back to life.
He first used a Full Restore, spraying it over the frozen bulb and immediately melting the frost and ice encasing it. He then used a Max Revive, which caused the plant to immediately become lush and green.
Suddenly, the plant began to move.
"Bulbasaur?"
"Hello, little one," Alex said, looking down at the rather lucky Pokémon.
It looked around at the greenery surrounding it before turning back to Alex and asking once more.
"Bulbasaur?"
"I did, but you were the only one I managed to rescue. I'm sorry to say that the rest of the planet and all its inhabitants have likely frozen to death. You were incredibly lucky that I happened to stumble across you when I did."
"Bulbasaur! Bulba? Bulbasaur!" The little Pokémon immediately began to panic.
It began searching everywhere, looking behind trees and beneath shrubs, but it couldn't find any more of its family. One thing Alex noticed, however, was that it never strayed too far from him. No doubt, after everything that had happened, the little Pokémon had already begun to depend on him.
Alex sighed, knowing there wasn't much he could do. He had already searched the surrounding area before hopping through the portal but hadn't found any other bulbs like the one he had rescued. The small patch of greenery he'd landed on consisted of little more than a tree, some grass, and the lone Bulbasaur. It was clear that most of the plant life had been uprooted when the planet was torn apart and its fragments were sent drifting into space.
With nothing left to do but wait, Alex unpacked his portable home and began cooking. His Pokémon would likely be tired by the time they returned, so it was best to have a meal ready for them.
The smell of delicious food soon caught the tired little Bulbasaur's attention, and it slowly made its way over. Having been rescued by Alex, it already seemed to have some trust in him.
"Bulba…" it whimpered sadly, seemingly resigned to its fate.
"Come have something to eat," Alex said as he placed a bowl of Expert ranked pellets in front of it. "You must be hungry."
The little Pokémon didn't hesitate for long. It was certainly famished, its energy drained from spending so long frozen and then further exhausted by its frantic search, its emotions still frayed from everything that had happened.
Before it could even take a bite, however, it heard a rustle from the bushes. Bulbasaur immediately turned toward the disturbance and sensed danger. Without hesitation, it rushed toward the source, only to see a thin, white Pokémon flying toward Alex at an impossible speed.
It was far too slow to react. All Bulbasaur could do was cry out a warning, only to watch in shock as Alex effortlessly deflected the attack. A bloodthirsty grin spread across his face as he engaged the powerful intruder.
The two clashed across the surrounding area, their battle creating explosions, cracking the earth, and devastating the trees around them. Finally, after one last explosion, the intruder was slammed into the ground, leaving a deep crater beneath it. Alex stood over the defeated Pokémon with one foot firmly planted on its head.
With one final, thunderous stomp, he killed it without hesitation before storing its body in his backpack.
"Did you finish eating yet?" Alex asked nonchalantly as he approached with a smile, as though he hadn't just killed a powerful Pokémon moments ago.
"Bulba!" Bulbasaur exclaimed, its expression filled with both shock and concern.
"It's nothing," Alex said casually. "Now eat. You need to get your strength back first. After that, you can decide what you want to do. Your planet has already been destroyed, so there's no going back there. This place is far too dangerous for you with Kartana roaming around. My home planet can be dangerous too, but I have a small patch of land where you can roam freely with others like you. You could also live with a breeder if you prefer and join another herd. The choice is yours."
Bulbasaur stared down at the bowl of pellets, its tiny mind struggling to process everything Alex had told it. Its home was gone, its family was nowhere to be found, and the only person it could rely on was offering it a choice it had never imagined having to make.
It glanced up at Alex, then back at the food, its mind racing as it weighed its options. After a moment, its expression hardened with determination.