Paragon

Hisui Incursion [30]

PARAGON

Hisui Incursion Arc [30]

Chapter 82 : Riley vs Dialga

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Realm of Time

Cobalt light stretched out as far as the eye could see, lapping and oozing across the infinite cosmos like the shallows of a great galactic ocean. Strands of matter slithered through the air like amoeba, fading in and out of sight with every blink.

Riley could not help but gape.

He could see Dialga, many Dialga, countless Dialga, streaking through the esoteric realm like comets, impossibly far away. Yet, it almost felt like he could reach out and touch them, and hold them in his palm. But they, like the rest of this place, remained quiet. Only a faint ringing, like the chime of some far off bell, could be heard.

Riley was floating, yet when he tried to stand, existence pooled beneath his feet, and then there was ground. He took a step forward, and more light coalesced around his foot, appearing wherever he desired it.

With his new battlefield set, Riley turned his neck up.

Dialga—Alpha Dialga—loomed before him, and he'd glanced up just in time to see the portal they'd just come through close behind it. But Dialga looked different now. The metallic parts across its body seemed to have vanished, yet its limbs were longer; it looked less like a quadruped animal, and now more like an extraterrestrial god. The core on its chest now appeared to be lodged in its elongated neck, and it pulsed at the same beat as the world around it. It was difficult to tell because of the dubious lighting of this realm, but its skin also appeared darker.

"You had a better chance on the mountain."

Riley's eyes widened and he raised a hand to his head. "You can speak...?"

"Is that so surprising?"

Riley supposed not, but then again, all it'd done back at Mount Coronet was roar and fire beam after beam at him.

"This is my home, where my strength is greatest. You have no chance of defeating me here."

Riley clenched his teeth involuntarily. "Don't think you're invincible. The fact that we're here means you were scared you'd lose without drawing out more power."

"It was your friend alone who marred us, if just barely. Not you."

Thanks for the reminder.

"Why are you serving Volo?" Riley demanded. "You don't seem to be under his direct control! Why obey him willingly?"

Dialga remained unmoved. "The Platebearer is of little consequence. We serve at the behest of the Paragon."

Riley's eyes widened. "Giratina...? Why...?"

"For the same reason your own pokémon serve you."

Riley frowned. How did Dialga know he even had pokémon, considering they'd been left behind in the future? Was that the extent of its mastery over time? But, wait...it was saying... "Giratina is your master...? As if it'd captured you in a pokéball...? Just like that?"

"Not just like that. But close enough. The power of the Paragons are rivaled by Arceus alone. To them, we are little more than cells of power to be wielded as they see fit."

Riley narrowed his eyes. "My pokémon are not mere cells, nor does their power belong to me. They are their own beings, separate from me."

"Don't mistake me, Guardian. It is not as if we are being made to act against our own wills. This is just the natural order of things. As certainly as time flows ever onward, so too are pokémon pledged to the Paragons."