Regardless of whether Xerneas would eventually become his own Pokémon, the moment it expressed its intent to confront Yveltal—Nathan knew there was no way he could turn down its request.
Without saying much more, he took out a Poké Ball.
Xerneas looked at him and gave a gentle nod before entering the ball on its own.
---------------------------
Staring at the Poké Ball that now contained Xerneas, Nathan couldn't help the surge of joy rising in his heart.
On one hand, now that Xerneas was out in the world again, it would definitely help him exact revenge.
Even though he understood that Yveltal was an immortal Pokémon, if Xerneas could at least send it into slumber for a thousand years, that would be enough of a payback for hurting Volcarona.
On the other hand, Xerneas was now with him!
Nathan had already made up his mind: once he left this mystic realm, he would find a way to convince Xerneas to stay with him for real.
If he could actually succeed in capturing a Pokémon like Xerneas, then even when he encountered other Legendary Pokémon in the future, he'd never need to worry again.
Of course, subduing a Legendary like Xerneas wouldn't be easy.
Even the Champion-tier Gengar he had encountered in the past was too proud to accept being captured by Nathan.
And now, Xerneas—who stood a tier above that—was on a whole different level.
But Xerneas's personality was incredibly gentle.
Perhaps… perhaps it could be persuaded through reason, or moved emotionally?
That pleasant thought didn't last long before the situation suddenly took a turn.
Nathan noticed that the trees around him were beginning to wither at a speed visible to the naked eye.
What's worse, the area of withering was still expanding—fast.
"Wait… don't tell me all these trees only existed in this mystic realm because of Xerneas' presence?"
Thinking about it carefully, it did seem plausible.
After all, since entering the realm, he hadn't encountered a single other Pokémon.
"What a shame. Such a beautiful forest, and now that Xerneas is gone, it's going to vanish with it."
Nathan sighed with genuine regret.
After that, he mounted his Flygon and soared into the sky.
Once he had gained enough altitude and looked down upon the forest from above, he realized that the speed at which the trees were withering was far faster than he had initially thought.
From the first tree to now, only a minute or two had passed, and the area of withering had already spread out to nearly a kilometer in radius—and it was still expanding, at an accelerating pace.
If this continued, in just a few minutes, all the plant life in this mystic realm would be gone.
Nathan's admiration for Xerneas only deepened.
It truly lived up to its title as the Mystical God of Life.
What he hadn't expected, however, was that Xerneas's mere act of entering a Poké Ball would cause the surrounding vegetation to wither so rapidly.
But with the trees now dying, there was no more point staying in this mystic realm.
Nathan urged Flygon toward the exit.
However, just as he did so—
Crack… crack…!
A sound rang out behind him.
"What was that?"
He turned quickly toward the source.
And what he saw chilled him to the bone.
The sky behind him had begun to fracture—literally.
Fissures appeared across the heavens, splitting it like broken glass.
"Shit! Is this mystic realm about to collapse?!"
Those fissures weren't just some illusion.
They were actual space-time rifts—tearing this realm apart at the seams.
And they were expanding toward him at an alarming speed.
"Run! Run! RUN!!"
Nathan practically shouted at Flygon.
This wasn't a joke. He was just a human being! His strongest Pokémon was only Champion-tier.
What could he possibly do in a situation like this?
Even if his Pokémon could somehow resist the rifts, what about him, the Trainer?
If one of those rifts so much as brushed him—
He'd be obliterated in less than a second.
Flygon surged forward at full speed—perhaps the fastest it had ever flown in its life.
And yet… the spatial rifts behind them continued to approach.
Every time Nathan looked back, he saw the withered trees being consumed by the rifts.
Those trees didn't just vanish—they were disintegrated, shattered into a fine dust and dispersed into the air.
To be more precise, they were decomposed at a molecular level by the raw force of the rifts.
"Damn it! Why the hell am I so unlucky!?"
Nathan cursed under his breath.
Never in his life had he felt this close to death.
A single touch from the rift was instant obliteration.
Meanwhile, the exit was still some distance away.
If he couldn't escape before the mystic realm collapsed entirely—
This would be the place he'd die.
"I'm sorry... I didn't know this would happen."
A soft, gentle voice rang in his ears.
It was Xerneas.
Immediately after, Nathan saw a multicolored light burst forth from inside his backpack.
The light shot forward toward the rift.
Wherever it passed, the withered trees came back to life—
Dead trunks sprouted green leaves, yellow grass turned lush again, and flowers bloomed anew.
And then, the very same radiant barrier—the multicolored shield that had once blocked his path—appeared again.
As soon as the spatial rift touched the barrier, it slowed down drastically, as if it had sunk into a swamp.
Its expansion rate dropped sharply.
With the spread of the rift temporarily halted, another wave of radiant light emerged from his backpack.
This time, the light enveloped Flygon.
And somehow, despite already flying at its max speed, Flygon accelerated even more.
At this point, Nathan could no longer hear anything around him—
Just the sound of rushing wind slicing through the air.
Xerneas's intervention had given him hope where there had been none.
Just moments ago, based on his own calculations, escape seemed impossible.
But now, with Xerneas's help—there was a chance.
"I... I can't hold on much longer…"
Xerneas's voice echoed in his ears once more, as soft and gentle as ever.
But this time… it sounded like a death knell.
Already?
Before he could even fully react, the light vanished.
The radiant barrier disappeared.
The speed boost faded.
Without Xerneas's protection, the rift resumed its full speed.
And Flygon—too—returned to its original velocity.
"WHAT?! You're a Legendary Pokémon—how can your stamina be this bad?!"
Nathan cried out in despair.
He had just started to believe there was hope.
But before he could even enjoy that feeling for a few minutes—hope walked away and told him,
"Oops. Wrong person."
The seconds ticked by, each one like a countdown to his doom.
Nathan looked back and saw the rift getting closer and closer.
He looked forward and saw the exit drawing near as well.
It would come down to a photo finish.
Just as the rift was about to engulf Flygon and Nathan—
Mewtwo burst out of its Poké Ball.
Without hesitation, it extended one leg—
BAM!
It kicked Flygon squarely in the back.
Then, just as quickly, it vanished back into the ball.
But that one kick—
That one fierce, devastating kick—
Sent Flygon hurtling forward in a sudden burst of speed.
The gap between them and the rift widened once more.
"Aaaaahhhhh!!! Come on!!!"
Nathan roared as he saw the mystic realm's exit approaching.
Two hundred meters...
One hundred meters...
Fifty meters…
------
In the end—
The spatial rift collided with the exit of the mystic realm.
The once-beautiful, picturesque realm was no more.
It vanished completely from this world.
But just before it was lost—
Nathan and Flygon managed to shoot through the exit in the nick of time.
A flash of white light—
And they reappeared, landing in the freezing snow-covered mountains outside.
The cold wind that blew across Nathan's face had never felt so comforting.
He was alive.
He had survived.
"Damn... Do you even know how hard that was?"
All this…
All of this… just to bring Xerneas out with him.
One more second… and he would've been done for.
Standing in the snow, Nathan made a firm decision:
From now on, he would train Flygon seriously.
Up until now, Flygon had mostly served as a travel companion, little more than a flying mount.
But in that moment of true crisis—Flygon had proven its worth.
(End of Chapter)