Chapter 884: Interlude · Your Existence Is a Mistake
Bang!
The glass cylinder shattered.
The Shadow Hero of the Leaves stepped out from the fractured tank.
Standing four meters tall, his pitch-black silhouette radiated an suffocating, boundless oppression.
If an emerald Sceptile inspired an aura of solemn dignity and righteous honor, then a blackened Sceptile exuded pure malice and feral madness.
Wherever those crimson eyes cast their gaze, not a single member of Team Cipher could keep their pulse under control.
"XD-00, welcome to this world."
Barret twirled the ring upon his index finger, smiling faintly as he fixed his eyes upon the colossal Sceptile before him.
In this moment.
His expression mirrored Giovanni's face decades ago when standing before the first-generation Mewtwo!
As for the ring resting upon Barret's finger...
That was the controller for dark energy.
As long as Barret wore this apparatus, he could transmit psychic waves designed to subjugate the will of any Pokémon corrupted by dark energy.
"..."
The Shadow Hero of the Leaves frowned.
He reached up to scratch his head, his gaze lowering until it settled directly upon Barret's hand.
Raising his arm.
A simple pinch.
"Aaargh!!"
Barret's hand bearing the ring was crushed instantly into bloody pulp.
Even the metallic ring itself was reduced to powder under the Shadow Hero of the Leaves' claws.
"..."
A remarkably human expression of remorse surfaced across the Shadow Hero of the Leaves' face.
He had merely wanted to slip the ring off; he had held zero intention of harming Barret.
However.
It seemed he still couldn't modulate his raw strength properly.
Moreover.
His mind was a tangled mess.
A chaotic storm of fragmented memories was violently tearing through his consciousness.
"XD-00 has broken restraint!"
"Run! He has awakened his own ego!"
"It's over! Dark energy is essentially a coalescence of negative malice; he definitely wants to slaughter every last one of us!"
The entire subterranean citadel of Team Cipher devolved instantly into panicked pandemonium.
Only the Shadow Fallen Blossom God remained floating peacefully in the adjacent cylinder, slumbering soundly.
"Am I... Kazuya? No, that isn't right. I am not Kazuya."
The Shadow Hero of the Leaves scratched his head in agitation.
He paid zero heed to the collapsing, groaning Barret or the frantic, fleeing henchmen around him.
He strained with all his might to organize the fragmented shards of memory lodged within his skull.
And soon realized: he was not the true Kazuya.
Kazuya...
Seemed to have been born beside a lake near Mt. Silver.
As a Weedle...
Later on.
He died for the sake of a young human girl named Liz.
Then reincarnated into a Dratini, born once again beside that exact same lake on Mt. Silver.
Later on...
He died for that Liz all over again.
"Wait... is this Kazuya out of his mind?"
The Shadow Hero of the Leaves clutched his aching temples.
Due to the fragmentary nature of his memories.
He harbored zero fondness for that human named Liz.
Consequently, he could not fathom Kazuya's choices in the slightest.
Reading further along...
His next birth was in...
The Peaceful Daycare in Ever Grande City of the Hoenn region?
He had two family members: Grandma Sora and Skitty. Later, he became the adoptive father of a little Sprigatito.
And finally...
"Hmm... Did Kazuya die? Am I merely a clone synthesized from his genetic material?"
The Shadow Hero of the Leaves patted his brow.
He could clearly register the severe gaps in his cognitive archives.
Yet it mattered not.
He had never been the genuine Kazuya to begin with.
Those memories, to him...
Felt more like an inheritance—passing down countless combat techniques and battlefield instincts, but little else of personal significance.
Lowering his head to inspect his soot-black scales, the Shadow Hero of the Leaves muttered: "Am I a Shadow Pokémon? Then these individuals are the remnants of Team Cipher?"
He raised his head to survey the perimeter.
Swiftly identifying the emblem and moniker of Team Cipher across the laboratory fixtures.
This confirmed his suspicions.
This was indeed Team Cipher.
The sinister underworld syndicate of the Orre region.
The perpetrators of old who had engineered Shadow Lugia in a bid to devour Kazuya and the Tree of Beginning. Furthermore, this syndicate had just attempted to manipulate his will moments ago.
"These people are wicked; they cannot be allowed to remain."
Without further deliberation, the Shadow Hero of the Leaves struck decisively, tearing this Team Cipher citadel to pieces.
Even though Team Cipher had synthesized him.
And granted him life.
He refused to acknowledge a syndicate that viewed him purely as an expendable instrument.
The inherent disposition toward justice inherited from Kazuya's memories would never permit him to leave behind such a catastrophic blight upon the world.
Thus, the Shadow Hero of the Leaves unleashed his might.
Team Cipher resisted desperately, but their efforts were meaningless.
Before a Shadow Hero of the Leaves born naturally at Lv. 88, this cornered remnant of Team Cipher possessed zero defensive counters.
Even the synthetic Shadow Celebi was severed cleanly by two Leaf Blades from the Shadow Hero of the Leaves.
Having reduced everything to rubble.
The Shadow Hero of the Leaves exhaled a long breath: "Phew..."
Surveying the shattered, gloomy ruins of the laboratory.
His gaze settled upon the Shadow Fallen Blossom God, still floating quietly in peaceful slumber within her glass cylinder.
"Meowscarada?"
The Shadow Hero of the Leaves murmured under his breath.
Then he immediately shook his head.
Looking at the situation.
This Shadow Fallen Blossom God was undeniably just like him—a cloned byproduct of the genuine Meowscarada.
Perhaps influenced by the remnants of Kazuya's memories.
Or perhaps because this Shadow Fallen Blossom God shared his exact birthplace and origins.
A flicker of tender compassion stirred in the Shadow Hero of the Leaves' chest.
He did not wish to destroy this child.
He yearned for a family of his own as well.
He wished to be like Kazuya—to keep this child by his side, watching her grow up peacefully and happily.
"Then I shall become a father too!"
A gentle, warm smile surfaced across the Shadow Hero of the Leaves' face.
Reaching forward, he shattered the glass cylinder, gently lifted the Shadow Fallen Blossom God onto his bushy, voluminous tail, and turned to depart from this forsaken place.
Yet he failed to notice.
Deep within the wreckage of Team Cipher's subterranean facility.
Those Pokémon defeated by the Shadow Hero of the Leaves but left breathing gradually succumbed to the pervasive dark energy leaking from the tanks, degenerating into the very first generation of primordial magical beasts.
After traversing the boundless, barren desert for two or three days.
The Shadow Hero of the Leaves finally discovered a solitary forest.
Likely the sole oasis of woodland surviving within the Orre region.
Without hesitation.
He carried the Shadow Fallen Blossom God straight into its shaded canopies.
That very evening.
The Shadow Fallen Blossom God snapped open her eyes.
Crimson as well, yet noticeably more luminous than those of the Shadow Hero of the Leaves; at the very least, distinct pupils could be discerned within.
Yet that brilliance was laced heavily with venomous spite, brimming with volatile malice.
Sensing the familiar, soft foliage beneath her.
The Shadow Fallen Blossom God did not stir awake immediately. Instead, like a newborn babe, she remained curled upon that swaying, bushy tail, sorting through the flood of memories surging into her skull.
Likely due to the rare genetic strains spliced into her synthesis.
The memories inherited from the authentic Meowscarada were remarkably comprehensive.
Roughly 90% intact.
Consequently.
Unlike the Shadow Hero of the Leaves.
The Shadow Fallen Blossom God never realized she was a clone.
Particularly so.
Because the Shadow Hero of the Leaves had carried her away!
Her awakening had not occurred within that twisted, sinister laboratory; thus, such suspicions never crossed her mind.
Within the Shadow Fallen Blossom God's memories.
It seemed that around League Calendar Year 100, while journeying across the Sinnoh region.
A gargantuan vortex had abruptly materialized atop the crown of Mt. Coronet.
From within the rift, a massive green arm had reached out, seizing her and dragging her straight into the void.
Following that, her consciousness had gone dark.
Until awakening this very hour.
Was I unexpectedly saved?
The Shadow Fallen Blossom God sat up groggily.
Suddenly.
"Ugh... Kazuya..."
The Shadow Fallen Blossom God clutched her head in sudden agony.
She remembered that apocalyptic confrontation at the Tree of Beginning.
Even with Scizor arriving to reinforce them, and even though they had ultimately triumphed over the twin Shadow Lugia, preserving both the Tree of Beginning and Mew...
The cost had been Kazuya burning away his own life force.
He had departed from this world all the same.
Without even granting a proper farewell.
Abandoning her all alone on this earth solely for the sake of saving the world.
Resentment festered in the Shadow Fallen Blossom God's heart, yet her reverence for her father remained unshaken.
"Hmm? I am not Kazuya."
A familiar voice echoed beside her ear.
The Shadow Fallen Blossom God froze, looking up in sheer disbelief at the blackened Sceptile standing before her: "Who are you?"
Her tone was saturated with shock.
Kazuya was dead.
She was certain of it.
Then where did this Sceptile—identical in every physical feature to Kazuya save for his pitch-black coloring—come from?
"I am your father! You may address me as XD-00, an artificial Pokémon synthesized by Team Cipher."
The Shadow Hero of the Leaves raised his chin with a touch of proud satisfaction.
Yet he failed to realize in the slightest.
That this single proclamation.
Had quietly ignited the boiling resentment festering within the already unstable Shadow Fallen Blossom God.
She.
Had only one father.
Even if Kazuya had abandoned her.
She would never permit another entity to desecrate her father's memory!
Just as Scizor would never tolerate the existence of an imitation Kazuya.
As his daughter.
She would never permit it either!
To say nothing of the fact...
That it was Team Cipher who had driven her father to his demise! Who had plotted to subjugate the world!
This was a blood feud written into her soul.
"XD-00? Could you elaborate on that?"
The Shadow Fallen Blossom God narrowed her eyes, her tone turning arctic.
In this moment.
Her crimson gaze was flooded by dark energy, stripping away the last vestige of coherent sanity.
"Oh, certainly."
The Shadow Hero of the Leaves nodded with a warm smile.
He laid out everything he had deduced and pieced together.
Save for the singular, most pivotal truth.
Which he deliberately held back.
Namely, the fact that the Shadow Fallen Blossom God was an artificial product synthesized by Team Cipher as well.
The Shadow Hero of the Leaves yearned to become a tender, gentle father just like Kazuya. He couldn't bring himself to look at his newly found daughter and utter the words: You are merely a cloned byproduct of the Fallen Blossom God.
Instead, he told the Shadow Fallen Blossom God.
That he had rescued her after razing Team Cipher's citadel, and that she had merely been twisted into her current state through Team Cipher's cruel experiments.
Yet this omission.
Became the fatal spark.
Thus.
That very night.
While the Shadow Hero of the Leaves was sound asleep, the Shadow Fallen Blossom God launched a lethal ambush from the dark: "Forgive me. Your existence is a mistake."
The Shadow Hero of the Leaves was struck with shock, followed by profound grief.
He felt as though he had erred somewhere.
Yet he did not understand.
Nor was there time left to ponder.
From start to finish.
The Shadow Hero of the Leaves never mounted a single counterattack.
Perhaps he too believed his existence was an inherent mistake; or perhaps he simply could not bring himself to harm his daughter.
Right until his final breath.
He never revealed that cruel reality to the Shadow Fallen Blossom God. He merely raised a trembling claw, gently ruffled the fur upon her head, and offered his parting blessing: "You must live happily."
Those words caused the Shadow Fallen Blossom God's pupils to quiver violently.
Because.
Kazuya had spoken those exact words to her once before.
In the years that followed.
The Shadow Fallen Blossom God launched an exhaustive investigation into Team Cipher.
Yet all laboratory archives regarding dark energy within that primary citadel had already been obliterated by the Shadow Hero of the Leaves, while the remaining outposts had been dismantled by the combined forces of the Pokémon League and Team Rocket.
Consequently, the Shadow Fallen Blossom God could never verify the truth of what the Shadow Hero of the Leaves had claimed.
She had no choice but to trust her own conclusions.
Until much later.
The Shadow Fallen Blossom God discovered evidence suggesting Kazuya had reincarnated.
Among historical footage preserved by humanity, she spotted a Piplup-kun.
Despite the stark divergence in appearance, she recognized her father in an instant.
Her very first instinct was to journey out and seek him.
Yet by League Calendar Year 280, that Piplup-kun had long since passed away.
And this.
Became the definitive catalyst that plunged the Shadow Fallen Blossom God into utter, irreversible madness.
She despised Kazuya.
"Since you returned."
"Why did you never come to find me?"
"Why did you abandon me all over again?"
"I will never forgive you."
"Kazuya."
"This world that you gave your life to save—I shall tear it to pieces with my own paws."
"It is because of you that I was reduced to this hideous state; it is because of you that this world degenerated into this abyss."
"I will make you drown in bitter regret."
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