The Beauty of Antiquity
By Sokz
Wind blew through the fields just outside Magearna's window. She sighed as wildflowers shifted in the breeze while bird Pokemon flew overhead. Maybe a few Flabebe floated around in the flower patches. She always enjoyed finding them and smiling with them.
She leaned on the old wooden window sill. The house was in disrepair, with part of its roof caved in and its walls falling apart. The place was almost as old as she was. Though she would love to see it brought back to its former majesty, she didn't know how to fix it. Maybe one day a few industrial Pokemon would make it beautiful again, but for now, it was run down and drab.
She looked down at herself. The brilliant colors that once adorned her metal body had flaked off, leaving just the solid metal bits below. Her form was still beautiful, and the soul heart was magnificent, but age affects everything.
A glistening light caught her eye. With a curious expression, she looked out the window and focused on the faint red glow that sparkled just on the edge of the forest. Strange. She didn't remember something like that, and she had this entire area memorized a thousand times. Curious, she pushed herself off the windowsill and left the house, intent on finding out exactly what that strange glow was. She passed through the fields of grasses and flowers, waved to the small playing Pokemon that caught her eye, then reached the edge of the woods. A small cavern had opened below one of the twisted oak trees.
She didn't love dark, confined areas, but the glow was too enticing to ignore. With steady steps, she descended into the cave under the tree. At first, it wasn't anything special. She didn't see any other Pokemon or detect any forces of life with her internal components. But then her circuitry started to spark. Her eyes went wide as power flooded into her system, changing her both on the inside and the outside.
There was no way she could control it. Her body expanded, the metal growing in size and density as she became bigger and bigger and bigger. With a sudden surge, she exploded out from the ground and toppled the tree resting on top of the cavern.
She didn't stop growing until her head was above the treeline and her feet left deep craters in the ground every time she shifted her weight. Amazed and startled by the transformation, she stepped backward and accidentally flattened an entire patch of the field she had so calmly walked through only a few moments ago.
Tiny Pokemon fled from her immense, crushing stomps. Flabebe darted out from under her metal feet as bird Pokemon took wing and flew into the sky. Not everything was so lucky, however. There were more than a few unconscious Pokemon left in the crater of her footsteps. ``Oh!'' she said in surprise as she looked down at the destruction she had caused. ``I'm so sorry! I didn't realize...''
The Pokemon below her weren't happy. A Trevanent appeared at the edge of the forest with its fists clenched. She had already toppled a handful of trees and destroyed a large chunk of the woods. It wouldn't let her destroy anything more.
It opened its mouth and fired a Shadow Ball at her chest. ``No, please stop,'' she said as she lifted her hands to defend herself. Though such an attack would normally be a significant threat, as a Trevanent was one of the more powerful Pokemon in the region, the Shadow Ball harmlessly bounced off her metal skin and dissipated into the sky. She blinked in surprise. She barely even felt it.
Another powerful Pokemon, a Diggersby, burrowed out from the ground and slammed his ears into her leg at full force. Once again, she could barely feel it despite the Pokemon's obvious strength. She had witnessed Diggersby defeat trainers' entire teams with that move, but now it barely tickled.
``Please stop,'' she said as she backed away. There were more Pokemon now, all annoyed at her destroying part of the landscape. She felt a flurry of attacks around her ankles as the tiny Pokemon shot elemental blasts at her, or rammed into her skin. ``Please, I said...'' She didn't want to hurt these Pokemon, but she didn't have a choice. They just wouldn't stop! So she decided to use one of her less powerful moves. Her gears whirred and her energy charged as she readied her weakest attack, Psybeam. This was the move she used to discourage little skiddo that were too aggressive, or dedenne that wanted to play too roughly. Hopefully, it wouldn't hurt these Pokemon.
Once the attack was ready, she let it launch in front of her. The entire world was bathed in purple light as the Psybeam cut across the ground, leaving a deep trench of burning, scarred earth in its wake. The explosion that followed was powerful enough to shatter stones and topple trees. Half of the forest was ripped apart by the shockwave as countless tiny Pokemon were thrown into the air, only to crash back to earth with the rest of the mud and burning ground. When it was over, nothing was left standing. Not the Trevanents or the Diggersby, or any other Pokemon. Magearna stood in shock, her eyes wide as she took in the destruction. She never imagined that her weakest move could cause so much devastation.
Her soul heart fluttered as it absorbed the souls of all the Pokemon destroyed in the attack. At least they were safe with her.
As the defeated Pokemon's souls joined with her body, the energy inside of her reacted in a strange way. It made her grow even larger. The ground trembled as she reached new heights. The forest in front of her looked like a field of small grasses, each mighty oak only reaching her ankles. When she shifted her weight, immense footprints were left where she stood. She couldn't take a single step without drastically changing the landscape.
``Oh...'' she said as she looked down. Though it was hard, she could just barely make out the tiny forms of other Pokemon running away from her giant body. She didn't want to step on them, but at this size, she didn't have much of a choice. They were just so small now.
She stood as still as she could, trying to think of a solution. The power inside of her surged, giving her more energy than she knew how to handle. It made her want to run around, jump, and skip across the landscape. She wanted to dance and twirl, and to enjoy this sensation of complete power. But she resisted the temptation. There were still a lot of Pokemon below her. There was a city just beyond the mountains on the horizon. If anyone knew how to fix this, it would be someone there. But that would mean traveling a huge distance. Countless steps, countless stomps, more destruction than she knew how to comprehend... but it was worth it. She couldn't just stand in one place forever.
With her mind made up, Magearna stepped forward. Her foot slammed into a myriad of trees and demolished them with barely any effort. Dust was kicked up by her movements, and a chorus of Pokemon shouts echoed through the landscape. She tried not to think about it as her foot came down and demolished an entire section of the forest.
Just keep going, she told herself. This would all be over soon.
``I'm sorry, I'm sorry,'' she said as she stood on the ruined remains of a house. There were tiny people and Pokemon all around her. They were angry. A Talonflame burned brightly as it circled her head. She tried to swat it away, but it just flew higher.
``I didn't mean...'' Something cracked under her feet and she sank a little lower into the rubble. She took a step back in reaction, but her massive foot came down on another house and turned it into rubble. The streets nearby buckled from the pure force of the impact while cars were flipped onto their sides.
She sighed. It was so hard trying to move when even the littlest twitch destroyed the landscape. How did she even find her way into a populated place like this? She thought she was walking through barren fields, next to a river. It only took a few short steps and suddenly she was surrounded by civilization and tamed Pokemon.
``Really, I'm sorry, but I have to continue.'' She went to take another step. Her foot lifted off the shattered house, bits of broken wood and rubble falling off her sole as it soared over all the tiny creatures' heads, then slammed down with a tremendous force. She didn't bother looking where it fell. It didn't matter. No matter where she stepped, something was going to be destroyed.
This time, it was a park made up of narrow walkways, trees, play areas, water features, and countless homes for tiny Pokemon that lived in the suburban area. It was obliterated in a single movement. The houses nearby weren't even spared from the destruction, as the shockwave from her falling foot obliterated their siding and ripped away their roofs.
She sighed as she took another step, then another, then another. She could hear sirens blaring somewhere below her as trucks with flashing lights sped through the narrow streets. That Talonflame was still above head, except now it looked even angrier. Fire burst from its wings as it flew in great circles.
It didn't take long before one of the tiny Pokemon decided to attack her.
Chesnaught growled as the giant's foot slammed into the ground only a block in front of him. The hot air from the impact surged over him with all the force of a hurricane, but he did not budge. He was ready, and fully prepared for this fight.
Or at least that's what he thought. Chesnaught was one of the strongest Pokemon in this town, and had trained for his entire life just for a fight like this. So what if this thing was a thousand feet tall? Who cares if she could destroy an entire city block just by taking a step? He was a Chesnaught, and he was ready.
He built up his energy, then fired a high velocity Seed Bomb right at the metallic leg in front of him. The attack landed, with each one of the seeds detonating and exploding as soon as it made contact. It was a devastating attack that had destroyed countless Pokemon before, and even earned him a handful of gym badges. If Magearna didn't topple from an attack like that... Well, the thought didn't even cross his mind. That was impossible!
And yet, when the smoke cleared, Magearna was still standing. In fact, she didn't look hurt at all! The Chesnaught's jaw dropped as he searched for a mark, a bruise, a dent... anything that would prove his attack had any effect. No, there was nothing. Her body was perfect, and she still loomed over him.
Slowly, he pulled his eyes upward. His gaze traveled up her long legs, passed the rounded form of her dress, then finally to her beautiful face so many miles above. Her expression was almost pitiful.
``W... wait,'' the Chesnaught said as she moved. It was anything complex. She simply lifted her foot.
Chenaught tried to fire another barrage of Seed Bombs, but it was even less effective than the first. They simply bounced off the dirty sole of her foot and ricocheted around the town. There was nothing he could do. All his training, all those hours building his strength, meant nothing.
She was just too big. And then her foot came down.
Magearna frowned as the Talonflame's attacks hit her shoulders. It didn't do anything more than leave a slight mark on the metal, but it was still annoying. There were other Pokemon too. It seemed like whenever she took a step, something else tried to send a burst of fire at her ankles or blast her metallic skin with a jet of water.
She was getting annoyed with this place. Didn't they realize she was just trying to move through as quickly and painlessly as she could? She didn't want to destroy all these tiny buildings, they were just so tiny and delicate. If they couldn't stand up when she stomped close to them, how was that her fault?
Another blast of fire smacked into the back of her head. She sighed, then took the final step that brought her out of the village. When she turned, she saw the tiny hamlet forever changed by her quick walk across its surface. There were giant craters in a line, marking her path. Destroyed houses littered the area, with torn-up streets, blocked roads, destroyed cars, and a whole bunch of tiny people and Pokemon screaming at her.
A thought popped into her mind. They were so annoying. They were smaller than bugs, yet they attacked her and tried to destroy her just because she was going for a walk! And their houses felt so funny when they crunched under her feet.
Maybe it wouldn't be the worst thing if she sent an attack against this town, just to put them in their place a little.
She tried to hide a smile at the thought. She knew she shouldn't feel good about destroying an entire village, but there was just something so satisfying to it. Thoughts of houses being blown away skipped through her mind as she imagined what it would be like. Maybe it wouldn't even be that bad, and the other Pokemon would realize they shouldn't attack her.
The Talonflame launched a Fireblast that smacked her square in the forehead. Magearna frowned. If these Pokemon wanted to be so mean and aggressive, then she was going to show them how wrong they were.
She held her hands in front of her chest as she concentrated on her attack. With a hum and a whir of machinery, she let it launch into the world. The sky turned dark, the ground shook, the houses trembled, and then light erupted in a radiant burst. The Aurora beam sent rainbow curtains of light streaming across the sky. They cut across the town and left destruction everywhere they touched, obliterating houses and roads with abandon. Screams echoed through the small space until they were drowned out by the thousands of light rays raining down upon the landscape.
By the time the sky returned to normal and the aura faded, nothing was left. The houses were broken and destroyed to the point where only their foundations were left. She couldn't make out the roads or the cars anymore, and that annoying little Talonflame was lost somewhere in the attack.
Then Magearna felt the souls entering her body. They were so warm and cozy, and with each bit of life absorbed into her soul heart, she grew even larger. When it finished, she was almost as tall as a mountain, and the broken town was barely anything more than a smouldering spot on the ground below her.
She smiled, turned away with a flourish, then continued toward the city.
``Oh no...'' Megearna said as she tried to squeeze through the narrow city streets. Small buildings stood below her, trembling with every one of her footsteps. Taller skyscrapers flanked her on either side, their glass sides reflecting her body as she tried to pass between them without causing any damage.
But it was impossible. Even just a few relative inches to the side caused her hips to smack into one of the towers. Just that tiny little impact was enough to shatter every single one of the windows that made up its face. The steel beams that formed its interior groaned in agony. Some of them shattered with a deafening pop as the tiny Pokemon inside frantically scrambled to the stairwells.
``No, no!'' She tried to steady the building by placing her hands against its face. The small bit of pressure only exacerbated the issue and caused the frame near the top to bend, buckle, and finally collapse. She could do nothing but watch in shock as the structure collapsed, one floor falling into the next, until all that was left was a billowing cloud of debris.
Worse, the collapsing skyscraper caused her to take a step back. Her butt smacked into a second building, and this time the effects were almost instant. The concrete shattered and the frame erupted. Before the dust of the first demolition had even cleared, the second building collapsed in an equally violent display.
Magearna sighed as she waved the dust out of her face. Why did they have to make these things so delicate? She understood when the village homes were poorly put together, but why did a skyscraper have to break when she touched it?
It made her think back to the old house she lived in. It took centuries for it to fall apart, and even then, its bones were still solid and its roof kept away the rain. She shook her head, figuring that they just made things better a few hundred years ago.
The more immediate issue was that she didn't know where to go for help. She was only growing larger the more time she spent walking through the city, and no one was trying to draw her attention or do anything to aid her.
Maybe the largest tower in the city would have something in it that could stop this growth. With her mind made up, she carefully continued toward the city's tallest building.
A black aura trailed across the sky as Yveltal watched the destruction. The city was being annihilated all because some giant Megearna was walking through it. A trail of destruction lay behind her, marred by broken buildings, toppled skyscrapers, spreading fires, and countless Pokemon smushed under her feet.
Her leg accidentally kicked into another structure as Yveltal watched. It shattered and crumbled to dust as though it were made of sand. Yveltal didn't harbor much love for the humans and Pokemon they partnered with, but it couldn't just sit by and watch as she obliterated its domain.
And besides, it was so rare that Yveltal met a Pokemon that could give it a challenge. With a screech and a burst of black and red, it angled itself down and plunged toward the giant. How should it attack? A hyper beam? No, that was too simple. A Dark Pulse, maybe? No, her metallic skin seemed like it would just reflect the attack away.
So it came down to Yveltal's strongest move. With a prideful smirk, the legendary Pokemon took aim and let its power surge into the world. Its wings became enveloped by the purest form of chaos. Black and red fire ate at the air as it plunged downward, aiming at Megearna's face.
It let loose the attack with all the force of a calamity. Nothing could survive a head-on strike from its Oblivion Wing. Nothing.
The air exploded in a burst of black and red flames. The buildings nearby trembled with the force of the attack, while windows shattered and car alarms blared. That must have been enough to at least knock her backward, if not knock her unconscious completely.
Yveltal hovered in the air as the black and red flames steadily cleared. Its smug expression faded as soon as it saw Magearna, standing in the exact same spot. She sighed, then shifted her eyes to the legendary Pokemon.
She wasn't even hurt.
Yveltal should have flown away and regrouped, but it was too stunned by the sheer power of the titan before it. That was Yveltal's strongest attack, its most devastating weapon. How could she just shrug it off as though it were nothing? How was it so pathetic, so small, so weak?
Her hand came down and smacked Yveltal out of the air. The tiny Pokemon was launched downward, then slammed into the ground with all the force of a missile. It wasn't even a real attack, just a casual swat of her hand, yet it was almost enough to completely decimate the once legendary Pokemon.
Yveltal couldn't even pull itself out of the impact crater before she stepped forward. Her metallic foot lifted above its head and cast it in shadow. She didn't bother ending their battle with a real attack, because she didn't need to.
Compared to her, Yveltal was nothing. Just another bug to trample without a thought. Her foot came down, and Yveltal, one of the strongest Pokemon in the world, was decimated under her sole.
``Oh dang it,'' Magearna said as her foot crushed into a complex network of streets and pathways. The ground shattered and the dense network of tunnels under it broke apart. A train horn screeched, then the subway slammed into her foot, coiled on itself, and caught fire. She sighed as people and Pokemon flooded out from the overturned cars.
Why did everything have to be so densely packed here? Why did it break when she stepped anywhere close to it? Why was everything so darn pathetic in this city!?
She was close to the tallest skyscraper, but it wasn't impressive. The pinnacle was about eye level, and its glass facade warped and distorted her appearance. Nothing else in the city could even come close to her height and majesty. It was all just so insubstantial and unimpressive.
She could still hear hundreds of people and Pokemon shouting at her. The ones on street level tried to attack her feet. Planes circled over her head, launched missiles, and attacked her with annoying machine gun barrages. She could swear she even saw a mythical Pokemon trying to blast her with lightning at one point, but it vanished.
The worst part was that she still didn't have a plan to fix this. She had hoped the people of this city would know what to do and could turn her back to normal. Instead, all they did was yell and scream. They didn't know how to fix this. And even if they did, would she even want it anymore?
It sounded scary being little again with everyone mad at her. Would they be angry because she walked through their town and crushed hundreds, if not thousands, below her feet? Would they make her clean up the remains of that village she obliterated with her Aurora Cannon? That didn't seem fair. She was just trying to get help!
None of this was her fault, yet these stupid, annoying, tiny folk still blamed her. If she were big and mean, she would have just hopped and skipped around the landscape and destroyed everything without a care. After all, it was so much fun smashing those houses under her feet and breaking their skyscrapers.
Her thought process halted as her foot came down again, but this time the ground collapsed much more than usual. Her giant form fell a few inches into a great underground plaza. It made her unsteady, and she tried to grab something for support but her hands ripped through the towers and buildings as though they were made of paper.
She lost her balance. ``No!'' Magearna shouted as she tipped over, her body moving toward the largest skyscraper in the city. She lifted her arms in front of her face, but it wasn't necessary. The steel and concrete shattered the moment they came in contact with her body. The ground trembled as she came down. The impact of her body was enough to completely demolish anything below her, including the tallest skyscraper, which she falsely assumed could hold her weight. Hundreds of buildings collapsed as the ground buckled and shook. The shockwave of her fall propagated outward and eradicated even more of the tiny, pathetic city. Windows were blown out, cars were upended, streets fractured, bridges fell, and buildings collapsed for miles in every direction.
By the time Magearna sat up in the horrific crater of destruction her fall had created, almost half of the city was left in ruin.
She sighed. If there were any chance the tiny people and Pokemon would forgive her before, the chance was gone. She felt tens of thousands of souls collecting inside her body, making her grow larger still. By the time it was finished, she looked down on the remaining buildings as though they were just tiny stalks of grass.
Mixed emotions moved through her. Every time a soul found its way into her heart, it filled her with warmth and happiness. She loved holding them within her body, cuddling them, nourishing them, and she knew they loved it as well once they overcame the shock of everything that happened. She still felt bad about destroying so much of the city and freeing their souls to begin with, but there was no avoiding it anymore.
For the past few hours she had been trying not to focus on the joy and wondrous feeling of the souls joining with her, but now as thousands of them merged with her body, she couldn't think about anything else. She loved this feeling and she never wanted it to stop.
And if she loved it, and all the souls inside of her loved it, then maybe she shouldn't stop at all. She nodded as she reached the only logical conclusion. She could do whatever she wanted, and that meant holding as many souls as she possibly could.
Her mind was made up. It was time to embrace the reality of the situation. She was huge, she was immense, and she was a god. Might as well start acting like it and have some fun, while hugging and loving all the souls she gathered along the way.
Magearna stood up, brushed herself off, smiled, then faced what remained of the city. She brought her hands together, focused on her energy, then unleashed another attack. Her Flash Cannon held more power than a nuclear blast, and turned everything in front of her to cinders.
She never expected that a city would taste so spicy. Maybe it was all the electricity running through its crunchy buildings and underground networks. The reason didn't really matter, she just liked the sensation.
Magearna was gigantic. Her scale couldn't be compared against anything, and her feet trampled even the tallest mountains to dust. She could scoop entire cities into her hand and swallow them in a single mouthful. She could drain oceans by simply sitting down in their center.
The world was her plaything and nothing the tiny inhabitants did could stop her. They tried. They threw everything they had at her from bombs, atomic missiles, and destroyers to legendary and mythical Pokemon who attacked her with their strongest moves. Nothing could even make it past the outermost layer of her metal skin.
She smiled as she thought about the people who made her some centuries ago. They knew what they were doing, and gave her such a perfect form. Now she understood the excellence of their work. Once, she thought she was old and worn down, much like the house she called home. Now, she understood that her age was a gift. She was the greatest Pokemon to ever exist.
Her footsteps left deep scars on the world. Continents burned as she skipped across them. When she plopped her butt down on a metropolis it was as though a meteor was coming to wipe out all life. She always found it a bit amusing when she checked her life sensors after and found that almost one hundred percent of the souls merged with her being. That was better for them anyway.
After all, why would you want to be a tiny little ant when your soul could become merged with a god?
Eventually, she came to a huge region of the planet made up of deserts, jungles, and tall mountains. Cities and towns dotted the region, though they were barely perceptible against the natural backdrop. She never knew something like this existed, as it was so much drier and more arid than her part of the world.
It was kind of funny. When she was small, she never realized how huge the globe was. Now, it seemed tiny.
Magearna concentrated her energy and let loose another Aurora Beam. It tore through the desert continent and obliterated every major city and region without even the slightest effort.
Forests lit on fire, deserts turned to glass, fire and smoke rose from the death and destruction caused by the colorful lights raining down upon the region, then millions of souls flowed into the loving embrace of her soul heart.
But it wasn't enough. No, eventually Magearna realized the best thing she could do for these tiny bugs was to eradicate them so their souls could finally join with her being. She did a quick scan on the remaining population of the planet. About four billion people and twenty billion Pokemon remained, meaning she was less than half finished. She still had a lot of work to do if she wanted to collect everyone's souls!
The Earth looked so beautiful as it hovered against the background of blackness. Its waters were so blue, and the land masses so vibrant. Sure, a lot of it was scared by her footprints and the craters formed when she sat down, but that only added to its adorable nature. She even liked the giant puddles of magma where her feet stomped past the mantle.
But her time with the planet was coming to an end. She floated just outside of it, no longer held by its gravity. It was smaller than her now. What was once so impossibly big looked like a tiny ball floating in a pool of nothing, so small and tiny that she could wrap her arms around it and give it a loving hug. But she didn't want to hug it. That'd just get dirt and mud all over her chest.
No, there was only one thing left to do. So far, she had bathed the planet in auroras and blasted half of it away with her Psibeam, but a few lifeforms stubbornly clung on to their lesser existence. She needed to help them, and she knew just the move.
She let joy and love flow through her until it concentrated at the tip of her finger. Then she let the attack surge forward. The Fleur Cannon was unlike anything the world had ever seen. A bright pink beam of pure destruction enraptured the Earth, turning it into a dark silhouette against the radiant brilliance of the attack for just a moment before the very fabric that held the planet together failed. It was ripped to pieces, torn apart, and vaporized. Even the iron core that formed the planet's heart was burned away and melted into nothing.
In a single move, a final attack, the Earth and all its living beings were wiped away. But their souls were not lost! Magearna opened her arms and accepted everything into her soul heart with joy. Now they were all part of her. They were all part of the greatest Pokemon to ever exist.
But... was this it? As the last few souls returned to her, she looked around and searched for something else. What was she to do now that everything was a part of her?
She focused on her life sensors. She pushed as much energy as she could into them and searched through the solar system, then through the regions beyond. Her scanners ventured deeper and deeper, until she felt a ping.
Then she felt another... and another... and another! The galaxy was absolutely packed full of other life! Her smile was radiant with the realization. She would never run out of Pokemon to help. She just needed to reach them.
With a spin and a twirl, Magearna set off toward the closest planet. Soon they would know her love and be a part of her. Then she could search the rest of the galaxy. Then the rest of the galactic clusters, then the universe beyond! How fun!
sokz yet again!
