Chapter 70: Heart of the Hollow

Silence greeted them as they stepped into the deepest chamber beneath Lavender Tower.

But it wasn't peace.

It was the eye of something ancient.

At the center of the dome-shaped chamber floated a pulsating core—a mass of dark organic matter fused with alien metal. It glowed red and black, its edges breathing as if alive.

Glyphs shimmered across its surface—symbols that shifted and slithered, changing shape when stared at too long.

The heart of the Hive.

Skylar's breath caught in his throat.

Misty whispered, "It's watching us…"

They stepped closer.

And the world broke.

Skylar's Illusion

Skylar blinked.

He was in Twinleaf Town.

Sunlight filtered through golden trees. His childhood home stood just ahead. His mother waved from the porch, smiling.

"You're late for school, sweetheart!" she called.

Skylar looked down—he wore a backpack. His aura was gone. His gloves were clean. No Poké Balls. No scars. No fire. No death.

Just… normalcy.

Comfort.

He walked forward slowly.

She embraced him. "You never had to worry. Not about powers. Not about destinies. You're just you."

His legs weakened.

For a moment, he wanted it.

Then—

From the window of his old room, he saw something.

Darkrai.

Behind glass. Trapped. Mouth open in a silent scream.

And then Skylar remembered.

Everything.

His death.

His reincarnation.

The war.

The corrupted future.

And the promise.

—"You were supposed to protect him."

He clenched his fist.

And the illusion shattered.

Misty's Illusion

Cerulean Gym was underwater.

She stood barefoot on the empty battlefield.

Above her, her sisters watched from the bleachers, faces pale.

"You abandoned the Gym," Daisy said flatly.

"You followed a boy and forgot who you are," added Lily.

Their voices merged into their father's.

"You don't belong in the League. You belong in the pool."

Misty looked down.

Starmie floated, lifeless, beside her feet.

Magikarp's tank was empty.

Everything felt soaked in failure.

And then she heard him.

Skylar.

Calling her name.

"Misty."

She turned.

He was walking away. Disappearing.

Abandoning her.

"No!" she cried.

And in that refusal, she remembered.

She remembered standing in Mt. Moon beside him. She remembered the Magikarp egg hatching in her arms. She remembered the fire in her fists when they fought together.

"I choose who I am."

The illusion shattered.

They awoke together, gasping.

Skylar on one knee, aura flaring.

Misty with tears drying on her cheeks, Starmie pulsing at her side.

Gardevoir stood, protecting them both. Her eyes glowed fiercely.

Darkrai hovered above, cloak spread wide, shielding them from the residual psychic waves.

"It tried to erase your will," he whispered. "Your story. Your bond."

Skylar stood slowly.

"No more."

He pointed forward.

"Gardevoir—Moonblast!"

The beam of silver light slammed into the Hive's shell.

Misty followed: "Starmie—Psychic, full force!"

The core shuddered.

Cracks spread along its outer surface.

The glyphs glitched.

And stopped shifting.

Skylar reached for Darkrai's Poké Ball.

—"Join us."

The shadow Pokémon nodded, unleashed a Dark Void, and flooded the chamber with pressure.

The Hive screamed—not in sound, but in memory.

And then—

Silence.

Its form dimmed.

It began to flicker, like a light dying.

Misty stepped forward. "Is it over?"

Skylar's aura pulsed again, uneasy.

He looked into the core.

Something… stirred.

Not pain.

Laughter.

Not sound, but vibration.

A long, slow pulse.

As if it had been waiting.

And then—

The Hive's core burst open.

From the walls, from the ceiling, from the cracks in the floor—they emerged.

Not illusions.

Creatures.

Dozens.

Hundreds.

Corrupted Pokémon, eyes glowing red. Teeth jagged. Bodies altered, pulsing with alien glyphs carved into their flesh.

And in the center of them—

It came forward.

The true form of the Hive.

Twisted.

Multi-limbed.

Towering.

Its body rippled like water held together by hate. Its face—if it could be called one—was a circle of light that never blinked.

It stepped forward once—

And the chamber shook.

Skylar froze.

Misty backed up, eyes wide. "That's not a guardian."

"No," Skylar said softly.

"That's the source."

The creature raised one limb, and the corrupted Pokémon growled in unison.

The battle had just begun.