//------------------------------//
// 23. Catalyst 
// Story: A New World, A New Family 
// by Lance Skyes 
//------------------------------//



Author's Note
I'd like to thank Zeus himself for proofreading this chapter.



Back at Ponyville, Lyra was sitting next to Pinky, looking down at her and thinking. Felix, Kanga, and Roo had left to see if they could find any ripe Rawst or Oran Berries, either in the Everfree or just in the possession of Pokemon around town, so it was just Lyra, Bon Bon, and Pinky in the house.
In the midst of Lyra's thinking, Bon Bon walked into the room. “You okay, Lyra?” she asked.
“I'm fine,” Lyra replied, looking over towards her marefriend and nodding. “I was just thinking…”
Bon Bon walked over and leaned on the arm of the sofa Pinky and Lyra were occupying. “Thinking about what?”
Lyra sighed. “Why is all this happening to us?” she asked. “It feels like these Pokemon have some huge story going on amongst them, and we're just the backdrop. So what about our presence is making their story move forward? It feels like what's going on with them could have happened without us.” Lyra shook her head. “It's a weird thought, I know, but…”
Bon Bon shrugged. “Maybe we're the centerpiece of the story?” she suggested. “Like… we're the ones who brought them all together in the exact right way to make all of this happen. You know… like a catalyst.”
“Like a what?” Lyra asked.
Bon Bon shook her head. “I dabbled in potion brewing for a little while when I was young,” she said. “A catalyst is something that makes the reaction occur. They had the formula mixed together, but they needed us to set everything in motion. At least… that's what I'm thinking. I could be wrong.”
Lyra looked down at the unconscious Pinky again. “There are some things to be happy about with what all's going on,” she started, “but I'm starting to feel like things are getting worse. To the point where I'm not sure if we should have taken Roo in that day…”

Somewhere very deep within the Everfree Forest, Marcus and Blitz at last stood in front of the entrance to Spear Pillar. “It's been quite a journey to get here…” Marcus commented as he stared up at the structure.
“What are you talking about?” Blitz asked, looking over at Marcus. “We got teleported here by some mysterious force.”
“Oh yeah!” Marcus said, shaking his head. “I'm only going to assume that was Arceus' doing.”
“I wonder why he did that for us, though…” Blitz said, rubbing her chin with her hoof and looking down.
“You go ahead and wonder that,” Marcus said. “I'll stick to wondering why there aren't more people around. Ponies, Pokemon, anything.”
“Well, like Arceus said and you repeated, we are going in to face the sheer power of a god,” Blitz replied.
“I know,” Marcus replied with a nod. “I just… assumed there would be more idiots in this world.”
“You mean like us?” Blitz asked, looking at Marcus quizzically.
“You know what?” Marcus replied. “I mean exactly like us.”
Blitz chuckled a little at this. “We could stand here and argue about this all day,” she said, “but don't you think we should go inside and find Arceus so we can actually talk to him?”
Marcus nodded. “Provided we can actually find our way through this place…” he said as he walked into the building and looked inside. “Yeah… this is gonna be fun.” However, the two Rapidash didn't get very far before a pink blur zipped by the two, quickly doubling back to in front of the two. Both Marcus and Blitz instantly recognized the figure as Mew.
“Hi there!” Mew said with a smile and a wave. “I'm Mew.”
“Uh… hi,” Marcus said. “Nice to meet you. We were looking for-”
“Arceus?” Mew interrupted. “Yeah, my dad sent me down here to find you two and see if I couldn't solve your little… ahem, 'problem' quickly.” Mew looked over at Blitz. “I'm really sorry about what's happened.”
Blitz looked down. “Thanks, I guess,” she said.
“Oh don't look so down,” Mew replied, not losing her cheery attitude. “That's exactly why I'm here. This sorta thing is my forte!” Mew then flew over to Blitz and began examining her midsection while rubbing her chin. “Hmm…”
“Do you have to get so close…?” Blitz asked.
“I could get a lot closer,” Mew replied, “but there's probably children in the audience.”
“What does that mean?” Marcus asked, a little confused.
“Nothing,” Mew replied. “Just trust me, I know what I'm doing.” Mew then spent a little more time studying Blitz before backing away and moving in front of both of them.
“Well?” Blitz asked.
“It's no small fix,” Mew replied with a shake of her head. “Something real big happened to you to get you in this shape. I can do it, but I'm really curious as to what exactly you've done.” Catching a glare from Blitz, Mew quickly added, “I can assure you, 'what you've done' doesn't apply to Marcus here. Beyond doubt, doing stuff with a human doesn't cause infertility or… whatever this could be.”
“So Pinky was wrong after all,” Marcus said with a nod.
“Pfft,” Mew scoffed. “You really took her reasoning for a grain of salt? Not trying to stereotype her, but between her and I, which of us do you think has about 19 Professional degrees in different areas of the medical field from eight different countries?”
Marcus and Blitz exchanged glances and shrugged. “She's got a point,” Blitz said before turning back to Mew. “So… what do you need us to do?”
“What do you mean?” Mew asked, tilting her head slightly.
“Well… is this gonna cost us anything?” Blitz continued. “Do we need to… retrieve a Fire Stone from a volcano, guarded by a giant shiny Magmortar who commands a dozen Infernape minions?”
Mew chuckled. “You realize you just described Heatran's weekend last week, right?” she asked. “In all seriousness, no. You really don't have to anything in return. Helping Pokemon in need is my job, and I love it!” Mew said the last part of that sentence with a back flip in midair. “I just need an excuse to keep you relatively still for several minutes, that's all.”
“Well… I could do that,” Blitz said with smile. “Is it gonna hurt?”
“It shouldn't,” Mew replied with a shake of her head before rubbing her hands together. “Okay, now let's see if we can't-” Mew suddenly stopped mid-sentence and looked up slightly. “Oh, looks like the whole 'waiting' problem just got solved. Dad wants to see you two.”
“You mean Arceus himself?” Marcus asked. “He wants to see us?”
Mew shrugged. “Well, I don't see any other reason he'd contact me telepathically and say…” Before continuing, Mew started speaking in the deepest and most official voice she could manage. “'Sweetie, could you please let Marcus and Blitz know that I'd like them to come to my throne room? Something's come to my attention, and they might be interested in hearing it.'” With an exhale, Mew continued talking in her normal voice. “Well, he doesn't sound exactly like that, but you get what I mean.”
“Okay…” Blitz said. “So… are you gonna take us there?”
“Actually, he's likely to teleport us to him any moment now,” Mew replied. There was some momentary silence before all three were suddenly consumed by a flash of white light for a moment. When the light dissipated, the group found themselves standing before Arceus himself in his throne room.
“So this is Marcus and Blitz…” Arceus said as he looked down upon the two.
Both Rapidash were just staring up in aw at Arceus. They were actually meeting God himself. They probably wouldn't have been snapped out of their awe if it weren't for Mew whispering to the two, “This is the part where you bow.”
“Oh!” Marcus said in a surprised tone before he and Blitz bowed as best they could. (Even Blitz had trouble with this. After all, bowing isn't something a quadruped just… does.)
“You may rise,” Arceus said, and the two Rapidash did so. “Marcus Lyre, while I know the names of every single one of my subjects, you're easily in my top four-thousand in the 'Favorite Humans' category.”
“Um… I'm honored?” Marcus replied.
“And Blitz…” Arceus continued, “as much as I'd like to congratulate you, I understand that circumstances have yielded otherwise, and you have my condolences.”
Blitz looked down. “Thank you,” she said. Suddenly, though, she perked up. “Wait, I'm not in any of your 'Favorite Pokemon' categories?”
“Well, I suppose you are somewhere in the top three-thousand Naughty-natured Rapidash…” Arceus replied. “You have to understand, I have a lot of subjects.” Blitz sighed, but didn't say anything. “But enough about playing favorites. I know exactly what you two are here for.” Arceus looked over towards Mew. “You may go ahead and start. What I have to say may take a while.”
“Okay!” Mew cheered before floating over to Blitz's side. “Now, this might tickle a bit, but I'll have everything sorted out in no time.” Mew then began concentrating her psychic energy on Blitz.
“Thank you, Mew,” Blitz said with a smile. Mew returned the smile, but didn't say anything.
“And while she's doing that,” Arceus continued, “I've recently come across some information that you two may want to know. Regarding your friend Aria, I mean.”
Marcus was quick to perk up in curiosity. “About Aria, you say?” he asked. “What do you mean?”
“Where Aria comes from, Mt. Coronet, there's a small, very obscure prophecy passed down by the eldest Pokemon of that mountain,” Arceus continued. “It is titled, 'The Battle of the Five Ghosts.' An anonymous source recently came to me claiming that this prophecy is about to come true.”
Blitz was paying attention, but when Arceus said “anonymous source,” her attention was suddenly directed to the flaming pedestals on either side of Arceus' throne. Not quite that they were there, but rather their coloring. A purplish-blue. “Um…” Blitz started, “if you don't mind me asking-”
“It's the color of the day,” Arceus replied. “You're not the first one today to ask about the flaming pedestals.”
“Alright…” Blitz replied with an unsure nod. “Please, continue.”
Arceus nodded. “The legend is as follows…” he said before clearing his throat. “Upon the mountain where all has begun, three shall be born. Two of the same blood, who shine as beacons, one of whom with the lust for death, the other tortured by the first. These two shall bear a third, who will eternally suffer both the frost and the flame. He will seek these two for years to come, as will whom he leaves behind.
“Two score and ten moons later, the fourth shall leave the world,” Arceus continued. “He'll die protecting those he loves, but he will not become as the first three had. He'll be bound to this world, but as no corporeal form. Only can he observe, and await a fateful crossroads.
“One and fourteen then shall pass before the Thousand Arms – not my favorite reference to me in prophecies, I should add – plays the world's final card. The planet will be abandoned, those remaining left for dead, but the four spirits will come along. In the land of the Ponyta who can take to the skies, the fifth and final will be born. The fateful crossroads, which makes the fourth spirit known, will have the ultimate consequence on a poor soul, who will give his life for his only kin. His return will be by ungodly hands, but it was meant to be nonetheless. He and the third shall join another group, one bent on defeating an unknown foe before all is lost. The first, second, and fourth will then lie in wait. When the day comes, these five will do battle upon the battlefield created by the cyan Rapidash. Should the first or second remain, the new world shall be damned by eternal winter. If the third shall remain, the world reduced to ash. The fourth and fifth have nowhere to go, they cannot even be spared their own damnation, but they will allow this world to live.”
There was a long pause after Arceus finished the story. “The first and second…” Marcus started, “those are Aria and Lassie, aren't they?”
Arceus nodded. “They are of the same blood,” he said. “You didn't know?”
Marcus shook his head. “I get the feeling Aria didn't even know…”
“But wait...” Blitz said, “Aria said she already killed Lassie. Shouldn’t that ruin the prophecy or something?”
Arceus chuckled. “Prophecies tend to be quite resilient,” he replied. “Even if one party dies, the prophecy still tends to find a way to come true. That’s just a rule of thumb I’ve found in my time.”
“And Equus is the ‘land of the Ponyta who can take to the skies,’ isn’t it?” Marcus asked. “That means the cyan Rapidash is that Lyra pony who helped Meganium get out of Felix’s head. So we already know that he’s one of the five.” Marcus looked up. “Do you know who the other two are?”
“Even if I did know, it wouldn’t be your place to know at this time,” Arceus replied. “Sorry. Just one of those rules in the God-mortal relationship. Nothing personal.”
Marcus and Blitz looked at each other. “Should we tell the others?” Blitz asked. “More importantly, should we tell Aria?”
Marcus looked up at Arceus before turning back to Blitz. “I get the feeling Arceus wouldn’t have told us this if he didn’t want us to relay the message.” After a brief pause, Marcus looked back at Arceus quizzically. “Right?”
“Tell me you aren’t that dependent on my input,” Arceus said in what Marcus assumed to be a bemused tone.
“Well I mean, if you’re still in the room...” Marcus said. With a shake of his head, he turned back to Blitz. “We should at least ask Aria if she knew anything about this before telling everyone else. Maybe leave out the fact that she and Lassie are sisters, though. If she already knew, she’s more likely to bring it up herself.”
“Or not,” Blitz replied. “You know how she hates to talk about her past.”
“Good point,” Marcus said with a rub of his chin. “It couldn’t hurt to leave Lassie out of the conversation completely if that’s the case, I guess.”
“So have you two decided upon your course of action?” Arceus asked.
Marcus nodded. “We ask Aria first, and if she knows of any immediate danger, we tell everyone else. After Aria, I guess we’ll try to get Felix to keep it a secret until we know more.”
“We’ll need some luck with that,” Blitz mumbled. “But that’s a good idea.” She then turned to Mew. “Are you finished yet?”
Mew looked like she was staring off into space, but snapped back to attention when she heard her name. “Oh, that,” she said. “I actually fixed you up in the first few seconds you were in here.” Mew giggled. “Sorry, I just can’t resist a little bit of dramatic effect from time to time. Though I was serious about what went wrong being something I don’t see very often. I’ll look into it when I get the chance, but for right now...” Mew nudged Blitz’s shoulder. “I get the feeling what you two would rather wait on telling your friends all about what Arceus said for just a little while... if you catch my drift.”
Blitz didn’t need even a moment’s hesitation. She knew exactly what Mew was talking about and instantly looked over to Marcus with an excited grin. “You heard her, right Marcus?” she asked.
Marcus returned the grin. “I did indeed,” he said.
“If you two could please restrain yourselves until I can teleport you back to your den,” Arceus quickly said. “That would be nice.”
“Oh, and one more thing,” Mew said to Blitz. “I took the liberty of fixing your flames as well. You’re back to burning like a regular Rapidash.”
Upon hearing this, Blitz instantly ran up and hugged Mew. “I can’t thank you enough,” Blitz said, a tear rolling down her eye. “You’ve done so much for Marcus and I.”
“Again, it’s not a problem” Mew replied, happily returning the hug. Once Blitz released her, Mew added, “Alright you two, in your family, counting both yours and Felix’s teams, there’s seventeen Pokemon. That’s the number to beat.”
Marcus chuckled. “Challenge accepted,” he replied.
“It was nice meeting you two,” Arceus said. “May your lives be merry and all that other positive junk I’m supposed to send mortals off with.” Then, in two flashes of light, Arceus teleported Marcus and Blitz back to their den. After a slight pause, he turned to Mew. “Sweetie, could you please leave for a moment? I have a private conversation to attend before I can see the next group.”
“Okay,” Mew replied with a nod before flying out the giant doors on the other side of the throne room.
After a slight pause to make sure the coast was clear, Arceus looked down at the flaming pedestals before his throne. “Those two are the ones you were talking about?” Arceus asked, though it was more of a statement.
“Without a doubt,” a voice replied. Suddenly, the purplish-blue flames flared and threw themselves onto the ground before Arceus. When the flames died, a Chandelure and a Shedinja were revealed.
“I’ll still see to it you’ll be punished for your actions, Lord,” Arceus said with glare.
“And I’ll be in the next life before you get that chance,” Lord replied with a bow. He was silent for a moment while looking over at Breeze and nodding. “Breeze says he can map out everyone he knows is involved.”
“I know,” Arceus said. “I can hear him.”
“Oh...” Lord said. “Well, now you know why I’ve done what I’ve done, and why I had to drag poor Breeze along with me, so we’ll take our leave now.”
“One moment longer, Lord,” Arceus said. “Do you know who you must seek out as per the prophecy?”
Lord shook his head. “How hard could they be to find, though?” he asked.
“They are far away from Ponyville at present,” Arceus replied. “And their team is still fragmented. Have fun finding them yourself.”
Lord was about to speak up, but he stopped for a moment. “Don’t ‘neener neener’ me, Breeze,” Lord said angrily to the Shedinja. “You still have to come with me, don’t forget.” As Arceus chuckled, Lord turned back to the God. "And remind me again, what's stopping me from making my way to Aria right away?”
“She is stronger than she may seem,” Arceus replied. “If just the two of you go after her now, she will easily overpower you. Plus, her friends will not recognize either of you, and try to defend her.” Arceus looked over at Breeze. “That could include your brother.”
Breeze looked up for a moment, then looked down, appearing sad. Lord sighed. “Fine, we'll do it your way,” the Chandelure grumbled. “Where are we headed first?”
“The Appalosian Mountains,” Arceus replied. “You are to seek out an Empoleon named Princess and an Escavalier named Lancer. But be weary. Along the way, you will encounter a trickster named Monochrome. He will attempt to lead you astray for the sole purpose of his own amusement. Personally, the thought of you two getting the runaround from a Pokemon such as him gives me joy, but I understand you've got a lot at stake.”
Lord huffed. “So can we leave now?” he asked.
“Not quite yet,” Arceus replied. His eyes flashed for a moment, and in an instant, two cakes appeared. One of them, with red and black frosting, was placed in Lord's arm. The other, blue and pink in color, appeared on top of Breeze's head. “Those are apology cakes. If you came to repent for cheating death as you have, you'll give those to Xerneas and Yveltal on your way out of Spear Pillar.”
Lord sniffed at his cake, and instantly recoiled. “Ugh, it smells like death,” he complained.
“That one's Yveltal's,” Arceus stated. “Now then, just ask Mew to show you where the two are, deliver the cakes, and you can be on your way.”
“Fine,” Lord grumbled. He then turned to Breeze and glared. “How can you brag yours smells nice? You don't even have a sense of smell.”
“Enough,” Arceus finally said. “I suggest you two get moving.”
“Very well,” Lord said with a nod. “Until next time.” Then, with a bow, Lord turned and left, Breeze following close behind.
Once the two were out of the room, Arceus sighed. “Just one week ago, mortals were doing just fine without me,” he grumbled. “Now, all of a sudden, they've got all these problems they can't solve without me telling them what to do.”
“To be fair, you did move them all to a new and strange planet!” Mew called from outside the room.
Arceus sighed once more. “That I did…”