"White Dragon, look—Kyurem needs your backup."
Dylan smiled meaningfully at the Reshiram beneath him.
"??"
Reshiram blinked in confusion.
But a moment later, it realized exactly what Dylan meant—he wanted it to be fused!
"No, no, no, Dylan, I'm your beloved White Dragon!" Reshiram shook its head like a rattle drum, looking utterly pitiful.
As the most beautiful member of the team, Reshiram prided itself on being elegant and refined. Not like that bat—that big bat had already been corrupted by power, totally lost to darkness.
But it, Reshiram, had standards!
Power? Pfft. A fleeting, external vanity. Reshiram was perfectly content with how things were.
Fighting? That's what the older siblings were for. It was just a little True Dragon—its job was to be fabulous.
"If you fuse with Kyurem, your consciousness won't be suppressed. Your mind will still be intact," Dylan assured it gently.
He could guarantee that. The DNA Splicers' fusion was reversible, after all.
And with Dylan overseeing the process, Kyurem would never devour Reshiram's consciousness completely.
"Besides," Dylan coaxed, "don't you want to know just how powerful you were—before the split?"
Reshiram paused. That… actually did pique its curiosity.
Yes, it knew it, Zekrom, and Kyurem were all fragments of the original Unovan Dragon.
But none of them retained the memory of their pre-split form. Only the reason for the split and their respective domains.
How strong had that unified dragon truly been? No one knew.
"But entering Kyurem's body… it's too weird!" Reshiram protested, still conflicted.
Even if Dylan made good points—and Reshiram trusted him deeply—there was something viscerally unsettling about it.
After all, it was holy and radiant! And Kyurem? Cold, scarred, and creepy!
The idea of being devoured by that thing—it gave Reshiram the ick.
"There's nothing strange about it. Once fused, the body will be yours too. In fact, you could think of it as you fusing Kyurem," Dylan offered helpfully.
"…Hmm."
Reshiram fell into deep thought.
That did sound better, but something still felt off…
"Just try it once. If you hate it, I'll never ask again."
Dylan gently stroked its silky white mane.
He always respected the will of his Pokémon.
But this was worth a shot—just like how Lunala had once resisted being used by Necrozma… only to come around and love it later.
"…If it's your request, Dylan, then fine."
Reshiram relented, claiming it was only doing this because its Trainer had personally asked. Not because it wanted to. Definitely not.
"Good." Dylan smiled, curious to see if they could really recreate the legendary form of the Original Unovan Dragon.
"Who knows?" Reshiram muttered.
After all, Kyurem was just the discarded husk from the original split.
Theoretically, stuffing Reshiram and Zekrom back inside it could restore the original form.
But that was just theory. And the Zekrom Kyurem had already absorbed was from an alternate universe—similar power source, but not exactly the same.
So really, this was just an experiment.
"Eternatus."
Dylan threw a Poké Ball—Eternatus emerged, its crimson skeletal form radiating eerie, immense pressure.
Dylan leapt from Reshiram's back to ride Eternatus, then turned toward where Black Kyurem was still clashing with Delibird.
"Kyurem!"
At Dylan's call, Kyurem understood instantly. Its draconic eyes lit up with excitement as it turned toward Reshiram.
Reshiram, meanwhile, wore the tragic expression of a soldier heading off to war, flapping slowly toward Kyurem.
Farewell, my beauty…
"Hm?"
The masked man frowned beneath his icy mask. What was going on—was Reshiram joining the battle?
But something seemed… off.
Lorelei, standing at the shore, also looked confused.
Until—
"Roar! (Come on, White Dragon!)"
Zzzzip zzzzip zzzzip—!
Dozens of glowing white energy spikes shot out from Kyurem's body—straight at Reshiram.
DNA Splicers!
They pierced the completely passive Reshiram, who let out a soft grunt before its body began to glow brightly.
Then—its glowing form rapidly shrank and was absorbed into Kyurem's core.
Reshiram had been fused!
"ROOAARR!!"
Kyurem's body gleamed with light as it reverted from Black Form to neutral. It reared back, letting out a thunderous roar.
An overwhelming wave of draconic force burst from it, rippling through the air with thunderclap force.
Intense frost, crimson fire, and azure lightning flared violently from its frame.
"It's… snowing?"
Lorelei looked up in awe.
Snowflakes drifted down from blackened clouds—an unnatural weather effect caused by Kyurem's transformation.
The masked man: "…"
And wait—was that Reshiram getting fused just now?!
Lorelei turned her gaze back to Kyurem, now wreathed in terrifying, condensed power.
That was no ordinary fusion. That was Reshiram, the Real Dragon God—absorbed into Kyurem.
"…Can it work?" Dylan narrowed his eyes at the swirling energies.
Red lightning, blue frost, and white-hot fire intertwined, circling Kyurem like a halo.
Was it really becoming the Original Unovan Dragon?
Hard to say.
In the games, Kyurem could only fuse with one dragon at a time—not both.
This was Dylan's first attempt at letting Kyurem fuse with both.
—Meanwhile—
"Dragon Rush!"
Lance's massive Dragonite slammed down, its power magnified by sheer bulk.
The vicious dragon aura drove Nidoqueen into the ground.
Boom!
The ground trembled from the impact. As the dust cleared, it was obvious—Nidoqueen was out cold.
"Told you. You can't beat me!"
Lance stood tall on his Aerodactyl, gazing down at Giovanni and Red.
His dragons had taken hits, yes—but Giovanni and Red's teams were just as battered.
Nidoqueen was down. Lapras had been heavily targeted and defeated.
"You don't understand my ideals—or the resolve I carry!" Lance raised his arms to the heavens.
"Only by erasing all evil from this world can it be reborn. Only then will the skies be clear again!"
"And in doing so, you've become evil yourself, Lance," Giovanni replied coolly, recalling Nidoqueen.
Red said nothing.
"So what? If someone has to bear that burden—I will." Lance's voice was cold as ice.
"Violence for violence won't bring peace. It only feeds the chaos," Red said quietly, his hat brim casting his eyes in shadow.
"Naïve," Lance sneered. "I've seen too many like you."
But just then—three figures rushed in from the distance.
Blue, Leaf, and Selene had arrived.
"Giovanni! Red!" Blue called out first.
"You made it." Giovanni smiled faintly.
"Even Agatha lost?" Lance's brows furrowed.
Their presence here meant the other former Elites had been defeated.
He hadn't expected that.
He'd counted on Lorelei and Bruno being manageable, but Agatha? She was always tricky—even for him.
Yet here the new Elites stood.
"You're the last one, Lance," Leaf said sweetly, looking up at him.
Selene's eyes sparkled with excitement. This was it—the final boss! And it was Lance!
Her gym leader had always told her she'd face Lance one day.
Well—today was that day.
"Hmph!" Lance scoffed, his cold gaze sweeping across the five before him.
"So you're all here—the new Elite Four of Kanto. Then allow me, your senior, to teach you a lesson."
His lips curled into a wide, grim smile. Crimson hair whipped in the wind, sharp teeth gleaming.
"Confident, huh? You're outnumbered now, y'know."
"In the face of absolute power, numbers mean nothing."
Lance sneered.
Dragon power reigned supreme. Five-on-one? Ten-on-one?
He wasn't afraid.
He would win.
—Overhead, deep within the storm clouds, Zekrom stopped paying attention to the fight below.
Its eyes glowed uncertainly.
That… that energy…
Zekrom turned its gaze toward the distant aura—toward Kyurem, Reshiram… and something else.
Familiar, yet foreign.
What was happening?
—Back on the frozen sea—
"ROOOOOAR!!"
A guttural roar echoed across the ocean as a shockwave of pure energy burst outward.
A new dragon emerged.
"…Is this the original Unovan Dragon?" Dylan looked stunned by the majestic figure.
Its body was mostly Kyurem's familiar gray, but its back and arms were now black. Sleek white-red turbines flared behind it, and blue-black spikes jutted forward.
Its presence was immense. Far more intimidating than before.
This was Unovan Kyurem.
"Kyurem. How do you feel?"
Dylan observed silently, speaking through their telepathic bond.
Honestly, he thought it looked like someone just took Kyurem, Reshiram, and Zekrom and mashed them together.
"Powerful. But…" Unovan Kyurem responded in a deep, thoughtful voice.
Yes—the strength was beyond anything it had felt.
Stronger than before by leagues. But something was… off.
It wasn't a true return to its original self.
This was a new hybrid—a fusion of Black Kyurem, White Kyurem, and something in between.
Not a restoration… a mutation.
"That's fine. What about White Dragon?"
Dylan smiled faintly. He was curious how Reshiram was holding up.
"POWER! DYLAN, I FEEL POWER SURGING! AAH~ KIMOCHI~!! (SO GOOD~)"
Reshiram was in ecstasy.
"???"