Virus Evolution: Pokémon, Marvel & Beyond

Having thwarted Arceus's attempted fusion, the mythical Pokémon swiftly split into two coordinated forces, one continued its relentless assault on Arceus, while the other surrounded Giratina.

Arceus, origin of all life and master of every elemental force, effortlessly unleashed a barrage of multi-type moves, countering each incoming strike with divine precision.

Though the attacks could not pierce its radiant form, the sheer number of powerful opponents kept Arceus momentarily contained.

Giratina, however, was not so fortunate. Besieged by the likes of Yveltal and other Pokémon with type advantages, it steadily lost ground, retreating thousands of meters across the battlefield.

Just as Giratina's immense draconic body began to vanish, preparing to slip into stealth using Shadow Force, a cloaked aircraft, likewise hidden from sight, suddenly revealed itself. From its hull, it fired a series of red energy rings that encircled Giratina mid-phase.

These rings pulsed with a suppressive force, stripping Giratina of its invisibility and stunning it briefly.

Inside the craft, a complex energy containment unit began to spin. From its core, a dark red droplet, shimmering like liquid mercury, slowly floated into view.

Giratina roared in fury, purple-black energy condensing in its maw. But before it could strike, a yawning black hole engulfed it, dissolving the attack in an instant.

A surge of black mist erupted from Yveltal's body, coalescing into a howling dark gale that tore into Giratina.

Lucius was no longer bound to physical form. Now a conceptual entity, he could manifest anywhere his virus swarm existed. Every fragment of him shared in the vast power generated by billions of infected hosts.

Above, the skies exploded in a divine burst of light, a blinding, sacred radiance descended with crushing force.

It was Judgment, Arceus's signature move.

Each streak of holy light contained a different elemental force, each one super-effective against nearly any foe.

Even the mythic Pokémon dared not face such power head-on. They scattered and summoned shields of aura and light.

Seizing the opportunity, Arceus used Extreme Speed. Its vast form blurred across the sky with impossible velocity.

There was no way to block it.

In that instant, the black mist twisted again, warping space. Giratina, still bound in red rings, along with the hidden aircraft, were blinked thousands of meters away.

But as soon as they emerged from subspace, time reversed.

They were pulled back, rewound like a film reel, reappearing in the exact same spot they'd just left. Nothing had changed, except now Arceus loomed directly before them.

Like a golden mountain wreathed in divine light, Arceus slammed into them. The aircraft shattered, the red rings binding Giratina dissolved like glass under celestial force.

In the instant before impact, Lucius's black mist shot into the ruptured craft.

Inside, Dr. Newton and his assistant Gero were obliterated. But Lucius devoured the one thing of value: the dark red droplet of energy, extracted from Giratina itself.

It was the power of reversal.

Absorbing it granted Lucius a fragment of Giratina's unique force, and through the essence of corruption, he formed a connection with the Renegade Pokémon.

The rings restraining Giratina shattered. It tried to vanish into shadow, but the surrounding space had frozen solid. Not only was it unable to phase into the Reverse World, it couldn't even move.

Arceus's golden cross-wheel spun at its waist. From it, four golden chains erupted and lashed around the immobilized Giratina.

Meanwhile, the other mythical Pokémon rushed in to assist, only to be violently repelled by the warped space around Arceus.

A kilometer-wide sphere had been sealed.

This was domain authority, a divine enforcement of spatial law. Within it, only Arceus and Giratina were permitted to exist.

Such is the power of rules.

But rules can be broken.

Twin wings of the Dawn Wings Necrozma flared with silver and cerulean light, unleashing dozens of rainbow-hued lightning bolts. They twisted into a vast portal several kilometers wide.

Within that passage, Lucius's black mist coalesced, birthing a massive black hole.

Its gravitational pull was staggering, warping even the edges of the Ultra Wormhole itself.

Arceus, and the chained Giratina pulled beside it, began drifting toward the dimensional rift.

You won't let us in? Then we'll pull you out.

It was the exact moment Arceus had begun to absorb Giratina's essence. To resist the gravity now risked disruption once more.

So, it didn't fight it.

Drawn inexorably, Arceus and Giratina were dragged into the colossal Ultra Wormhole.

As the portal closed behind them in a flash of multicolored lightning, the remaining mythic Pokémon were left behind in the Reverse World, alone.

...

Inside the World Base, Arceus and Giratina appeared on a desolate plane of shadow. The sky was pitch black, the ground barren. Even compared to the eerie calm of the Reverse World, this place was… dead.

And in that darkness, Arceus alone radiated golden light, enough to illuminate half the sky.

It took only a glance for Arceus to understand: this was a dying world, nearly drained of all energy.

But Arceus didn't care.

All that mattered now was completing its fusion with Giratina.

Golden chains continued to siphon vast amounts of energy. Giratina's massive body had already begun to fade, turning translucent. Waves of weakness pulsed through it, too feeble now even to struggle.

Suddenly, the earth trembled.

Fleshy tendrils, crimson and veined, burst from below, wrapping around Arceus's legs.

With a surge of divine fire, Arceus rose into the air. Golden flames ignited around its hooves, incinerating the tendrils instantly.

But it had felt it, those vines carried the same essence as the virus.

"Why… did you bother creating us, only to cast us aside?"

Giratina's voice was faint, its final words directed toward the god that had birthed it… and now consumed it.

"Perhaps," Arceus replied, tone devoid of emotion,

"I should never have separated you in the first place."

The creation trio, Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina, had been its firstborns, each granted immense power. Creating them had brought Arceus joy… but also laid the seeds of its own weakness.

"You seek my power? Then take it. Once we're one… it's yours."

Arceus looked down, meeting the eyes of its counterpart one final time.

And in the next instant, the Renegade Pokémon, the lord of the Reverse World, dissolved into a cascade of starlit particles.

As Giratina vanished, Arceus's body shimmered with a spectrum of lights, some radiant, some heavy, some jubilant, some still as death.

The conflicting forces began to swirl and blend, until, at last, they reached perfect equilibrium… and dimmed.

[Congratulations. You've reclaimed the final authority… and completed yourself.]

A voice echoed softly within Arceus's mind.

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