Young Writers Society

Day A4: 13:15

"Enel Impact."
The electrified corpse of the Servine fell on the ground. She was only unconscious.
Not for long.
Twinkiel used Charge Beam! Twinkiel's special attack raised by 1!
Two more Charge Beams and one Power Gem later, The Flaaffy found himself walking towards the corridor Mewtwo had defended him to pass through, leaving the roasting corpse of Spadassya behind him.
"One down. A few more to go and we'll finally reach the truth."
"Keep goin', mate. You got da powah."
"Twinkiel?" Mewtwo's calm voice inquired as he approached the Flaaffy. "Is there something wrong? I did tell both you and Spadassya that-"
Twinkiel pulled his idol into a hug, surprising him.
"We're all puppets," he said softly. I'm SO surprised that you of all people didn't realize that."
"Go back to a less focused version of Electric Terrain."
Twinkiel used Thunderwave! Mewtwo was paralyzed!
"Wha- What are you...?"
"Twinkiel used Electric Terrain!"
The familiar burst of energy powered up Twinkiel's might even more. He felt more than ready for his little experiment.
"I think I need to... Prove my point. EnelSpear!"
Twinkiel used Charge Beam!
The Flaaffy's arm was directed towards the paralyzed Psychic's chest. A concentrated, blade-shaped electric beam extended all the way to Mewtwo's thin chest, passing through it like it was butter.
"Oh yeah. Spirit Sword style, motherscratchers," Twinkiel happily concluded as the Legendary's corpse fell on the ground.
"...Motherscratchers?"
"Yeah. Y'know, it's more... Polite, I guess."
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Zekrom's voice thundered as he entered the corridor as well.
"Testin' somethin', big guy. Hold on, this is the best part."
Twinkiel's put his head on Mewtwo's head. Using the Electric Terrain's power, the Flaaffy focused all his power on the corpse, reactivating its brain, nerve connections and muscles. To Zekrom's utter shock, Mewtwo rose up, living corpse now serving as Twinkiel's personal puppet.
"I think I'll call this one... EnelDynamo! Yeah, that's about right. Hey, Mewtwo? Use Psystrike. Slay the bad dragon!"
Mewtwo used Psystrike! It's a critical hit!
Several Psychic spheres appeared all around Zekrom, traversing his body from head to toe. Unable to speak, unable to move, the legendary dragon fell on the ground.
"Aaaaaaaaand one more!" Twinkiel exclaimed. Oh wait, lemme recharge you, Mewtwo. EnelDynamo! C'mon, use Teleport. Let's shove some truth into some more heads 'round this place, 'kay?"



"Now Mewtwo, block his shell!"
Aegeas' attack was stopped in mid-air, and he gazed in despair as the shell sword he had been training with for so many years taken away from him.
"Now cut his throat with said shell!"
Mewtwo obliged, and Aegeas' corpse joined the others on the ground. Diance, Zulu, Moltres, Lugia, Ariala, Cresselia, the Seviper chief, and all the others. The task was going smoothly so far.
"Hold on, we're missing Brasegali. Mewtwo? Search for our favorite Blaziken, teleport towards him and Psystrike the idiot when you get the chance!"
Mewtwo nodded mechanically and teleported outside, bringing his master along. The Blaziken was training in the forest, seemingly enjoying his time.
Until a bunch of Psychic spheres obliterated his body, of course.
Twinkiel smiled to himself. All the bright puppets of the resistance had been freed. But there was one more group the Flaaffy wanted to purge.
"Looks like we're done here, Mewtwo! C'mon, I know where Mt.Icewind is, so we might want to go there next. Teleport, if you please!"

******

"See? That wasn't so hard! Thanks a ton for giving us the direction we needed. Now, Mewtwo? Standby, I'm finishin' this one."
Twinkiel used Power Gem!
Kyurem's dying body was assaulted once again. The ice creature barely even budged.
"...Yeah, it's actually funnier when you do it. C'mon, Mewtwo, let's go to Mt.Providence. Now we can teleport directly to the commander's room. But first, lemme recharge ya."
"Y'know, I can always bring you there."
Twinkiel looke at his side while recharging his zombified Mewtwo. Hoopa was casually floating next to him, his usual grin enlightening his mischievous face.
"Oh hey there, Pumking! Sure, I could do that. But y'know, you might actually be parts of the targets I had to take care of. Watch out for that."
"I'm actually here to help you. I heard that Arceus was the one holding my Bottle, and I know a good shortcut to reach him. Interested?"
"Sure! Slaying a god WAS part of my schedule anyway. To Mt.Providence!"

******

A huge explosion was heard in the Mt.Provindence's commander room. The door was blasted away, and so was Terrakion, parts of his severed body flying along with him. The controlled corpse of Mewtwo emerged, soon followed by Twinkiel and Hoopa, both singing like madmen.
"BOOM, BITCH! GET OUT THE WAY! GET OUT THE WAY, BITCH, GET OUT THE WAY!"
A small battalion of NO soldiers and apprentices appeared in front of them, led by Virizion and Cobalion.
"Oh look!" shouted Twinkiel, pointing at Cobalion's serious face. "It's a blue Harpuia! Hey, Harpuia! What's your Armed Phenomenon?!"
The latter locked his furious gaze into the Flaaffy's.
"I don't know who you are, nor why you decided to wreck havoc here... But know that you'll never, EVER leave this place alive, and no mercy shall be shown to both you and the TRAITOR next to you!"
Hoopa put a hand to his heart, adopting a dramatic tone.
"Oh. My. God. I am SOOOOOOO affected by this. I... I am a traitor to my beloved cause!"
A loud laugher shook the little djinn's body.
"Seriously Coballion, we both know I don't freakin' care about anyone else but me and my treasures. Those are the things I'd actually fight for."
"Really? Then what about this Flaaffy, then? He's not you, nor a treasure! Why would you side with a mere, insignificant Pokémon."
"Because, Harpuia, I'm a Friend," Twinkiel answered. "And here's a scoop for ya..." The Flaaffy share a knowing smirk with his partner and they exclaimed in a unified voice:
"I fight for my friends! So prepare yourself, 'cause you'll get no sympathy from me!"
The two Pokemon high-fived, their relaxed demeanor startling their opponents.
"References for the win, mate!"
"And this is why I love memes!"
"Mewtwo?" concluded Twinkiel. "Psystrike, if you please. Hit everyone. As for you Pumpking, well..."
"No mercy?"
"No mercy."

******

Twinkiel used Charge Beam!
"Stop moving, I'm trying to shoot you!"
Frost easily deflected the blast with a Psychic shield.
"Your power is no match for mine anymore!" answered the corrupted Victini. "I am a demon of the New Order! Nothing can surpass me! Nothing can-"
Hoopa used Hyperspace Hole!
"Hellooooooo~"
Frost only had the time to turn back before a violent hit struck his back. The Victini was pushed forward, where Twinkiel was standing, readying his next move.
"EnelSpear!"
Twinkiel used Charge Beam!
The electric move went through Frost's chest, mortally wounding him.
"N-no... I... Shall... Not... Give up..."
"Oh Meeeeeeeeewtwooooooooo!" Twinkiel and Hoopa joyfully exclaimed.
Mewtwo used Psystrike!
The devilish duo did not even bother gazing back as the Victini's body parts joined his deceased allies on the bloody floor.
"So!" Twinkiel continued, unaffected by the situation around him. "Can you warp us to Arceus now?"
"Sure thing! Do recharge Mewtwo first, though, we're gonna need a distraction while I find the Bottle."
"'Kay!"
Once the group's preparations ready, they followed the djinn inside one of his warping hoops and directly reached Arceus' lair.
The Almighty Pokemon appeared to be meditating in mid-air, right above what seemed to be a Greek-like, castle-sized golden temple.
"I had been expecting you," he began calmly, slowly floating towards them. "I know what you have done to my army, and know that you will pay for everything you have done. You are trespassing the sacred-"
"BORED NOW! LET'S FIGHT! Mewtwo, use Teleport!"
Slightly surprised by Twinkiel's loud intervention, the God simply turned around, where he knew the Legendary Psychic would reappear. But another surprise awaited him instead.
Hoopa used Hyperspace Hole!
"Peek-a-boo!"
Mewtwo used Teleport! Mewtwo used Psystrike!
Twinkiel and Mewtwo had simply moved above the God, and the Psychic Pokemon was now pummeling the God's head with his signature, powerful energy spheres. The God raised a paw, trying his best to ignore the painful damage he was receiving.
Arceus used Judgment!
"Mewtwo, tank it!"
Twinkiel jumped off his puppet just before the attack connected. Mewtwo was utterly obliterated, but he had done his part of the job.
Twinkiel used Thunderwave! Arceus was paralyzed!
The God growled, annoyed.
"Heh, works every time! No matter how strong you are, having your bones paralyzed is never pleasant, huh?"
"Puny Pokémon... If you actually believe that you can stop God himself, then you are move naive than I thought!"
"Actually, He doesn't have to look for God anymore."
Arceus turned back and froze in place. Twinkiel, admiration in his eye, gazed upon the Unbound form of his Pumpking for the first time.
"Bojack," was Twinkiel's first thought.
The bulky, bipedal body with six muscular arms looked nothing like the cute little demon that was Hoopa when Confined. Everything about his appearance was savage, from his larger and brushier ponytail to his boot-shaped legs.
"Your God's right here..." Hoopa continued, a smile full of very pointed teeth.
The demonic Pokemon suddenly found himself right next to Arceus' face.
"...And he's fresh out of mercy."
Hoopa used Hyperspace Fury!
Hoopa moved his rings all around Arceus and moved his multiple arms towards them at amazing speed. All of them would pass through the rings and land a random, rapid yet powerful blow to Arceus, would could only take the damage while Hoopa laughed.
"Oh my god, I MISSED THIS! I MISSED THIS SO VERY MUCH! AGAIN!"
Arceus used Judgment! Arceus was paralyzed!
Hoopa used Hyperspace Fury!
The djinn kept on going with his furious attack, and after a long onslaught of punches, he finally stopped. Arceus' body was barely recognizable.
"Oh, yes..." Hoopa sighed with glee. "Wow. I...Wow! Darn it, why does this have to last only three days?!"
Twinkiel walked towards his friend, smiling.
"Hey, Hoopa? You're right. You've got three days. So tell you wanna: I'mma practice a bit on Arceus' body while you rest. Then, would you be interested in fighting happily ever after?"
The djinn gazed upon his little companion, grinning.
"I'm in. And you're doomed."
"We'll see about that!"

******

"TWINKIEL! ANSWER ME!"
The Flaaffy jumped out of his seat, uncertain.
"What? Huh? Are we under attack?"
"Twinkiel. You're worrying me more and more."
"Spadassya? I... Why?"
The Servine approached him, sighing.
"You've been staring at the table for about ten minutes, occasionally smiling creepily, laughing sadistically or whisper things that I didn't catch. And you never answered any of my calls until now. Were you daydreaming?"
Twinkiel smirked.
"Ohohoh, yeah!"
The smirk disappeared when Twinkiel remembered who was the first person he had killed in his dream.
"...Why? Why did I dream this? " Twinkiel thought, for the first time scared of his own chaotic mind. "Why was it talking about everyone being puppets? Why... Why did I enjoy killing them all?"
"Yes, I...I was daydreaming." the Flaaffy confirmed. "I'm sorry for worrying you, I'll do my best for it not to happen again. I'm sorry. I'll just keep writin', okay? I think I'm getting the hang of those Runic Paws."
Spadassya nodded, seemingly relieved.
"NO, NO, STOP FOLLOWING ME!"
"LOVE ME!"
Both the Servine and the Flaaffy frowned and looked at the window, before their eyes widened in awe.
Zulu was flying away as fast as he could. And he was flying away from Ariala, who could apparently levitate fast enough with Psychic. A passionate gleam enlightened her eye, and her usually shy smile had been replaced by a happy grin, scary enough to rival that of a Gengar.
Twinkiel burst out laughing.

"Seriously?" Raikou groaned. "Like a Rhydon wasn't enough..."

He zoomed out of the way of the Rhyperior's Rock Blast, for said Pokémon had focused the attack on him. One of the rock's flew low and hit Saz again, but he was curled up in a ball. Jewels couldn't recall actually seeing him use Defense Curl, but any further thought on the subject was disrupted by Landorus' roar.

His eyes glowing red and a similar aura surrounding him, Landorus charged at the Rhyperior. He bit and scratched at the Pokémon in a frenzy, but after taking a Megahorn to the head, he roared in Outrage and rampaged down the corridor.

"Where's he going?" Raikou exclaimed.

Perhaps he should rather have remained quiet, for the Rhyperior guard turned back to them. He was panting after taking so much abuse, but he still had a manic look in his eyes. "Trespassers will be shot!" he repeated and raised his cannon-arm once more.

He never got to fire it.

A spiny ball flew into his face, causing him to bellow and stagger backwards. As the ball bounced off the Rhyperior's face and landed on the floor, it uncurled to reveal a grinning Saz.

"I thought you were K.O.ed..." Jewels said, puzzled.

"Please, I once outran a Golem twice his size and survived a twisted ceremony by some Houndoom cult priest in the Greatwood Jungle. A little stone to the noggin won't do much."

"You looked K.O.ed," Jewels muttered.

By then, the Rhyperior had regained his focus and was busy creating a large rock. He launched it, smiling viciously, but Saz had used Dig and avoided the attack. Unfortunately, that left Jewels right in its path. She cringed and raised her arms above her head, but she felt it rush by beneath her.

"We wouldn't want your pretty face to be spoiled by that ugly thing, now would we?" Raikou teased, helping her onto his back.

"Yeah, thanks." She glanced at the Rhyperior again. "Hey, seems to be tiring."

"Rock Wrecker tends to do that to you."

When Saz burst out from underneath him and slashed the Rhyperior savagely, the Drill Pokémon decided he had enough and sank to his knees in defeat. Jewels jumped off Raikou and gazed up at the Rhyperior.

"Why you gotta be so rude?"

The Rhyperior roared defiantly, despite having lost, but Jewels wasn't about to take his nonsense. She Pounded him in the face and took a step back, avoiding his collapse.

"Girl, you've guts," Saz complimented.

"Doesn't she?" Raikou affirmed proudly.

"Well, I'm just about sick of grumpy Ground guards, so let's go."

Raikou and Saz both chuckled and readily followed her. However, when Landorus returned a while later, still a little delirious, they were shocked when she slapped him. It seemed to work, since Landorus winced and shook his head.

"Why did you-?" Slap. "Seriously-!" Another slap. "Ow! Jewels, stop it!"

"Don't you run away like that again," Jewels said sternly and met Landorus' furious gaze. "We have enough trouble as it is without you going crazy as well.

"If I don't use Outrage again, will you promise not to Double Slap me again?"

"There's a move like that?"

"Yes, and it hurts."

"Fine. Now, which way is the Guardian's chamber?" As I've told the others, I'm tired of this place."

Landorus looked past Jewels and smiled upon seeing his friend conscious once more. "Saz! You're-"

"All right? Course I am. Honestly, you 'mon really need to stop judging me just because I'm small."

"Ahem."

Landorus turned back to Jewels. "Right! The chamber's this way, just down the corridor."

It actually was just down the corridor - a heavy wooden door stood proudly at the end.

"Are you ready?" Raikou asked Jewels.

"Me? You're the Electric tiger. I should be the one asking you."

"I take that as a 'yes', then. Sir O.D. Nell, lead the way!"

The door led to massive cavern with many gems shining in its walls. Whereas the Mystery Dungeon had been lit with torches that lined the walls, the cavern was illuminated by a group of crystal stalactites that hung from the roof.

"Those crystals are unique to this place," Landorus proclaimed, his chest swelling with pride. "There's nothing else like them in the world."

"Do they just glow," Jewels asked, "or do they-" A deep, resonating growl from within the cavern's floor interrupted her. For the first time, she noticed it was covered in many craters. "Is that the Guardian?"

"Indeed," Landorus replied gravely. He descended the slope, and took his place beneath the crystals, waiting for the others to join him before speaking. "General Kiril Nicodemus, reveal yourself!"

"A general is the Guardian?" Jewels whispered. "What possessed Landorus to decide on that?"

"He couldn't have anticipated the place would drive them crazy," Raikou answered. "Although that shard I'd found seemed to know it, so I don't know why we didn't."

"Who dares speak my name?" A booming voice replied, shaking the very walls of the cavern.

"It is he who appointed you as Guardian of the Earth Plate."

"Do you think me a fool!" the voice replied furiously, shaking the walls even further and forcing Jewels to grab Raikou's mane for support. "I can sense your energies, and I do not detect the mighty Landorus as the speaker! Leave now, or perish!"

"Too much shouting for my liking," Saz commented.

"We shan't leave without the Plate," Landorus responded firmly. "If you doubt my identity, then come see for yourself."

"If you are who say you are," the voice replied, "then you should have no difficulty taking it from me!"

The ground shook once more, but that time, a thirty-four foot iron snake launched itself from one of the craters. Its body was articulated and had two rainbow spikes protruding from three of the segments, with the tail also being a rainbow crystal, almost like a stinger. The head and each of the segments were separated from each other by rocks with black and blue hexagons. One of these rocks served as a neck, and around it was a circle of rocks.

"I am the only the one who's scared witless?" Jewels asked numbly.

Raikou raised his right paw.

"We can take him!" Saz reassured them. "Just try not to get hit."



"Your defeat will be swift!" the Steelix roared. Upon landing, his rainbow stinger for a tail began glowing.

"Iron Tail!" Raikou warned, lifting Jewels out of reach. However, the Mega Steelix wasn't planning on sweeping the floor - he sliced through the air instead, just missing the levitating pair.

"Be still, you cowards!"

Raikou told Jewels to get off. She thought he was being rude, but when she saw the electrical energy beginning to surround him, she was glad she obeyed. Raikou launched the Thunder at the Mega Steelix, but the Iron Snake only laughed.

"I am immune to your Electric attacks, you fool!"

"Yes, but not to paralysis."

The Mega Steelix grimaced as he realised he couldn't move. "A dirty trick."

"What happened to the term "all's fair in love and war", General?" Landorus asked from opposite the Steelix. "As I recall, you weren't afraid to deceive your opponents."

"They were New Order agents! They would have done far worse!"

"What is he talking about?" Jewels asked. She had meant only for Raikou to hear, but of course, being in a cavern, it echoed.

"He used Fissure to kill a quarter of the New Order's army when they invaded," Landorus replied disapprovingly. "General Nicodemus here is partly responsible for this land's transformation into a desert."

"I did what was necessary! Without that success, their army would have claimed the entire region! And as I recall, the actual Landorus congratulated me for my quick thinking. He even rewarded me by making me a Guardian."

"I wasn't about to antagonise an ally of the Resistance, but I knew we had to keep you from doing more harm than good. Tell me, how did you Mega-Evolve? I don't recall giving you a Steelixite."

"The crystals made it possible."

Landorus frowned. "I see. Nevertheless, the Resistance needs the Plate you guard, so I am afraid your end approaches."

The ground next to the Steelix General began to erupt, but one of the explosions was so near, it blasted both Jewels and Raikou off their feet. The latter was bruised, cut and bleeding, but the wounds weren't too severe. The general, however, wasn't as lucky; the ground erupted beneath him, covering him in flames and molten rock.

Meanwhile, Saz was Furiously Swiping at the general's side, but his timing was poor, for the pain allowed him to overcome his paralysis. His body glowing white, he turned to face Saz and opened his mouth. There, a silver and blue ball of energy formed. The general then fired the Flash Cannon at Saz, who was sent flying some distance away.

"I'm okay!" he yelled back feebly.

"Be quiet, you little mouse!" The Steelix proceeded to throw rocks at Saz, the rocks falling around Saz to create a tomb of sorts.

Enraged, Landorus whipped up a Sandstorm and caused a Rock Slide to fall on the general. The Steelix merely laughed again. "Your puny rocks will do nothing to me, imposter. You allow your emotions to cloud your judgment. Can you not see that your Sandstorm impowers me while hurting your friends?"

Landorus looked at Jewels and Raikou. The former was walking around blindly, her arms in front of her face, and the latter had been forced to land. He turned back to the general, about to respond, when the Steelix attempted to crush him with his Iron Head. When that didn't work, he attempted to bite Landorus with an Icy Fang, but the attack was dodged yet again.

"You will have to do better than that, Gen-"

Landorus cut off when a powerful jet of water directed from the Mega Steelix's tail hit him and blasted him against the cavern wall. He wasn't knocked out, but he was severely winded. The Sandstorm lessened in its ferocity.

"Aqua Tail isn't my speciality," the General replied smugly, "but I knew learning it would come in useful someday."

The sand less in his face than before, Raikou approached the general and fired an Extrasensory wave of telekinetic energy off at him. Afterwards, he quickly retreated to a safe distance.

"Ah, but there are still certain nuisances which need to be dealt with."

Expecting the general to turn around and attack them, Jewels prepared a wave of Confusion - although it wouldn't help much, it was better than nothing - but it was proved redundant, for the general disappeared down one of the craters. Both she and Raikou frantically scanned for the others, but the Sandstorm made it difficult. They didn't have to look for too long though, since he reappeared on the far side of the cavern.

"Now why would he do that?" Jewels asked, perplexed.

The general curled up into a ball and started rolling towards them. His progress was slow at first, but he began accelerating at a frightening pace.

"Oh... that's why."

"Jewels," Raikou whispered urgently, "if he hits either you or Saz, you will die; I can take it. Just make sure you stay out of his way." He dashed off so that he was between her and Saz's Rock Tomb.

"You're my Guardian!" Jewels yelled, too stunned to move. "You're supposed to protect me!"

"I am!" he yelled back, risking a glance at the rapidly approaching Steelix.

"And if you die in the process?"

"I won't!"

"But what if you do?"

"It's a chance I'm willing to take," Raikou said softly, closing his eyes before the Gyro Ball hit him. He disappeared in a flash of yellow light.

Jewels screamed in anguish.

"It's time to finish this," the general said, diving into one of craters again.

"Hey, Saz!" Jewels called after running over to his Rock Tomb. "How do we get you out of here?" When he didn't respond, she pressed her head to the rock. She swore she could hear him swiping at it. "Are you trying to Slash your way out?"

"Trying," a muffled voice replied, "but not succeeding."

"Can't you try something else?"

"Like what? Wait a minute, I've got it!"

"Umm, I don't think we have a minute," Jewels responded, worried, for the Steelix had emerged, but only partly - his jaws were agape and his body segments spinning, causing the sand to be sucked in. Soon, the whirlpool of sand became so powerful, Jewels had to grab on to the tomb. "Anytime now..."

A few seconds later, Saz replied, "I'm using Rapid Spin, so you might want to put some distance between us."

Jewels didn't need to be told twice. She kicked off, allowing herself to be sucked away, but not a moment too soon, for the Rock Tomb exploded, sending the rocks flying. Saz casually "surfed" through the sand towards her.

"Thanks for the warning."

"No problemo. The general is techincally using Dig, right?"

"Yeah, I suppose. Why?"

"I think I know how we can finish this dude. Where's Landy?"

Jewels pointed, after which Saz paddled on. She hoped he would do whatever he was planning to do quickly; she had just passed the place where the tomb first was, and the cave was rather large. To make things worse, the "whirlpool" spun faster the closer to the centre she got.

"Landy!" Saz exclaimed and grabbed hold of the spinning feline. "Glad to see you're still around. What do you say we Earthquake this general and get that Plate?"

"Performing a joint Earthquake here will have longterm repercussions across Terraria."

"Too bad. You need this Plate."

Landorus sighed. "Very well."

Focussing their energy, the two caused a termor simultaneously. Jewels was thrown into the air, but the shifting ground trapped the Iron Snake General. A mighty snap resounded through the cavern, followed by an even louder roar. Suddenly, the Sandstorm ceased and everyone came to a halt.

Bruised and shaken, Jewels rose and wobbled over to the defeated Mega Steelix. "I know you think we're imposters, but let's just stop fighting, okay? Everyone's tired and just about ready to stop."

The general slowly slithered out of the hole. Jewels could see several of the rainbow spikes had snapped, and one of the hexagon rocks appeared to be partially crushed. "The scales have fallen from my eyes, young lady. I can now see you are not imposters. Thank you." When Landorus and Saz approached, the Steelix bowed. "Lord Landorus, I apologise for assaulting you, and I am ashamed of my actions during that battle all those years ago. I shall atone for my transgressions in the afterlife, but first, I must give you this." The Earth Plate materialised in front of him, allowing Landorus to take it in his paws and attach it to his chest.

"I forgive you, general" Landorus said softly. "You did what no-one else had the resolve to do. But you have earned your redemption. You may have your peace now."

The great general sighed in content and closed his eyes. Slowly, his body became transparent and turned into diamond - diamond that nothing would ever be able to break.

The three remaining Pokémon looked at each other before being enveloped in light themselves. When the light faded, Jewels found herself standing before Landorus' statue again. When she saw Raikou was also there - still very much alive and without a scratch - Jewels embraced him. Apparently, you were simply transported back to the Mystery Dungeon's entrance if you were knocked out.

"What time is it?" she asked after she released him. The question was random, but she couldn't think of anything else to say without getting her eyes wet.

"Hours past curfew, that's for sure," Saz replied. "C'mon, I'll show you three to your rooms."

"I thought we were to "return to the Shrine of Safety ASAP"," Jewels whispered once they were outside.

"After we announced ourselves so spectacularly?" Saz whispered back increduously. "No; Darius will expect you to leave as quickly as possible, so it's best that you lay low for a few days before leaving."

"Who's Darius?" Jewels asked quietly.

"A slaver and one of the New Order's agents."

"So why don't you just arrest him?"

"He covers his tracks well, so we can't prove he's a slaver. To make matters worse, the Sherrif appointed him as a Ranger, so we can't touch him without solid evidence of his dealings."

"Is the Sherrif also an agent of the New Order?"

"No, but Darius kills whoever interferes with his business. He killed a couple of bandits who stood up against him, but when he was discovered, he claimed to have done it for the sake of protecting the people of Sandveil. Since there wasn't anything to contradict him, the Sherrif decided to hire him. Crime has gone down since then, but only because he has even more power than before and has become even more ruthless. I set the curfew to protect the townsfolk, since he's been rumoured to snatch 'mon from the streets at night."

They reached the governor's residence without being discovered, thankfully. Using the same secret entrance as earlier, they followed Saz to their rooms. After she and Raikou settled in (their rooms were connected by a door, so they could talk while still retaining their privacy), she pulled up a chair and plopped down on it.

"What do we do now?"

"There's no use wasting the three days we are to remain here," Raikou replied wisely, "so how about you teach me how to improve my Extrasensory, and then I'll teach you how to start using Electric attacks?"

"Can I learn Thunderbolt?"

"With enough practice, I assume so."

"Deal."

Despite having covered Riley and Gabriel with snow the moment they climbed down from the Dragonite landing tower, and taking the quietest streets Flurry remembered, the boys still recieved a number of odd looks as they made their way back to the fort.

The first looks came from a family of Weavile and Sneasel, who were just leaving through the back door of some shop. That one was really awkward. With the darkness of the alley, and the close quarters, Flurry could see only the icey portions of the other pokemon, and had no idea what they thought of these two funny-looking Cubchoo beside her.

"I won't tell if you won't," hissed one of the Sneasel.

Unsure of what her group was supposedly doing, or what the other party had done, Flurry smiled as widely as she could and nodded.

"Yeah, sure, of course. Our lips are sealed."

"Good," said the Sneasel. And with that, the whole gang leapt into the air and clambered up the pipes on the building.

For a few moments, Flurry and the boys just stared at the sides of the buildings.

"Maybe we should leave," Riley suggested.

They took his advice. For several blocks, it seemed like no one would bother them again, but then the party ran into an Abamasnow sweeping the back porch of his shop. She watched them approach, clearly suspicious of something, and the moment Flurry crossed some invisible line, screamed at them.

"Get off my property you vandalous kids!" she bellowed.

Running off to find plates did not make one a vandal. Only destruction of property and hailing from that particular Germanic tribe made people vandals. Flurry was pretty sure she did not hail from the Vandals.

As the group tried to cross the property, they felt the ground tremble beneath them.

It was the Abamasnow running at them, swinging her broom. "Get out of here!"

She swung, hitting Flurry's hat and toppling her over. Then the Abamasnow whacked Riley and Gabriel, clouds of powdery snow escaping from their disguises. The boys jumped back, clearly understanding what would happen if they were hit again.

Ah, they'd managed to cross, even with all the...

The Abamasnow whacked Flurry again, hurling her at Riley and Gabriel.

"And don't come back!"

Teetering onto her feet, Flurry muttered that they most definitely would not be returning.

The rest of the odd looks were from normal Pokemon with no violent or kleptomaniac tendencies, and they mostly shot Riley and Gabriel looks of concern. Probably because they were missing the weight Cubchoo were supposed to have, no thanks to Ms. Abamasnow.

Satisfied by the calm of the last leg of travel, Flurry sighed and began rounding the corner that would bring them to a side of the fort.

Something slammed into her. And evidently Riley as well, because he began complaining straight away.

"Gabriel," he growled, "did you have to--

"Something's wrong" Gabriel whispered. "I think there's someone waiting for us."

Flurry rolled her eyes. "Well of course there would be someone waiting for us. We've been gone for days, in case you hadn't realized."

"No," Gabriel said. "It's not the same. I'm pretty sure they're--

"Do you want me to go look?" Flurry said. "I'm a Snorunt for goodness sakes! I could just prance by, talking to myself about the sweets shop on the main drive, and no one would know it was me."

It involved some grumbling, but the boys sat and waited while Flurry skipped into the street, humming something silly. She watched the Pokemon around her, but no one seemed to be watching for anyone. Rather, everyone was staring at one spot.

Curious, Flurry stared as well.

She did not recognize the Pokemon floating by the snow-fort's gate, but a feeling in her gut told her that she did not want to mess with this guy.

He was mostly blue, with a white belly marked by a triangle. Flurry half wanted to think his jet shape was cute, but at the same time, she was scared to death by his presence. If only Shaymin were capable of exuding so much power.

Aware that she was dropping her guise as a local, Flurry skewed her face to look more confused and awed than scared, then turned around and imitated how the other Pokemon on the street were walking--by going slowly and constantly glancing backwards at the blue Pokemon.

After finding a street onto which she could turn, Flurry raced back to the boys (not that she was much faster that way). As she reached them, she slowed down and tried to steady her breathing.

"What was it?" Gabriel asked.

"I think there's a legendary waiting for us," Flurry panted. "He's blue and looks like a small plane or something. What should we do?"

Riley frowned. "It'll be hard to figure this out if we don't know what he wants."

"And I doubt he'd be willing to just let us trade the plate for Xerneas and the Fairy plate," Flurry added.

"Maybe I can handle the exchange myself," Gabriel said.

"What?" Riley whispered. "Are you crazy? What if you're attacked, or the other side doesn't hold up their end of the bargain?"

The riolu spared a moment to glare at each other before Gabriel continued.

"I would imagine that this blue Pokemon hasn't been informed of my existence yet."

"So?" Riley said.

"You two can provide distraction while I take care of the exchange."

Flurry raised a hand. "Is it really distraction if he doesn't know about you? It's more like we're sneaking behind everyone's backs. Which isn't... bad or anything."

Gabriel gave her a hard look. "My point is that the blue Pokemon will be absent while I trade for Xerneas."

"We'll do it," Riley said.

"Riley! You told him not to go alone like one minute ago. We haven't even had a real discussion." Flurry watched the two Riolu exchange looks before Gabriel held out his paw.

Defeated, Flurry held out Shaymin's bag. "Be safe," she said as Gabriel took it. Then, she and Riley waited as Gabriel disappeared into the darkened back streets.

"Don't worry so much," Riley said after a few moments. There was silence as he brushed his cubchoo disguise off, and then he offered Flurry a half-smile. "I'm sure Gabriel will be fine. And if he isn't... well, Shaymin will hunt him down to get her bag back."

Flurry couldn't help but giggle. "You're right." Raising a fist, she took in a deep breath. "Now let's go freak out that blue Pokemon!"

Day A4: Afternoon
Sully lay in a small alcove, out of view of anyone that may walk her way. She’d seen several captains walk by, including the Gallade Alek had fought. At this point, she was too tired emotionally to feel angry. She had never told that story to anyone. Not even the evaluator she’d spoken with the day she’d been inducted into Cobalion’s apprentice program.

“You’re getting soft. You need to stay strong. People just hurt you.” Sully thought to herself. She hadn’t even had a distracting thought to throw in that time. She was distracted enough with this Alek problem. The problem being her feelings towards him.

“Just give it up. He’s not interested. And neither am I.”

But even as Sully thought that, she knew she was just lying to herself. She felt… something whenever she was around him. It was like the battle adrenaline she commonly felt, but even more potent.

“I’ve finally met an enemy I can’t even fight. Stupid hormones…”

Sully felt she’d done enough sulking. Maybe beating up some fellow apprentices in a training match might help calm her down. She slithered out of her hiding spot, moving along the wall back down the corridor.

“Oh ho. What do we have here? A little snakey going where she isn’t allowed.”



Sully snapped around, letting out a hiss of surprise. Floating behind her was a Pokémon she’d never seen before. It was small, with golden rings around its arms, and one around its waist. It’s overall appearance was actually pretty unthreatening. Sully relaxed a little.
“What do you want?” She said in annoyance.

“And it’s not even my birthday! I’d like a toy train, a pet Skitty, and a meat grinder big enough to feed a live Dragonite through.” The little Pokemon said, smiling wickedly.

“I don’t have time for you.” Sully scoffed, turning away from him. This guy, whoever he was, had serious problems.

“Aww, is that any way to treat a Legendary?” The Pokemon asked, causing Sully to freeze. She slowly turned around again.

“Forgive my rudeness, lord…?”

“My name’s Hoopa. I also go by Hoop-da-whoop, the Hoop Meister, and very recently, Pumpking.” Hoopa smiled with glee.

“Again, forgive my rudeness Lord Hoopa. I meant nothing by it.” Sully said. She had been taught to always keep a proper tone when speaking with a Legendary. Some of them got offended very easily if you didn’t, usually ending the talk with death.

“Eh, that’s ok. I’m pretty stocked up on victims right now, so I’ll let it slide.” Hoopa shrugged. What did he mean by that?

“I don’t believe I’ve seen you around before, Lord Hoopa.”

“I don’t usually hang out here. Too dull for my taste. Plus, I was off on a fun field trip for a day or so. I saw some trees, a pretty cool temple, a bunch of snakes, and made a new friend. Yeah, we lost, like, 30 Skarmory, but I saw the entire thing as a great success.”

“You… were a part of the jungle expedition?” Sully asked.

“Sure was. I had a blast. I even got blasted! So did the Skarmory. Too bad they weren’t as sturdy as me. Funny, since they’re made of steel and all. I guess that’s just how the cookie crumbles.” Hoopa laughed.
“But enough about me. What’s a Venom-Knife girl doing here?”

Sully’s eyes widened.
“How do you know…”

“Please. Finding out secrets is my specialty. You’ve really got to do something about that tattoo.” Hoopa laughed.

“How did he see it?” Sully thought. Even when she rose all the way upright as possible, her faded tattoo would still be hidden by the ground. The one she’d been given at age five. The last thing she had to remember her father by.

“You know what, enough about you. I really don’t care. There’s only one mortal deserving of my time. Besides, I’ve got a lot of stuff to get done. Do you know how hard it is to organize a sports competition? Very. First you have to select the sports. Then there’s concession, seating, even souvenirs. What do you think of my bobble head?”

Hoopa levitated his hoop off his arm, reaching into it. He then pulled out a small, plastic bobble head designed to look like himself. To say it was creepy was an understatement. It was downright grotesque. The bobbing head was designed to look like Hoopa had been partially decapitated.
“I think it’ll be a great hit with the kids.”

“Sports competition?” Sully asked. She was beginning to think she was dealing with the God of Madness.

“Yeah. I promised a friend I’d organize it for him. I’ve already got the go ahead from Cobalion. He thought it would be really helpful in easing the tension and bringing peace.”

“How would a sports competition help bring about the end of this conflict, my lord?” Sully asked. This whole formal thing was killing her.

“It’s gonna be New Order versus Resistance you silly snake.” Hoopa laughed.
“I just need to find a stadium big enough. I was going to just bring one in from another dimension, but Cobalion put the kybosh on that. Too bad, since it would have been perfect for a real game of “The-Floor-Is-Lava”. That guy needs to loosen up. But, since I’m stuck like this, I’d have had to bring the stadium over chunk by chunk instead of all at once.” Hoopa sighed.
“Now, why don’t you slither along? You are in a restricted area, and you have no idea how badly I’m holding back on throwing one of my hoops at you.” Hoopa said.

“Of course my lord.” Sully bowed, slithering away from the demonic Legendary.

“Hope to see you again!” Hoopa called after her.

“The feeling is not mutual.” She thought. She’d be perfectly ok never seeing him again.

Hoopa watched her go.
“The plot thickens.” He giggled before teleporting away. He’d have to see if an execution contest would be frowned upon. He’d love to compete against Twinkiel in that. And he bet Twinkiel would enjoy it too.

~~~~~

“You lost an entire force!” Cobalion shouted.

“Calm down. They were just mortals. There are plenty more where they came from.” Zapdos argued. His feathers were dirty and unkempt. Unlike Hoopa, he’d had to fly all the way back to Mt. Providence rather than teleport.

“But they were my soldiers! I lent them to you in good faith!”

“You’re too soft on them Cob. Just stick a few male and female Skarmory in a room, and you’ll have a replacement force in just a few days.” Zapdos said nonchalantly.
“Besides, they’re better off. I was planning on putting the blame on any of the survivors and having them executed.”

“But they are all dead now, no thanks to you, so now it’s YOUR fault that the Resistance not only managed to obtain another plate, but have quite possibly gained the jungle tribes as an ally.”

“Just send Kyogre in. That jungle is so low lying, he could flood it in a matter of hours. Boom, no more jungle tribes.”

Cobalion looked thoughtful.
“I may have to do that. We can’t risk having them as an enemy. The jungle tribes are well trained and powerful. Even their worst warrior can outclass our foot soldiers.”

“Then should I send out the message? Kyogre’s been pretty pissed ever since he found out someone hid a plate in his own temple without his knowing. Everyone’s been heading back to their own places to see if there are plates there.”

“And have they found anything?”

“No, nothing yet. Though the Frostpoint team THINKS they found something, emphasis on think. They’re already setting up camp on the mountain.” Zapdos said.
“As for me, I think I might have a few leads on plate locations. I’ll be heading off soon enough to check on them.”

“Hopefully you’ll have better luck than we are having here. The mines have been almost exhausted of resources. Every day, fewer plates and stones are found. And if any of the apprentices ever found out what we’re doing here…”

“If they ever find out, you just send them down there too. You clearly need the workers.” Zapdos smirked, beginning to preen his feathers.

“Where will you be heading next?” Cobalion asked.

“Cutthroat Pass.” Zapdos casually answered.
“Genesect has quite the archive of knowledge stored in his personal safe house, and for the longest time, he believed there was an Arcean artifact somewhere in there. It’ll be tough to do any sort of searching though. I doubt any of the criminals there would be willing to help me short of getting paid. If you could lend me some more Skarmory though…”

“No. You aren’t deserving of any more troops. If I send anyone, they’ll be free of your authority. In fact, I order you to stay here. I don’t trust you anymore.” Cobalion said firmly.

“What? You’re telling me what to do?” Zapdos said threateningly.

“Yes. I order you to stay here on probation. Consider it punishment for your failure at Greatwood. We lost Tornadus, no thanks to you.”

“You can’t do…”

“Yes, I can. I am supreme commander of Arceus’s forces, and as part of them, you’re under my jurisdiction.”

“Alright, fine.” Zapdos conceded, sparking in electricity.
“But I’m feeling pretty hungry right now. And I can’t gurantee I won’t kill off a few of your precious apprentices for a snack.”

“Get out of my sight, now.” Cobalion said, stomping a hoof.

“Hoopa’s right. You’re no fun.” Zapdos said, strutting out of Cobalion’s room. As he walked out, Terrakion walked in. Zapdos purposely gave him a small shove with his wing while he walked by, earning a glare from Terrakion.

“Terrakion. Good timing. I could use your help with something.” Cobalion said.

“If it involves smashing in a certain guy’s beak, I’m all for it.” Terrakion said.
“I hate having to be so formal around the apprentices. I feel like you.”

“You must keep up a good image with them.” Cobalion responded.
“Otherwise, they might think such brazen disregard for formality is ok.”

“Yeah, whatever. So, what’s the problem?”

“I need to know if we have any spies currently not out on assignment. I need to send an agent into Cutthroat Pass, but they need to be able to evade suspicion from both the locales, and Zapdos. I don’t entirely trust him to not sabotage our own efforts to find the plate before him.”

“We’re spread thin as it is. All the graduated Stealth Specialists are already gone, and the next class isn’t due for graduation until they reach final evolution, which none of them have. Practically no one is undertaking stealth training anymore. And the one’s that do are too young to be…”
Terrakion stopped. A lightbulb had gone off in his head.

“Terrakion? What is it?” Cobalion asked. Terrakion rarely got ideas, but when he did, they were worth listening to.

“Actually, there is one apprentice that might be able to help. I only recently met him. He’s young enough to not be suspected, but trained enough to be effective. And, he’s fully evolved.”

“And who is this Mon?” Cobalion asked.

~~~~~

Felicity used Calm Mind

Turia used Teleport

Gatsby used Shadow Ball

Iblis used Safeguard

Felicity’s team was doing very well this match. She peered around her obstacle, firing off a Flame Burst. Shortly after Alek had left her care, Felicity had felt the need to blow off some steam. So she’d put together a team of fellow psychic students for a battle course match. The feild had been repaired surprisingly quickly in light of the destruction it had faced the previous night. Felicity and her team were fighting against a team of water types, but she didn’t mind. With Iblis on support, not even water attacks would hurt her much.

Iblis used Light Screen

“Good job old sport!” Gatsby the Drowzee called to Iblis the Metang, as the Light Screen protected him from a Water Pulse.

“Iblis lives to serve battle mates.” Iblis responded.

Turia the Kadabra appeared next to Felicity.
“I can’t get any hits on them. They keep expecting me.” She said, twirling her spoon.

“Don’t risk any more teleports. We need you here.” Felicity said to her.

“They’re a right bunch of fighters, they are.” Gatsby said, ducking behind his cover from an Ice Beam.
“I can’t get any hits either.”

Felicity began firing Flame Bursts over her cover again. The best part about this attack is it didn’t require much accuracy, as the “burst” part gets the enemy. But she was dealing with water types. She’d need to get in closer to use her psychic attacks.

“Turia, forget what I said. I need you to teleport over there and distract them. Gatsby and I will rush from the front. Iblis, we’re going to need you to guard us from any critically damaging attacks.”

“Iblis will guard.” Iblis said, pounding his metal arms together, a resounding clang echoing across the field.

“Good luck old sport.” Gatsby waved to Iblis.
“Let’s give these splashers the old one two.”

Felicity used Calm Mind again. She needed her power and resistance at its highest for this. Iblis would only guard against any severely damaging attacks. If he kept Light Screen up for all of them, Felicity and Gatsby wouldn’t be able to attack back.

“Do you know Calm Mind?” Felicity asked Gatsby.

“No. Sorry. But I do know Amensia. It gives me a right good boost to my defense.” Gatsby said. He then performed the said move, closing his eyes and concentrating. Soon enough, they snapped open.

“Did it work?” Felicity asked.

“Did what work?” Gatsby asked, looking confused.

“Never mind. Get ready to move up.” Felicity said. She’d always questioned just how forgetting something could possibly boost defense.
“Turia, when I give you the signal, teleport. Throw some attacks at them, then teleport back. You can rush with me and Gatsby…”

“Gatsby and I.” Turia corrected.

“Yes. Gatsby and I, or you can just teleport back behind them again. I’d recommend the latter, since they’ll be too focused on us.”

“Understood.” Turia said. She surrounded herself in psychic energy, readying a teleport.

“Iblis will block threatening moves.” Iblis affirmed, surrounding himself in energy as well.

“Alright Turia. Get ready… NOW!”

Turia blinked out of the normal spectrum, her essence travelling at incredible speeds to just behind the enemy. She reappeared right behind a Wartortle, blasting it with psychic.

“She’s back!” A Tentacool shouted, swatting at her. But Turia was already gone again. And just in time too, as Felicity and Gatsby charged their opponents position. The Corpfish and Marill shot water guns at the duo. Felicity winced as they hit her, but her increased defense allowed her ot withstand the attack, and Gatsby didn’t even flinch.

“How about this, old sports!” Gatsby shouted with glee. He fired off Hypnosis at the Marill. It tried to dodge, but was too slow. Its eyes drooped, and a few seconds later, lay asleep on the field.
The Wartortle fired a Water Pulse at Felicity, but Iblis blocked it with a perfectly timed Light Screen.

“Worlte will not hurt Felcity.” Iblis shouted. He always had a habit of shortening names down to their most efficient to say form. Except his own.
Once the barrier went down, Felicity blasted him with a Psychic. Due to his already having been damaged by Turia, the attack easily finished him off. Now only the Corpfish and the Tentacool were left. Felicity couldn’t remember though if Corpfish gained their dark subtype at their first evolution or not.

“You spend your whole life studying, and the one piece of information most relevant to the situation escapes you. Then there’s only one way to find out. Experimentation.”

Felicity blasted once again with Psychic. But the Corpfish quickly used protect, blocking the blast before scurrying away.

“Get after him why don’t you? I’ll take care of the Tentacool.” Gatsby said, boosting his defense even higher with another Amnesia.

“Alright. I’ll get the Corpfish..” Felicity said.

“And what do you want me to do?” Gatsby asked, suffering from the aftereffects of Amnesia.

“Perhaps you should not use that move anymore.” Felicity suggested.

“What move?”

“Never mind. Just assist Turia with the Tentacool.”
Felicity ran off to find the Corpfish, while Turia warped in next to Gatsby.

“Let’s take him down “old sport.”” Turia said, imitating Gatsby’s voice.

“Now that’s just in poor taste.” Gatsby said.

~~~~~

As Felicity turned a corner, she lost her footing and fell to the ground. But that was a blessing in itself, as the Corpfish had been waiting for her, swinging a Crabhammer that smashed a hole in one of the obstacles.

“What?” The confused Corpfish gaped. How had he missed?

Felicity fired off the first move that came to mind. Unfortunately, that happened to be a fire move. And not the best one for close quarters.

Felicity used Flame Burst

The small ball of flame didn’t take long to hit its target, the attack bursting into hot embers. Both Felicity and the Corpfish were relatively unaffected, but the attack was enough to blind the Corpfish, who stumbled backward in surprise. Felicity quickly rolled onto her feet, raising her wand for another attack. Which she would have done, had her poor grip on it not resulted in it flying out of her hand as she had rolled onto her feet.

“Now that’s unfortunate.”

Felicity lunged for it, hand outstretched. But the Corpfish had recovered quicker than Felicity had anticipated. As her hand reached for it, the Corpfish clamped down on her outstretched arm with its claw in a Crunch.

“Aaah!” Felicity screamed, trying to pull her arm out of the claw, but the toothlike clamp held it in place. The Corpfish raised its other claw, preparing to use a Crabhammer to knock her out of the match.

“Think! Variables. Arm disabled, wand out of reach, powers severely limited. But not out of service!”

Felicity slammed the palm of her free hand into the Corpfish’s face, letting loose a weakened Psychic from it. With a grunt, he flew backwards, but not before his flailing Crabhammer hit Felicity in the gut. The blow sent her reeling as well, landing with a grunt on the turf.

“Turia!” Felicity shouted, needing help. She shouldn’t have tried to engage this guy in close quarters combat. She had pitiful defense against physical attacks. Her Calm Mind was only prepared to block energy based attacks.
“Wand!”
Felicity looked around for her weapon. Unlike other psychics, she needed her wand to focus her attacks. They were stronger that way, but the weakness was how easily she could be disarmed. But she couldn’t find where it had fallen. But she’d just seen it.

“Now that was just rude.” The Corpfish groaned, rising up again. He threateningly snapped his pinchers, slowly moving up on Felicity. After getting hit in the face twice by her attacks, he was now weary of her, but not so much now that she didn’t have her wand.

“Get back!” Felicity shouted, firing off another Psychic attack. It hit him, but only caused minimal damage.

“You mean you can’t do much without your wand? Wow. Who knew?” The Corpfish chuckled.
He began to move up on her, ready to finish this.

“I said get back!”
Felicity felt a massive buildup of energy inside of her. Focusing it as best she could, she fired it at the Corpfish. Instead of the weak impact energy she’d used before though, a devastating blast of a Psychic shot forth, slamming into the Corpfish. It sent him flying backwards into the closest obstacle, his eyes glazing over as he lost consciousness.
“I… warned you.” Felicity panted heavily. She fired off another blast into the sky, trying to rid herself of the excess energy. But what she lost was quickly regained.

“I’ll deal with this later.”

Felicity took a step forward, but groaned and collapsed to the ground as she felt her body seize up.

“Felicity, we got the… Felicity!” Turia shouted, teleporting over.
“What’d that Corpfish do?”

“Uncertain…” She groaned.
“Just… give me a quick healing.”

Turia began pouring energy into Felicity with her Tele-spoon, earning a sigh of relief from Felicity.

“Better?” Turia asked.

“Much.” Felicity smiled. And then she lit up in a brilliant burst of light.

“Whoa!” Turia exclaimed, teleporting further back in surprise. Felicity’s body was lost in the glow of light, hiding whatever was happening to her.
“Oh! I know this phenomenon! It’s…”

“Evolution.” Gatsby finished, having walked over.
“Looks like good old Felicity is finally evolving.”

The two looked towards the glowing form, the light starting to die down. Where Felicity the Braixen had been, a Delphox had taken her place.

“It’s… been a while since I felt the high of evolution.” Felicity laughed, pushing herself off the ground.
“And now, I’ll never experience it again.”

She looked at herself. The skirt-like fur formation she’d had as a Braixen had elongated, looking more like a dress. Her ear fur was now much bushier, and her face had a longer snout. She looked at her arms, the fur around them having thickened. And the best part was that she didn’t feel limited without her wand. She felt just as powerful as she had been with it, maybe even stronger.

“Wow…” Gatsby marveled, drooling a little.

“Not bad Felicity. You’re definitely taller now.” Turia laughed.
“Not to mention probably stronger than all of us.”

But Felicity wasn’t listening to them. She was thinking of all the implications her evolution had for her.
“Increased combat capability. More manageable Blaze Rage. Possibility to train myself in teleportation. And of course, Arthur will be speechless around me.”

Day Negative X



The Guardian was surrounded. A Zoroark de-cloaked just behind him, wanting his comrades to see him kill their foe. But the Guardian reacted too quickly and sliced right through him, turning around just in time to block a Power Gem from Midavor. The Guardian’s face was cracked from the battle, but it was nothing compared to the rest of him. His skin had cracks formed all over it, the energy inside himself shining through. He knew they were going to overwhelm him eventually, but he’d fight until that happened.

“How dare you look at me!” Midavor screamed, blasting him with Bug Buzz.
“You aren’t deserving to gaze upon my beauty!”

“Guard!”
The Guardian tried to bring up another shield, but his energy reserves were too weakened. This time, the vicious attack broke through.

~~~~

The Guardian screamed, clutching his head. He felt as if he were being torn four different ways.

“Human history is it? Fascinating.” Giratina said. The large, ghostly dragon was not visible, but the Guardian knew it was there. It was worming its way into his mind, somehow even taking the memories from his human life. Memories he’d been certain of being lost forever. After his defeat, the Guardian had been brought to this crypt, where Giratina was residing while the war happened several miles above on the surface.

“King George the III, Rasputin, Stalin, Hitler… so many interesting humans. What possessed Palkia to think more humans from a world with people such as these would bring peace? But do not misunderstand, I wholeheartedly approve of the decision. They can more easily bend to my will. Just like you will soon enough.”

“You… underestimate them. The human heart is very strong…” The Guardian protested. Despite the lack of restraints, the Guardian hardly had the strength to even stand, let alone escape.

“HA! You really believe that? Look at you! We’ve beaten you! Even now, Midavor is lying in wait at the final gate. Your allies won’t be closing this one, of this I’m sure.”

“But… they closed the others. Your army has only one remaining point of conveyance from beyond the dead. Together, they’ll kill your last general, and close the gate.”

“Perhaps. But given a few centuries, I can re-open them. And then all you and the others have done will have been in-vain. To think, my own son would go against me. I have never seen such unity among Legendries in all my life. Except for Hoopa of course… though he’s more the anarchist here. Trying to fight me and the Arcean order.”

The large, shadowy form floated around the chamber. The Guardian could swear it appeared to be very excited about something.

“But, it won’t matter. My plan will come to fruition. The barriers between life and death will be gone, and everything will be equal. I’m surprised at you, Guardian…” Giratina spoke, its voice saying the title like it was almost painful.
“… I thought you wanted this. You kept others from entering my domain, and now, I’m simply helping them out of my domain. Either way, they get to live.”

“I saved people from dying! But what you’re doing is unnatural!”

Giratina laughed at this accusation.
“Any more unnatural than completely purging someone of sickness or injury? Our goals are not so different. I admit, your meddling has filled me with rage, and I would like nothing more than to kill you. But what would that accomplish. In a few years, you’d return with no memory of anything. But I want you to remember. Remember all the suffering mortals feel. Remember that they don’t deserve the pain Arceus designed them to feel.”

The Guardian remembered how rashly he’d acted back then. Even now, he still wished he’d had the power to completely purge death from others. But hearing Giratina’s plan opened his eyes, if only for a moment. Death shouldn’t be cheated.
“Not even you… can re-write this world.”

“I hold dominion over death. I gain power from every acolyte slain by the humans, and in turn everyone they kill. Soon, my strength will exceed Arceus’s. And with luck, I’ll be able to alter the very reality.”

“With… luck?” The Guardian asked incredulously.

“Yes. You do understand the universal law of chance, yes?”

“You’re committing mass murder, attempting to destroy the very laws of nature, and betrayed all your friends including your own son, for chance?”

Giratina laughed even louder at this.
“Yes. I recognize the probability of my plan succeeding. Fortunately, it’s very high.”

“You are truly mad…” The Guardian sighed.
“You won’t see victory.”

“Wrong. If these humans stop me, which they won’t, I’ll simply wait two hundred years and try again. Midavor is expendable. All mortals are. Soon all that remember these atrocities will be dead, and this war will only be something taught about in a schoolroom, and I’ll once again sway the mortals to join me. None of them are very fond of death, after all. So long as the being known as Giratina remains, my plan will succeed. You’re fighting a never-ending battle against me. And it only ends when I win.”

The Guardian felt his resolve weaken. Giratina was wicked and cruel, yet what it said made sense. Was he fighting a vain fight? Were all of them? NO! This was Giratina’s presence messing with his head.

“Still so resistant. Even when the fact I’m right is so obvious.”

“YOU… WON’T… WIN!” The Guardian gasped. But his voice was distorted. It sounded like two different voices talking at once.

“But you see… I already have.”

But it was wrong. Aegeas and the others sealed the final Shadow gate, with Giratina inside. It would be unable to freely travel between the distortion world and the light world. The war had ended, but with a great price. The entire continent was decimated. We took as many refugees with us back to Terraria as we could, but most had to stay there, with the vengeful acolytes that remained. I asked to stay behind on Vallus to heal and protect those that remained, but my request was denied. As for the remaining humans, some decided to return to their world. But Aegeas stayed. And so did Anya. I tried to approach her about what had happened when she saved me from Giratina’s crypt, but she refused to talk about it. The entire war left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. Especially Zapdos’s. He and the other one had grown very close. No doubt he was heartbroken over her demise. He hated humans now more than ever. But I can still fix things. I won’t combine the worlds of the living and dead. I’ll eliminate death entirely from the equation. After all, one cannot hate something that never existed.

Day A4: Afternoon

“Oh Zuuuluuu! Where are youuuu?”

Zulu held his breath, listening with his ears for Ariala from his perch in a tree. She was relentless! You’d think Zulu could easily keep away, but he hadn’t realized Ariala could float. Not only did that make flying away ineffective, but she could float completely silent. She’d almost got him several times because he couldn’t hear her while she hovered.

“How does she even do that?”

“I think she’s a fairy type.”

“How does that even make sense?”

Zulu froze as he thought he heard something nearby. He didn’t want to think about what might happen if she caught him. He’d hoped Twinkiel might have been able to help, but he’d actually pointed Ariala in the direction he’d flown.

“What did Mewtwo say about Attract wearing off?”

“He didn’t say. He said he didn’t know.”

“Found you!”

Zulu let out a shriek of terror as Ariala popped around the tree, causing him to fall to the ground with a thump. Laughing, Ariala floated down.
“Are you alright my little Noibat?”

“Twinkiel! Spadassya! Fleedjio! Help!” Zulu called, flipping around to fly off again.

“No you don’t!” She laughed in a sing-song voice, tackling him to the ground.
“You can’t run away from true love.”

“But it’s not true love! It’s just a move!” Zulu objected, struggling in Ariala’s surprisingly strong grip.

“A move?” She asked, looking mildly confused.

“Yes! It’s just some weird magic… stuff!”

Ariala looked thoughtful, her grip slackening. But then she regained it.
“Silly. No move could make me feel this kind of love. It’s totally real.”

“Cresseliammph!”
Zulu found his speech cut off as he was smothered in Ariala’s fur.

“Now, now. No shouting. It ruins the peaceful atmosphere.” Ariala scolded.

“Mwmtmph!”

“I have the perfect date planned for us today. First, we’ll go enjoy a romantic picnic on the beach. Then, we’ll go and have Meloetta sing for us, followed by a nice long session of stargazing. And to finish, we’ll snuggle.”

Content with her schedule, Ariala carried the protesting Zulu off.

~~~~~

Celebi watched a flower she’d planted quickly grow and bloom, the red and green petals surprisingly bright.

“That’s very good.” A voice said behind her.
Celebi flipped around, letting out a gasp of surprise. Behind her was the same cloaked figure Zulu had met in the Greatwood Jungle, his hood still pulled up.

“You…” Celebi accused.
“What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to see you. It had been so long.” The figure said, taking a few tentative steps forward.

“Well, I don’t want to see you.” She huffed, turning away.

“Celebi…”

Celebi let out an involuntary sob that she’d been trying to hide at the sound of the figure’s sad voice.
“You’ve gotten so old.” She cried, floating over to the figure and burying her face in his cloak.

“I know. It’s not the most convenient thing, what with everything going on.” The figure answered sadly.
“But it was my choice. And I regret nothing. Well, except one thing.”

Celebi reached up to the figure’s hood, pulling it back. Underneath the hood was an extremely old looking Sceptile. His green scales had faded to a sickly looking color, his eyes no longer possessing the fierce yellow they were known for.

“Losing you.” He finished.

“You’ve got it backwards. I’ll lose you.” Celebi said, chuckling a little behind her crying.

“There was never any guarantee I would live, even with eternal life. I could still die from battle. It’s better this way.”

Celebi looked like something was bothering her, avoiding eye contact with Sceptile.
“I kept something a secret from you. Something I should have told you a long time ago.” She said.

“Does this have anything to do with my son?”

Celebi looked up at Sceptile in surprise.
“You knew?”

“Celebi, if you wanted to keep him a secret, leaving him with Dusknoir was not the best move.” Sceptile laughed, but divulged into a few dry coughs. Reaching into a pouch at his waist, he pulled several Oran berries out and popped them into his mouth.
“I still visit him. And I’ve seen my son. He inherited your shine. Or perhaps you gave it to him. But, why is he so young? Had he hatched when he was supposed to, he would have been in at least his forties by now.”

Celebi looked guiltily at Sceptile.
“It was my doing. I locked the egg out of time. I… didn’t want it to hatch. I was angry at you. After the war against Giratina, you turned down eternal life for the second time. It hurt me all over again. So I took it out on our child by locking the egg where time didn’t flow. But it made me feel guilty for years. So, I took it out thirteen years ago, and left him with Dusknoir.”

Sceptile looked hurt by what he heard.
“You’d punish your own child because of my decision?”

“I was angry! Angry because you decided you had better things to do than spend eternity with me!”
Celebi’s skin turned bright pink again as she shouted.

“I gave you my reason why. Having such an assured existence can easily corrupt a good heart. Do you remember what it felt like when your existence was in danger for the first time? You were willing to follow me to the edge of time and darkness to save the planet. Would you have done that if your heart was on the line, not just your life? There is no coming back from being erased from existence.”

Celebi hung her head at the question.
“No. I doubt I would have.”

“Then you understand why I have no desire to live forever. A life is only as precious as what you do with it. A Legendary like Zapdos, or Darkrai, or Hoopa is worth nothing compared to you. You’ve done more with your life than they have done with all their incarnations combined.”

Celebi smiled at this, hugging Sceptile.
“I get angry with you sometimes. But I’ll never hate you. I’ll love you until the end of time, and then a couple centuries more.”

Sceptile smiled back at her, hugging her tightly.

“Now, what thick headed plan are you about to try?”

“Guess I can’t hide anything from you.” He chuckled.
“I need to search for clues. There is someone working behind the shadows here. I need to find out who, and stop them.”

“Someone behind the shadows? What do you mean?”

“This New Order movement was too sudden. Too calculated. And no one has heard anything from Arceus since all this began. Who’s to say he’s in control.”

Celebi digested the words Sceptile spoke to her.
“Take me with you. We’ll get Dusknoir too, and we’ll all go off together. Just like old times.”

He smiled sadly.
“No. You’re needed here, and these humans need Dusknoir. Tell Mewtwo, Dusknoir has been doing research. He’s helping to locate the plates, or at least where they might be. If they visit his village in Terraria, he can point them in the right direction.” Sceptile explained.

“Alright. Just… try and be careful. I want you to die of natural causes. Not some half-wit bandit.”

Sceptile released Celebi, pulling his hood back up.
“Goodbye Celebi. I will see you before the end. I’m sure of it.”
Sceptile pounded his chest with his fist. Celebi wasn’t sure, but she thought she heard a solid thunk underneath the cloak.

“Goodbye, my love. I’ll never forget you. Even in death, I’ll hold onto you in my heart.”
Then Celebi rethought what she’d just said.
“Gods, I’m getting cheesy.”

~~~~~

Zapdos sat perched high up on Mt. Providence, looking over the landscape. He saw apprentices training on the ground, and he wondered, what would happen if he just swooped down and grabbed one with his talons? He’d just fly back up here and take his time, listening to the little brat beg while he ate. And who would believe any of the witnesses that the great Zapdos had done anything wrong? He’d been sure to keep up good public appearances. He’d decided on one thing though while he sat here thinking. He was going to cutthroat pass whether Cobalion liked it or not.

“Heh, I really am quite the cruel raptor. And I’m proud of it.”
Though he couldn’t smile because of his beak, it was the thought that counted.

“You’re a mean one, thunder bird. You’re a sly one, thunder bird. You’ve got Spineraks in your smile.”
Zapdos tried to recall where he’d heard that tune before. He occasionally chirped it to himself, liking the sound of it. He was secure in his lack of good, not really caring what anyone called him.

“Didn’t some Talonflame try and sing it to entertain me so I wouldn’t kill her for flying so high? No, that was a different song. Just where did I hear that?”
Now it was really bothering Zapdos. And he hated being bothered. It was like having a mortal walk by you without it bowing and offering eternal servitude. And like a flash of lightening, it came back to him.

“You’re like the Grinch, you know that right?”

“I don’t know who this Grinch guy is, but he sounds like my type of friend.”

“You two are almost like twins. “You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch. You’re a sly one, Mr. Grinch.”

“Gods, would you stop that Loudred talk! No wonder you never hear about any dragon singers.”

“Well I’ll have you know, back in my world, that voice is considered beautiful, thank you very much.”

“That’s about the only thing beautiful you’ve got going for you. I mean, look at you. Your head looks like some deformed berry.”

“So you admit my voice is beautiful.”

“What? N-no. I meant… shut up.”

“Wow. Not even all those feathers can hide that blush.”

“I said shut up! Which part of that don’t you get, shut or up?”

“You’ve got spiders in your smiiiiile!”

“For the love of Arceus, stop!”

Zapdos laughed fondly at the memory, but then his look turned dead serious. She was dead. His happy ending had flown the coup, as it were. And it was all because of those Arceus damned humans! They brought death and destruction wherever they went. And now… they were back again.

“I’ll kill em all Dusty. I swear it. I know I’ll never see you again, but I don’t care. The only happiness I need I get from killing people. And there will always be plenty of opportunities for that.”

Spying a small Charmander apprentice that had wandered too far from the mountain training facilities, Zapdos took flight.

Day A3



“Ha! See? It doesn’t matter how much stronger you are than when you started out. Us Legendries have got the higher power cap! We’ve had centuries to temper our energy. You guys have only had weeks!”

“His name is Mechanathopter. Look familiar? He should. I made him out of the not-so lifeless carcass of your old pal. Well, it’s pretty lifeless now. That tends to happen when you shove someone full of mechanical parts. Isn’t he just the perfect un-birthday present? I told you you’d be surprised!”

“Human history is it? Fascinating.”

“I am the Guardian of Life. Bring all the plates to me, and I will give you ultimate power.”

“But whatever their reasons, they are not doing the good they advertise. They claim they want respect and reverence from mortals, but all they’re gaining is fear. They have to be stopped.”

“To be honest, I’m terrified. I always have been. Here, everyone is willing to stab each other in the back to get just a little higher on the totem pole.”

“I have walked among the corpses as one of them. To move about in Giratina’s very essence, you must accept its darkness. I took this armor from one of it’s generals, Vith. I can hear his voice in my head, accusing me. I suppose I’ve gone mad, but I have too much to do to bother with insanity.”

“Look what you did! That was my home! It was all I ever knew, and you just destroyed it!”

“Tempest!”

Tempest opened his eyes. He felt so broken right now. The visions were getting worse. They didn’t even make any sense to him. He kept hearing names and seeing faces of people he’d never even met. He picked up his toy sword, stabbing it into the ground.

“Tempest. There you are.”

Tempest sighed, wiping away his tears.

“Hello uncle Dusknoir.” Tempest greeted, standing from the tree. He pulled his sword out of the dirt, giving it a few shakes.

“Tempest, you mustn’t wander off. Outside the forest is very dangerous. And you are easily visible.” An elderly Dusknoir said. His form was very transparent, as was the case with extremely old ghost types.

Tempest looked down at his incredibly bright blue scales, different from the normal scales of a Grovyle. The other villagers called him a shiny, and he definitely agreed with them on that. But he hated it. He wanted to be able to hide away easily.

“Why do you keep coming out here?”

“I like the scenery.” Tempest responded bluntly.

“But everyone was wondering where you went. You can’t just wander off in the middle of your birthday celebration, especially your thirteenth one.” Dusknoir said.

“I don’t like all the people. I don’t even know most of them.”

“But they came to wish you well being. It’s only polite that you be there to thank them.”

“For what? Being there?” Tempest scoffed.

“Yes. It’s common courtesy.”

“Screw courtesy.” Tempest grumbled, swinging harder at the tree.

“Tempest. You will go back to the village right now, or I will drag you back there myself.”

Tempest sighed, giving his sword one more good swing.
“Fine. I’ll go. But don’t expect me to be happy about it.”

Though he didn’t really have a mouth, Dusknoir still had a happy attitude about him as he led Tempest back to the village.

~~~~~

Later that night, Tempest lay on his straw bed, a pile of gifts over in the corner. There was a blue flute of some kind, a hand sewn “adventure pouch”, some glass bottles, a new wooden sword, and a metal mask designed to look like a Skarmory’s head that had a built in magnifier, built by the village steel smith. Tempest had to admit, it was pretty cool. He called it the Skarmoreye. Out of all the people in the village, that guy understood Tempest the best. But Tempest was definitely not using the new practice sword. He loved his current one. Dusknoir told him his dad made it for him when he was very young.

“I just wish I had met him…”
Tempest suddenly felt the familiar feeling of a vision building up in his gut. He’d learned to just let it happen. Trying to hold it back just made it more vivid and terrifying.

“You don’t think…”
“No. This was Zulu. He fought them off.”
“Wow. Props to the big guy. Looks like he put on quite the show.”
“And look. He fought his way further in. See those blast marks.”
“He was going for the plate. And I thought I was crazy…”
“You are.”
“But what happened to him. I mean, that was a whole day ago. For all we know, he’s…”
“No. He’s still alive, of that I am certain. Whether captured or in hiding is unclear. We must find him, and then the plate.

Tempest sighed in relief at the vision’s end. He hated seeing these people. They bugged him for some unexplainable reason.

“Tempest. May I come in?” Dusknoir asked from the other side of the curtain.

“Yeah, you can.” Tempest responded, wiping away more tears that had formed. Even if he didn’t know why they formed during visions.
Dusknoir floated in.

“Did you have a good birthday?” Dusknoir asked.

“Yes. Though I didn’t enjoy all the hugs.” Tempest said, frowning at the memory.

“They meant well. Before the day is out though, I have one last present for you.”

Tempest grinned a little. He’d actually had a flashforward, as he liked to call the brief visions of an impending event, about Dusknoir saying those exact words. But it wasn’t revealed what the gift was.

“Wait here, and I’ll retrieve it.”

Dusknoir floated off, leaving Tempest alone. He tried to concentrate and trigger another flashforward of what the present might be, but nothing was happening. Soon Dusknoir returned, a long object wrapped in cloth in his hands.

“Your father made this a long time ago when he went off to war. He entrusted it to me for safekeeping in case he might need it again, but I don’t think he would mind if I gave it to YOU for safekeeping.” Dsuknoir said, handing the object to Tempest.

Tempest would have assumed it was a sword, but a bulky looking end made it look more like an axe, or some other kind of weapon. Pulling apart the twine that held the cloth around it, unwrapping it. Inside was an incredible looking weapon. It was some kind of fusion between a sword and axe, with the axe blade only on one of the sides, unlike a double sided battleaxe. Tempest lifted the weapon up, finding it was surprisingly light.
“What’s this thing made out of?” He asked.

“Timestone. Unrefined, of course. It is just as tough as any steel blade, but much lighter.”

Tempest gave it an experimental swing, not expecting it to feel so balanced with the axe head on the end. The hilt was made of the same stuff, wrapped in brown leather to make a comfortable grip. The pommel looked much like a gear. In fact, it looked exactly like a gear.

“Wow. This is…”
Tempest couldn’t even think of how to describe it. He loved it.

“Now, don’t go around swinging it yet. I would prefer if you practiced more with your practice sword before you use that. It’s a weapon, not a toy.”

“Of course uncle Dusknoir.” Tempest bowed, delighted at his new gift.
“Thank you.”

“Of course Tempest. And happy birthday.”

And with that, Dusknoir floated out of the room, leaving Tempest with his new sword. He tilted it around, watching the light reflect off the stone. It actually looked like metal, but it didn’t fee; like it. He eventually wrapped it back in the cloth, setting it under his bed. He could already picture himself out there, fully evolved, using it to fight anyone that gave him a hard time.

Twinkiel – Angelic Demons

Day A4, 13:25

“He's in there! He's in there! He's in there!”
“TWINKIEL, SHUT UP!”
“I found youuuuuuuuu!”
The Flaaffy burst out laughing again as Ariala flew after her “prince charming”, tackled him to the ground and dragged him around the field, singing lightly.
“I was alone, when I needed a date, I was, taking a walk, pass the cemetery gate, when I...”
Twinkiel's laughter died in his throat and his eyes widened. Had he heard well?
The Flaaffy approached the window and looked down, before gasping loudly.
Little purple spikes were growing on Ariala's back.
“DARN DARN DARN DARN NO NO NO!”
“Twinkiel?” Spadassya interrupted. “Is there a-”
“Stay here, I'm coming back!”
“Oh my god, oh my god, he's SO dead!”
Twinkiel climbed down the stairs of the Shrine as fast as he could and reached the Shrine's forest-like garden. Ren randomly passed by, apparently exasperated.
“Hey, um, did you see Zulu and Ariala?”
“Hard to miss, with the noise they're making. They went that way.”
The Blaziken pointed at the direction of some sort of lake.
“Thanks! And sorry!”
Twinkiel rushed once more, dodging all the trees in his path. It wasn't so big after all, and he could easily follow the well-enlightened forest.
“And this is when we're happy that the shining sun exists.”
“I know, right?!”
“Meloettaaaaa? Where aaaaare youuuuu?”
“Easiest prey to track down. Ever.”
“I don't think she's TRYING to be a prey!”
Twinkiel finally caught up with the duo, and Zulu had managed to free his head from the Clefable's tight grasp.
“But this is NOT. LOVE!” he kept shouting. “I was trying to use Attract, but I accidentally hit you with it! I didn't want for this to happen!”
“...A...Attract?”
A spark of reason appeared in the Clefable's eye, which encouraged Zulu.
“Yes! Attract! I was just practicing all of my moves, that's all! I really really didn't want to use it on you, I swear!”
Ariala's happy smile disappeared.
“So this… This feeling is fake… You… You tricked me...”
“No, it's nothing like that!”
Another gleam enlightened her gaze.
A gleam that did not belong to her. A gleam that Twinkiel had witnessed many times before.
A gleam of madness. And the Clefable was breathing heavily.
“Ariala, wait!” Twinkiel shouted, running towards them. “Control yourself!”
“So...” the Clefable continued, a devious grin slowly making its way on her face. “I think there's one thing I need to make very clear… I don't really like when people toy around with my host… I'm the only allowed to do that… Don't you midget dare forget that...”
Zulu looked at her, more anxious than ever.
“Um… Ariala? What are you...”
“ENEL IMPACT!”
Twinkiel used Charge Beam! Critical Hit!
The point-blank burst of electricity hit Zulu directly on the head. The Noibat fell down, unconscious. And with perfect timing: as he had fallen, the Clefable unleashed a painful cry before her wings turned into spike, her eyes glow red and her skin turn purple.
Plasmya yawned, nonchalantly looking around her.
“Now where's that stupid bat?” was the first words she uttered. “I need someone to play with, especially when they try to do my job!”
Twinkiel pointed at the ground.
“I didn't want him to discover you yet,” was the Flaaffy's sole explanation.
Plasmya gasped dramatically.
“What? You protected me? Aaaaaww, that's so nice of you! HUG!”
Overjoyed, the Gengar tightly hugged the Flaaffy, chuckling like a child.
Her addictive chemical scent invaded Twinkiel's nose. He felt… so… comfortable...
“Might as well stay there and enjoy the–”
“SHUT UP. I HAVE NO TIME TO WASTE HERE.”
“You know you're enjoying this...”
Twinkiel opened his eyes – when had he even closed them…? – and forcefully pulled away from the hug and wiped out the dastardly smile on his face, much to the Gengar's discontent,
No. This was not what his wanted.
"Don't fight yourself. The world is your playground, and you got a mate to share it with. Go ahead. You know you enjoy this. It's your most primal desire. Fulfill it."
“It's because I know that I'm enjoying it that I can fight against this stupid primal desire,” Twinkiel whispered to himself, panting.
This was bad. It was the second time that the Inner Echo was being so insistant. It seemed like it always was whenever Plasmya was around.
“Talking to yourself again, I see,” the latter remarked gleefully. “Primal desire, I heard? Are you perhaps referring to meeeeee? Because that sounds like a confession.”
Twinkiel gazed at her again. She was lying prone in the air, awaiting his answer.
“...No. Not you yourself. But what you represent.”
“And what do I represent? A magnificent ghost you'd totally drool upon?”
"Totally."
Twinkiel sat on lying trunk, thoughtful.
“When I was a kid, I admired your kind because you were always represented as beings of destruction. Bringers of fear, horror and despair. You destroyed stuff, you scared people, and you enjoyed it. That was all I needed to… Heh. Drool upon, as you put it. I love villains. I love… I would love to be one. And now, look at this. I'm actually right next to the very being I used to admire so much and have the chance to go nuts and destroy random stuff with her, or just scare people to their actual death. I even have the abilities to do so.”
“Why don't you do it, then?” Plasmya exclaimed, approaching her friend. “There's absolutely nothing to stop you! Go nuts if it's what your instinct told you! I'd like you even more if you were to accompany me for a descrution date...”
“I… I can't, Plasmi. I can't. I have ties here. This is all a big phantasm of mine. In reality, I'm not… I'm not entirely bad. I like helping my allies. I like seeing them smile. I...”
Twinkiel's daydream came back to his mind, making him shiver.
Of both excitment and fear.
“...I… I don't want to disappoint Spadassya.”
Plasmya raised an eyebrow.
“Oh, the Servine Ariala has some thought about? Why her, specifically?”
“Because, Plasmi! If you're the one being I wanna be with to enjoy my destructive needs, then… Then she's the one true anchor I have to reality! To sanity! I mean… She's not the only one, but… She's the one that matters the most.”
Plasmya let out a soft chuckle.
“Now that's a very cute thing to say! For both her and me. But now you're being kinda cheesy with the compliments. Totally different from the guy who wanted to paralyze Kyurem's legs. Methinks you're having a serious case of split-personality.”
Twinkiel rolled his eyes.
“One, I could actually be cheesier than that, thank you, I'm just bein' honest here. Two, You're not in a position to talk about split-personalities.”
“...Huh. Point taken.”
“That,” added Twinkiel,” “and Celebi asked me to be threatening that time, and frankly, we had no choice."
"You still wanted to do it."
"We totally did."
"...Yeah, We- Um, yes, I totally wanted to do it. But enough about me, okay? This isn't the best place to talk. C'mon, you need to let Ariala take over again. If you're seen, you're pretty much dead. Legendaries are everywhere, and I'm not sure they all like Gengar spies. Or… I dunno, are you still a spy?”
Plasmya shrugged.
“I'm just chillin' around, actually. I never really cared about my functions, Hoopa didn't care much either, and it's fun to be around you guys. But yeah, I guess you're right.”
Another grin lit up the Gengar's face.
“If they weren't there, I wouldn't accept at all. I'd rather spend a night with the one psycho who likes me kind. By the way! Next time, you're gonna finish the song, right? I want to know what happens to the Zombie Prostitute and the guy who meets her!”
Twinkiel smiled and nodded.
“That sounds so wrong, but you bet I will! It's one of my favorites, after all.”
Plasmya nodded back in approval and closed her eyes.
"Lookin' forward to our next date, Twinky."
The familiar features of a Clefable appeared again, and Ariala collapsed on the ground, sleeping.
“Alright,” concluded Twinkiel. Now that that's done...”
He put a paw on Zulu's head and shocked him lightly. The Noibat instantly woke up.
“Wha? What the...”
Twinkiel put a hand over his mouth and pointed at the sleeping Ariala.
“I think you may want to fly away now.”
“Well, And you couldn't have done this sooner?! Mister I like to point where–”
Ariala let out a little sigh, interrupting a scared Zulu.
“...Yeah, ok, I'm going. I don't wanna be there when she wakes up. Bye. ...Pff… Never using that Attract ever again...”
The Noibat mumbled his way back to the Shrine, while Twinkiel took Ariala on his back and walked away.
It took him several minutes to realize that a Servine was walking right in front of him.”
“So,” Spadassya began cooly, earning a startled “JESUS!” from the Flaaffy in the process. “That was a quite eventful moment. You didn't tell me that Ariala could turn into a Gengar.”
“Spadassya, I-”
“Stop! It's ok. I don't know how I would've react if you had told me sooner. I can understand why you didn't want to tell me her secret. As for the rest...”
The Servine turned back to face the Flaaffy, determination in her eye.
“Twinkiel Thunderfleece”, she began. “Friend and ally of my tribe. Captain of their fighting forces and member of the Resistance movement against the New Order. Would you like to become my permanent and exclusive bodyguard, so that I can remain the anchor needed for you to enjoy the little amount of sanity you still have?”
Twinkiel's heart raced like crazy as he began to understand the implications of his friend's proposition.
“Basically marr-”
“SHUT UP!!”
The Flaaffy inhaled and exhaled several times.
“Spadassya,” he said. “You… Okay, yeah, it's clear that you heard everything I said – nice wink on the anchor part, by the way. But… Why? You should be asking the opposite. I'm… I'm not–”
Spadassya use Leaf Blade!
The Servine's empowered tail had easily found its way through the Flaaffy's fleece. It was now tranquilly moving on Twinkiel's neck.
“Twinkiel, please. Don't make this harder that it already is. Just answer the question.”
“But you already know the answer!” the Flaaffy shouted. “It's an absolute, utter yes, with no hesitation! AKA: it would be my honor to remain by your side as your most trusted bodyguard, Princess Spadassya of the Venom Knife, yadda yadda! But why?! Why would you accept a mad 'mon such as myself as your closest friend? I… I might end up harming you and everyone else around me! A side of me want and is eager for this to happen!”
“That would be me.”
Spadassya removed her deadly blade. She was smiling.
“It won't happen,” was her soft answer. “You don't consciously hurt your allies, Twinkiel. You enjoy victory with them. You may enjoy your lonely satisfaction, but you also like grouped efforts. You like them so much. I saw that with my own eyes. As for my reasons, well… In a way... You're my anchor too.".
The Servine looked away.
"Ever since Griffol of the Skull's Claw ambushed and killed my Mother – though he wasn't alone, else he could never fulfilled this task–, Father was never the same. He became… a shell. Cold. Distant. Unreachable. Always so… Grumpy and dull. Because of that I never enjoyed my freedom the way I used to. Being the Chief's daughter became a burden on my shoulders. My Father was my superior. Nothing more.”
Spadassya looked back at Twinkiel, a larger smile on the face.
“And one day, a trespassing mongrel arrived like a bright, loud meteor crashing down on the rainy battlefield. He rose up, enjoying the rain falling down his cheek, and seemed simply glad to be alive. He chuckled and whispered... Heheh. Perfect landing."
This time, it was Twinkiel's turn to look away.
"When I was stressed," she continued, "he was carefree. When I was anxious, he was happy. When I was too soft, he was sharp. When I was saddened, he was cheering me up. When I was angry, he was apologizing like a child. For years, I had been used to the cold reality of my Father's new persona. In one day, you showed me every facet of yours, with no shame or attempt to hide it. You supported me. You made me laugh. Even the troops loved the way you treated them. There's a verse we Venom Knives have for that. The dark scales of our serpent skins were suddenly enlightened. I… wish to keep his light close to me as long as possible. And I don't want it corrupted by insane desires.”
She sighed. The determined light of her gaze appeared once more.
“You're the only Pokémon I befriended in years, Twinkiel. I don't care how crazy you are, I don't care if you were a human, I do'nt care if I don't completely understand you: I'm keeping you. "To Heaven, to Hell, we shall bring our light wherever we crawl." If I'm the anchor you need, then you're the light I research.”
Twinkiel welcomed the end of his friend's speech with the creepiest laughter he had to offer, contrasting with the gentle gaze he gave her.
“Then let's make sure that we stick to our roles!” the Flaaffy concluded, hiding the sudden warmth of his heart under a devilish visage. “I bring light against the darkness ahead, and you're holding my rope, k'ay?”
Spadassya chuckled.
“Rest assured, I won't ever let go of it. Come, now, speeches tire me. The meeting must be starting soon.”
“Hey, I have a Clefable on my back!” the Flaaffy protested, catching up with Spadassya's pace, “don't talk about being tired!”
He frowned.
“By the way, I never got to ask. What's your Father's name?”
“Well... He rarely wants anyone to use it, because it brings back bad memories, but… Asdaluz. Mom just called him Luz. It means Wing of Light in our dialect.”
Twinkiel smiled again.
“That's… That's an amazing name.”
“I know. And he used to live up to it before… Y'know.”
“Yeah. I hope you destroyed that Griffol guy back at the Jungle.”
A sadistic smile appeared on the Servine's face.
“Zangoose coat,” she simply answered.
The pair shared a knowing look before slowly heading back to the Shrine of Safety.

Frost

Day : A4

"So, how exactly did you form a shadow ball?" Asked the ursaring. He and Frost were, after days of traveling, approaching their destination. Mt Icewind.

"I took it off a duskull." Frost answered, the ursaring nodded, falling silent as they approached the outskirts of the mountain. Frost took in his surroundings. Mt Icewind had changed since he'd seen it. It had become more....barren. Last time their had been merchants, stores, scores of mons had crowded the walkways, haggling with merchants, now the stores were either closed or boarded up. A memory itched in the back of his mind, a memory of happiness, but he dismissed it, this was his purpose, to serve, and he would do so as long as the cause was just.

They reached the mountain.

"I guess we knock." Frost looked up, he could sense a huge energy force on the top floor. A purple mist began forming around Frost, ursaring looked at him.

"What are you..." Frost didn't hear the rest as the mist coalesced and he teleported up to the top floor. He emerged at the top floor, right in front of the legendary. At one point in time Frost might have held a deep seated anger for this creature, in fact he felt an icy spot on his side where he had been struck. But now all this was put aside, although Frost could not help but feel a stab of hatred for the legendary.

"Ah, you have come."

"Yes....master." Kyurem stepped out of the shadows, his honor guard emerged behind him.

"I knew you would join up soon enough, you had the spark in you, the spark of....reason." A sadistic smile spread across kyurem's face. Frost sighed.

"just tell me what you want." Kyurem nodded.

"Very well. Just wait here for now, Ho-oh will be arriving soon." Another smile spread across Kyurems lips. Frost was starting to get annoyed. Every legendary he'd met so far had acted superior to other mons, if what the NO wanted was justice, why was kyurem acting tyrannical?

"I will obey you, but that doesn't mean you control me." Purple mist spiraled up around him. Kyurem scowled.

"Do not test me, little one."

"Too late." Kyurem whipped around just in time to deflect a spear of purple energy.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Frost grinned.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Kyurem scowled again.

"Stop before you get yourself hurt mortal." Frost barely had time to form a shield before a barrage of ice shards hit him. Frost launched into the air, sending another spear at kyurem. Kyurem smiled.

"You think that, will hurt me?" Suddenly Frost was gone. Kyurem turned around to see a huge shadow ball flying towards him.

"Over here." Frost plummeted down on him wreathed in dark flames. An icy sphere formed around Kyurem, spikes jutted out of all sides and a film of ice rose from the floor, covering both Frost and his attacks, then, the film froze, stopping the attacks. Frost crashed to the floor, ice shards flew everywhere and Kyurem, emerging from his ball of ice, laughed.

"Ahaha, you were close little one, very close, but you are still mortal, and you will still obey me. Suddenly, a blinding light shown through the room. A figure entered the room, kyurem hid his eyes and Frost, having thawed out, pulled his hood further down.

"Who is it that trespasses on my territory!" exclaimed Kyurem. The figure sighed.

"Do you not remember your special guest Kyurem? Aah you must be getting old." The light faded and Ho-oh emerged.

"Do not act as if I were a child Ho-oh, you forget this is my territory, you have no power here." Kyurem announced.

"Alas. I await your command, their must be a reason why you bought me to this wretched place." Ho-oh noticed Frost for the first time. A lazy smile crept across her face.

"This must be the plate holder." Kyurem looked to Frost.

"He is somewhat powerful, but he lacks discipline." Ho-oh nodded.

"So I saw. It seems you two were fighting when I arrived. No matter, he will obey."

Frost had watched this exchange with growing annoyance. They may be working for the right cause but they sure as hell weren't perfect. Ho-oh was a complete snob, he would obey her, but that didn't mean she could control him. He would as he wished with her orders, but he would, in the end, fulfill them.

Kyurem chuckled," Good luck with that Ho-oh. You may both retire when you wish, I will inform both of you when a problem has arisen, until then." Kyurem turned and left the room.

Gabriel watched from the shadows as Flurry and Riley bravely approached the blue Legendary. It took him a moment to follow the thread, but he eventually recalled the Legendary’s name: Latios. His physical resemblance to a plane was quite appropriate, because from what he can remember, Latios was a member of the Eon Duo, meaning he was one of the fastest Pokémon alive.

He appeared relieved when they finally stopped in front of him – not because he had been concerned, but rather impatient, judging from his tone and expression. Flurry and Riley meekly followed him inside, causing Gabriel to start panicking, but they didn’t linger for too long. Less than five minutes later, they reappeared outside the Snow Fort with Shaymin beside them. Flurry, Riley, and Shaymin clambered on board Latios, after which he took off with hardly a sound. He was simply there the one moment, and gone the next.

Gabriel felt a pang of loneliness as he realised his only friends had been spirited off to who-knows-where, while he had to stay behind to deal with some bumptious New Order brute. Still, he consoled himself with the knowledge that soon, Xerneas would be with him again and he could rejoin his friends.

Gabriel scanned the streets one last time, and after he was satisfied no-one was watching anymore, he made for the Snow Fort. By then, the Gallade and Mienshao had become so accustomed to his frequent arrival and departure, they simply shared an exasperated look and allowed him to pass. Thence, Gabriel headed for Cassandra’s office. Praying to whoever would listen that Cassandra would not be angry, he opened the door.

“Gabriel, my darlin’!”

Instead of smacking, scolding, or otherwise punishing him, Cassandra and gave him an Ursaring-hug and placed a wet one on his forehead, just as she had done when they had first met several days ago. It still felt somewhat uncomfortable.

“You’re not cross?”

“Oh, I am,” Cassandra replied, trying to look cross, but failing because of her wide smile, “but I’m more relieved. Where had you and your friends disappeared off to?”

“The Ancient Alchemist’s Academy…” Gabriel answered, not making eye contact.

Cassandra sighed and plopped down in her seat. “How’d you get there?”

“A Dragonite took us there.”

“And you paid for the trip… how?”

Gabriel placed Shaymin’s bag on the desk.

“You can be glad you didn’t lose that. Shaymin may look frail, but she’ll torture you until you’d have got it back. Anyway, did you find what you were looking for?”

Gabriel beamed. “We did.” He reached into the bag and produced the Toxic Plate.

Cassandra gasped and took it from him. “Is this a Toxic Plate,” she asked, turning it over in her hands in wonder, “or the Toxic Plate, better known as Arceus’ Scourge Plate?”

“The latter.” Gabriel was still smiling.

“And you plan on tradin’ this for Xerneas?” She regarded him dubiously.

“The Toxic, err, Scourge Plate is more powerful than the Pixie–”

“Mana.”

“The Mana Plate, so it would be more beneficial for the New Order to exchange the Plates than to keep theirs. Besides, there aren’t any Poison type Legendaries, so it won’t be as potent as other Plates.”

“And how does this save our beloved stag?”

“If the New Order doesn’t have the Mana Plate anymore, nothing is controlling Xerneas.”

Realisation dawned on Cassandra. “I see! So, when do you plan on makin’ this exchange?”

“Now.”

Before Cassandra could react, Gabriel snatched the bag and the Plate and dashed to the door. “I would prefer it if you supported me,” he said firmly, “but I’m making the exchange nevertheless. So, are we doing this together?”

Cassandra rolled her eyes. “You need to trust more, Gabriel. Of course, I’ll help you! You forget Xerneas is my sweetheart. But how do you plan on making the swap now?”

“Like this,” Gabriel responded mischievously. He dashed out into the hallway and down the stairs until he reached the ground floor. Once he did, he slowed down to a walk.

“You’re attracting too much attention!” Cassandra wheezed once she caught up a minute later. By then, they were almost at the entrance. “Unless you actually want to attract attention.”

“Perhaps. Here, hold these.” He handed the bag and Plate back to her. “If with whoever I am talking wants to see the Plate, you can show it to them. Nobody would dare risk attacking the Commander of a Resistance base.”

“Fair point. Who do you plan on talking with?”

“It depends. Who’s currently stationed here?”

“The New Order’s base here is considerably smaller, as you’ve seen – it’s the building opposite us – but Mt. Icewind is nearby, and Kyurem practically lives there.”

“I’ll call him then. See you soon.”

Gabriel exited the Snow Fort and approached the New Order’s base until he was halfway between the two buildings. “Kyurem!”

It took a minute or so, but eventually another voice responded from behind the base’s still closed door. “Who so crudely requests an audience with the mighty Lord of the Northern Plains?” Gabriel recognised it as a Sneasel, but the voice sounded deeper, so it was probably a Weavile.

“He can ask me himself,” Gabriel replied brusquely. “And he will, since I have something he wants.”

“And what might that be?” the Weavile responded equally curtly.

“Something more important than you could possibly handle. The point remains, your master will be very interested to meet me. I shall return in thirty minutes, but if Kyurem isn’t here by then, I shall be gone, and the opportunity will have passed. That is all.” Without awaiting a response, Gabriel turned around and strode back into the Snow Fort.

“If that’s your idea of arrangin’ a meetin’,” Cassandra said sceptically, “you have a lot to learn. You can’t just insult one of the New Order’s major Legendaries, you know.”

“Kyurem will be used to his inferiors grovelling for his approval, so if I display an utter disregard for his rank, he can’t help but be intrigued. Besides, he doesn’t know if I’m bluffing or not, and I can imagine he doesn’t want to risk upsetting his fellow Legendaries by letting the offer slip through his claws.”

“That’s a big bluff.”

“Except I actually have a Full House. He’ll show up.”

After thirty minutes had passed, Gabriel was back at the entrance, having returned to his room to read in the meantime, but Kyurem had yet to show up. Cassandra shot him a concerned look and seemed about ready to speak, when they heard a great rush of wind and an earth-shaking thump.

“Who dares request the attention of Lord Kyurem, Protector of the Northern Plains, Ruler of Mt. Icewind, and Guardian of the Sacred Frost, with such impunity?!”

Cassandra nodded, her eyebrows raised. “I’m impressed, Gabriel. You’ve been right thus far, but one misstep can ruin everything. Be careful.”

Gabriel nodded, breathed in deeply, and thrust the doors open before him. “I did!” He walked right up to the great frost dragon and gazed at him with defiance burning in his eyes.

“Ah, so this is the impudent imp. State your name.”

“Gabriel.”

Kyurem seemed peeved that his titles had been ignored, but he quickly shrugged it off. “Just Gabriel, eh?” he asked, his voice dripped with contempt. “I can’t say I’ve ever heard of you.”

“That’s because I chose to keep it that way. Besides, I don’t need pretentious styles to get people to listen to me, as I’ve illustrated already.”

Kyurem frowned. “That’s a lot of big talk for such a small Pokémon. Are you sure you aren’t out of your depth?”

“Quite sure.”

He would have stated his reason for summoning Kyurem, but in a battle of wills, you’d rather want the other person to humble themselves by asking. The frost dragon realised that, and he wasn’t too pleased.

“Well, state your business.”

Kyurem’s arrival, as well as the promise of entertaining conflict, had caused all of the village’s inhabitants to form a crowd around the square. Agents of the Resistance and New Order were also crowding at the windows to see what was going on. Gabriel casually glanced around before answering.

“I propose an exchange.”

“Entailing what, precisely?”

He could see Kyurem was quickly losing his temper, so he would have to end the games soon. “The New Order has the Mana Plate in its custody – I know that for a fact. I wish to trade you for it.”

“What could you possibly have that would interest either me or the New Order?”

“Another Plate. The Scourge plate, to be exact.”

Kyurem narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Prove it.”

Gabriel turned around and nodded to the two guards, who opened the Snow Fort’s doors to reveal Cassandra holding the Plate in front of her.

“By Arceus,” Kyurem mumbled in awe. He composed himself as the doors closed. “It seems your recalcitrance was warranted. I shall treat with you, but guard your tongue in future. What are the terms of our arrangement?”

“The exchange will take place in one hour, precisely at sunset. Xerneas will collect the Mana Plate from you and deliver it to me, after which you will receive the Scourge Plate. The exchange will be conducted cordially, on this very spot, in front of all who choose to bear witness. All who are not part of this exchange, that is.”

“What is your relationship with Xerneas?” Kyurem asked nonchalantly. His eyes, however, showed suspicion.

“We have a mutual friend. He informed said friend that he had a debt to pay with the New Order. Since he departed, he has not yet been in contact, so if you would be so kind as to ensure he arrives here…?”

Kyurem smiled sinisterly. “Of course; I understand your concern. In fact, I also know somebody who a mutual friend would like to see again.” He paused for dramatic effect. “Please inform Zygarde that he too must be present at the exchange. He can even bring the Scourge Plate to me, as Xerneas will bring the Mana Plate to you. Then it will just be the four of us.”

Gabriel suspected a trap, but the terms were the best he would get, even if objecting did not put him in a bad light. “Agreed. We shall meet again in an hour. At sunset.”

He nodded dismissively and strode back to the Snow Fort. The Mienshao was smiling again, and even the Gallade looked impressed. Cassandra, however, was not.

“Do you have any idea what you just agreed to?” she asked urgently, taking by the arm and leading him away.

“We are ensuring Xerneas is released,” Gabriel replied defensively. “I thought you supported my idea.”

“I still do, but you’ve put me in a difficult position.”

“Is it time related?”

Cassandra snorted. “You bet. You can be glad the exchange is in an hour, since none of our Legendaries are close enough to have heard about it yet. And by the time they do, it will be too late anyway.”

“I sense there is more to this than simply their reluctance to hand an Arcean Plate to the New Order…”

“There is.” Cassandra led him to a hallway he’d never seen before, since he’d never been permitted near it. As he soon discovered, it opened into a stairwell that actually led down. After they had descended, she ordered a Beartic who stood guard outside a frigid door to unlock said door. Inside, there were multiple cells, but only one of them was occupied.

The prisoner was a large, brown, coiled snake with a black hood, almost like a cape that branched out in five adjacent directions. They were embellished with emeralds, and even his eyes appeared to be jewels. Oddest of all though, was that Gabriel did not recognise him.

“Ah, Cassandra,” the snake replied, uncoiling. “To what do I owe the pleasure of another visit from you? The last one was… several months ago? Solitude tends to make one ignorant of time.”

“Don’t think I’m here because I enjoy the company of slitherin’ schemers. I’d much rather keep you here until you rot.”

“So, freedom has come at last, and it seems it takes the form of a Riolu. Tell me, boy, what is your name.”

Cassandra shook her head and was about to protest vocally too, but Gabriel raised his hand. “You are Zygarde.”

The snake regarded him curiously. “Not many can silence the Commander, especially when they are as young as you. Aye, I am Zygarde, but it seems an introduction is unnecessary – from my side. You have yet to grant me the honour of knowing my saviour by name.

“My name is Gabriel, but you can save your gratitude. The only reason you are being released is so that a friend of mine will be released as well.”

“Nevertheless, I am in your debt. Now, shall I be permitted to leave, or do you wish to detain me further?”

“Don’t get your hopes up just yet,” Cassandra responded frostily. “You’ll only be seein’ daylight in an hour, and even then, it will only be for a moment. After that, you can wait for the sun to rise. C’mon, Gabriel. We have other things to discuss.”

The two Pokémon turned and exited the dungeon, but Zygarde continued smiling nonetheless.



Gabriel was back in the square outside the Snow Fort, but Zygarde was still being restrained inside, and Kyurem had yet to arrive. Gabriel anxiously watched the sun sink ever lower, but finally, the Ice Dragon arrived once again. However, Xerneas was not with him.

“Show me Zygarde and the Scourge Plate, and I shall show you Xerneas and the Mana Plate,” he called.

Gabriel gestured at the guards, who opened the doors and allowed Zygarde to enter the light. “Ah, what a beautiful sight!” he breathed as he viewed the setting sun.

“Your turn, Kyurem,” Gabriel stated.

“Very well.” A purple portal appeared beside him, and through it stepped Xerneas, profoundly confused. “Rejoin your friends,” Kyurem commanded icily.

Xerneas froze and gave Kyurem a disapproving look before finally spotting Gabriel. Xerneas was still as regal as Gabriel remembered him, but in that moment of recognition, as their eyes met, Gabriel’s heart thawed and Xerneas’ expression showed delight. Xerneas quickly composed himself though, but the elation did not disappear – it simply moved to his eyes.

“Good evening, Zygarde,” Xerneas said and nodded stiffly as he passed the Ground snake.

“Yes, isn’t it?”

“Send my regards to Yveltal,” Xerneas concluded, standing beside his ward.

“I shall do a step better and send regards from your friend Gabriel as well,” Zygarde replied sweetly before disappearing through the same portal through which Xerneas had come. The portal then blinked out of existence.

“It’s a pleasure peacefully conducting business with the Resistance for once,” Kyurem remarked. “I hope we shall have reason to do so again soon.” He took off, uttering barks that Gabriel interpreted as some form of laughter.

Afterwards, the crowd began dispersing and the agents returned to their work. Xerneas, though, just remained gazing to the west, until the sun slipped beneath the horizon. Only once the last red had faded away did he enter the fort. He strolled through the corridors and hallways until he reached Gabriel’s assigned room, which he magically seemed to locate, moving in silence the entire time.

When Gabriel followed Xerneas into his room, he wondered if Xerneas disapproved of the way he had been rescued. But when he closed the door and Xerneas turned to him with watery eyes, calling his name in joy. In that moment, Gabriel was his old self again and he ran to embrace his mentor, his friend.

The embrace continued for several minutes, but eventually the silence became uncomfortable and Gabriel let go. He tried speaking, but no words would come.

“Gabriel,” Xerneas said, “I cannot tell you how overjoyed I am to see you. It tormented me knowing that I had to leave you behind so soon after rescuing you, but by staying, I would have endangered everyone. I had hoped they would release me after Hoopa had finished his torture, but it was simply a dream.

“Had it not been for your retrieval of the Scourge Plate and exchanging both it and Zygarde for me and this accursed thing,” Xerneas tossed the Plate onto Gabriel’s bed, “I would most certainly have died. I had much time to consider my situation, and of all my regrets, the greatest was the for the things I did not do. I was ashamed, knowing that I would break my promise to you.

“When I left you, I told you I had a debt to pay. You have payed that debt on my behalf – an act of considerable difficulty – and you prevented me from becoming a liar. I promised you my undivided attention as soon as I returned, and now you have it. It is the absolute least I can give you; that, and my eternal gratitude.”

Xerneas stood there expectantly, but Gabriel was still too numb with happiness to speak. Fortunately, Xerneas smiled and bent his knees, sitting down on a carpet. “I can sense you have changed, Gabriel. Would you like to tell me what has happened since my departure?”

Gabriel nodded and sat down on his bed. He revealed every detail of the last four days, recounting the story of how he had met Riley and Flurry, their fights and adventures together, as well as why he had suddenly cut them off. He told his story without pause or interruption, so by the time he finished, he was drained and had to lie down.

Xerneas was grave. “Your fortitude is mountainous, Gabriel. I cannot imagine how anyone could inflict such suffering on another being, and keep in mind, I was tortured by Hoopa, but you must not shun your friends. Friendship has a way of doubling your joy and halving your pain.”

Gabriel never liked being lectured, but he reluctantly agreed that Xerneas had a point. “What do we do now? I have so many questions I’d like to ask you, but I guess it will have to wait, won’t it?”

“Indeed. You mentioned that Latios took off with Riley, Flurry and Shaymin, so I assume he took them to the Shrine of Safety, the Resistance’s headquarters. Thus, I must speak with Cassandra. You are welcome to come with me while I speak to her–”

“That’s all right. I’ll wait here for you.”

Xerneas nodded and left. He did not stay away for long though, since Gabriel had only read two more pages of The Illuminator’s Teachings before Xerneas returned. “We need to leave immediately,” he announced. “I brought you a bag so Shaymin could have hers back. Pack whatever you wish to keep in it and meet me downstairs. We have five minutes.”

It was dark already, but Xerneas’ tone had conveyed urgency, so Gabriel shrugged and began packing. When he finished, he started down the corridor to find Xerneas, when he remembered something: not all of his friends had left.

He dashed to Fleur’s room and startled her when he rushed into her room. Hugging her, he said, “I’m sorry Riley, Flurry and I left you behind when we were going to the Ancient Alchemist’s Academy, but as I recall, Grass types are weak to Poison types, so we had no choice. Anyway, we freed Xerneas with the Plate we retrieved but now he wants to leave for some urgent reason and we have to go now.”

“Slow down, Gabriel” Fleur said and smiled. She slipped her hand into his and allowed herself to be led away. “Where are we going?”

“The Shrine of Safety.”

“It sounds like a nice place.”

Gabriel just grunted and quickened his pace.

Once they reached Xerneas, the blue stag gazed down at Fleur in curiosity. “Who might this beautiful little flower be?”

“Fleur, this is Xerneas, my Guardian. Xerneas, this is Fleur, my… friend.”

“Well met,” Xerneas responded cheerfully. “I suppose you want her to come along?”

Gabriel nodded. “May she?”

“Of course! I can carry two more of you and still make it to the Shrine by dawn.”

“You darlin’s aren’t goin’ anywhere until you’ve said goodbye,” Cassandra proclaimed from behind Gabriel and Fleur, making them jump. She swooped down and hugged both simultaneously. Gabriel awaited the rest of the routine, and indeed, she kissed him on the forehead. “There, now you can go.”

“I’ll miss you, Cassandra,” Gabriel said.

“Pfft, you’ll see me again before you even have time to miss me. Now, off with you three. Go save the world.” She winked and sashayed away.

Gabriel pushed open the doors to let his friend and mentor exit, and when he closed them, he actually received a salute from both guards. Grinning, he jumped onto Xerneas’ back. Flurry did the same.

“We need to cross several mountains as well as a desert before the sun rises tomorrow, since the Resistance is holding an assembly to discuss further action. Seeing as I am one of the leaders, I must be there.”

“How do you know about this assembly if you’ve only just been freed?”

“Cassandra told me, and I also contacted the other three leaders telepathically. Now, I cannot promise a smooth ride all the way, but you will have to sleep where you can. You better hold on tightly.”

Gabriel gripped Xerneas’ neck, while Fleur folded her arms around his waist. He blushed, but nobody saw.



The Shrine was more beautiful than Gabriel could have imagined. The trees were as tall as skyscrapers (although is size probably had a hand in that) and the numerous flowers bedazzled the eyes. But most impressive was the Shrine itself. Every building was covered in moss and a multitude of climbing plants, creating the illusion that the buildings were natural as well. How they had managed it was beyond him.

“You two can quickly acquaint yourselves with the others,” Xerneas declared. “I must speak with my fellow leaders in person before we begin.”

Fleur looked frightened, so she held Gabriel’s hand again. He looked around, trying to spot Riley and Flurry, but he couldn’t see them.

“Aww, look at the lovebirds!” a voice exclaimed behind them.

Gabriel spun around to see a smiling Fairy with a very large diamond and several rocks for her upper body. “Err, hello?”

“Hi there! I’m Diancie, protector of the Shrine. Are you two the remaining humons?”

The Fairy was very enthusiastic and cheerful, but she had a tendency to speak just a little too loudly.

“I’m Gabriel,” the Riolu said, shaking Diancie’s outstretched hand. “This is Fleur, but she’s just a Pokémon.”

Fleur waved shyly.

“No matter! Any friend of Xerneas’ kid is my friend too. C’mon, I’ll introduce you to everyone else.”

Gabriel blushed at being called “Xerneas’ kid” but Diancie didn’t have eyes at the back of her head, so he was safe. She led him to a series of tables where several Pokémon sat, some Legendary, some not.

“Hey, everyone! This is Gabriel, Xerneas’ humon, and Fleur. Introduce yourselves!”

“Well met, Gabriel and Fleur,” the purple cat humanoid on the far left said. “My name is Mewtwo.” He bowed formally.

“Mew!” the pink cat humanoid beside him smilingly announced.

“Me-lo-eee-ta greets Ga-bri-el and Fleeeur!” the Legendary to the Mew Duo’s right sang.

“Hey there! The name’s Zekrom. Pleased to meet you.”

Gabriel was blinded by the intensity of the auras around him, so he could only manage a slight wave. However, the introductions were far from done.

“Ren,” the Blaziken to Zekrom’s right said stiffly. Gabriel could tell from his aura that he was also a humon, and the tinge of grey between the brown indicated that he suffered as greatly in his former life as Gabriel had.

“Great meeting you two! Twinkiel Thunderfleece’s the name, kicking butt and scaring New Order bad guys witless is the game!”

“Excuse the deranged Flaafy,” the Servine beside Twinkiel suggested. “My name is Spadassya.”

She had meant it jokingly, but deranged was entirely correct: Twinkiel’s stable yellow aura was prone to producing brilliant red and pink streaks. Gabriel had to drag his gaze away from the Flaafy, lest he appear rude or arouse suspicion.

“Ariala,” the Clefable next to Spadassya said, smiling.

The Noibat sitting to her right eyed her suspiciously before introducing himself. “Hi! I’m Zulu.”

“Hello, Gabriel and Fleur. I am Moltres.”

“Greetings, you two. I’m Aegeas Dewott.”

Gabriel thought stating one’s species name was rather redundant, but he supposed the Dewott preferred having a surname. After all, he was a humon, just like the rest, but his gold and blue aura indicated he had lived for much longer than they had. That was vexing, for all of the other humans (himself included) had been in their adolescent or young adult years. Why would an adult then be brought over?

“And I’m Fleedjio,” the Salamence on the grass behind the seated Pokémon called.

“You already know us,” a familiar voice remarked behind Gabriel.

He turned around to see a beaming Snorunt and an amused Riolu. “Flurry! Umm, hello, Riley.”

Flurry looked like she wanted to hug him, but Gabriel grinned dubiously and held out his hand instead, which she shook vigorously.

“Ahem, Gabriel,” Riley greeted awkwardly.

Just then, Gabriel noticed three other Pokémon standing nearby. One of them was Shaymin, who looked expectantly at her bag and was overjoyed when he handed it to her, but he did not know the other two.

“Gabriel, this is Jewels the Gothorita,” Flurry said, realising he didn’t know her new friends, “and this is Raikou, her Guardian.”

“Hi!” Jewels said and shook Gabriel and Fleur’s hands.

“It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr G. A. Bryal and Mrs F. R. Bryal.”

“W-what?” Gabriel spluttered, blushing furiously.

“Never mind him,” Jewels advised. “He greets everyone that way.”

“You should have heard what he called me,” Flurry joked and sniggered. She suddenly turned serious. “But don’t you dare!”

She had said it just in time, for Raikou looked disappointed and closed his mouth.

Just then, a swanlike Pokémon with discs for wings zoomed towards them.

“And this is Cresselia, you two,” Flurry said.

“Ah, so you are Gabriel and Fleur. It is a pleasure.” She turned to everyone else. “The assembly will commence shortly. Please make your way to the amphitheatre so we may begin.”

“They have an amphitheatre here?” Gabriel asked Flurry, impressed.

“Yip. You should see it during the night! There isn’t a roof, so the moonlight filters through the canopy and shines on to the seats…”

The result was much the same during the day, except rays of sunlight filtered through instead of rays of moonlight. Nevertheless, it was breathtaking. Gabriel could tell it was an excellent place to hold an assembly, since the ambience had a calming effect.

At the centre of the amphitheatre, there were four seats, one for each of the Resistance’s leaders. The rest of the seats were arranged to face those four, and each row of seats was higher than the one before it. It was a distinct reminded of British Parliament.

After everyone had taken their places, Gabriel noticed there were many holes, since there were fifty seats but only twenty-three Pokémon. Latios and Celebi had since arrived from wherever they had been, as well as a Seviper and an Absol he had not seen before, making the new total twenty-seven, but one Pokémon in particular was still missing.

“Where’s Diancie?” he whispered to Flurry, who sat to his left. (Riley sat to her left and Flurry sat to Gabriel’s right. They sat closer to the top, while Jewels, Raikou and Shaymin were farther down.)

“Jirachi and Diancie support the Resistance, but they are more neutral than the others. Diancie mostly stays here, although she sometimes leaves to help elsewhere, but Jirachi never leaves the Shrine. He’s somewhere deeper into the Sacred Forest. I don’t know where, since he apparently doesn’t like to be disturbed.”

Flurry turned forward as the general murmur died down.

At the four seats in the centre of the amphitheatre, there sat from Gabriel’s left to his right Landorus, Xerneas, Lugia, and Cresselia. Lugia and Xerneas’ positions indicated Lugia as the leader, Xerneas as the second-in-command, and Landorus and Cresselia as the other leaders.

“Before the assembly can begin properly,” Lugia announced, “we must clarify matters concerning the teleportation of our human friends to this realm. Firstly, I speak to all our humons. You are here not because we forced you to come, but because you chose to assist us in this war. I do not know what your reasons are, for that was between you and Palkia, but you all were fully aware that you would be turned into Pokémon upon your arrival.

“Secondly, I apologise for the inconvenient amnesia most of you suffered. While our leader, Palkia, was still busy bringing you over, Genesect ambushed the Council of Four. He could have defended himself, but that would have endangered your lives, so instead, he scattered you across Terraria. Unfortunately, he died before he could tell us where he had sent each of you.

“With Palkia’s death, the responsibility of leadership fell on my shoulders, but left us a member short. The other council members and I had to elect an acting council member by ourselves, so we eventually agreed on Cresselia. However, the time has come for an official vote. I nominate Cresselia for council member.”

“I second Cresselia’s nomination for council member,” Moltres announced.

“Are we allowed to vote?” Flurry whispered to Riley.

He made to answer, but Diancie, who was just a row below them, turned around and whispered back, “Sorry guys and girls, but only Legendaries are allowed to participate in an election for the Council.”

“Bummer,” Flurry sighed.

“I nominate Mewtwo for council member,” Landorus said.

“I second Mewtwo’s nomination for council member,” Mew called.

“Any other nominations?” Lugia asked, but no-one responded. “Very well. All those in favour of Cresselia being inaugurated as the newest council member, say “aye”.”

Moltres, Meloetta, Shaymin, Celebi, Zekrom and Lugia himself all voted aye. There were only fourteen Legendaries present, and of those, only twelve could vote. Gabriel had counted six “ayes” for Cresselia, which meant she needed only one more to vote to win.

Lugia looked around, waiting to see whether somebody else would vote, when Xerneas also, though somewhat hesitantly, called “aye”.

“That leaves the total at seven and concludes the election,” Lugia proclaimed. “Everyone, please congratulate Cresselia as the newest member of the Council of Four.”

Dignified clapping arose from everyone in the amphitheatre – even Mewtwo, who didn’t seem cross, but remained expressionless, as always. The Noibat named Zulu even cheered, but when everyone looked at him, he fell silent and looked profoundly as if he would like Sand Tomb to be used on him.

Lugia waited for the clapping to cease before continuing. “Now, we shall quickly revisit the previous assembly’s minutes–”

“Permission to speak?” Mewtwo called from the bottom left of the seats.

Lugia was surprised, much like everyone else, but he nodded. “Permission to speak granted. The Council acknowledges Mewtwo as the current speaker.”

“There are more pressing matters than discussing minutes. I propose we dismiss them and begin with the assembly immediately.”

“All those in favour,” Lugia echoed, “say “aye”.”

A resounding “aye” sounded from the seated Legendaries and other Pokémon.

“Oh, so we’re allowed to vote now?” Flurry asked Diancie.

“Yip. It’s just with the inauguration of a new council member that you may not.”

“The Council acknowledges the dismissal of the minutes,” Lugia announced. He was about to continue, but he never got the chance.

“Permission to speak?” the Blaziken named Ren called.

Lugia seemed more annoyed than surprised at being interrupted a second time, but when he realised who it was, he was shocked. Gabriel guessed Lugia must have been Ren’s Guardian.

“Permission to speak granted. The Council acknowledges Ren the Blaziken as the current speaker.”

“You told us that we chose to be here, yet you didn’t tell us there were still humons who had to be found. Personally, I am sick and tired of being lied to, and I’m sure I’m not the only one – just look at Frost. Oh wait, he’s not here, because he left. All those in favour of the “Council” telling us how many humons there are in total, say “aye”.”

Obviously, Ren said aye, but so did Flurry, Shaymin, Riley, Gabriel, Moltres, Mew, Mewtwo, Twinkiel, Celebi, Latios, Zekrom, Meloetta, Diancie, Absol, and Aegeas.

Lugia looked at his fellow council members for support, but they seemed unsure of themselves. He turned to Xerneas, who simply shook his head. They continued gazing at each other for a moment longer before Xerneas broke eye contact and spoke.

“Nine humons in total were brought from earth to Terraria. Zulu the Noibat was found in the Marsh of Light by Cresselia, Frost the Victini was found in the Northern Plains by Moltres, and Ren the Blaziken was also found in the Northern Plains, but by Lugia. Darkrai made an appearance and these six, along with Absol, defeated and killed him. Thereafter, they acquired the Torrent and Inferno Plates.

“Meanwhile, Twinkiel, still a Mareep at the point but who is now a Flaafy, had been found in the Greatwood Jungle by Celebi. Jewels the Gothorita had been found just outside the Sacred Forest by Raikou. Twinkiel, along with his friends Ariala the Clefable, Fleedjio the Salamence, and Spadassya the Servine of the Knife’s Edge, assisted the previously mentioned Pokémon in acquiring the Verdant Plate, which involved a tribal battle and a skirmish with the New Order. Jewels, Raikou, Landorus, and Sazandora Jones, governor of Sandveil Town, acquired the Terrestrial Plate on their own.

“In the meantime, Riley the Riolu had also been found in the Marsh of Light by Articuno, Flurry the Snorunt had been found in the Sazandora Desert by Shaymin, and Gabriel the Riolu had been found in the Land of the Dead by me. All three were taken to the Northern Plains with the hopes of aiding in the battle against Darkrai, but he had already been vanquished by then, so they were left at Frostpoint Village instead. I, however, neglected to report Gabriel’s discovery, as I had to deal with a matter of life and death.

“There is still one other humon left, but he has yet to be found. It is safe to assume he has either been killed or captured by the New Order. The Council has ceased the search for him in consideration of our fellow Legendaries’ safety, but as soon as we discover his whereabouts, we shall attempt to rescue him.”

There was complete silence as everyone registered what he or she had heard. After about six seconds though, Mewtwo spoke once more. “Permission to speak?”

“Permission to speak granted,” Xerneas said. “The Council acknowledges Mewtwo as the current speaker.”

Gabriel found the phrase repetitive already, but he supposed it was customary, so it would have to be endured. He hoped the assembly would not take too long, but he knew the chances of that were slim.

“Why did you not report Gabriel the Riolu when you first found him, and where were you the past four days?”

Xerneas sighed and looked bone-tired. “I was being tortured by Hoopa.”

Mewtwo frowned amidst several gasps. “If I am not mistaken, you willingly abandoned your ward. Did you willingly go to Hoopa as well?”

“No, I did not. I was being compelled to do so via the Mana Plate, which the New Order had procured shortly before the Genesect-Palkia Incident. I was also being compelled to take Gabriel to them, but I left him with Cassandra, the Commander of the Snow Fort in Frostpoint Village.”

“Then how did you come to be here? I was neither aware that a rescue mission had been planned nor that one had taken place.”

“Permission to speak?” Gabriel asked softly, but loud enough so that he was heard.

“Not now, Gabriel.”

“Permission to speak,” he repeated.

Xerneas gave in. “Permission to speak granted. The Council acknowledges Gabriel the Riolu as the current speaker.”

“My Guardian, Xerneas, had been compelled by the New Order to keep his compulsion a secret. Despite this, he managed to tell one Pokémon about it: Commander Cassandra. It was from her that Flurry, Riley and I learned about it too.”

“That tells us nothing,” Mewtwo replied.

“It may tell you nothing, but hearing about it is what made us set out on a rescue mission.”

“You want me to believe three children broke into Mt. Providence and freed a Legendary themselves? Preposterous.”

“Of course it is, because that’s not what happened. We retrieved the Scourge Plate with the help of a friend who will remain anonymous, and we then traded it for the Mana Plate. Unfortunately, we also had to release Zygarde before the New Order would release Xerneas.”

The Pokémon, who had begun whispering amongst themselves, were stunned to silence.

“So,” Mewtwo said in an icy tone, “not only did you relinquish one of the seventeen most powerful items in the world into the New Order’s hands, but you also released one their most powerful comrades? And I assume none of this was authorised…”

“It was not,” Gabriel said hotly, “but I deliberately kept it a secret from the Resistance, since I knew you would try to stop me if you found out. Nevertheless, we exchanged “one of the seventeen most powerful items in the world” for one that’s even more powerful, and we released a powerful but unimportant New Order Legendary for one of the Resistance’s leaders. But I suppose you are simply upset that Xerneas didn’t die too, otherwise you could also have been in the Council.”

Mewtwo shot up into the air, forming a ball of energy around him. “You dare mock your superiors, puny human?!”

Gabriel remained seated, trying his best not to snap as well. “You can’t harm me, and you know it. So why don’t you just sit down, hmm?”

“Gabriel!” Xerneas exclaimed. “We shall not tolerate such blatant insolence here, in this sanctuary, or anywhere else! Your permission to speak is revoked. Mewtwo, as a Legendary, you should be an example to others. I expected more restraint from you. Return to your seat.”

Mewtwo held Xerneas’ furious glare, but eventually, his bubble dissipated and he flew down.

“Has everyone’s questions concerning my capture and release been answered? I shall not bore you with the details of my stay at Mt. Providence, save for the admission that I resented every moment I remained in the New Order’s custody. I did not reveal anything to Hoopa, so you need not worry about it.” He ended his proclamation with a determined humph and wore a look that dared anyone to enquire further.

“Everyone here is relieved and delighted to have Xerneas back with us,” Landorus announced reassuringly, trying to put out any fires that remained, “but the method used to free him was deemed too costly to repeat in future. We shan’t be trading any Arcean Plates again. Unfortunately, we are left with a dilemma, as two others have also been captured.”

“Permission to speak?” Latios requested. His voice was oddly strained.

“Permission to speak granted. The Council acknowledges Latios as the current speaker.”

“Is my sister one of the two imprisoned Legendaries?”

“She is.” Latios gave a muffled cry, but Landorus ignored him. “We have determined that she was abducted while searching for more humons in the Shrub Highlands east of the Foggy Canyon.”

“Is Articuno the other imprisoned Legendary?” Riley called, startling everyone sitting around him.

“We do not speak out of our turn,” Landorus admonished. “But yes, Articuno is the other incarcerated Legendary. We assume she was captured while searching for Xerneas.”

Xerneas bent his head ever so slightly, feeling responsible and ashamed.

“What do you plan on doing about their imprisonment?” Latios asked in a tone that suggested he dreaded the answer.

“At the moment, nothing.”

Gabriel turned to look at Riley. The other Riolu was devastated.

“I need some air…” Riley said and excused himself.

Flurry got up and rushed after him. Landorus was about to call them back to their seats, but Latios drew his attention.

“So they will just have to hope the war ends before they are killed, is that it?”

“Of course not!” Landorus bellowed, affronted. “We have one of my two savage brothers, Tornadus, in our custody. Once we locate and capture the other, we shall demand your sister and Articuno’s release in exchange for theirs.”

Latios remembered he had to breathe and inhaled. “How close are you?”

“We haven’t had the time to create a search party yet, but we shall as soon as the assembly is concluded.”

“May I volunteer to be part of that search party? I want my sister back, and I’d rather help capture Thundurus than sit around and do nothing.”

“Very well,” Landorus agreed reluctantly. “Does anyone else want to volunteer? We might as well wrap this up.”

“I volunteer,” Mewtwo said.

“As do I!” Mew exclaimed.

“Your enthusiasm is noted, Mew. Very well, we have our search party, but we shall need somebody to stay here and guard Tornadus around the clock.”

“I volunteer,” Zekrom called. “I spend half of my time here anyway, plus I have a type advantage.”

“Noted. Diancie and Zekrom will take turns guarding Tornadus.”

“Permission to speak?” Ren called again.

“Permission to speak granted. The Council acknowledges Ren the Blaziken as the current speaker.”

“What are we to do about Frost? We had captured Thundurus before the Verdant Plate was acquired, but he escaped while Frost was guarding him. Soon after that, he and a Gengar and Breloom working for the New Order attacked us.”

“Frost is a traitor and must be considered extremely dangerous. If you encounter him again, you are to avoid engaging him in combat unless you are sure you can either capture or kill him. We should prefer it if you can incapacitate him so that we may yet convert him back towards our cause, or at least keep him as leverage, but if it comes down to your life versus his, you may take whatever action is necessary.”

The atmosphere had become oppressing, so Cresselia cleared her throat to get everyone’s attention. “While there are many who wish to see us defeated, there are still those who see the benefit in supporting us. Seviper of the Knife’s Edge and his daughter, Spadassya, have come all the way from the Greatwood Jungle to attend this assembly. We hope that today may be the dawn of a new friendship between our two factions, a friendship that will be tried through fire and water and prove to be unwavering.”

“It is an honour to be present at a gathering of so many celebrated figures,” the Seviper stated nobly, although a little too nobly for Gabriel’s taste, “but I find it disheartening to see such hostility among members of your ranks. If this is how you deal with each other, it is no wonder the world is what it is today.”

“Such conflicts are rare,” Cresselia reassured him, “and as you have seen, they are solved swiftly and fairly. It is more than you can say of other governing bodies.”

“Yes, I suppose there is some truth to your statement,” the Seviper agreed. “And you did aid my tribe when circumstances are dire. My people would gladly join in an alliance with your Resistance, but we need you to make certain assurances before we can do so.”

“We await your terms.”

“First and foremost, the Knife’s Edge and all of its allies must enjoy the Resistance’s protection from future attacks. Many of my soldiers perished due to the New Order’s unprovoked aggression, and it would put my mind at ease if I knew that we could prevent such disasters from occurring again.”

“The Council expresses its sincerest sympathies at the loss of your ‘mon. Naturally, we should be delighted to bring the Knife’s Edge and all of its allies under the Resistance’s protection.”

“Permission to speak?”

“Permission to speak granted. The Council acknowledges Twinkiel Thunderfleece as the current speaker.”

“I acted as general of Seviper of the Knife’s Edge’s forces when the New Order attacked, so I felt his people’s loss as strongly as he did. I only have his and his people’s best interests at heart, but I must be certain about something. When you say “allies of the Knife’s Edge”, do you simply mean current allies, or all future allies as well?”

“Permission to speak?”

“Spadassya of the Knife’s Edge,” Cresselia said, “you are a guest here. As such, you need not ask for permission to speak, but the Council acknowledges you as the current speaker nevertheless.”

“Thank you. I must also express my concern at this potential obscurity concerning our allies. You see, they are very few at present. If future allies are also guaranteed protection, then it may tip the balance of power in the Greatwood Jungle and encourage the other tribes to join us, and thus the Resistance, too. Such an agreement can only be beneficial to all parties involved, no?”

“Your words are wise, Spadassya of the Knife’s Edge. Yes, future allies are also assured of our protection.”

“And will you intervene should my people be in danger against an assault?” the Seviper asked.

“Most certainly.”

“Ah, that is good. However, we do not wish to overtax your forces, which brings me to my second matter. If I am to agree on an alliance between our factions, the Knife’s Edge and all of its allies, current or future, must be granted the right to learn new attacks from all of the Resistance’s members, which includes, but is not limited to, you Legendaries.”

“Not only will this better prepare the forces of the Knife’s Edge against potential attacks,” Spadassya agreed, “but it will also indirectly strengthen the Resistance’s forces.”

“Your proposal is reasonable,” Cresselia reflected, “but it sounds somewhat one-sided.”

“Of course,” Twinkiel countered, coming to the rescue, “this agreement will work both ways: the Resistance will also have access to tutoring by soldiers of the Knife’s Edge and their allies.”

“I see,” Cresselia said, smiling. “Seviper of the Knife’s Edge, your people, as well as your allies, will indeed be granted training with our ranks, in return for the reverse, which includes, but is also not limited to, your soldiers.”

“I am delighted,” the Seviper said, but Gabriel got the distinct impression he had not been planning to offer tutoring himself. “The final matter I must discuss is that of intelligence. We wish to be more than simple vassals – we wish to be true allies. As such, we need certainty that we shall be informed of the Resistance’s operations so that we may choose to participate. Granted that we shall still be protected if we do participate, that is.”

“In exchange,” Spadassya added, “we shall also keep the Resistance informed of our plans.”

“Your consideration is admirable. Seviper of the Knife’s Edge, the Council of Four will now vote upon all the terms laid before us. All those in favour of an alliance with the Knife’s Edge and its allies, say “aye”.”

“Aye.”

“Aye.”

“Aye,” Lugia said, terminating the negotiations.

“Then it is official,” the Seviper proclaimed. “The Knife’s Edge and all of its allies, current or future, fully support the Resistance in all of its endeavours. May our peoples prosper and thrive!”

Spontaneous clapping erupted, which the bladed snake received with smug satisfaction.

“Then we have but one more matter to discuss,” Lugia announced, to the relief of everyone present. (Even Landorus looked like he was ready for the assembly to conclude.) “We have five of the seventeen Arcean Plates in our possession, but we know for a fact the New Order has at least one. We must retrieve the others before they can, and we believe we may have located another. Xerneas, please elaborate.”

The great stag raised his chin. “Commander Cassandra informed me that our spies in Mt. Icewind reported an increase in activity over the past few days. We have also positive confirmation that Ho-Oh has arrived there. This means that both the New Order and our Resistance has determined that the Glacial Plate is located in the Glacial Museum. The New Order does not know how the Museum is guarded, so they are very cautious in their approach. Apparently, they have already sent in an agent, but he has yet to establish contact.

“I shall return to Frostpoint Village at noon with the hopes that we can retrieve the Plate before the New Order does. But it will not be an easy task. In fact, it will be the most difficult task yet, save perhaps for the retrieval of the Verdant Plate. Do I have any volunteers? Gabriel, you have no choice; I am not letting you out of my sight again.”

Gabriel thought Xerneas could have said it more politely, but he was probably still cross with him for provoking Mewtwo.

“I volunteer,” Ren called. “And so does Absol.”

“I volunteer as well,” Aegeas the Dewott called.

“Then it is settled,” Lugia said dismissively. “Are they any other parties that require approval?”

“Permission to speak?”

“Permission to speak granted. The Council acknowledges Twinkiel Thunderfleece as the current speaker.”

“I had an idea… From what I’ve heard, the Cutthroat Pass leads to a series of cave complexes formerly used as a hive for Bug type Pokémon, but that now serves as a bandit base. It seems like the perfect place to hide the Hive Plate.”

“And you propose to lead a party that will investigate your claim?”

“As sure as John Locke had to hide from the Beast to survive!”

“I shall take that as a yes. Do you have any party members in mind?”

“Actually, yes. There’s Spadassya, Ariala, Fleedjio, Celebi…”

“I am afraid I can only permit your party to consist of four, and Celebi cannot be a part of it.”

“Why not?” Twinkiel asked, upset.

“The Resistance needs as many members as possible to research the Plates and help train recruits. Celebi is not essential to your plan, so you must do without her.”

“I can’t join you either,” Spadassya declared.

“What?!” Twinkiel seemed even more upset.

“I want to stay here and represent my tribe. There are many matters our two factions still need to discuss.”

“I’ll go with him,” Zulu the Noibat offered.

“Really?” Cresselia asked, forgetting Lugia was the council member currently speaking.

“Sure. I’ve been with Legendaries the whole time, I think it would be a good idea to go off on my own. Besides, somebody has to keep an eye on Twinkiel.”

As if to prove him right, Twinkiel cackled maniacally.

“Fair enough. Twinkiel, you will be the leader of your party, and Aegeas, you will be the leader of yours. Now–”

“Riley’s run off!” Flurry shouted, skidding to a stop and bending over double.

“What do you mean?” Lugia asked, perplexed.

“I mean he’s left the Shrine! He plans on rescuing Articuno himself!”

“The foolish boy! I am afraid he will have to face the consequences of his actions. We cannot spare anyone to send after him.”

“But I’m not doing anything!” Flurry exclaimed desperately. “Can’t I go after him?”

“You are in no condition to travel on your own. Who will escort you?”

“Raikou and Jewels have not been assigned any particular tasks,” Landorus commented. “They can assist her in finding the missing Riolu.”

“Very well, then I suppose we can consider this assembly concluded. But before you three disappear,” he said as the trio, who had gathered at the bottom right of the amphitheatre, prepared to leave, “I must make an announcement to all the new faces gathered here.”

They waited in anticipation for him to continue, and Lugia seemed to relish the suspense he was creating. After a few seconds though, he relented.

“Welcome to the Resistance!”

Anger, Madness, and Sorrow

Day Negative X

“You have power! Power greater than any on this world! Disease bends to your will! Your individual molecules remain at a constant temperature of zero Kelvin! You’re virtually indestructible! And that’s why they fear you! And that makes you angry doesn’t it? Take that rage, and direct it at the remaining acolytes.”

“Guardian?”

“Yes, yes, yes. Remove their spinal columns. No, remove their limbs first. They’ll last longer, feel more pain. Ooh hoo, yes. Is it not the greatest feeling, being this powerful? You can enter their minds and drive them mad. Even get them to renounce Giratina. No happy afterlife with him when they die that way.”

“Umm… Guardian?”

“Just think of what you saw… ~sob~… when you left. The remaining acolytes were butchering the citizens as vengeance. How can you sit here… ~sob~… when there’s so much suffering happening in Vallus?”
“Guardian!”

The Guardian of life snapped up, instinctively raising his hood.
“Mew. It’s good to see you.” He said, turning to face the pink cat.

“Guardian, what’s wrong?” She asked in concern.

“I can assure you, nothing is wrong. I am as I have always been.”

“Don’t lie to me.” She said, floating closer.
“You drift off. I see something happening under that cloak to your body. What did Giratina do to you?”

The Guardian turned away.
“Minor torture. Nothing too scarring.”

“I don’t buy it. Take off that cloak.”

“Mew, this is most inappropriate.” The Guardian objected, holding his cloak closed.

“Then just tell me what’s wrong. Is it Anya? Was it what happened to Dusty? Was it…”

“SHUT UP!” The Guardian bellowed, snapping around at Mew.
“DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BE ABLE TO STOP SUFFERING BUT STILL BE UNABLE TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT!”

Mew let out a cry of terror, flying away from the Guardian. Under his cloak, his body seemed to have gotten much more muscular.

“I had the power to save lives! And you took it away!”

His form seemed to shift again, this time smaller. It sounded like he was crying.
“I just wanted to help people. Don’t you want that, Mew? I remember a child I saw, 2 years old, an Eevee. He was sick, and I healed him. But then I was punished for doing that, and I watched ten more two year old kids die. It’s not fair Mew.”

His form changed again.
“Oh, it’s more than just unfair, little kitty.” He cackled.
“It’s…”

He suddenly vanished, reappearing in front of Mew.
“MADNESS!” He screamed maniacally.

Mew raised a protective bubble around herself, closing her eyes.

“Yes, you’re all mad. I can see clearly though. Suffering can be stopped. Just give me my artifact Mew. It will be our little secret. But if you don’t, I’ll spend many a night enjoying your pitiful screams until you do. And then I’ll kill you. And that will be our…”
The Guardian gestured to himself at the word our.
“,little secret.”

“Go away!” Mew screamed in terror, hugging her tail close. She knew she could beat the Guardian, but she was too terrified to think.

“Mew… I…” A voice said.

Mew opened her eyes, seeing the Guardian had changed back to normal.
“Guardian. What’s happened to you?”

The Guardian stepped backward, looking at his gloved hand.
“Mew, please. Tell no one of this.”

“But they could help. Cresselia and Celebi are expert healers. They could do some…”

“Mew, no. I can control it. I just need meditation.”

“But what was that? You were…”

“Broken. There’s no other word for it.”

“Then let me fix you, Guardian. I care a lot about you. More than anyone I’ve ever met.”

The Guardian looked at her.
“You do?” He asked.

“Yes. You’re the only one with common sense. When something needs to get done, you do it. You don’t care about due process, or any of that other stuff.”

The Guardian chuckled, for the first time in a while.
“Thank you for your words, Mew.”

“Anytime.” She smiled, bringing down her bubble.
The Guardian sat down on the ground, his back to her.
“Goodbye Mew.” He said.

“Goodbye.” Mew responded, turning to float away. But then she stopped.
“And Guardian?”

The Guardian gave a grunt of resignation of her voice.

“I…”
“Come on. Three words. You’ve already got one down, just say the rest.”

“N-nevermind.” She stuttered, her face absolutely red as she left.

I was broken. A broken toy amongst many shiny, still working ones, all owned by the spoiled child that is Arceus. And when a toy is broken that can’t be fixed, what is done with it? It’s thrown away, becoming no more than a memory. But I was not destined to recede. Several years later, I finally realized what had to be done. I could regain my lost power even without my artifact, and help the world while doing it. Two Pidgey’s with one stone.

Twinkiel – Thunderfleece MkI

Dawn stone: check.
Power Lens: check.
Power Ankles: check.
Notepad of Greatwood White Leaves and set of Smeargle paint liquid: check.

“Yup, that's pretty much all I need.”

Twinkiel smiled to himself and put on the shoulder bag. He was still disappointed that Spadassya wasn't coming with him, but deep down he knew she had to be with her tribe. They were her family, and the allies she'll always have by her side.

“Can't play bodyguard that way, though.”

“It can't be helped. And frankly, I'm sure she can defend herself on her own for a
while. She'll be fine, and I'll be fine too.”

The Flaaffy left the room he barely had the time to visit and headed for the corridor. Mewtwo was still there, arms crossed. He was… glowing.

“Um… Mewtwo? You sure you're ok?”

“Are you finished?”

“...You're not okay.”

“Flaaffy, do not get on my already affected nerves. Are you ready or not?” Twinkiel sat on the floor and crossed his arms and legs.

“I'm not. You can teleport me if you want, but I don't wanna leave this place knowing that the one Legendary I admire the most got himself upset the way I used to do when I was eight.”

“Why you little…!”

“Little what? Little Human? You think I don't know how it feels? Gimme a break! As far as I recall, getting angry is the story of my childhood. You, though...you always have this image of the calm dude who's always in control. And you managed to lose it in what, ten seconds? Well, that's one thing I can relate too, and yet look at me! I'm fine! I can get over it! So why not you, the super strong and super intelligent Legendary who's been through far worse than a verbal joust with a little Riolu? No offense to Gabriel, though,” Twinkiel couldn't help but add, "he's a badass for doin' that."

Mewtwo stared at the Flaaffy, his expression unchanged. Slowly, the glowing psychic energy around him disappeared.

“You are wiser than I initially thought, Flaaffy. I'm glad that humans like you still exist. Well, putting aside the...”

“Yeah. Allied to madness bit. Right. Well, you're welcome! See, NOW, I'm ready to go, so you can teleport me!”

Joining words with actions, Twinkiel rose up and put a hand on his idol's shoulder. Who simply put his arms behind his back and let his floating feet touch the ground.
“I think we're going to walk this time,” Mewtwo said in a gentle tone. “So tell me… how famous am I in the human world?”

******

“...And then this Sakurai guy announced your surprise return in this Super Smash Bros game series I'm talkin' about.” Twinkiel exclaimed as the duet reached the main hall of the Shrine. “And let me tell ya, the screams of joy around the world were counted by MILLIONS. It was such a relief to have you back and improved in the game, you've no idea.”

Mewtwo's eyes widened. “I find it hard to imagine. And quite flattering, too: I'm surprised that so many humans can in fact… like me. I also find ironic that I was replaced by a Lucario in the previous incarnation of Smash Brothers. Um… Brawl, if I recall.”

“Oh yeah,” Twinkiel replied, insistingly gazing at Mewtwo. “I mean it's not as if you recently had a misunderstanding with one of their pre-evolutions, riiiiiiiiiiiiight?”

The Legendary rolled his eyes. “Please, Twinkiel. Your sarcasm is so obvious that I can even taste it.”

“...Ew. But that was kind of the point there, y'know. Oh… Oh wow!”

The Flaaffy stopped and stared at the assembling before him. All the members of the Resistance – legendaries included – were here, chatting in little groups and moving around.

“Heroes Come Back, man.” Twinkiel smiled at the reference.

“Amazing gathering, isn't it,” Mewtwo commented. “Well if you'll excuse me, I have an apology I need to deliver.” And with that, the Psychic Legendary walked towards Gabriel with a resolute gait.

“Twinkiel!”

He turned back, only to find himself staring at a really close by Servine with a really really big smile on her face.

“Oh god, it's almost creepy,” he commented, smiling as well. “What have I done for you to grin like that?”

“I know you're going to be pleased.”

“In what regard?”

Spadassya turned to the side and nodded. Her Father as well as the Eelektross Leader of the Knife's Edge's Petrifier Squad approached, the latter smiling shyly.

“Greetings, Captain Twinkiel,” he saluted politely. “I believe Lady Spadassya is referring to your predicted reaction upon gazing on my latest creation. Feast your eyes on this!”

Twinkiel's heart bounced when he looked at what the Eelektross was holding in his hands. A yellow cape with horizontal electric blue stripes.
A Thunder Fleece.

“Oh… my… Money...!”

“What's that, Captain?”

“N-nothing, just a… quote. Just… please tell me it has a name and effect. And how the heck did you make it. Tell me.”

“It doesn't have a name yet,” Spadassya intervened, “as we wanted to leave it up to you. But I'll let the creator tell you everything.”

“Right. So, to put it in… “professional terms”, we had to use Knife's Edge's abandoned Shed Skins to create the form, and add Eelektrik skin both to reinforce it and give it the colors it has now. We also had to use actual Zangoose fur to give it a fleece-like look. For the effect, when an equipped 'Mon uses an electric move, the item allows him to levitate for a short amount of time. The more powerful the move, the longer you'll levitate. But beware, Captain: you can't move while you're in the air, so you'll have to figure out a way to do so if you're fighting a Flying type.”

Twinkiel stared at the item and back on its creator, now smiling happily.

“What did you say your name was again?” The Eelektross frowned. “I… I don't have any, Captain. Like many other Knife's Edges, for that matter. You can just refer to–”

“Not happenin'. You need a name, and it's perfect timing as I have a spare one. Leader of the Knife's Edge's Petrifier Squad, you shall now and for the rest of your life embrace the name… Voltek. Do you agree?” It was the Eelektross's turn to be overjoyed.

“Well um… I... yes, I do agree!”

“Good, because I'm naming this thing after you. The Voltek Fleece it is!” Twinkiel put the item on and turned to Spadassya. “And you...” The Flaaffy approached his friend and hugged her tightly. “You had this planned for such a long time and didn't even tell me, you dastardly devilish princess! Thank you so much. I love it.”

“I did have a very good influence,” she replied, laughing gleefully. “You might want to thank my Father as well, though. He organized the plan and mobilized the resources for this to happen.”

Twinkiel let go of his friend and turned to the Seviper, who slightly backed away.

“Well I… you are a good general, so I had to prepare a good reward.”

“You're not escapin' it.”

“P-please, Thunderfleece, it's very degrading, do reconsider–”

“I'mma do it.”

“N-no, just keep the item, keep the–”

“BEAR HUG!” The Flaaffy hugged the Seviper, almost destroying his ability to breath in the process.

“Now,” Twinkiel exclaimed after it was over. “Let's test this Voltek Fleece! Oh and by the way, Voltek? Please. Make more of these with altered effects. And tell this to the rest of the clan: The Kinfe's Edge needs to become a mighty Arsenal.”

"Aye, Captain."

Twinkiel used Thunderbolt! The Voltek Fleece was activated!
Twinkiel's body began to shine vibrantly, and so did the Voltek Fleece floating behind. The Flaaffy flew up and stopped in mid-air, laughing joyfully.

“Oh my god, this thing's AWESOME!”

Twinkiel used Thunderbolt!

This time, the Flaaffy channeled his electricity through his right foot and moved to the center of the hall, oblivious to the watchers below.

“WOW WOW TOO MUCH MOMENTUM TOO MUCH MOMENTUM!"

Twinkiel was smashed on the ground, barely surviving the impact thanks to his Cotton Guard.

“I… I'm okay!”

A collective laughter resounded in the hall as Twinkiel struggled to rise from the ground, unscratched but utterly ridiculed.

“Well that failed.”

“At least I know I have to practice mid-air battles.”

“You're a terrible show-off, you know that?” Jewels exclaimed, approaching to help him nonetheless.

“I did make you lot laugh a bit, so hey! Achievement unlocked!”

“Point taken! But seriously, we're supposed to leave now, so stop screwing around and prepare yourself.”

“Right. Sorry.” Twinkiel turned to Spadassya and waved before joining Fleedjio, Zulu and Ariala.

“That cape suits you,” was the latter's first comment.

“The crash you just had also does,” Fleedjio grinned.

“Don't fly around near me, please,” Zulu added.

“...And this,” Twinkiel answered, a smile shinier than his cape, “is why we're such good friends!”

Day A4: Sunset

Sully waited impatiently on the cliff overlooking the barren plains surrounding Mt. Providence. Alek had started up the mountain several minutes ago, but it felt like hours. Needless to say, she felt really tense being up here with him. Alone. Nothing between them. The chances of something romantic happening increasing with each second spent…


“Back!” Alek called out, landing on the area Sully was waiting on. A metal bucket was in his hands, filled with snow from the mountain.
“Surprise.”

“What. Is that?” Sully asked, looking at the collection of frozen precipitation.

“It’s snow. For my famous mountaintop snow cones.”

“Snow cones?” Sully asked.
“What the hell is a snow cone?”

“Yeah. I just scoop some snow…”
Alek dipped one of the wooden cups he brought into the bucket, packing snow into it so it formed a sort of globe on top.
“Into the cup. Then I just crush some berries over it…”
Alek did just that, pulling some of the Oran berries he always kept with him out of the puch, crushing them over the snow, letting the juice stain the white powder.
“… and there. That’s a snow cone.”

“And you eat that stuff? I’d much rather eat the berries.” Sully said.

“You’ll change your mind once you try some. Here.” He said, holding the wooden cup out to her.

“Alek. I don’t have hands.” Sully stated blandly.

“Oh. Right.” He said sheepishly, setting the cup in front of her. Sully gave it an experimental lick with her tongue, but recoiled.

“I don’t like it. Too cold.” She complained.

“But you didn’t even taste it.”

“I don’t need to. I hate the cold.” Sully stubbornly said, pushing the cup away with one of her coils.

“Come on. All I’m asking is one bite.”

“Damn, you’re persistent.” Sully conceded, lowering her head down to the snow. She scooped a sizeable piece off with her tongue, bringing it into her mouth. She frowned a little as she swallowed.

“Well?”

“It’s… decent.” She said, taking another lick.

“Just decent?”

“Alright, it’s great.” She smirked.
“Where’d you learn how to do this?”

“I used to volunteer on food duty before I started my battle training. For the ice types, we just served them snow from the mountaintop alongside a serving of berries. One day, I tried squirting some of the juice over the ice to see how it tasted, and I’ve loved it ever since.”

“Quite the chef, aren’t you. Juice on ice. Only an absolute genius could come up with that.” Sully smirked.
“So you’ve been here a long time, haven’t you?”

“Yeah, I have. Well… not that long. Only about nine years or so.” Alek said fondly.

“I think you owe me your heartbreaking backstory, after what I did for you this morning.” Sully said.

“What makes you think I have one?” Alek said, stalling.

“Every apprentice here probably has one.” Sully reasoned.

“Well, mine isn’t that heartbreaking.” Alek responded.

“Don’t be so modest. Come on, spill.”

“Alright, alright.”
Alek took another big lick of the snow cone. But with his tongue so large now, he almost took all the ice off with it. Swallowing, he turned to Sully.

“My parents died in a town fire. They… shielded me as best they could when it hit our house. It was all so sudden… Suicune arrived pretty quickly to save the village, but not quick enough. After the fire, he and Entei stuck around to help with relief efforts. It had actually done a lot of damage to the village. It wasn’t until later that Entei told everyone that the fire had been started by some Resistance arsonist. Suicune promised all the kids who might have lost parents in the fire a place at Mt. Providence. And so, here I am.”

Sully nodded as Alek finished, not sure how to respond next.
“How old were you when that happened?” She eventually asked.

“Six. But I can still remember it like it was yesterday.” Alek answered.

“So who else is here from your village?”

“Vince is the only one I remember. There were others, but I’ve lost track of them.”

“Ah.”

An awkward silence ensued between the two as they ate their treats.

“I remember when the Resistance was just a bunch of vandals, causing disaster here and there.” Sully remarked.
“Now we’re in a full blown war with them.”

“I have trouble keeping up with who’s fighting for who. Do we have Latias on our side?”

“No, we don’t.”

“Aw, what a shame. I’ve always admired her. So fast and carefree.” Alek said dreamily.

“Did you ever meet her before?” Sully asked. She actually had a legendary crush of her own.

“No, but I’ve heard plenty about her. I actually… heh… had a little stuffed one when I was a kid. I guess that’s why I’ve always liked her. Too bad it went up in flames with my house.”

“Yeah, too bad.” She sympathized.
“Note to self. Idea of acquiring knitting needles is not as crazy as originally thought. Could manufacture a birthday gift for Alek. And maybe a coil cozy. That idea also not as crazy as first thought.”

“So, I see you two are enjoying yourselves.”

Alek and Sully both snapped around, Sully baring her fangs.

“Relax. It’s only me.”

Alek looked at the figure in front of him in surprise.
“Felicity?”

Alek recognized the voice, but her form had completely changed. She’d evolved.
“In the flesh. Or more anatomically correct, the fur, since none of my flesh is actually visible.” She laughed at Alek’s surprise.

“You see? Now that’s how you shouldn’t show off an evolution.” Sully ridiculed.
“I mean, come on. Just walking up here like that? Where’s the flare?”

“I can create flares, if that counts for something.” Felicity said jokingly, taking a seat next to Alek.
“I hope you saved some snow for me.”

Alek looked into the bucket. There was enough snow for a smaller snow cone at least.
“Yeah, there’s enough.”
He scooped some of the snow into a cup before juicing it as well, handing the cup to Felicity.

“It feels weird, Arthur not being here.” She said, taking her first lick.

“But we’re all evolved now. We could ask to get sent up to where he is.” Alek said enthusiastically.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Alek. We still need to get promoted first.” Felicity reminded.
“But that should be easily done for you.”

“Hey, don’t count me out. I can’t evolve, but I’m a hell of a fighter.” Sully brayed.

“I agree with you on that. You handled that Gallade excellently.” Felicity said, referring to the captain she’d brought down.

“Have you heard anything about them?” Alek asked in concern, referring to the other captains.

“Oh, just give it a rest. If they aren’t dead, then they’ll try and make sure you are.” Sully warned.

“I can’t help it. I don’t want any deaths on my conscience.”

“You’re in the damn army, Alek. You’re going to have to kill. Better get used to the feel early on.”

Felicity glared at Sully for her harsh remarks.
“Don’t worry Alek. There are plenty of non-combat roles you could fill.”

“Waste of his talent…” Sully muttered under her breath.

Alek thought on what the two of them had said.
“Well, I am a stealth specialist. I could always just be a spy.”

“Pssh, spies. A pacifist assassin is all they are. As for me, I was made to be an assassin.” Sully said, flashing her tail blade.

Alek thought back to the story Sully had told him. What would have happened to her if she had made it to Greatwood? From what he knew, she’d either have gone into thievery, or performing. He was half tempted to ask her to sing something, but he wanted to keep as much blood as he could inside himself.

Felicity let out a loud yawn.
“I should turn in early today. My sleep schedule was not at all solid last night.”

“Sorry.” Alek apologized, knowing she had stayed up to take care of him.

“No need to apologize, Alek. You’re a little brother to me, and I’ll always take care of you.”
Her snow cone finished, Felicity stood.
“Goodnight.”

Felicity walked off down the path to the tunnel, disappearing into the corridor.

“I’m warming up to her.” Sully stated blandly.

“You two are like sisters. The kind that never get along.” Alek chuckled.

“Never wanted a sibling. They get too annoying. In fact, I’m perfectly fine with no family. I don’t like having obligations to anybody.”

“But you do have a family out there somewhere. Your dad said so himself.”

“So what? If they want me, they’ve got to work for me. Same for everyone else.”
Sully scooted a little closer to Alek.
“But you already showed me you’re worth having as a friend.”

“Thanks Sully.” Alek said, giving her a pat on the coils.

“Glad to see you remember the “no hugs” plan.”

The two sat there talking until the sun was almost completely gone. They’d been out past curfew, but for two stealth specialists, that was no problem.

~~~~~

Alek woke in the middle of the night to something poking his side. At first he’d passed it off as his own long tongue (which he still wasn’t used to), but even when he’d drawn his tongue all the way into his mouth, he still felt it.

“What…” Alek muttered tiredly, rolling over to see who it was. Needless to say, he almost had a heart attack.
Standing next to his bunk was a Sawk.

“W…?”

The Sawk’s hand snapped up in a shushing gesture before Alek could get any more out. Keeping his claw up to his mouth, the Sawk gestured for Alek to follow.

“B…”

The Sawk sternly twitched his shushing claw, impatiently motioning to Alek. He looked suspiciously at the Sawk. For all he knew, this was a captain. But he was more curious than suspicious. Rising slowly from his bed, Alek followed the Sawk, who led him out into the hall. Once outside, he slowly slid the curtain back into place in the dorm’s doorway.

“Sorry about all the secrecy.” He said, whispering quietly.
“Hold your questions for now. They’ll be answered later.”

“Can I ask one?” Alek whispered back, not wanting to go anywhere without some answers.

The Sawk sighed, shaking his head.
“Alright, but only one.” He eventually said.

“Where are we going?” Alek asked curtly.

“The Justice pavilion.” The Sawk responded.

Alek’s blood ran cold at those 3 words.
“Oh no. The Captains I fought died. I’m going to be tortured, maybe even executed.”

The Sawk noticed Alek’s worried look, but didn’t address it.
“Now come.”

“O-ok.” Alek stuttered, walking forward.
He knew he could escape and hide from this lone Sawk with ease. And yet… he didn’t want to. He had done something wrong, and he knew he would have to pay the price for it, no matter how high.
“Can’t I at least say goodbye to my…”

“No more questions. Walk.” The Sawk ordered, gesturing Alek to follow.

“Alright…” Alek sighed, following.
They soon arrived in the girl’s dormitories, and Alek had half a mind to try and stop by Felicity’s room to let her know what was happening. But no doubt the Sawk would try to stop him. If only Alek knew which room was Sully’s.

“Hurry up.” The Sawk said, leading the nervous Alek towards the ramp to the upper levels.

~~~~~~

“Hurry up.”

Sully’s eyes snapped open at the voice. Whoever that had been had a very short life expectancy ahead, considering she’d just been woken from the greatest dream of her life. In it, she’d single handedly brought about the extinction of the Zangoose species. Whoever had woken her up was going to pay for ruining such an amazing experience.
Shifting off her bunk, Sully slithered silently off onto the floor, slithering over to the curtain of her dorm. She flattened herself as low to the ground as she could, slipping her head under the curtain as she looked around for the source of the noise. What she saw chilled her already cold blood. Down the hallway, Sully saw a Sawk climbing up the incline that led to the upper levels of the mountain. And behind him… was Alek.

“That Sawk. He’s probably a captain. Could he be leading Alek into an ambush?”
Steeling herself, Sully set off in pursuit. She’d hang back for now, but as soon as she saw the attacks start flying, she was sure as hell going to jump into the fight.

“Never have fought this early. Do poison related attacks lose potency with sleep depravity? Arceus, I wish I had limbs. What’s so attractive about someone who’s all tail?”

~~~~~

Alek followed the Sawk in mute terror, scarcely even breathing. He’d never been this high up inside the mountain. He’d seen balconies and windows that looked out on his climbs for snow, but he’d always been too scared to look in them. But now, he was getting his first look of the upper levels. Gold and white banners with the wheel of Arceus emblazoned on them hung everywhere. Even though it was the middle of the night, these levels were abuzz with activity. Alek even saw some kind of recreation center where a chess match between an Alakazam and a Metagross was taking place.

“Four brains versus one with a 300 IQ?”
Alek had wanted to stick around to see, but a sharp reminder from the Sawk got him moving again.
As they got further up, Alek started to notice signs of vegetation that he instantly recognized as the same kind of plants that grew in Verizion’s garden. Clearly, this was where Verizion herself liked to frequent. The plants reminded him of how much enjoyment he always had gotten from hide and seek matches, even when he did lose. And he might very well never get to enjoy them again…

“They’re expecting you.” The Sawk said, stopping in front of a massive staircase. Alek could make out the top at least, but it would take him several minutes to probably climb that high.

“Can you tell me what’s going to happen at least? Please?” Alek pleaded, realizing he might be at the end of the line.

“I could. But I don’t want to.” The Sawk smirked, pointing up the stairs to emphasize Alek’s need to hurry up.

Now more nervous than ever, Alek began his climb up the stairs to what he thought was his death.

The Sawk watched him go, a deep sense of hatred for this kid in his gut. He’d been there for the pitiful performance of four of his friends against an apprentice. An apprentice! They thought they were all so special because Cobalion chose them, while Mon like him had to work to get to the rank of captain, which was probably as high as he would ever get here. With a grunt of indignation, the Sawk turned around to walk off. He thought he caught a flash of something, but he just passed it off as his being tired. As he walked back to his own dorm, he didn’t see a Seviper emerge from a freakishly small crack in the wall and slither up the stairs after the Greninja.

~~~~~

Alek arrived at a large set of double doors, pictographs of several Legendries etched in it. But it looked like some had been sanded away, judging from the featureless spots on the doors. Alek reached to open the door, but hesitated. He could very well be walking to his death, or maybe a worse punishment. But the logical side of his brain told him that what happened to the captains had been an accident, and they had started it. Alek took advantage of the momentary calming of his nerves to open the door, walking in.
“Woah…” He gaped in awe.

The room he’d walked into was incredible. Four thrones sat around the edge of what Alek could only describe as an arena. But in the center of the arena was a less majestic chair. This one was roughly carved from some pretty uncomfortable looking stone.
Alek had never been to the Justice Pavilion, but he’d heard plenty about it.
On the side of the circular room the dour thrones sat on, the wall fell away to reveal an incredible view of the sky and land around Mt. Providence. Alek wandered over to it, looking outside. He saw the glow of small fires in the mercenary camp below, the rest of the illumination coming from the stars, which Alek gratefully took in as well. He had never been this high at night before, and the view was greater than anything he’d ever seen. He suddenly wished Arthur, Felicity, and Sully were here to see it with him.
Alek snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of footsteps behind him. He slowly turned around, fully prepared to accept whatever his punishment might be. But the person behind him was the last Mon he’d expected to see.

“You? But…” Alek stuttered.

It was the Gallade Sully had taken out of commission during his match.

“Wow. When I was told I’d have a chance at you again, I thought the higher ups were just messing with me. After all, no one has much respect for me after what happened.” He said, a sadistic smirk lining his face as he slowly moved towards the door, closing it and lowering the wooden bar that would keep it closed. Not that Alek would have any trouble opening it.

“I’d have had you, if that stupid snake hadn’t butted in.” He continued, getting angrier. He gestured to his calves, which were wrapped in cloth.
“I have some pain when I walk, but not enough to keep me down. And I promise you, you’re about to be a lot worse off than me pretty soon.”

“But why are you here!? I was called here by someone! They didn’t tell me you would be here…”

“Hey, no one told me you’d be here either. But since we’re alone, I’m going to kill you and throw your sorry carcass out the window.”

The Gallade glowed a bright purple, his psychic energy bursting to life around him. Alek wasn’t worried about that, being a Dark Type. But the Gallades fighting moves would definitely kill him if he took enough hits. Alek got in a ready stance, seeing no way around this. If he tried to run, who knows how many captains he’d have to fight through to escape?

Psyche Battle: Shamed New Order Captain Avellon
Difficulty: Anger Driven


Alek formed a Water Shruiken, tossing it at the Gallade, who in turn simply blocked it with Protect.

“See, when it’s just one on one, I’ve got no one holding me back. I can focus much more clearly. And there’s really only one thing for me to focus on here. You.”
With a grunt, the Gallades aura shifted from purple to orange, and a massive blast of energy launched from between his thin hands. A Focus Blast!
Alek just barely avoided it, the ball of destructive energy exploding against one of the thrones. And yet, the throne didn’t break. There wasn’t even a mark. But Alek didn’t care about that at all.

“Please, I don’t want to fight!” Alek pleaded.

The Gallade looked thrown off for a second, but he quickly regained composure.
“Well I do!” He shouted, rushing forward at Alek, trying to get him with another Close Combat. Seeing this coming, Alek quickly generated eight Double Teams, as well as a Substitute. Once he rolled backwards to avoid the initial blow, the Gallade lost track of him.

“Why do you want to fight me? You guys were the ones that tried to kill me! You guys were the ones that wouldn’t give up!”

The Gallade shot another Focus Blast at the sound of the voice, the energy exploding against a Substitute destroying two Double Teams.

“You’re an apprentice. You think you’re better than everyone just because you got into some special little program, and none of us were about to let some complete nobody whelp walk all over us! Not me, not Clyde, not Blake, and not Birk, who by the way died from his burns!” The Gallade grunted out, feeling a little lightheaded from the Focus Blasts. He wouldn’t have enough energy to keep shooting them around like this.

“I wanted to quit, but you kept on challenging me!” Alek shouted, jumping from behind the throne and tossing another Shruiken, which was again blocked by the Gallade. Alek remembered a similar situation happening with Sully. He’d have to get in close if he wanted to land any hits on this guy.
“And I’m sorry about your friend! I didn’t want any of that to happen, but I wasn’t the one who killed him! That Magmortar did!”

“It’s like an endless loop here. Why don’t you open up those ears, huh? I hate you, and I hate every one of you apprentices!”
The Gallade formed another Focus Blast, but this one was noticeably smaller. But that didn’t make it slower. The attack had a surprising velocity to it, and Alek took it right to the chest, the explosion flinging him backwards.

“Clyde and Blake didn’t fare much better. Clyde can’t stop shaking from the electricity he took, and Blake is blind from that blast seed you threw at him!” The Gallade accused.
Alek rose shakily from his landing point. He was about one foot from the edge of the window. Any more distance, and he would’ve slid right out, probably dying on the jagged rocks as he fell.

“He tried to shove it in my mouth! Face it; you guys are the only ones who did anything bad here.” Alek blamed.

“Shut up!”
The Gallade charged the still recovering Alek, who managed to roll out the way just in time. He dropped off another Substitute before running to find another place to hide.

“You don’t have to do this you know. Just walk out of here while you still can.” The substitute calmly said.

“Fat… chance!” The Gallade panted, slicing it with his arm blades into particles of light.
“How… are you so… freaking powerful!”

Alek didn’t answer that, not wanting to bring this guy’s hate on Sully.

“No kid like you should be this good! You’re… a freak!”

Alek flinched at the insult, looking at himself. He was, in all words, a lab experiment. Sully’s lab experiment to be exact.
“You’re right… I am.” Alek said, walking out from behind the throne he’d taken cover near.
“I wanted to get better, but I didn’t want to get this good. Why? Because of people like you that’d hate me for it.”

The Gallade instinctively shot a Psychic at Alek, but the attack did nothing to the dark frog.
“You’re telling me you accidentally trained to be this good?” The Gallade laughed, but Alek could tell he was running out of energy. He, on the other hand, felt fine.

“Even if I had, do you think I’d have been able to still get this strong? I’m fifteen!” Alek shouted. He readied his water energy in case he’d have to use it.
“Like you said, I’m a freak.”

The Gallade seemed to hesitate, but Alek could still see his muscles tense.
Alek straightened up, seemingly relaxing.
“Look. I’m sorry about your friends. I’m sorry about you. And I’m sorry about everything that happened. But do you think you’re doing anyone any favors by killing me, or if I kill you? When the other apprentices find out I’m dead, do you think they’ll just accept it was an accident? You’re going to single handedly split the army in half. And if I kill you, then the captains will start killing apprentices. I don’t want to bring that on my friends, and I know you don’t want to do that either. You said it yourself that Clyde and Blake were your friends. Do you think they’ll last long if the apprentices go after them with the way they are now?”

The Gallade looked at a loss for words, his aura’s glow lessening.
“Birk died because of you. I’m… not going to let that go.” He said.

“But what if anyone else dies because you killed me? Is one death really worth a bunch more?”

“You’re talking about hypotheticals here! What are the chances any of this would happen!?” The Gallade shouted, his voice cracking.

“Do you really want to take the risk?” Alek asked. He was now within striking distance of the Gallade. And yet, the Gallade didn’t strike.

“I don’t have anything else to say. This is going to end with one of us dying, unless we both give up. What are you going to do?”

The Gallade straightened up, his muscles seeming to relax.

“Thank you.” Alek sighed, his feeling a sense of calm come over him.
And it was at that moment the Gallade struck.
Propelling himself forward with his own psychic powers, he slammed into Alek with a Close Combat. The unexpected blow blew right through Alek, his form flying off and slamming into the seat of one of the thrones. Still feeling low on stamina, the Gallade used his psychic to again launch himself at the dazed Alek, his arm blade raised for a killing blow at Alek’s head. Instinctively, Alek leaned his head to the side as the blade slammed home, the sharp appendage leaving a cut across the side of his face. Alek opened his mouth and let out a high preassure stream of water. Without any weight behind him due to his using psychic for minor levitation, the attack effortlessly flung the Gallade away. He managed to get his feet on the ground as he disable the levitation field, his feet skidding as he tried to get some traction against the water blast until it stopped.
Alek sat up in the throne, hopping off it. That hadn’t been a water gun. That had been…
“Hydro Pump…” Alek realized.

“I’ll give you one more chance. Give up. I don’t want to kill you.” Alek pleaded, his voice cracking.

“Hah! You, kill me? You don’t have the guts. And too bad for you, because I want to kill YO...”
The Gallades speech was cut off as Alek resumed the Hydro Pump, a virtually limitless supply of the water launching out of his mouth. The Gallade found himself choking on it as it pushed him backwards against the wall of the room.
The Gallade cursed and sputtered, struggling to raise an effective barrier against the blast. But any attempt to do so was quickly shattered by the sheer power of the water.
Alek could hear the Gallade shouting his curses, and it was the fear of what might happen if he got to Alek that fueled his attack, never letting up. The Gallade went silent at minute two, and he stopped moving at minute five. And Alek didn’t stop firing until minute seven.
Alek was panting heavily from the exhertion. He had kept up one of the strongest water moves there was longer than anyone had probably ever done. But Alek didn’t feel any joy in it. The Gallade lay motionless against the wall, both him and the ground soaked.

“H-hello?” Alek called out to him.
No answer.

Alek stood up from the throne, cautiously walking over. As he drew near, he could clearly see that what he’d feared had happened. Avellon the Gallade was dead, drowned by the continuous water attack.

“Gods…” Alek cried, feeling the start of tears forming.

“Well done apprentice.”

Alek jumped a little at the voice, but didn’t bother turning around. He’d heard the voice enough to know who it was.
Cobalion.

A large golden hoop floated down from the ceiling, a swirling vortex of spacial energy inside it. As it neared the ground, Cobalion himself stepped out, followed by a small, demonic looking Pokemon.

“What do you mean? I killed him…” Alek said, his heart feeling torn in two as he turned to face the overseer of the New Order army. He’d never been this close to Cobalion, and he looked very intimidating.

“Yes, you did. Not very efficiently, but you did demonstrate your power effectively. And you have proven yourself worthy to me.” Cobalion said. He spoke in a very calm voice despite what happened.

“You mean this was some kind of test!?” Alek shouted in anger.
“He was one of your captains!”

Cobalion seemed completely aloof to this fact.
“He was disgraced. His effectiveness was never good to begin with, and I doubt any of his own troops would listen to him after what happened to him. He was a liability, and this army has no room for those. And had I dismissed him, he no doubt would have killed some of my own troops or maybe some apprentices out of spite. This was the best solution.”

Alek couldn’t believe what he was hearing. And the most shocking part of it all was that this was coming from Cobalion himself, leader of the Swords of Justice.

“I for one loved how you handled him. He was actually pretty scared behind all that anger. Scared of you. And I love a guy that can terrify people just by being in the room.” The little demon laughed.

“Shut up!” Alek shouted, throwing a Water Shruiken at him. But the Pokemon simply brought one of its hoops up, the attack disappearing inside it.

“Ooh, that sounded like it hurt.” He said as he held the hoop to his ear.

“What did?” Alek asked in frustration, fully prepared to throw another.

“Oh, I had a lovely gal waiting to receive that on the other side of this portal. I’ll go stop her bleeding later though.”
The hoop returned to the demon’s arm, jingling a little.

“Forgive lord Hoopa. I needed him here so I could view the fight without actually being noticeable. And now that his job is done, he should leave.” Cobalion said with a stern look at the being known as Hoopa.

“Alright, fine. But you’re not getting a birthday present from me this year. Or worse, you will.” Hoopa laughed, tossing one of his hoops into the air and zooming through it, the metal band blinking away shortly after.
Alek was glad to see that Pokemon go. He had just met him, and he already hated him. He then remembered what Cobalion had said.

“You said this was a test, and I proved myself. Proved myself for what?”

Cobalion strode around Alek, looking him over.
“The resistance has grown bold. They seek to take artifacts that rightly belong to us. I need an agent that can move about unseen and find these artifacts, and kill the members of the resistance that seek them. You, Alek, are more than perfect for this role.”

Alek looked at Cobalion in confusion.
“But I’m just an apprentice. I haven’t left the mountain since I arrived here. I’ve never…”
He was about to say he’d never even killed before, but he knew that no longer applied to him. He wondered if this crushing guilt was how Sully had felt when she killed the Infernape.

“But your power is immense. Possibly even equal to that of my… old apprentice.” Cobalion said. Now he was the one who looked shaken by something.
“I’m not going to question how you grew to be as strong as you are. All that matters now is that you have this strength, and you can use it to further our cause.”

Alek’s mind was a mess. He was trying to process everything Cobalion was saying, but he just found himself repeating the words he’d heard in his head, like reading the lines of a book several times before finally getting what was being said.

“W-what is it you need me to do?” Alek asked, feeling like he was going to vomit.

“To the west of here, there is a place known as Cutthroat pass. It’s where thieves, brigands, murderers, and deserters gather together. There is rumor that one of the artifacts we’re seeking is hidden there. You will go there, find it, and return it here. Kill anyone who tries to stop you. Failure will be heavily frowned upon… and punished.”

“But I can’t do this! I… I haven’t even trained enough. I don’t know how to do any of this. Please, just let me stay here. I don’t want to do this.”

“The choice is not yours. I am ordering you to go. And desertion of duty is already a serious offense. But to neglect an order from me…”

“You’re… threatening me?” Alek asked incredulously.

“No, I am not. I’m stating the rules of this army, nothing more.” Cobalion stated.

“Well… what if I just run away after I leave?” Alek said, though he knew he would never do that. He didn’t have the guts.

“An interesting question.” Cobalion mused.
“I suppose we’d have to replace you. For a mission as dangerous as this, we’d need a seasoned warrior to replace someone as skilled as you. Perhaps that Chestnaught friend of yours.”

Cobalion knew he struck a soft spot when he saw Alek’s eyes widen slightly.

“How do you know he’s my friend?” Alek asked.

“My apprentices are my pride and joy. My legacy. I make it my business to know theirs.”
“Now, would you prefer to go yourself? Or should I send one of your friends?”

Alek couldn’t believe what he was hearing. This wasn’t the Cobalion that had stood and delivered motivating speeches. This Cobalion was dark and uncaring.
“Myself.” Alek answered without much hesitation.
“What are you going to say happened to him?”
Alek gestured to the Gallade, not wanting to look at his body.

“We’ll dispose of the body and claim he deserted.” Cobalion answered.

“You can do that?”

“Of course. I do what I must to keep order.”
Cobalion sauntered over to one of the thrones, stepping up onto it and laying down on it. Alek had wondered why they were oddly long. They were meant for the Swords.
“Terrakion will brief you more completely than I have tomorrow, which is when you will leave. Tell no one of your mission.”

“But, can’t I say goodbye to my friends? Can’t I at least say I’m going somewhere without saying where?”

“No. This mission is confidential. We can’t risk resistance spies learning of our knowledge of plate locations, or that we have an agent retrieving them. Now, return to your dorm. Prepare yourself. Should you succeed, I can personally guarantee you a position of high authority in the army.

“Yes sir.” Alek saluted, more out of instinct than respect. He turned to walk out, the unmoving eyes of the Gallade seeming to follow him as he did. With some difficulty, he managed to get the wooden bar that held the door to the Pavilion shut, forcing it open with a creak.

Cobalion watched Alek go. His conscience was in turmoil with everything he had said to Alek, but he’d had no choice. He needed a crushing victory of some kind over the resistance. Otherwise, the others might very well go through with their plan to elect Groudon as chief of the army. Cobalion knew when sacrifices had to be made to save others, but Groudon would throw his troop’s lives away without a second thought if he thought it would get him more prestige. He was doing this for the greater good. He’d protect the majority no matter the cost to the minority. Even if that minority was currently one child.

~~~~~

Alek heard the noise before he saw who was making it. He turned around at the bottom of the steps just in time to take a tackle from a miserable Sully. Alek could clearly see she had been crying.

“Sully? Where did you come from? What were you doing up here?” Alek asked, looking around. Luckily, they were alone.

“I heard everything that damn Legendary said.” She answered, gritting her fangs.
“He’s supposed to be justice incarnate for Arceus sake, and he just threatened a kid.”

She wrapped herself around Alek, holding him close for comfort.
“And if you think I’m letting you go anywhere alone, then get that crap out of your brain.”

“But Cobalion said…”

“Screw him. He doesn’t deserve his job, or his right to boss people around.”

Alek looked around nervously, now incredibly paranoid someone might hear them.
“Sully, I want you to come with me. But how would you even get out of here without getting caught? Cobalion will probably have eyes on me.”

“Alek, I’m a freaking stealth specialist. I can get out of here just fine.” She assured, smirking. It was good to see her smile considering how distraught she’d been a few seconds ago.

“Alright. Sully, I’d be honored to have a soldier of your skill accompany me.” Alek said, smiling.

“Not a soldier yet, but I’m working on it.” She said, loosening her coil’s grip on Alek to allow him to stand.
“And to be perfectly honest, that Gallade dying leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I didn’t like him, but in the end he was just as much a victim to the higher ups as you were.”
Alek could tell, this matter was troubling Sully a lot more than she was letting on.

“Sully, what’s wrong? Really. You said you didn’t care about those captains.”

Sully shuddered a little as she struggled with her thoughts. She always had an odd way of reacting to stuff. She eventually sighed, curling up defensively.

“To be honest, I’m terrified. I always have been. Here, everyone is willing to stab each other in the back to get just a little higher on the totem pole.” Sully said.
“And I know it’ll get to the point where I’ll be the one doing the stabbing.”

Alek looked at Sully weirdly. She’d never admitted to being scared of anything before. Except maybe that Darius guy…
“But this place is good. Sure, there are about eighty percent of the captains, but the mercenaries aren’t that bad. And the generals care about us.”

“How can you defend this place after what just happened? How long do you think before I’m sent to die just so some younger kid can prove himself?”

“You know that’s not going to happen.” Alek assured her.
“Still, I think some time away from Mt. Providence could do you some good. Before I leave, head out and find someplace to hide and wait for me. Then follow at a distance until we reach Terraria, and then we’ll go the rest of the way together.”

“Alright. Thanks.” She said, noticeably less tense and upset.
“And don’t worry about me taking up any of your supplies. I don’t need a knapsack, and I can find all the food I need.”
She shuddered again, but this time in excitement.
“Wow. I’m actually going to be leaving Mt. Providence. For the first time since I got here.” She said enthusiastically.

“I know. It feels a little weird to me too.” Alek agreed.
“I’ve heard a lot of stories about the rest of the continent, but I’ve hardly seen any of it. And who knows, we may get a lot more travel opportunities if we pull this off.”
But then something occurred to Alek.
“Wait, but what about your classes. People will know something’s up when you don’t show for any of them.”

“Pssh, please. I cut classes whenever I feel like it. I learn all the stuff I need on my own time.” Sully scoffed.

Alek couldn’t help but chuckle at her indifferent attitude towards her classes.

“There’s that naïve smile of yours.” Sully snickered, uncurling.
“I guess it’s a good thing I followed that Sawk up here. You probably would have tried to leave me behind.”

Alek smiled at her. To think that a few days ago, he’d hardly known she existed. And now, she was right up there with Felicity and Arthur on his all-time favorite Pokemon list.

“Well, this little nightly excursion has been fun and all, but I’m feeling like I could just fall asleep right here.” Sully said, a hissy yawn escaping her mouth.

“Would you like me to carry you?” Alek asked innocently, really trying to do a genuine favor.
Of course Sully didn’t take it that way, blushing.

“I’m not a cripple Alek. I can move on my own.” She said, slithering past him.
“I’ll see if I can steal a few potions before I head out. See you around.”

Alek watched her go. He knew she’d get back to her room without any problem. She was, in his opinion, better at stealth than him. He just had more power behind his moves thanks to her.
Alek realized, that when he’d talked with her, all the issues he’d just dealt with had gone away, as if Sully had taken some of the burden on herself. After all, she’d killed before when she was younger than him.
Letting out a yawn of his own, Alek walked back to his room. But he didn’t sleep easy that night. The image of the Gallade he killed haunted him, his ghost blaming him from beyond the grave.

Day A5: Morning-ish

“Mail call!”

Darius and his team all looked in the direction of the shout as they lounged around the campsite. Teemo the Carnivine, Cornelius Dudley III the Hippowdon, and Keela the Mawile.

“Hah, and here I thought you weren’t going to show.” Darius laughed, rising to meet the New Order sanctioned delivery Delibird.

“I had to head up to Frostpoint first. The letter there was to one of our agents, and those always take priority.” The Delibird explained.

Keela eyed the Delibird, the jaw on her head growling.
“You’re just impossible to please, aren’t you?” She ridiculed, giving the jaw a little slap.

Darius ignored her, knowing very well she was considering this Delibird for food.

“So, whatchu got for me?” Darius asked, holding out his arm.
The Delibird pulled two parchments out of his tail, holding them out to Darius. Gripping them by curling his flexible arm against them, Darius looked the two parchments over.

“Two more bounties, huh?” Darius smirked.
The papers showed the images of two Pokemon. One was a Riolu, and the other was a Flaafy. The reward for the Riolu was a whopping 400,000 Poke. His crime; taking hostages and killing them even after receiving the money for their return.

“This little guy did that? As if.” Darius mused.

“Don’t let his size fool you. I heard he single handedly stole a powerful artifact from the Frostpoint base. That’s actually where I got this bounty from.” The Delibird explained.

Darius looked at the Flaafy’s paper.
“Wow. Yikes. This guy’s a devil.” Darius laughed.
“Sadistic torture… dismemberment… incredibly unstable… he’s the whole package. And 800,000 poke? Sweet Zyguard…” Darius exclaimed, smirking to himself.

“And Cobalion sends his regards. He kind of wants more workers for the mines though. He’s considering sending you to another province, more specifically, Greatwood. There’s an operation in the works to have Kyogre flood the entire jungle, and he wants you to be there to secure any survivors for labor purposes.” The Delibird explained, passing one final letter to Darius. Written across it the envelope was the word confidential.
“You’ll find all the details to the plan such as date, pay, and anything else in there.”

Darius nodded, tossing it over his shoulder to Teemo.
“It’s been about twenty years since I last left Sazandora. It’ll be nice for a change of scenery. Seems a bit overkill to flood an entire jungle though. There a specific reason for it?”

“Cobalion’s worried they might ally with the resistance. He wants them gone before they do.”

“And Mr. blue steel thinks he can pass a freak flood off on the Resistance? As if. Who would they have that could even pull a flood like that?”

“Umm… Lugia?” The Delibird suggested weakly.

“Works for me.” Darius shrugged.

Keela stood from her seat, walking over to the Delibird. His attention turned towards her, and his expression immediately shifted to worry as he saw the salivating jaw.
“Would you like me to get you something before you leave? Perhaps a bite to eat?” She asked sweetly.

“N-no thanks. I just ate.” The Delibird responded, taking a few tentative steps backward.

“Aw, but you’d make me sad if you didn’t stick around.” Keela pouted.

The Delibird, not wanting to waste any more time being around this creepy metal fairy, took flight. Keela lunged at him, but was too slow, her jaw only getting a mouthful of loose feathers.
The Delibird let out a loud squawk of fear as he flew away as fast as he could.

“What did I say about eating guys on our side?” Darius scolded, though he couldn’t help but smirk.

“As I recall, you only forbade the eating of anyone important. And from what I could see, he was done with his deliveries, which made him a nobody.” Keela reasoned.
“And now, I have nothing to eat.”

“You could try berries you know?” Cornelius Dudley III suggested.

Keela made a retching noise, along with her jaw.
“Berries? They’re just the colorful, puss filled warts that grow on the brown hairs of the planet.”

Teemo set down a berry he was about to eat, suddenly looking a little greener.
“Well thanks for putting that in my mind.” He groaned.

“I’m surprised at you Teemo. I would have thought you’d enjoy the flesh of others just as much as I do.” Keela said.
Teemo didn’t really have an answer for that, twiddling his leafy thumbs awkwardly.
Letting out a sigh, Keela grabbed several bags of money as well as a few gems from their treasure hoard.
“I’m off to do some hunting. I haven’t eaten a decent meal in weeks.” She announced, dragging the items with her as she walked.
Her preferred method of acquiring food involved creating an alluring pile of treasure in the middle of the desert, while she waited buried in the sand for a curious passerby to come and investigate. And when they did…

“Just don’t lose any of that stuff like last time. And please, try to let that pet mouth of yours digest whatever it catches before you come back here. The last guy kept me up all night with his yammering.” Darius said.

“Anything for you, dear.” Keela said, blowing a kiss before walking away from the campsite.

Darius chuckled at the flirting, turning towards his two remaining comrades.
“What do you say? Should we go on one last search for some merchandise? The day is still young.”

Cornelius Dudley III and Teemo both nodded, grinning.

“Glad to hear it. Let me just go check on our latest catches. Wouldn’t want them to starve before they get to Mt. Providence.”

Darius walked over to a pretty dilapidated but fairly large wagon. It was more of a caravan, looking like a person could live in it. But there was more than just one person currently living in it.
Darius strode up the plank steps on the back, unlocking the bolt that held it shut. It wasn’t much security, but it was more for keeping the door held shut than anything.
Inside the caravan, small metal cages were piled on top of each other. Most of them were empty, but there were a few that were occupied.
“Wakey wakey.” Darius greeted, pounding loudly on the nearest cage. Anyone who was sleep snapped awake, looking nervously at the Cacturn.
“Time to eat. Hope you like oasis lakeweed.”

Reaching into a wooden crate, Darius pulled out a handful of dried, green seaweed looking plant. He liked it because it was cheap, and provided just enough nourishment.

“If you think I’m going to eat that stuff, you’re sorely mistaken.” One of the newest prisoners stated.
Darius sighed at this comment, slowly shaking his head.

“If you don’t eat, you’ll die, and I lose my profits. So we both lose. You eat, you stay alive, and I get some money. That way, we both win.” Darius said, turning on the Pokemon who had spoken.
It was the very same Altaria merchant that had gotten Flurry to Frontier town, her Abra assistant also present along with several others. Clamped around his left forearm was a black metal cuff, an eerie purple glow emanating from it.
“And if you don’t like it, just remember that it’s your fault you ended up here. You could have kept paying for your protection fees and just stayed out of my business. But noooo, you just had to get all heroic and try and sabotage my capture. It’s not every day you see a shiny wandering around out here. But instead of a shiny Bagon, I got an Altaria and her lackeys. NOT a good trade off.”

Miss Altaria just scoffed at Darius’s whining, a cocky grin on her beak.

“You won’t be laughing in a couple weeks from now. I’m taking you back to my nice little hideout, where some New Order guy is gonna come and pick you up. Doopa, or something like that.” Darius waved off as he began shoving handfuls of the green weeds into the occupied cages.
The Abra looked at it with distaste, but his grumbling stomach eventually forced him to give in. Taking the clump of vegetation, he ripped a piece off with his tiny teeth, wincing at the flavor.

“Bon apatite.” Darius laughed, walking out of the caravan. Miss Altaria heard the noise of the bolt being drawn across the door, a deafening sort of finality about it.

“We’ll escape, right? I mean, you have a plan.” The Abra asked, his body shaking nervously.

“Don’t worry, I’ll think of something…” Miss Altaria responded, lifting her cloudy wing. Cuffed around the base of it was a similar cuff that her Abra assistant wore. In fact, all the Pokemon in the cages had a black metal cuff somewhere on their body.
“And even if I can’t save us, I’m sure someone will. I feel it in my bones.” She assured.