Chapter 37: Setting the Stage
BlackHairedPsycho
Aura Knight
“Alright, over here Scales!”
The large Hakamo-o placed the carefully carved arch right where Rose pointed, in front of the Keldeo fountain in the town square. It was a wooden thing, painted with white and brown, flowers weaved into the square slots at the top. The spray of Keldeo’s horn crested just right over the arch, completing the look nicely. The dragon turned to see Rose walking between the rows of chairs set up, carefully looking at the results of his morning of work.
“Perfect!” Rose said, clapping. “Thanks again big guy!”
“No problem!” Scales grinned. “Finn kicked me out while he was cooking anyway, least I could do.”
“Are you enjoying eachother?” Rose asked, patting him on the back. Her claws bounced off his thick hide and scales. “I mean, of course you are, I’ve barely seen you two apart.”
“Oh he’s great!” Scales grinned, showing the remains of his breakfast. Another attempt at honey roasted Spoink. He thought it tasted great, like the last fifteen attempts, but it looked like the Gabite agreed this time at least. He then kicked Scales out for the day so he wouldn’t eat what was supposed to be one of the main courses for the reception. Pana also promised that if he snuck anything from the other main course Blue’s mom was making he’d be skinned alive. Dammit… and he was getting hungry too. Maybe he could find something in that dungeon Finn mentioned… bring his back one of those pearls too… would he like that? Probably, he looked like he enjoyed staring at that one Rio brought over, but only while he seemed to be holding it. In fact, he seemed to like staring at Scales a lot…
“Good!” Rose said, smiling. “He’s like a little brother to me! You better treat him right!”
“...what’s that supposed to mean?”
The Zangoose simply gave him a wide, toothy grin. If Scales was physically capable of blushing, he would have been at that moment. He turned away from the Zangoose, towards the fountain. At that moment he saw… something. It was so brief, and it only lasted a second, but the dragon thought he saw the water spewing from Keldeo’s horn turn pitch black for just a moment. He blinked. That looked… familiar… and bad…
“Scales?” Rose asked, a grin still wide on her face. “What’s wrong? I’m just teasing!”
He looked into the fountain itself but there was no sign of anything wrong with the water. No patch of floating darkness, the water was as nice and clear as ever. The dragon shook his head, he was probably just seeing things.
“Thought I saw something weird,” the large Hakamo-o shrugged, turning back to face her.
“Probably not important. So… if I’m done…”
“You wish!” Rose exclaimed. “You need to set up tables for the food. Cone on.”
The dragon sighed, ignoring his grumbling stomach, and following the weasel.
I’m not sure why I keep writing days instead of years. Just never lost count I guess, but that’s not important.
It’s here. Its spread to Redwood. I found a new entrance close to town. I’m going in. It’s probably after whatever Keldeo hid here, and if it revealed itself it probably has it already. I have to get it back, that Legacy is gonna need it.
I’ll document more after I get back. No time to code this.
That was the last entry in the book. Blue flipped back through, trying to see if there was anything else, but no. That was the last entry. And he didn’t have to be a genius to figure out when that was written. It was the worst day of his life after all.
“Blue? You good?”
Blue looked up to see Rio, half-Sylveon at the moment, using his ribbons to hang from the tree upside down. The stone glowed brightly as the hybrid looked with his red and blue eyes down at Blue. Pana was glaring at the hybrid.
“Can’t believe I can’t evolve once but you can switch.” she growled.
“Hey, blame my parents. Whoever they are.”
She growled, before turning to Blue. “Yeah, you alright?”
“Fine…” Blue sighed. “Just… some more secrets.”
“Anything that’ll top the human stuff?” Rio asked, unwrapping his makeshift rope and landing on his feet.
Blue told Rio and Pana as soon as he got back. If Rose could know, why couldn’t they? Plus, if this did concern the Legacy business, which it apparently did, they should know every detail they could find. It concerned all of them after all.
“It might…”
That got their attention. All of a sudden both their eyes fell on the Bidoof, Rio even let his transformation go, fluffing back to normal.
“What’s up?” Rio asked.
So Blue explained. That his father apparently knew about Legacies, that Keldeo, the founder, apparently hid something here. And that strengthened some of his suspicions.
“Whatever Keldeo hid here probably relates to his Legacy,” Blue told his friends. “And… it probably got my dad killed.”
“Blue…” they both started.
“Later,” he cut him off. If he started thinking about that too much he wouldn’t stop, and that wouldn’t be productive. “I think I know what a Legacy really is now.”
“Well… don’t keep us in suspense," Rio said, after a pause. “Whatcha got?”
“Based on what I inferred from Diancie and my dad’s notes, a Legacy is a regular Pokemon that for some reason has a Legendary’s power. That’s what we saw with Rhodes.”
“That’s why he was pink?” Pana asked.
“That’s the theory.”
“Oh, that’s why she kept saying ‘Our power.’” Rio added. “And their weird Aura. They’re connected!”
“That sounds about right,” Blue nodded. “And I think I know why too…”
“The Labyrinth,” Rio guessed.
“Exactly,” Blue confirmed. “Dad mentioned something spreading, and Diancie said the same thing. It’s… after Legendaries, and they can’t break out on their own-”
“So they need someone else to bust them out,” Pana said. “That’s what happened with Rhodes.”
“That seems to be the case,” Blue agreed. “And that’s the most concerning part. Diancie called us all Legacies at one point or another, right?”
“Yup,” Rio confirmed, nodding. “So… guess that’s something to do.”
There was silence after that, as Blue silently panicked now that he’d gotten all that out. He, little, useless Blue, was supposed to go back into that terrifying death trap, and free what amounted to a god. From something that could IMPRISON said god. And if a human, his father, was involved at some point odds were this was something that could have even worse consequences. World ending ones…
Diancie had to have made a mistake. Him? The useless screw up? He couldn’t fight through that death trap, it was a miracle he didn’t get Rio killed with his wrist! This was-
The paw Rio put on his shoulder snapped him back to reality. They were both looking at him, faces not giving any worry away.
“One thing at a time,” Rio said. “Alright?”
“...Yeah…” Blue took a deep breath, and closed the book. The Riolu was right, panic wouldn’t help, and Scales still needed to know all of this. Breathe in... breathe out…
“What do you think Keldeo hid here?” Pana asked, plopping down next to Blue.
“No idea,” Blue admitted, breathing out. “Looks like dad didn’t know either…”
“After the wedding,” Rio said, stretching. “We’ll tell Scales, and we’ll wait a day, and we can go from there. Sound good?”
“Yup,” Pana said, nudging Blue with her elbow. “Good to you?”
“Yeah,” Blue sighed. “Maybe I can figure out some of this code…”
“Nope,” Pana said, and suddenly the journal was out of his paws.
“Wha- hey!” he made a grab for it, but she was out of his range in less than a second. “Pana, this isn’t funny!”
“It’s not supposed to be,” she said. “I’m not gonna let you drive yourself crazy right before a wedding. It’s supposed to be a good time.”
“I’m not driving myself crazy!” Blue shouted. His teammates could see the bags forming under his eyes, his fur was matted and messy, and frankly, he just looked like a mess.
“Looks like you are…” Rio grumbled.
“I’m fine!” Blue said. “I just-”
“Take a break,” Rio cut him off. “We can talk about this more after your brother is good and married.”
“...Fine. Can I please have the journal back at least? It’s… something to remember him by.”
Pana hesitated, but she did hand Blue the journal. The Bidoof took it back, gently, before storing it away in his bag.
“Thank you…”
“Alright… let’s get something to eat!” Rio said, stretching. “Changing type makes me hungry.”
“Yeah,” Pana growled, standing up. “Rub it in, why don’t ya?”
As the two bickered, Blue found his gaze wandering back towards the bag. Towards his father’s journal, and the secrets it still held. Secrets he couldn’t access just yet. Secrets that he couldn’t get out of his head…
Arceus, he did need a break. ...Was Arceus down there too? Was that even possible? Questions for later.
And so, he went to follow his friends.
“Boss, Tommy got all his ribs broken in one punch, and she literally folded Morgan in half. And you don’t wanna know what she did to the rest. We need more mon!”
Veles sat outside the Cheeky Chipmunk, enjoying a delicious berry stew as his best scout reported, eating his own meal as he stood on the table. Nutmeg’s cooking was as good as Rosie said. A real talent.
“It’s gonna have to wait,” Veles told the Murkrow. “I promised Rosie work wouldn’t interrupt her big day, and I’m sticking with that. Speaking of, how’s their gift coming along?”
“Just arrived at camp,” Edgar explained. “We had it from a deal on the Grass Continent, whole rack of cider, made from Perfect Apples. Best drink on the planet.”
“Good, good, I’ll grab it later.” he took another slurp of his soup.
“Boss, they’re coming here,” Edgar repeated.
“Yeah, I know,” he said between slurps. “We’re gonna have to deal with em after the wedding.”
“But what if they-”
“Edgar, they’ve only attacked in self defense. I doubt they’re goal is to ruin what’s happening. Sure, we need payback, but my daughter’s wedding ain’t gonna be where we get it. Keep an eye on them, closely, and as soon as it's over we’ll take care of it.”
“...Yes sir…”
Veles slurped up the rest of his stew, chewing on the rest of the berries before asking another question.
“While we’re talking about payback, any word on the Riolu?”
“None, boss. It’s like the little shit up and vanished.”
As the Murkrow said that, Veles saw three Pokemon enter the restaurant he sat in front of. One was Blue, brother of the groom and reader of obscure texts. Another was a small Pancham, moving without a sound, but it was the last one inside that really got his attention.
A fluffy Riolu, just like the report, held the door open for his two apparent companions. They all had those weird bracelets on their arms too.
Before the Riolu went in himself, he turned to face the Tyranitar. They locked eyes, yellow to red.
“What?” the Murkrow asked, turning around. His beak fell open at the sight of the Riolu, who gave a small grin, waved, and stepped inside.
“Vanished, huh?” Veles growled. He didn’t even notice the air around him start to heat up, and the new markings on his arm and back darken further and spread. To say the Tyranitar was displeased with his underlings would be a bit of an understatement.
“B-Boss, I-”
“Save it,” Veles cut him off, standing up. “We’ll talk about this later.” With that, he started to walk towards the door.
“I-I thought you were gonna wait til after the wedding!” Edgar exclaimed.
“I am,” the Tyranitar confirmed as he crouched down to go back inside. “I apparently need to scout myself though. Make sure I know what I’m dealing with.”
The glare Veles gave his subordinate shook the bird to the very core. He opened his beak to say more, but nothing came out. The air seemed to heat up even more the longer Veles glared. The Murkrow knew the glare well, it’s what the Tyranitar looked like before he stomped on whatever had wronged him.
“I… I-”
“Bye.”
Edgar took the grace of his employer, flying off as fast as possible. Veles watched him go, before grabbing the platter of food and walking back inside. It would have been rude to just leave it out there. Plus it gave him an excuse.
Those three sat at one of the smaller tables, Nutmeg serving them their own helping of stew. They have good taste. It was too bad he’d probably have to squash one of them. Then again, if the Riolu did what his people told him he did, he might be more useful alive…
“My compliments to the chef!” Veles announced, further drawing everyone's attention . Nutmeg smiled, but Veles knew it was fake. She knew what he did.
“Thank you Veles,” Nutmeg said, taking the plates. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” She was curt, and to the point as she took the plates off him and retreated into the kitchen. He had to respect the nerve. And so, he turned his attention to the three children. Blue had a nervous look in his eyes, still obviously intimidated. The Pancham, after noticing Blue’s nervous demeanor, was looking him up and down. Again, he had to respect the nerve. The Riolu himself was just drinking his soup, seemingly not a care in the world. He looked up at the Tyranitar, and gave him another wave.
“Hi,” the Riolu said.
“Hey there!” he greeted, patting the Bidoof on the head. “Nice to see you again, Blue. You gonna introduce me to your friends?”
“Uh-” the Bidoof stammered.
“Rio,” the Riolu grinned, gesturing to the Pancham. “And this is my sister, Pana.”
“Hey,” she said casually.
“Little on the nose there, eh kids?” Veles chuckled.
“Yours any better, old mon?” Rio asked, in between chews.
“How does Veles sound?” the Tyranitar shot back.
“Like ‘Veles.’”
The Tyranitar laughed at that, lifting his hand off of Blue’s head and turning to face Rio.
“You got a mouth, kid,” he said, mid-chuckle.
“So do you.”
“Heh. I wonder, do you fight as well as you talk?”
“Nope. Better.”
“Uh, Rio-” Blue started.
“It’s rude to interrupt,” Veles growled, giving Blue a very brief glare. “So stay quiet for a bit. We can talk later.”
That shut the Bidoof up, and he immediately went back to his soup. Smart one, that Bidoof.
“That’s interesting,” Veles continued, putting his casual voice back on. “You know, some of my people told me about a Riolu that’s really good at fighting they met a while back.”
“That right?” Rio asked, biting into a slice of Pecha berry.
“Beat the shit out of them, and took their hard earned loot. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would ya?”
He grinned. “To be fair, they stole it first. I just got it back.”
Veles stepped closer, grinning as well. “You got balls, kid. Assaulting my mon, taking their loot, and then admitting it.”
“I'm a lot of things, a liar is not one of them. That’s her thing.” Rio pointed at Pana, who shrugged.
“Well thanks for being honest,” Veles said. “Normally I’d squash you for that, but between my daughter's wedding putting me in a good mood and your skills, I think I have something better.”
“Wait, Rose is your daughter?” Rio asked, not even acknowledging the threat. “How did that happen?”
“Another time maybe. Now, how would you like a job?”
“Already got one thanks.” Rio answered, gesturing at his friends. “Exploring works for me.”
“I pay well,” Veles went on. “Plus, if you do join I won’t have any reason to squash you. I’m good to my people, when they don’t fuck up.”
“Well I’m not your people, so…”
“You could be. All of you could, if you’ve got some talent.”
“Not interested,” Pana jumped in.
He looked all three over once again, before nodding.
“I see ya need some time to think it over. Let’s talk after the reception.” With that, he started for the door, leaving the young talent to their meal. Either they’d come willingly, or Veles would have to show them who was boss.
As he ducked under to leave, he felt himself be pushed back by someone coming in. Weird, he was usually the one who did the pushing. Looking down, he saw the biggest Hakamo-o he’d ever seen, at least as big as the species’s fully grown form. He had a crack in the big scale on his forehead too. Veles blinked in surprise.
“Sorry sir,” the Hakamo-o said, stepping to the side. “I’m starving, so…”
“It’s fine,” Veles said, stepping outside. “Watch it next time, alright big guy?”
“Sure,” the dragon said, before going into the restaurant himself. Veles watched as he sat down with the other kids. Safe bet to assume he was a part of their team too. He felt as strong as he looked too…
Yeah, they'll be good working under him.
And so Veles walked back to where he set camp, to grab his little girl’s present. Tomorrow would be good, he’d make sure of it...
Boss Veles probably was in town by now, wasn’t he? Should he go and see him? Last time didn’t really go well… said he was wasting his talent cooking… eh, what did he know? This dish would knock him on his ass with how good it was! Plus it was late…
“Smells great.”
The foreign voice came from behind him, and he spun to attack, his claws glowing with violet light as he thrust a Dragon Claw at the intruder. The blue eyed Espeon didn’t even flinch as she floated along on her pink bubble, Finn stopping right in front of her nose. There was something inside…
“Put that thing away Finn,” she said, yawning. “I’m here to give you something.”
“Who are you?” the dragon asked, not dropping his Dragon Claw. “How do you know my name?”
“Selena, and I’m psychic. Do you want your gift or not?”
Finn glared, and the psychic yawned, batting the bubble she lounged on. The dragon sighed, and dropped his claw. She wasn’t one that could be intimidated, it looked like. Rare in most mon, no matter how ballsy some were.
“Good boy,” she smiled, and the bubble popped. Her and the item inside clattered to the cave floor. It was a small yellow gemstone, very unevenly cut. Not particularly pretty. Still, the more Finn found himself staring at it, the more beautiful he found it. This was his, and his alone, no one else had to right to such a beautiful stone.
After just a moment of hesitation, the Gabite scooped onto one of his arm fins. It wasn’t big, only about as large as his own clawtip. He blinked at it, before looking back up at the Espeon.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Something special,” the Espeon shrugged. “On you to find the rest.”
“Wait, the rest?”
And then she was gone, in a pink flash of light. Finn looked around for the teleporting cat, but there was no trace of her. He looked back to the beautiful, rough stone, before sighing and putting it in his travel bag. Maybe he could get it made into a necklace.
So beautiful...
Psych could feel the minds of the sleeping townspeople a short walk away. They could have made it that night, but Griza insisted on another night of camping. After witnessing what she was capable of with a modicum of effort, Psych was not going to argue with the large bear.
It wasn’t ready to sleep, simply watching the full moon in the sky as its companion snored loudly by him. Such a thing so far away controlled the tides, and had so much power over the planet they sat on. If it moved a meter out of orbit, the consequences would be catastrophic. What a concept.
“Moon’s nice, yeah?”
Psych was floating immediately, eyes glowing with psychic power as it turned to the new presence that had just appeared. It instinctively understood the blue-eyed Espeon must have teleported, but shouldn't it have felt her about to appear? Psychic displacement was a very noticeable effect of teleportation.
And for the millionth time, it was asking itself why it knew that.
“Who are you?” Psych asked, balls of psionic energy suddenly orbiting its torso.
“Calm down,” the Espeon yawned. “Your mind feels weird, even for a Legacy. Even look like her...”
“What?” That was what that Sableye called Griza, and itself. “What is a Legacy?” Honestly, it was kind of a relief not to know.
“Considering what’s about to happen, something tells me you’ll find out soon. Sad to say I don’t have your key, but hey, that’s probably why you’re here.”
“Hold on, wha-”
“Good luck!” With that, she was gone in a flash of pink light. Psych could only blink at the strange exchange that Griza had completely snored through.
Well, at least she didn’t attack. Psych still had no idea what a Legacy was, and Griza didn’t want to talk about it the last time it asked, right before they left on this journey. Maybe if it told her about this experience that would change? Worth a shot. After she awoke of course.
With nothing else to do, and no way to fall asleep, especially after that, Psych went back to staring at the moon, like everyone else today, it didn’t notice the tendrils writhing nearby either.
“So many Legacies, all in one place… We’re gonna need more cages…”
The large Hakamo-o placed the carefully carved arch right where Rose pointed, in front of the Keldeo fountain in the town square. It was a wooden thing, painted with white and brown, flowers weaved into the square slots at the top. The spray of Keldeo’s horn crested just right over the arch, completing the look nicely. The dragon turned to see Rose walking between the rows of chairs set up, carefully looking at the results of his morning of work.
“Perfect!” Rose said, clapping. “Thanks again big guy!”
“No problem!” Scales grinned. “Finn kicked me out while he was cooking anyway, least I could do.”
“Are you enjoying eachother?” Rose asked, patting him on the back. Her claws bounced off his thick hide and scales. “I mean, of course you are, I’ve barely seen you two apart.”
“Oh he’s great!” Scales grinned, showing the remains of his breakfast. Another attempt at honey roasted Spoink. He thought it tasted great, like the last fifteen attempts, but it looked like the Gabite agreed this time at least. He then kicked Scales out for the day so he wouldn’t eat what was supposed to be one of the main courses for the reception. Pana also promised that if he snuck anything from the other main course Blue’s mom was making he’d be skinned alive. Dammit… and he was getting hungry too. Maybe he could find something in that dungeon Finn mentioned… bring his back one of those pearls too… would he like that? Probably, he looked like he enjoyed staring at that one Rio brought over, but only while he seemed to be holding it. In fact, he seemed to like staring at Scales a lot…
“Good!” Rose said, smiling. “He’s like a little brother to me! You better treat him right!”
“...what’s that supposed to mean?”
The Zangoose simply gave him a wide, toothy grin. If Scales was physically capable of blushing, he would have been at that moment. He turned away from the Zangoose, towards the fountain. At that moment he saw… something. It was so brief, and it only lasted a second, but the dragon thought he saw the water spewing from Keldeo’s horn turn pitch black for just a moment. He blinked. That looked… familiar… and bad…
“Scales?” Rose asked, a grin still wide on her face. “What’s wrong? I’m just teasing!”
He looked into the fountain itself but there was no sign of anything wrong with the water. No patch of floating darkness, the water was as nice and clear as ever. The dragon shook his head, he was probably just seeing things.
“Thought I saw something weird,” the large Hakamo-o shrugged, turning back to face her.
“Probably not important. So… if I’m done…”
“You wish!” Rose exclaimed. “You need to set up tables for the food. Cone on.”
The dragon sighed, ignoring his grumbling stomach, and following the weasel.
…
Day 12055
I’m not sure why I keep writing days instead of years. Just never lost count I guess, but that’s not important.
It’s here. Its spread to Redwood. I found a new entrance close to town. I’m going in. It’s probably after whatever Keldeo hid here, and if it revealed itself it probably has it already. I have to get it back, that Legacy is gonna need it.
I’ll document more after I get back. No time to code this.
That was the last entry in the book. Blue flipped back through, trying to see if there was anything else, but no. That was the last entry. And he didn’t have to be a genius to figure out when that was written. It was the worst day of his life after all.
“Blue? You good?”
Blue looked up to see Rio, half-Sylveon at the moment, using his ribbons to hang from the tree upside down. The stone glowed brightly as the hybrid looked with his red and blue eyes down at Blue. Pana was glaring at the hybrid.
“Can’t believe I can’t evolve once but you can switch.” she growled.
“Hey, blame my parents. Whoever they are.”
She growled, before turning to Blue. “Yeah, you alright?”
“Fine…” Blue sighed. “Just… some more secrets.”
“Anything that’ll top the human stuff?” Rio asked, unwrapping his makeshift rope and landing on his feet.
Blue told Rio and Pana as soon as he got back. If Rose could know, why couldn’t they? Plus, if this did concern the Legacy business, which it apparently did, they should know every detail they could find. It concerned all of them after all.
“It might…”
That got their attention. All of a sudden both their eyes fell on the Bidoof, Rio even let his transformation go, fluffing back to normal.
“What’s up?” Rio asked.
So Blue explained. That his father apparently knew about Legacies, that Keldeo, the founder, apparently hid something here. And that strengthened some of his suspicions.
“Whatever Keldeo hid here probably relates to his Legacy,” Blue told his friends. “And… it probably got my dad killed.”
“Blue…” they both started.
“Later,” he cut him off. If he started thinking about that too much he wouldn’t stop, and that wouldn’t be productive. “I think I know what a Legacy really is now.”
“Well… don’t keep us in suspense," Rio said, after a pause. “Whatcha got?”
“Based on what I inferred from Diancie and my dad’s notes, a Legacy is a regular Pokemon that for some reason has a Legendary’s power. That’s what we saw with Rhodes.”
“That’s why he was pink?” Pana asked.
“That’s the theory.”
“Oh, that’s why she kept saying ‘Our power.’” Rio added. “And their weird Aura. They’re connected!”
“That sounds about right,” Blue nodded. “And I think I know why too…”
“The Labyrinth,” Rio guessed.
“Exactly,” Blue confirmed. “Dad mentioned something spreading, and Diancie said the same thing. It’s… after Legendaries, and they can’t break out on their own-”
“So they need someone else to bust them out,” Pana said. “That’s what happened with Rhodes.”
“That seems to be the case,” Blue agreed. “And that’s the most concerning part. Diancie called us all Legacies at one point or another, right?”
“Yup,” Rio confirmed, nodding. “So… guess that’s something to do.”
There was silence after that, as Blue silently panicked now that he’d gotten all that out. He, little, useless Blue, was supposed to go back into that terrifying death trap, and free what amounted to a god. From something that could IMPRISON said god. And if a human, his father, was involved at some point odds were this was something that could have even worse consequences. World ending ones…
Diancie had to have made a mistake. Him? The useless screw up? He couldn’t fight through that death trap, it was a miracle he didn’t get Rio killed with his wrist! This was-
The paw Rio put on his shoulder snapped him back to reality. They were both looking at him, faces not giving any worry away.
“One thing at a time,” Rio said. “Alright?”
“...Yeah…” Blue took a deep breath, and closed the book. The Riolu was right, panic wouldn’t help, and Scales still needed to know all of this. Breathe in... breathe out…
“What do you think Keldeo hid here?” Pana asked, plopping down next to Blue.
“No idea,” Blue admitted, breathing out. “Looks like dad didn’t know either…”
“After the wedding,” Rio said, stretching. “We’ll tell Scales, and we’ll wait a day, and we can go from there. Sound good?”
“Yup,” Pana said, nudging Blue with her elbow. “Good to you?”
“Yeah,” Blue sighed. “Maybe I can figure out some of this code…”
“Nope,” Pana said, and suddenly the journal was out of his paws.
“Wha- hey!” he made a grab for it, but she was out of his range in less than a second. “Pana, this isn’t funny!”
“It’s not supposed to be,” she said. “I’m not gonna let you drive yourself crazy right before a wedding. It’s supposed to be a good time.”
“I’m not driving myself crazy!” Blue shouted. His teammates could see the bags forming under his eyes, his fur was matted and messy, and frankly, he just looked like a mess.
“Looks like you are…” Rio grumbled.
“I’m fine!” Blue said. “I just-”
“Take a break,” Rio cut him off. “We can talk about this more after your brother is good and married.”
“...Fine. Can I please have the journal back at least? It’s… something to remember him by.”
Pana hesitated, but she did hand Blue the journal. The Bidoof took it back, gently, before storing it away in his bag.
“Thank you…”
“Alright… let’s get something to eat!” Rio said, stretching. “Changing type makes me hungry.”
“Yeah,” Pana growled, standing up. “Rub it in, why don’t ya?”
As the two bickered, Blue found his gaze wandering back towards the bag. Towards his father’s journal, and the secrets it still held. Secrets he couldn’t access just yet. Secrets that he couldn’t get out of his head…
Arceus, he did need a break. ...Was Arceus down there too? Was that even possible? Questions for later.
And so, he went to follow his friends.
…
“Boss, Tommy got all his ribs broken in one punch, and she literally folded Morgan in half. And you don’t wanna know what she did to the rest. We need more mon!”
Veles sat outside the Cheeky Chipmunk, enjoying a delicious berry stew as his best scout reported, eating his own meal as he stood on the table. Nutmeg’s cooking was as good as Rosie said. A real talent.
“It’s gonna have to wait,” Veles told the Murkrow. “I promised Rosie work wouldn’t interrupt her big day, and I’m sticking with that. Speaking of, how’s their gift coming along?”
“Just arrived at camp,” Edgar explained. “We had it from a deal on the Grass Continent, whole rack of cider, made from Perfect Apples. Best drink on the planet.”
“Good, good, I’ll grab it later.” he took another slurp of his soup.
“Boss, they’re coming here,” Edgar repeated.
“Yeah, I know,” he said between slurps. “We’re gonna have to deal with em after the wedding.”
“But what if they-”
“Edgar, they’ve only attacked in self defense. I doubt they’re goal is to ruin what’s happening. Sure, we need payback, but my daughter’s wedding ain’t gonna be where we get it. Keep an eye on them, closely, and as soon as it's over we’ll take care of it.”
“...Yes sir…”
Veles slurped up the rest of his stew, chewing on the rest of the berries before asking another question.
“While we’re talking about payback, any word on the Riolu?”
“None, boss. It’s like the little shit up and vanished.”
As the Murkrow said that, Veles saw three Pokemon enter the restaurant he sat in front of. One was Blue, brother of the groom and reader of obscure texts. Another was a small Pancham, moving without a sound, but it was the last one inside that really got his attention.
A fluffy Riolu, just like the report, held the door open for his two apparent companions. They all had those weird bracelets on their arms too.
Before the Riolu went in himself, he turned to face the Tyranitar. They locked eyes, yellow to red.
“What?” the Murkrow asked, turning around. His beak fell open at the sight of the Riolu, who gave a small grin, waved, and stepped inside.
“Vanished, huh?” Veles growled. He didn’t even notice the air around him start to heat up, and the new markings on his arm and back darken further and spread. To say the Tyranitar was displeased with his underlings would be a bit of an understatement.
“B-Boss, I-”
“Save it,” Veles cut him off, standing up. “We’ll talk about this later.” With that, he started to walk towards the door.
“I-I thought you were gonna wait til after the wedding!” Edgar exclaimed.
“I am,” the Tyranitar confirmed as he crouched down to go back inside. “I apparently need to scout myself though. Make sure I know what I’m dealing with.”
The glare Veles gave his subordinate shook the bird to the very core. He opened his beak to say more, but nothing came out. The air seemed to heat up even more the longer Veles glared. The Murkrow knew the glare well, it’s what the Tyranitar looked like before he stomped on whatever had wronged him.
“I… I-”
“Bye.”
Edgar took the grace of his employer, flying off as fast as possible. Veles watched him go, before grabbing the platter of food and walking back inside. It would have been rude to just leave it out there. Plus it gave him an excuse.
Those three sat at one of the smaller tables, Nutmeg serving them their own helping of stew. They have good taste. It was too bad he’d probably have to squash one of them. Then again, if the Riolu did what his people told him he did, he might be more useful alive…
“My compliments to the chef!” Veles announced, further drawing everyone's attention . Nutmeg smiled, but Veles knew it was fake. She knew what he did.
“Thank you Veles,” Nutmeg said, taking the plates. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” She was curt, and to the point as she took the plates off him and retreated into the kitchen. He had to respect the nerve. And so, he turned his attention to the three children. Blue had a nervous look in his eyes, still obviously intimidated. The Pancham, after noticing Blue’s nervous demeanor, was looking him up and down. Again, he had to respect the nerve. The Riolu himself was just drinking his soup, seemingly not a care in the world. He looked up at the Tyranitar, and gave him another wave.
“Hi,” the Riolu said.
“Hey there!” he greeted, patting the Bidoof on the head. “Nice to see you again, Blue. You gonna introduce me to your friends?”
“Uh-” the Bidoof stammered.
“Rio,” the Riolu grinned, gesturing to the Pancham. “And this is my sister, Pana.”
“Hey,” she said casually.
“Little on the nose there, eh kids?” Veles chuckled.
“Yours any better, old mon?” Rio asked, in between chews.
“How does Veles sound?” the Tyranitar shot back.
“Like ‘Veles.’”
The Tyranitar laughed at that, lifting his hand off of Blue’s head and turning to face Rio.
“You got a mouth, kid,” he said, mid-chuckle.
“So do you.”
“Heh. I wonder, do you fight as well as you talk?”
“Nope. Better.”
“Uh, Rio-” Blue started.
“It’s rude to interrupt,” Veles growled, giving Blue a very brief glare. “So stay quiet for a bit. We can talk later.”
That shut the Bidoof up, and he immediately went back to his soup. Smart one, that Bidoof.
“That’s interesting,” Veles continued, putting his casual voice back on. “You know, some of my people told me about a Riolu that’s really good at fighting they met a while back.”
“That right?” Rio asked, biting into a slice of Pecha berry.
“Beat the shit out of them, and took their hard earned loot. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would ya?”
He grinned. “To be fair, they stole it first. I just got it back.”
Veles stepped closer, grinning as well. “You got balls, kid. Assaulting my mon, taking their loot, and then admitting it.”
“I'm a lot of things, a liar is not one of them. That’s her thing.” Rio pointed at Pana, who shrugged.
“Well thanks for being honest,” Veles said. “Normally I’d squash you for that, but between my daughter's wedding putting me in a good mood and your skills, I think I have something better.”
“Wait, Rose is your daughter?” Rio asked, not even acknowledging the threat. “How did that happen?”
“Another time maybe. Now, how would you like a job?”
“Already got one thanks.” Rio answered, gesturing at his friends. “Exploring works for me.”
“I pay well,” Veles went on. “Plus, if you do join I won’t have any reason to squash you. I’m good to my people, when they don’t fuck up.”
“Well I’m not your people, so…”
“You could be. All of you could, if you’ve got some talent.”
“Not interested,” Pana jumped in.
He looked all three over once again, before nodding.
“I see ya need some time to think it over. Let’s talk after the reception.” With that, he started for the door, leaving the young talent to their meal. Either they’d come willingly, or Veles would have to show them who was boss.
As he ducked under to leave, he felt himself be pushed back by someone coming in. Weird, he was usually the one who did the pushing. Looking down, he saw the biggest Hakamo-o he’d ever seen, at least as big as the species’s fully grown form. He had a crack in the big scale on his forehead too. Veles blinked in surprise.
“Sorry sir,” the Hakamo-o said, stepping to the side. “I’m starving, so…”
“It’s fine,” Veles said, stepping outside. “Watch it next time, alright big guy?”
“Sure,” the dragon said, before going into the restaurant himself. Veles watched as he sat down with the other kids. Safe bet to assume he was a part of their team too. He felt as strong as he looked too…
Yeah, they'll be good working under him.
And so Veles walked back to where he set camp, to grab his little girl’s present. Tomorrow would be good, he’d make sure of it...
…
Finn had done it. For real this time. Before the Gabite sat sixteen perfect, steaming honey roast Spoink, capable of feeding the boss's inner circle for the reception along with Nutmeg’s soup. She was a good mentor. Should have been more than enough, but the mere existence of Scales made him question that a little…
Boss Veles probably was in town by now, wasn’t he? Should he go and see him? Last time didn’t really go well… said he was wasting his talent cooking… eh, what did he know? This dish would knock him on his ass with how good it was! Plus it was late…
“Smells great.”
The foreign voice came from behind him, and he spun to attack, his claws glowing with violet light as he thrust a Dragon Claw at the intruder. The blue eyed Espeon didn’t even flinch as she floated along on her pink bubble, Finn stopping right in front of her nose. There was something inside…
“Put that thing away Finn,” she said, yawning. “I’m here to give you something.”
“Who are you?” the dragon asked, not dropping his Dragon Claw. “How do you know my name?”
“Selena, and I’m psychic. Do you want your gift or not?”
Finn glared, and the psychic yawned, batting the bubble she lounged on. The dragon sighed, and dropped his claw. She wasn’t one that could be intimidated, it looked like. Rare in most mon, no matter how ballsy some were.
“Good boy,” she smiled, and the bubble popped. Her and the item inside clattered to the cave floor. It was a small yellow gemstone, very unevenly cut. Not particularly pretty. Still, the more Finn found himself staring at it, the more beautiful he found it. This was his, and his alone, no one else had to right to such a beautiful stone.
After just a moment of hesitation, the Gabite scooped onto one of his arm fins. It wasn’t big, only about as large as his own clawtip. He blinked at it, before looking back up at the Espeon.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Something special,” the Espeon shrugged. “On you to find the rest.”
“Wait, the rest?”
And then she was gone, in a pink flash of light. Finn looked around for the teleporting cat, but there was no trace of her. He looked back to the beautiful, rough stone, before sighing and putting it in his travel bag. Maybe he could get it made into a necklace.
So beautiful...
…
Psych could feel the minds of the sleeping townspeople a short walk away. They could have made it that night, but Griza insisted on another night of camping. After witnessing what she was capable of with a modicum of effort, Psych was not going to argue with the large bear.
It wasn’t ready to sleep, simply watching the full moon in the sky as its companion snored loudly by him. Such a thing so far away controlled the tides, and had so much power over the planet they sat on. If it moved a meter out of orbit, the consequences would be catastrophic. What a concept.
“Moon’s nice, yeah?”
Psych was floating immediately, eyes glowing with psychic power as it turned to the new presence that had just appeared. It instinctively understood the blue-eyed Espeon must have teleported, but shouldn't it have felt her about to appear? Psychic displacement was a very noticeable effect of teleportation.
And for the millionth time, it was asking itself why it knew that.
“Who are you?” Psych asked, balls of psionic energy suddenly orbiting its torso.
“Calm down,” the Espeon yawned. “Your mind feels weird, even for a Legacy. Even look like her...”
“What?” That was what that Sableye called Griza, and itself. “What is a Legacy?” Honestly, it was kind of a relief not to know.
“Considering what’s about to happen, something tells me you’ll find out soon. Sad to say I don’t have your key, but hey, that’s probably why you’re here.”
“Hold on, wha-”
“Good luck!” With that, she was gone in a flash of pink light. Psych could only blink at the strange exchange that Griza had completely snored through.
Well, at least she didn’t attack. Psych still had no idea what a Legacy was, and Griza didn’t want to talk about it the last time it asked, right before they left on this journey. Maybe if it told her about this experience that would change? Worth a shot. After she awoke of course.
With nothing else to do, and no way to fall asleep, especially after that, Psych went back to staring at the moon, like everyone else today, it didn’t notice the tendrils writhing nearby either.
…
Something chuckled in the depths of the Labyrinth, although nothing could really hear it. It made sure of that a while ago, and even though it could have grabbed all the Legacies that had just shown up, it’d be easier to snatch them all when they all met up. Why else would they be here, after all? They were after the keys...
“So many Legacies, all in one place… We’re gonna need more cages…”
