Pokémon Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Path of Valor

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Heya, coming back to this to try and close the distance with this story's current events a bit more with…

Chapter 90

Spoiler: Line-by-Line

"Seriously?"

Tessa looked at the paper that Nickie nudged across the floor to her. It had crude doodles of spiked rings.

"Yeah!" Nickie's tails wagged asynchronously. "Look, this bandanna you leant me is nice. But it's not my style." She nudged at the blue cloth with her snout.

Well, that would explain a thing or two about Nikki's current fashion sensibilities. Though I wonder if this means that we'll ever see her get to rock a choker at some point.

"Not your... style?" Tessa picked up the paper. "So you'd rather wear—"

"Spiked collars and anklets!" Nickie's tails wagged faster. "I had spiked wristbands back home. They were great. I'd love something like that here." Her eyes sparkled. "And then maybe I can grow out my hair so it covers up one of my eyes a bit. Gimme that 'heartthrob' look." She swished her tails to the side and stuck a foreleg out in a pose accentuated by the sparkling of her icy pelt.

Oh, so even back in the human world, Nickie was going through a punk phase.

Tessa blinked. "Huh."

The vulpix frowned. "Something wrong?"

"I guess I... thought you'd go for softer accessories."

"Oh." Nickie's ears folded. "Well, I—" She brushed her forelegs together. "Now that you know the truth I thought... I could be more of my, y'know, authentic self around you."

I distinctly remember that Nikki had a similar character arc earlier in the story, I wonder just how much of each characters' overbroad life events were repeated/echoed in their AU!GL incarnations' experiences.

"Hmm?" The realization set in a moment later for the riolu. "Ah!"

She lightly hit her head a few times. "Stupid, stupid!" Tessa folded up the paper. "Of course you should do that."

Can't tell if this is an allusion to Tessa remembering how Nickie wasn't able to be herself back in the human world or else if there's another story here that we'll see sometime down the road.

"Then you'll help me find a place that sells these?" Nickie regained her earlier enthusiasm.

"Totally."

"And maybe some fur dye?" Nickie looked back at her right flank. "I was thinking some pinks and purples..."

Tessa walked over and slung an arm around Nickie. "I'm sure we've got the funds for it."

Oh no, she's becoming an OC-

Nickie: "Hey, if there can be out-and-out fusions in this story that people take seriously, I can have a dye job, okay?!"

As the name implied, Herbrides' Hilltop Mall sat on a decently sized hill toward the center of the city. The entrance offered a view of grain and wheat fields beyond city limits, along with the rows of tan-colored buildings fanning out in all directions.

That BGM is reminding me that I have this game rotting in my backlog right now and I should really get around to it once writing, reviewing, and XB3FR stop making me make glub glub noises.

Inside, however, the white floor was so pristine that Yuna could see an outline of her reflection. Though the dragapult had to admit she liked how the floor sparkled under the sunlight spilling in through the mall's glass roof.

"So, what d'ya think, Princess?"

Nikki clapped Yuna on the back as she passed her by. The toxtricity ran a hand along the top of a neat, rectangular bush planted in a pot in the middle of the floor.

Yuna: "I... uh, never really saw you as the mall type, really."

"It's, um, something?" Yuna waited until Igneous walked past before continuing forward. She glanced over her shoulder. Scarlett had on some sort of cloak to hide her face, while Shimmer was disguised as a fire-type ponyta.

Also, is this literally based off the Alive Mall, just not overgrown, or is this just a generic mall whipped up here?

Truthfully, she still wasn't sure why Nikki insisted on dragging her here. The whole reason part of the resistance was in Herbrides was to sweep the city itself. Cid mentioned something about the distortion that swallowed up Tulpise spreading south, and that was all Seifer needed to demand they move out.

I mean, on the positive side, that probably helps with booking cheap hotel rooms right now, since I imagine that if that news is public that the Herbrides have likely cleared out considerably.

"You don't really think the empire's going to spawn in this mall, do you?" Yuna wondered, keeping her voice down. Plenty of folks were heading in both directions. A fact that Shimmer and Scarlett both seemed spooked by.

"Of course not." Nikki adjusted her leather jacket. "But we needed a change of scenery." She walked backward. "C'mon. A week of nothing but artificial light and Cyril's dumb outpost is so boring."

"I guess." Yuna did find the natural sunlight refreshing after another week of mind-numbing training exercises. "Though we could get sunlight outside, too."

"Sure, sure." Nikki dismissed her with a wave. "But then we wouldn't get to take you to your first mall!"

Nikki: "Which I'm honestly kinda shocked that you've managed this all this time, since foreign royalty going on spending sprees isn't exactly a rare thing."

This was about Yuna? The dragapult's head swiveled left and right. There were glass windows with two and four-legged mannequins draped in cloaks and jackets. One store displayed wooden shelves lined with trays of assorted baked goods. The store next to it had big glass containers full of wrapped candies and chocolates.

It was kind of like the market in Saint Zygardesberg. Except the shops were stacked into multiple floors instead of lining a single street.

Oh, so their markets haven't yet reached the stage of "multi-story arcade" yet. Honestly a little surprising given how many dragonmons can casually fly, but I suppose that's decently on-brand for pre-industrial life.

"Wait a tic," Reshiram piped up. "How are you supposed to buy anything? You don't have any radians on you."

Yuna passed that concern along to Nikki. The toxtricity snickered. She flicked her right hand out. A tiny plastic rectangle popped up between her fingers.

"Since when do you have a credit card?" Scarlett slithered past Nikki, stopping by a fountain and eyeing the marble primarina statue spitting up water. The brionne scattered along the fountain's rim also spat water. And were those coins glistening on the floor?

Cue the theme song:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8ZZjObnOt4

It was weird, yet Yuna found all the sparkling coins and rippling water relaxing. She could've stared at the bottom of the fountain all day, but Nikki's voice caught her attention.

Oh, she has a treasure hoard back in Aeon, doesn't she? Since I can see that mesmerized look at those coins there. :V

"Since I swiped it outta lover boy's hair." Nikki stuck her hands up by her mohawk and wiggled her fingers while making a kissy face.

Arms crossed, Igneous rested against one of the stone brionne. "And what happens when Cyril realizes he has a bunch of new charges on his credit card?"

"Nothing." Nikki tucked the card back into a small, zippered pocket on her jacket. In a hushed voice, she added, "Dude illegally mints his own radians. He won't care."

Wait, radians are a cryptocurrency in this setting? Or does Cyril literally have a mint pressing counterfeit bills in the basement of his burger joint?

Igneous' brows twitched in irritation while Nikki continued past the fountain. Gulping, Yuna followed.

"At least it's better than outright shoplifting?" she offered with a nervous smile.

I'm going to die of laughter if you actually wind up doing a reference to that one Proud Family sequence.

"Niiice. Looking at the bright side." Shaymin nodded his tiny head in her subconscious. "I dig it. Say, they got any good eats around here?"

What does it matter? You're a spirit! Groaning, Yuna shoved the Sages out of her head. "So, what exactly are we going to do here? I'm not, like, looking to buy food or clothes."

"No duh." Nikki picked up the pace. "C'mon. Map said it's back here on the third floor." The toxtricity pointed toward a moving staircase in the far distance. She pushed her way past an older simipour and simisage. "Stand aside, geezers!"

So... arcade or movie theater?

Yuna muttered an apology as she floated after Nikki. She swerved past an inteleon, whose sobble child on their shoulder promptly began crying and turned invisible. She weaved under the large frames of a couple of garganacle, nearly crashing into a painting canvas with a smeargle sitting beside it. Yuna floated ahead, flashing Smeargle a nervous grin. They shook their head and returned to... painting a portrait of a plusle and minun couple sitting on a stool next to the canvas and holding hands.

Wait, Sobble can do that canonically? .-.

Why is this so... nostalgic?

"Because of thine market trips back home?" Rayquaza wondered.

Maybe? The market did bustle, yes. But the ash choking the skies over Saint Zygardesberg made it tough to appreciate her time there.

"Perhaps it's Giratina's memories, then."

... Wait, implying that Tessa managed to go back with Nickie to her world at least on one occasion? Since that would certainly be one way for a mall like this to be nostalgic to her.

Reshiram's thought sent a chill down Yuna's ectoplasm. She barely avoided an elderly espathra moving much slower than surrounding foot traffic. For a moment, the pristine white floors turned to a dirt road. Instead of a toxtricity shoving people aside, a familiar black-haired girl waved Yuna over before jogging down the dirt road toward a small wooden building with some sort of toolbox outside it.

"Let's craft some smoke balls together! They'll totally help us look for the pokémon causing those storms!"

Huh, guess she really is seeing Giratina's memories there, since that's straight outta PLA.

"Keep up, Yuna!"

Scarlett's voice snapped the dragapult to attention. Nikki was already heading up the escalator, with Igneous and the dragonair about to get on.

"Sorry!" Yuna squeaked. She decided to fly higher up, over everyone else, to keep pace with the others.

"I'm right, aren't I?" Reshiram cut in.

Yuna: "... No comment." >_>;

Yeah, sure. But Nikki said we're here to have fun. Yuna reached Igneous and Scarlett. So drop it, okay?

Sighing, Reshiram retreated from her mind. Yuna hovered up the escalator. The others got off at the third floor. Nikki walked a few meters away, toward a flashing neon "GAME BUSTERS ARCADE" sign above open glass doors. She stood with her hands proudly on her hips.

Yeah, I had a feeling that they were going to something like this. That's definitely something you don't see in many malls anymore.

"Seriously?!" Igneous' head leaf and tails simmered. "You dragged us here for a damn arcade? We're not a pack of kids, you know."

"Oh, step off your high rapidash." Not turning around, Nikki waved the grovlazzle off. "You're never too old to let your inner child out for a spell. Think of it like a team-building exercise."

And it'll be time to see the groaner bland name counterparts you came up with for different games inside.

She finally looked over her shoulder. "Speaking of high rapidash, where's Pillow Prince?"

Yuna's eyes widened. Right, Shimmer. He was with them before. What happened?

"Tch." Igneous crossed his arms. "Right when you ran off, he said Demerzel contacted him. So, he left."

Yuna: "Oh for crying out-!" >.<
Nikki: "Wait, but isn't that a good thing? Since with all due respect, but Pillow Prince didn't strike me as the type to handle games well unless he won all the time."

Scarlett frowned. "I thought Gene had gotten rid of that whole connection."

"He kept a part of it." Igneous pinched his brow in annoyance. "He still wants to keep tabs on his mothers, apparently. Tried to tell him it was a bad idea, but he wouldn't listen."

Well, I suppose that's a sign that this casual day out at the mall isn't going to stay a casual day out at the mall for long.

So, the ponytales was off to meet with Demerzel, then? That was... not going to bite them, was it? The look in Igneous' eyes suggested it wouldn't, but it made Yuna nervous anyway.

Narrator: "It will absolutely come to bite them."

"Well, forget him." Nikki stepped toward the others, rubbing her hands together. "This evens things out perfectly."

"For what?" Scarlett wondered, looking between Nikki and the arcade. Though the door was open, it was quite dark on the other side.

"For a little two-on-two air hockey action." Nikki punched the air while her mohawk flared up with excitement. "Since Princess has to learn the ropes, I'll take her. And you two can be together." A wry grin spread over her face. "Y'know, since you've been spending soooo much time together~"

Yeah, I figured that Nikki would take Shimmer's absence in stride, though no group game of Mario Kart Arcade GP?

Igneous' head leaf caught fire, which he immediately snuffed out. "Why should you get decide?"

"Aww, what's the matter?" Nikki was at Igneous side in an instant. She noogied his head. "Afraid of getting your ass kicked in a friendly competition?"

Nikki has a lot of experience with pressing buttons to get her way in life, doesn't she?

"Knock it off!" Igneous shoved her away. "The teams are—"

Scarlett's tail wrapped around the grovlazzle's leg. "You don't have a problem with me not having limbs, do you?"

The simmering returned to his head leaf. "N-Not at all." Igneous clenched his fist. "We can... kick their asses just fine."

Well, that's going to be a sight to behold from Team Igneous' end.

Nikki's grin widened. "Now that's the spirit! C'mon!"

Before Yuna could say anything, Nikki had her by the arm and was running for the arcade entrance.

Ah yes, time to find out if "no limbs" or "no experience" is the bigger handicap in air hockey.

Herbrides. Why did it have to spread toward Herbrides? was all Seifer could think to himself as he walked along a side street. Cyril was beside him, in the guise of a dark-type zoroark. He held a small rectangular radar.

Oh huh, that's definitely different from how I remembered Poshley Heights' music sounding, but it's not a bad remix.

"Still nothing." Cyril tapped the screen with an illusory red claw. He shifted his weight mid-step. "All clear on the ground to the west. We'll keep going clockwise."

"Understood," Widget said through the X-transceiver line. "We're good, too."

Seifer quickened his pace. The tan roads and tan buildings could practically melt together.

Whelp, I'm just going to take this as a confirmation that fun and games at the mall is going to come to a screeching end shortly.

"Y'know, never did get why so many houses on the outskirts are circular," Cyril said, taking his eyes off his radar and casually moving ahead. "Makes 'em look a bit like bunkers."

"Simulates the hills," Artemis responded. He was slithering a few paces back of them, sticking his head up. Enjoy the cool breeze, perhaps? The air was rather stuffy in the outpost. "At least, I think it does," the milotic mumbled.

"And people actually pay decent money for these?" Cyril walked past a couple of the domed houses, eyeing them skeptically. A dolliv tending to a small petunia garden in front of their house shot the zoroark a nasty look.

"Ah-ha, whoops." Cyril rubbed his fake red hair. "Might've gotten a bit too loud."

Snerk. This fic's sense of humor never ceases to entertain.

Seifer locked eyes with Dolliv. Their eyes instantly widened. Seifer started walking faster.

"Oh, Commander Seifer! Lovely to see you again!" Dolliv waved.

"Move," Seifer hissed to Cyril in a whisper. Putting on the fakest smile he could muster, he turned and waved a forehoof to Dolliv. "Good morning, Tunie. Your garden's still as radiant as ever. Apologies I can't chat. I'm on the clock."

... Oh right, Arboliva has a midevo. I honestly completely forgot since Smoliv and its evos are just kinda forgettable to begin with. ^^;

Ignoring Artemis' bewildered expression, the keldeo hoofed it forward. A granbull and an alcremie with two milcery children playing together in a fenced yard looked over and waved. Seifer nodded respectfully, continuing forward.

"What's the rush, Seif?" Cyril said, breaking into a jog to keep pace with Seifer's trot. "Where's the fire?"

"We have to find somewhere hidden." Seifer's eyes darted around. These people weren't supposed to be home! They should've been out and about on a nice morning like this!

Can't tell if these are all people from the Radiant Guard or if Seifer grew up here once upon a time.

"Heeeeey!" Artemis sounded annoyed. "C'mon, you're both faster than me on the ground!"

Seifer turned left toward a dustier road. A minute of trotting would reach city limits. The homes here were spaced apart, but there was a grass wall dividing them. It was good enough cover.

"I need an illusion," the keldeo said.

Okay, yeah, this feels like Seifer's hometown right now, since I'm guessing the implication is that these bunker-homes aren't exactly cheap since those sure sound like hedges there.

Cyril caught up with him. "Ser... iously?" He hunched over, taking deep breaths. "Thought we had this discussion earlier."

"That was before I realized where in this city Gene sent us." Seifer shrank back nervously. "My family's got a vacation home in this neighborhood. People aren't recognizing me because of my old position. They're neighbors."

Well, I was in the right neighborhood (har har) with my guess, at least.

Eyes widening, Cyril stood up. "Ohhhh." Then his shock turned to annoyance. "Well, why didn't you mention that before? I could've told Boss Kitty not to send us here."

"We were in a bit of a hurry and it's a big city," Seifer mumbled.

"Then forget it." Cyril put his hands on his hips. "Boss Kitty, you there? Change of plans. You've gotta cover the ground here."

Wait, it is? I was under the assumption that Herbrides was basically a backwater from its first appearance in the story.

"It might be too late for that."

Seifer jumped at Artemis' voice. The milotic pointed a ribbon back. "There's a cobalion and terrakion heading this way." His eyebrows drooped. "Your uncle and father, if I'm remembering right."

... That actually makes me wonder just how close Seifer is to the royal line of succession, since Justine is also a Muskedeer and this family relation can't but help but make me

a bit.

The keldeo's blood ran cold. He shot Cyril a pleading look. Sighing, the zoroark snapped his fake red claws. Blue light surrounded Seifer. It faded to reveal a fairy rapidash guise.

"Okay," Seifer whispered. "Now we continue on like nothing—"

"Oi, you three! What's going on over there?"

Oh, they are related to Justine, aren't they? Since this music just screams "work in the legal system" right now.

Terrakion's sharp voice drew the trio's gazes. Seifer's heart leaped into his chest as Terrakion and Cobalion marched toward them. Deep breaths. He had Cyril's illusion. And the zoroark had proven himself a capable liar on many occasions.

"Just out for a stroll." Cyril stretched his arms up. "My friend here wanted to grab a photo by this grass wall." He slung an arm over a startled Artemis' horn. "He's from Venish. Never left the place before that whole insanity." Cyril lazily traced a circle with an index claw.

Watch as these two just casually see through this lie in like 5 seconds.

"Quiet, you!" Terrakion stomped a forehoof down. The dirt shifted under everyone's feet. "This ain't some touristy loitering spot, Zoroark. Whatever you're up to, better fess up."

Seifer's breaths came in short gasps. His uncle never was the patient type. Had he really seen through Cyril's lie?

I mean, if my guess as to his background is right... er, yeah, he really did.

For his part, the zoroark rested his hands behind his mane. "It's also not some restricted area, bud."

"Bud? Do I look like your cellmate?" Terrakion's eyes narrowed. "It's Greyson. Commander Greyson."

Do these two have a history with each other, or...?

Wait, what? Oh, if only Seifer had real psychic power. He could reach out to Cyril telepathically. Because something was wrong. Greyson was a retired Stoutland Yard chief. He never worked for the Radiant Guard.

Oh, so my guess as to the guy's background was right after all.

"That so? My bad." Cyril raised his hands innocently. The small smile on his face betrayed the tense look in his eyes. "Don't keep up much with the news. Wasn't aware Her Eminence had named a new commander."

"Two new commanders." Greyson jerked his head in Cobalion's direction. "Or, one new and one returning. Picking up the pieces from that useless waste of space that got the boot."

Seifer: "(... Either they're stringing us along, or a lot has changed back home since we were last here.)"

The fake rapidash did his best not to flinch. Seifer's father and uncle were his replacements? Of course. Why look for new blood when Isola could just turn to Seifer's family? If she truly was some nefarious body snatcher, it would even let her keep a close eye on them just in case.

I mean, if my guess about Justine being in your family is right, Seifer...

What was Seifer supposed to do here? He had to say something before this got out of hand. "A-Apologies. We actually got a bit, um, turned around." Seifer stepped to Cyril's side. "And my friend's too proud to ask for directions."

"Fat chance," Greyson scoffed.

Cobalion wrinkled his nose. "Agreed. Something reeks about this. No sane fairy would pal around with some lying, low-life zoroark."

Cyril: "Oi, bub! Chill it with the stereotypes there!"

Cobalion: "It's not a stereotype if it reflects basic expectations of our society."

Seifer suppressed a wince. Memories of his father cursing out assorted species at the dinner table flickered through his head.

So does Radiance just suck to live in if you're any non-Fighting-type species that takes an L to fairies or something? Since I certainly didn't see the hate-on for Zoroark coming here.

"Excuse me?" Cyril growled. He kept his expression as neutral as possible. "I'm not looking for trouble, dude."

"That's Commander Tobias, you ruffian." Cobalion stood up straight, as if to emphasize the half meter of height he had over Cyril.

"Uh-huh." Cyril's tone somehow stayed even. "Well, I hate to disappoint, but this 'lying low-life' is nothing but a humble mechanic."

Lol. Lmao.

Artemis: "(Would this be a bad time to bring up his counterfeiting operation-?)"
Seifer: "(Yes!)" >_>;

"Then what's a grease mankey doing out in the nice part of Herbrides, huh?" Greyson said. Red energy sparked around the terrakion's forehead. "I say we take 'em all in for questioning."

"I wanted to make a day trip here with my boyfriend." Cyril put his hand on Seifer's back. The fake rapidash almost lost his composure. What was the zoroark thinking outing their relationship? If anything broke Seifer's illusion...

He's not and he's getting hot and bothered. Since knowing that one of these two is ex-Stoutland Yard gives me vibes that they're going through an impromptu interrogation at the moment.

"And I've been living with him since the attack on Venish." Artemis tapped the ground by Cyril's feet with his tailfins. "So, I'm third-wheeling."

Greyson eyed the milotic with a look of disgust. "I ain't buying it. You?"

Tobias shook his head. "As I said, no decent milotic or rapidash would slum it with a zoroark." The cobalion's eyes narrowed. "Much less court one."

Cyril:

Seifer: "(... Yeah, in retrospect, I should've brought Cyril up to speed about Radiant class mores, huh?)"

Artie: "(I mean, I kinda forgot all about them by virtue of being a janitor for like a decade.)"

For a moment, Seifer thought there was genuine hurt in Cyril's eyes. But he quickly masked it with his stoic expression. "So, what, you're bringing me to a station because I'm a zoroark?"

"No." Tobias rolled his eyes. "Because you're a zoroark looking and acting suspicious. And these two are clearly accomplices. Now, quiet down and start walking. Or do I have to slap a muzzle on you, runt?"

Aaand I see that these two are pulling out all the stops to murder their sympathy with the audience. Which probably doesn't bode well for their mortality in this story.

However, before anyone had the chance to respond, Seifer caught a streak of orange out of the corner of his eye. "Down!" he screamed, shoving Cyril to the ground. A giant fireball struck the dome-shaped house to their right, blowing the roof open. Rubble struck a blue Protect shield that spilled out from Seifer's horn in the nick of time.

These two must have quite a bit of money to burn, since those repairs aren't going to be cheap.

... His black, ridged prosthetic horn.

Seifer's eyes slowly widened.

Seifer:

"S-Seifer?!" Tobias gasped. The keldeo glanced back to see Artemis coiled around a dazed Cyril. His illusions had failed, leaving his cosmic fur on full display.

"What is the meaning of this, boy?" Greyson said.

Seifer: "Oh boy, this day just had to go and get more awkward right now. Well... uh..."

"More fire!" Artemis shouted. Though he spat streams of water, they couldn't stand up against the fireballs. They struck other domed houses. Screams rang out. Two gogoat and several skiddo ran out of one building, while a tropius and fidough sprinted out of another.

"What did you do?" Tobias bellowed, leveling his glowing Sacred Sword at the trio.

Bells rang out from the sky. Multiple birds appeared out of seemingly nowhere, with wartortle and raichu perched on their backs.

Wait, the space pirates are actually back to do something again in this story? Since I can hear that BGM right now.

"Avast! Ahoy! Yo ho! Yo ho! Our time tis finally here!" a kilowattrel sang.

"We'll plunder like mad!" a pidgeot added.

"There's booty to be had!" sang a swellow with sparking wings.

"Fer the Blackskull Buccaneers!" the wartortle and raichu all sang in unison, before leaping from their fliers back and raining Hydro Pumps and Thunderbolts on the group from above.

Well, that was unexpected. Though I'll heavily take the under on those guys not being smeared across the ground the next time we check up on Seifer's end of things.

"Do you ever think about the day you were born?"

From their position atop the roof of the shuttered Herbrides Crowne Minister's office building, Widget glanced at Gene. The shadowy mewtwo's tail crinkled.

"Seriously?" His Malice Crystal dimmed. "Who leads with a question like that?"

"I do, apparently," Widget responded. He looked down at his golden talons, curling and uncurling them. "I was... curious. Since you were built. Like me."

Gene: "Look, I already had a 14k word special going into this at length a couple years ago, so I'd rather not have to repeat it all right here and now." >_>;

Pinching his brow, Gene walked over and leaned against the yellow brick chimney. "No. I don't."

Oh, so he's literally

-ing right now, huh? o<o

"Oh." Widget's cheek bolts turned once. "Okay." The cosmic silvally curled his fish tail slightly. "Sorry, I shouldn't have—"

"Don't guilt trip me, Squirt." Gene crossed one leg over another. His eyes remained shut. "I don't think about it because there isn't much to it. Doing a bunch of stupid tests for stupider human scientists." He clenched his fist. "Then Giovanni captured me when I was supposed to be fully released from stasis. Everything after that's a huge blur until Nova took me in."

Widget: "Wait, but I thought you said that you had at 14k word special that was all about-" .^. Gene: "Which we're not going to get into right now, thanks." >_>;

"Right." Widget nodded slowly. "Do you suppress those memories?"

Gene shook his head. Widget watched his Malice Crystal darken. "I don't have to. Nova suppressed them for me."

I feel as if I should be more worried about how casually Gene is lying right now. Unless if by his standards, the things that we saw in the special are a blur to him since they're a handful of moments he recalls over heaven-knows-how-long time-wise.

The silvally's starcloud swirled around slowly. "All the Eterna energy treatments?"

"In a sense." Gene repeatedly ran a finger up and down the Malice Crystal. "Giovanni... did something to me. He made me so... empty inside. To better function as his 'weapon.'"

Related, or unrelated to him being Dark Matter back in the GL AU?

At the mention of 'empty,' Widget swore he saw some sort of black crystal sphere looming behind Gene. And it... tugged on a part of him. His scaly hide was itching.

That doesn't bode well at all for how well Gene's got that all under control at the moment.

"Nova and Miraidon... sealed that part of me off," Gene continued. He held his hand out and strange black shadows swirled around his fingers.

The itchiness in Widget's scales got worse. He wasn't sure whether to say anything about that sphere. Surely it was an illusion, right?

Narrator: "It was absolutely not an illusion."

"It's something called 'shadowing.'" Gene dispelled the energy. "Nova never told me why he and Miraidon knew how to do this. Though I'm betting the latter being one of those Overseers has something to do with it."

"Shadowing?" Widget's scales thankfully weren't crawling anymore.

Huh. I wonder if that's where Gene got his Dark Matter part of him from

"It's when you seal away a pokémon's spirit," Gene explained. "Normally, doing so turns pokémon into vicious beasts driven by their most negative emotions."

Except Widget wouldn't classify Gene as vicious. If anything, that applied to Necrozma. "You don't seem that way," he mumbled.

"Because Miraidon and Nova had a loophole." Gene placed his hand over his heart. "They sealed off that... thing Giovanni put into me to make me empty. Since he'd done that not long after I was 'born,' I never got to develop my real spirit. But sealing that thing was enough to turn me shadow.

Wait, wait, wait. Did you just casually imply that Giovanni had access to Dark Matter? In a mainline universe (which, granted, was built off the ruins of a PMD universe built off the ruins of another mainline universe)?

"It's why I look like this." Gene pushed off the chimney. Lazily walked toward Widget with his hands resting behind his head. "And how my real heart or soul or whatever you want to call it was able to safely grow on its own."

Widget shifted uncomfortably. The explanation didn't sit right with him. "If that part of you is sealed, why do you remember stuff you did for Team Rocket?"

"Sometimes that thing tries to force its way out," Gene admitted. He looked at his hands. It was subtle, but they were shaking. "To convince me to give into despair and emptiness... and become a weapon again."

So... the solution is to constantly keep a stash of MDMA handy for Gene to dive into and push those negative thoughts away?

"Wait." The cosmic silvally's crest fanned out. "Doesn't that sound a bit like the reincarnated soul stuff?"

Shrugging, Gene lowered his arms. "I don't try to read into it."

Widget's gut squirmed. "So, um, is the reason you don't act all that serious—"

"That's me trying to keep it at bay." Gene pointed at his glowing Malice Crystal. "And it worked... until last week. I was too desperate in Wyndon... and drew on some of that thing's power."

Oh, so there's actually a reason beyond emotions for Gene to put up that joker front that he has, though I suppose it makes sense given what you established is lurking inside him just last chapter.

His shoulders sagged. "It's been tugging on the back of my mind ever since. Whispering the same tired things about emptiness and hatred."

The mewtwo shook his head. "Why are you grilling me on this, anyway?" He sized Widget up. "Is this about the other week? Are you still stuck on that?"

There wasn't any point hiding it from Gene. "Yes!" Widget squawked. His starcloud and cheek bolts dimmed. "I just— I don't understand." He shook his head. "I can't understand."

It might have made sense to have Gene refer to what's going on here a bit more explicitly, since I'll admit that I drew blanks on what he was referring to there.

Gene: "... Run it by me again as to why you're still hung up on this again?"

Grimacing, Widget's talons dug into the stone roof. "The day the emperor turned me on... he was so happy. I thought... he was proud of me." His head crest drooped. "I did everything he told me to. Because he said it would make me a hero. That it would make everyone proud of me."

"Uh-huh. Cuz we know the emperor's such an honest guy." Gene tilted his head. "I thought you talked to a bunch of birddogfish in one of the mystery dungeons and it put you at ease. Why the backsliding?"

"That was before Yuna went and just... just dropped a mental Draco Meteor!" Widget responded. His starcloud flickered erratically. He squeezed his eyes shut. "I thought— no, I believed the emperor had tricked me, yet I still chose to listen. But what if that's not true?"

Oh, it's this theme from Chrono Trigger. Interesting usage here.

Gene: "Then it'd mean that you made some bad life choices, changed your mind, and then made better ones? It's not super uncommon in stories, so what's the hangup there?"

He took a step toward the shadowy mewtwo. "You said it yourself last week." Widget was sure Gene thought him pathetic, but pressed on anyway. "There was nothing biological about me before Leo intervened. What if... what if everything I did wasn't my choice? Simply lines of code instead?!"

Oh hey, this is basically Robo's dilemma from Chrono Trigger. Dunno if that influenced the song choice at all, but it's a cute parallel.

A pained grimace spread over his feet. "The moment I woke up on Chakran, Leo had already shared his power with me." Widget shook his head repeatedly, like he was bucking off a small feral who'd latched onto his neck. "Everything that's happened since... how can I be sure?"

Gene remained still. "Sure of what?"

"That these are really my choices?!" Widget's voice cracked. His gold talons scraped the stone beneath them. Blurry blue and purple light melted together. White fur painted over his cosmic form. Forelegs gave way to reshiram wings. "That I want to fight these battles? That Leo didn't just... rewrite the emperor's code? Or... or stuff some old, dormant soul into my body?

"Even the stuff you were saying about some force of emptiness felt... familiar for some reason."

I hadn't considered that angle at all, but now that Widget mentions it...

Widget glimpsed at his new wings. So white and fluffy. Was this... another one of his transformations? Why was it showing up now?

So he used to be

once upon a time? Or is this one of the perks of being a bootleg llama god?

Pushing those specific thoughts aside, the reshivally sank to his belly. "How can I know?" He folded his new wings over his head. "How can I trust myself... when I don't even know if I've always had a soul?"

Gene: "... You'll have others to give you a stiff smack and set you straight if the worst comes to pass? (At least it'll be a hell of a lot easier with you than with me...)" ^^;

Silence followed. Widget slowly slid his wings off his head. White fur brushed against rough, dirty stone.

"There more to your rant or you done?"

Widget looked up. Gene had pivoted away from him. His yellow-tipped tail curled and uncurled in irritation.

I... am not convinced that that was the best choice of words in response, Gene.

"I thought... you understood," the reshivally whimpered. "Or maybe you remembered something about Nova you could tell me."

"Well, sorry to disappoint." Gene shrugged. "Yeah, Nova was better at this stuff than I was. That's what made him an effective leader, I guess. While yours truly just wings it."

Nothing about that reassured Widget. Then again, it sounded like Gene didn't care.

Widget, remember that Gene literally just went through an entire spiel about how he has to put up fake indifference and devil-may-care-ness in order to suppress the influence of Dark Matter or whatever that is that's sharing his body. Are you sure that he doesn't care right now? Or just that he doesn't think he can indulge this safely?

"It's funny." Gene stopped curling and uncurling his tail. "I'm plain trash at the whole 'leader' thing, yet thanks to Princess I've ended up with a resistance that's at leastten times as big as Nova's."

There was an obvious question to ask: why didn't Gene try and better his leadership skills? Yet Widget kept his beak shut. He'd poured his heart out to Gene. Selfish as it sounded, Widget didn't want to make this about the shadow mewtwo.

Something something imposter syndrome. Something something lying to everyone about multiple things that could cause an existential crisis of morale.

Surprisingly, Gene floated to Widget's side and sat down beside him. "Guess there's one thing I can offer." He put a hand on Widget's right wing. "Nova always told me that it's just as easy to worry about the future as it is to get caught up in the past."

Widget picked his head up. Where was Gene going with this? "If you're going to tell me to live for the present—"

A finger to Widget's beak shushed him. Gene shook his head. "Should you live in the present? Yeah. I do." He pulled his hand back. "Still gotta look to the future, though. One step at a time."

Widget: "B-But what good does it do if someone can just swoop in at any moment and permanently make me someone else?"

Gene: "(... Yeah, I dunno if I have a good answer to that. Though let's just not say that out loud to him right now...)" ._.;

Gene tapped his right temple. "If we let the fear of an unknown future bury us, then we're not living."

He pointed at Widget. "In your case, if you let this paralyze you, then it doesn't matter how you were made or if you have a soul." His Malice Crystal flickered. "At that point, you're letting everyone and everything around you control you. And how's that any different from what you're worried about?"

The reshivally blinked once. Twice.

It... made sense. In a twisted sort of way.

Widget: "... Isn't this just deliberately living in denial?" .^.
Gene: "I prefer to think of it as acknowledging that the future's always uncertain and that it doesn't make sense to worry about it until it's a bit more tangible."

He exhaled loudly, blowing a couple of pebbles by his beak toward Gene's foot. "I suppose." Widget pushed himself to a sitting position. "Might need to work on your pep talks, though."

"That was recycled material." Gene waved Widget off dismissively.

Gene, why would you just go and say that? Though does that mean that he told Nova a version of this once?

"Then your recycling skills need work," Widget deadpanned.

"Like your stand up skills?" Gene countered, a smirk forming.

Widget couldn't help but smirk back. "Touché."

There we go, that's probably a bit more effective as a mood-lifter.

Then a flash of orange caught his attention. "What the heck?" Widget pushed Gene away. "H-Hey! Someone's shooting fireballs at the street!"

Oh, so that raid's affecting all of Herbrides right now, huh?

"The hell?" Gene whirled around. Fireballs appeared out of seemingly nowhere, striking building rooftops. Laughter filled the skies. The shadowy mewtwo's tail crinkled. "You can't be serious."

"What is it?" Widget tried to sense what was shooting the fireballs, but came up empty.

"It's the pirates." Gene hovered into the air. "They must be cloaking their ships."

"With what?" Widget's new tail turbine whirred to life, sending him up next to Gene. "I can't even sense them!"

... They struck a deal with Paradox and are taking part in whatever it was that he wanted Xander to get up to, huh?

Gene tapped his right antennae. "Attention resistance, we—"

"Well, well, well, if it isn't mon least favorite kitty cat!"

Widget squawked. Embers crackled around his tail turbine. "Was that Gilbert on our comm line?!"

Yeah, in retrospect, letting them casually hang around your base in the Qliphoth was probably a bad idea, huh?

"Damn it, are they stealing our signal? How?!" Gene's yellow-tipped tail lashed at the air. "Where the hell's Cyril?"

More building rooftops caught fire. People flooded the streets. "What do we do?" Widget said.

"Start blasting, of course!" Gene blindly slung a Shadow Ball in the direction of where the fireballs were forming.

Widget swallowed hard. He had no idea why the pirates were here. Or how they were here, for that matter. But Widget knew the resistance had to get rid of them quickly, before the whole city got swept up in chaos.

I think you're a bit late on avoiding the whole 'whole city got swept up in the chaos' part there, but I suppose that'll be a story for another day.

Alright, made it to the end. That one definitely slammed the door shut on the lull that we've been in for the past couple chapters in this story. I certainly wasn't expecting it to be Gilbert and the gang to be the ones who did it either, even if I remain wholly unconvinced that they're not raising their hell without someone helping them out here. Also, Seifer's family sucks hard, but you did a good job at making a memorable (and

-worthy) first impression of them. I suppose that it's only to be expected given that early on in the story, Seifer wasn't all that different.

I honestly had trouble spotting any real flaws in this chapter aside from a couple parts where I thought that references to past events might have merited spelling out a bit more clearly (especially the one that Gene refers to in his exchange with Widget) since this story's getting a bit up there in length and is usually fairly event-dense, so some more reminders for people jumping in after a while would be welcome.

But all-in-all, I thought that this was a good kickoff to a new arc. We'll see where things go in the next few chapters, but thus far things look promising @Ambyssin , and I'll be looking forward to getting a better look of Herbrides and its current minor problems with massive property damage sometime soon.

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 99: Soulful Lament​

"Do you ever think about him at all?"

Tessa dabbed her muzzle with a cloth napkin, then set it next to her empty plate. Next to her, Nickie's left ear flattened.

"Think about who, Nero? Just because I complimented his thighs doesn't mean—"

"No, silly." The riolu chuckled. "That friend of yours back home." Her aura feelers twitched. "Or, uh... maybe he wasn't your friend anymore by the end?"

"Oh." Nickie looked down at her remaining tart. The icepix's snout wrinkled. "Yeah. A few times." She looked at the ceiling. "If he was here, he'd be bouncing off the freaking walls. The guy'd be so jazzed. He was, like, unhealthily obsessed with pokémon."

Tessa raised a brow. "So there are pokémon in the human world?"

Nickie's tails puffed up. "Uh, well, yeah. It's, y'know, kinda complicated." She laughed nervously, then scarfed down the rest of her tart. Crumbs littered her white snout.

"Sometimes I wonder what would've happened if he was here instead of me." Nickie looked at Tessa. "And then I tell myself it'd be a disaster. He'd treat everyone around him like dirt and think himself the most important guy in the room."

She turned up her nose. "Before I disappeared, I told a couple of buddies that Shane outed me to my dad. I hope that spread through the school like wildfire. Maybe it'd be the wakeup call he needs."

Tessa's aura feelers throbbed. Despite Nickie's even tone, there was a lot of emotion behind her words. "I see." The riolu rubbed her shoulder. "That bad, huh?"

Nickie saw Tessa's expression and her ears folded. "Shit." Her tails curled up. "I, uh..." She bit her lip. "That wasn't supposed to sound so harsh."

She scooted next to Tessa, who squeaked with the icepix's tails brushed against her waist. "It's not all bad," Nickie said. "I got to meet you, didn't I?"

"Me?" Tessa's aura feelers stuck up. "It's only been a couple of months."

"Yeah." Nickie leaned over. "Still enough time to think you've been one of the best things that's happened to me."

Blood rushed to Tessa's cheeks.

XxX​

With newfound hindsight, Reshiram's revelation seemed so obvious. Vegna had Bahamut's journal memorized. He commanded multiple Sages. His focus had been squarely on Necrozma since he showed up at the outpost. Hell, the fact that he got to the outpost meant he had to have formed a rift between the regular and reverse worlds. And the thing he told her a couple of weeks ago...

"Continuing down this path will lead you to discover several horrible truths. And without that tenacity... the weight of those truths will crush you."

Maybe one of these could've been a coincidence. But taken together, there was only one logical explanation.

Yuna wanted to be mad. What did Vegna have to gain by sitting on this secret?

The dragapult scooched toward the edge of the bed. "Why?"

Vegna's look practically screamed "elaborate."

"Why hide it like this? Especially after coming to us for help?"

The dusknoir's eye glowed blue. "Yes, why hide being the soul of a large dragon of light worshiped by half the world and scorned by the other half?"

If he was trying to spin this back on Yuna, she'd have none of it. She curled her golden claws around her blanket. "This isn't some courtroom debate. I want answers."

"Me too." Reshiram looked more hurt the longer the conversation went on. "You told my wife you hated her big mouth."

"And you went behind my back and eloped," Vegna growled. He tilted his head right and shook it, sighing. "Which is... irrelevant. You want answers? I told you, it all goes back to selfish vengeance."

"Revenge." Yuna curled and uncurled the tip of her tail. "On Eternatus?"

"On Isola." Vegna held his right hand up. Blue Will-O-Wisp embers crackled around his fingers.

"What?" Reshiram's tail turbine matched Vegna's embers with some of its own. "If you want revenge on her, why work for her? And wouldn't that, y'know, give you a motive to do Grim Reaper killings?"

"The body snatcher is the one who killed Chiron and Leo," Vegna said, locking eyes with Yuna. "My memory of that day is... spotty, but I'm sure of it. I have evidence."

The Will-O-Wisp embers congealed into Bahamut's journal, which Vegna held in his hand. It flipped open to show the word TRAITOR scrawled in red ink, along with jagged scribbles and puncture marks suggesting the writer had stabbed the pages with a pen repeatedly.

A gush of hot air from Reshiram's tail turbine rippled the part of the blanket dangling off the side of the bed. "Traitor? You don't think—"

"That one of the Sages is related?" Vegna's eye dimmed. "Clearly I do."

"But how?" Reshiram squeaked.

"They never sealed themselves away in a Needle." Vegna shut the journal, which dissolved into gold light his hand absorbed. "For a time, I thought perhaps it was the former Sage of Justice. After all, there was no logical reason for a keldeo to be around Radiance."

"Couldn't you say the same thing about an articuno, moltres, and zapdos?" Reshiram pointed out. "None of them were Sages, yet they're in the Radiant Guard."

"Which is why my focus shifted to Isola," Vegna said, tapping his right index finger against his left arm. "I suspect she's the reason. Just as I suspect she unsealed Keldeo and allowed her to procreate. If Isola does have a Red Chain fragment as the clown prince suggests, it would all make sense."

"Well, we've pulled a lot of Needles," Yuna mumbled. "I know Necrozma got Suicune and Zygarde. Scarlett seems to have Latias. And you have three. So that leaves—"

Vegna held up two fingers. "Two. There should be two Needles remaining. Diancie, Sage of Heart. And Enamorus, Sage of Beauty."

"What about Latios and Zeraora?" Reshiram asked. "And Victini, too?"

"Already with Necrozma. And Victini most likely had their needle corrupted and broken already."

Yuna gulped. Then... there wasn't much left keeping Eternatus tethered to the reverse world. "Okay. Two potential Needles. But one of them might be the body snatcher. Then we'll just end up learning who it is by process of elimination after pulling the next Needle, won't we?"

"By then, I fear something terrible might happen," Vegna growled. "Considering there are multiple people trying to expose Isola."

He looked down, eye dimming. "Not to mention that if one of them is the body snatcher, then there's really only one Needle remaining."

Vegna lifted a shaky hand and examined all the gold cracks in it. There were more there than the other week. "One Needle... keeping this fragile body together."

Yuna pinched her brow. This was a problem. One that also came with the extra uncertainty of Yuna not knowing whether getting to the bottom of this was her desire... or Yaldabaoth exerting their influence.

"So you... intend to recombine with Necrozma?"

Vegna was silent.

Yuna crossed her arms. She needed a slightly different angle. "Eternatus can't be destroyed. Necrozma wants to destroy it. Do you still feel that way?"

"I do not."

The dragapult wished she found that reassuring. "If you recombine, then will Bahamut lay off?"

"I cannot say," Vegna responded. He turned his head toward the door again. "I'm unsure whether or not Necrozma's single-minded obsession with destroying Eternatus will win out over me. My body is... far stronger than my spirit."

"But it's the only way to stop Bahamut, right?" Reshiram poked his wing-claws together nervously.

"I was trying to work with Gene to find alternatives," Vegna explained, flicking his right hand. "If we destroy Necrozma as it is now, my spirit will fade when the final Needle is pulled. I had suggested he take a blessing from Leo, but he is... unwilling."

Leo. Yuna thought of the cosmic arceus as she also stared at the door.

Another thought tickled the back of her head. "Did you sense Chiron? Is that why you put me in your class?"

Vegna sighed. It lingered for several seconds. "Do recall that I never even met you until you came to the academy. But I did sense... familiar traces from meeting your parents on their prior trips. So, yes, I admit I arranged to get you into my class so I could see you for myself.

"And when I did, I thought that parts of your aura brought Chiron to mind. But other parts... reminded me of myself."

That was probably Yuna's distortion powers. Giratina did say Bahamut stole them somehow.

"It's not the same. Neither you nor Leo." The dusknoir shook his head. "Perhaps you both reincarnated. I'm unsure. Either way... I don't consider either of you family, if that's what you're worried about."

There was plenty Yuna was worried about. Enough to not find any solace in Vegna's words. The end of her tail twitched with irritation. "How did this all happen?"

"It's complicated," Vegna whispered.

She rubbed the brim of her triangular head. "Then make it make sense."

Another sigh. Vegna folded his hands over his closed stomach mouth. "As I said... my memories of the day I lost Chiron and Leo are fuzzy. But I think... that was when I learned many of the same things you heard from Giratina."

Before Yuna could make a remark, Vegna held up his right hand. "I don't remember specifics of my past life like you claim to." He lowered his hand. "There are... vague recollections. Of struggling to understand the world around me. And the world, in turn, not understanding me."

His hands balled into fists. "Frustrations giving way to isolation giving way to yet more frustrations. A vicious cycle feeding into itself."

The dusknoir tucked his head down. It was... shameful? Yuna couldn't quite peg his body language.

"And then I woke up alone. A giant dragon of light." Golden embers drifted off the exposed cracks in Vegna's arms. "I wandered the universe — or, as it turns out, the distortion world — seeking an end to my loneliness. But the same pitfalls that befell my past self happened here.

"I did not understand the places I visited." Vegna shook his head. "And I did not communicate well. But this time I had power." He held up a clenched fist. "I could make my frustrations known... through force."

Yuna's tail slowly curled throughout Vegna's explanation. "Just how many places did you attack in your travels?"

"Too many. It felt good. It felt right." The dusknoir bowed his head shamefully again. "I could blame Giratina's powers, but in the end it was still my choice. And, perhaps, I might've continued down that path... had I not met the Overseers."

Reshiram's tail turbine crackled like the engines in Cyril's workshop. "You were on Chakran when they were around?"

Vegna nodded. "And when they abandoned our world." He folded his hands over his stomach mouth again. "But I met someone there. And it was like... looking into a cracked mirror. I couldn't shake the feeling that this person... was a happier me. Similar struggles, yet he found friends and family to support him.

"Something about that made me snap." The dusknoir squeezed his hands together. "I lashed out at him. He defended himself... with a power that split my soul from my body."

"Wait, what?" Yuna leaned forward and almost fell off her bed. "But then—"

"He pulled me back together," Vegna said. "But, yes, I ended up learning that power from him. And using it on myself." He shook his head. "After Chakran, I thought that... the only way I could be like that Overseer was to make my home. I didn't create the life that would inhabit your home, but I brought about conditions to allow life to evolve."

"Then put yourself in charge of what resulted," Reshiram said, shifting around uncomfortably. "And I was part of that."

"You guys described Bahamut as a bit of a control freak." Yuna tapped a gold claw against her core. "Do you think that was because of Giratina's powers?"

"I think it was both of us," Vegna responded. He waved Yuna off. "Regardless, all my controlling tendencies couldn't stop Eternatus from showing up. Along with everything else that followed."

Yuna tried to recall what Igneous had told her about that final entry in Bahamut's journal. "You were... tired of emotions weighing you down. So, you split your soul from your body."

Vegna pinched his brow. "I had once believed... that I was meant to pass away, like any other person. That being struck by Eternatus had 'cursed' me with immortality."

"But you don't believe that anymore." Reshiram sounded sure of himself. Must've been that truth sense. "Because of Giratina?"

The dusknoir nodded slowly. "Yes. But at the time, I viewed my spirit as a burden. So, I sought to cast it off. Except when I emerged as a soul... fear took hold. I didn't want to disappear."

"Then is some of the other stuff true?" Yuna wondered.

"I did find and pull Zekrom's Needle," Vegna admitted. A blue glow took over his eye, but quickly faded. "The necromancy stuff is true as well. However, that was because this body proved fragile from the beginning. Not after pulling Zekrom's Needle."

He held his hand up to expose the gold cracks along it. "All the necromancy acts were attempts to preserve my body and keep it from crumbling. It's why I became an executioner for Radiance. To use those spirits to preserve my body." Vegna lowered his hand. "I only transferred to the Ministry of Justice after suspecting Isola had a connection to the one who took Chiron and Leo away from me."

With a grunt, Vegna pushed himself off the floor. "That is, to the best of my knowledge, the whole truth."

"I see." Yuna sat up straight, then immediately asked a question that sprang to mind. "Do you regret what you've done?"

Vegna braced his left hand against the wall. "If this were a court of law... I'd have argued that Giratina's influence drove my actions. That I never intended to cause so many problems." He looked down. "And so much harm."

"That doesn't answer my question," Yuna growled, trying to stop her tail from lashing at the dangling edge of Leo's covers.

"I regret it," Vegna said. "I wish I'd never had such terrible power. Perhaps if I could go back to that distant life... I'd do things differently."

Reshiram flew up to Yuna's left on the bed, between her and Leo's plate. "Well that's, y'know, good. It's a start." He looked between the two ghosts, tittering. "Maybe if you hold onto that mindset, when you become whole that'll—"

"You should try to destroy Necrozma as it is right now," Vegna said. He floated closer toward the door. "I— we've done too much harm. If you and your allies do possess great power from the distant past, then it should be possible. It is... the most pragmatic option."

"No."

She didn't think she could make one word sound so forceful. But given Reshiram's dumbfounded expression, that's exactly what Yuna had done.

The dusknoir looked over his shoulder. "What?"

Yuna dug her claws into the fibers of Leo's wool blanket. "I'm so tired... of people telling me what I should do. What's 'best' or 'most pragmatic.'"

Reshiram curled up his wings. "It did sound like something Bahamut would say."

She pointed at Vegna. "This is your fault, too. You don't... get to take the coward's way out here. You're helping us fix this." The dragapult tapped her right index claw into the palm of her left hand. "Whether that's as Vegna or Bahamut or something else entirely doesn't matter to me. I won't let you just disappear.

"So, yeah, I guess you were right. I don't forgive you or respect your decisions or whatever."

"Yuna."

"Don't." Yuna held her left hand over Reshiram like she was ready to squish him. He abruptly shrank back toward Leo's plate. "If that's everything, you can go." The dragapult flicked her right hand lazily toward the door. "I'm going to wait for my son to get back. And I don't need you around for that."

At first, Vegna held his ground. Then his eye dimmed and he turned back toward the door.

"Perhaps there's... more of her in you than I thought."

The dusknoir opened the door and floated out. He didn't bother shutting it.

"Well that, uh..." Reshiram twirled a lock of fur with a wing claw. "I guess that could've gone worse?"

"Save it." Yuna glared at him.

"I wasn't, um, looking to criticize or anything." Reshiram shifted his weight uneasily. "I know this stuff's upsetting, but it feels like it's making you more upset than before."

"You think I don't see that?" Yuna plucked Reshiram off the bed.

"Whoa! H-Hey, easy now!" The tiny dragon flailed between Yuna's claws.

"How do I know this anger is mine and not Giratina's?" Yuna held Reshiram up in front of her face. "What if they're trying to isolate me from everyone so I'll give up and let them take over, huh? How can I trust my thoughts and wishes here are really mine?"

"... Yeesh," a new voice interjected. "Maybe I should've looked for some whiskey or vodka to bring."

Squealing, Yuna let go of Reshiram. "N-Nikki! H-Hi!"

Reshiram hit the bed and bounced off it with a nasally yelp. He faceplanted onto the carpeted floor then hastily got to his feet, shaking out his messy fur.

"I'm okay!" he declared.

Yuna recalled Reshiram into her core and shimmied backward so she could prop her triangular head against the wall. "How, um, long have you been standing there?"

The toxtricity walked inside, pausing to kick the door shut with her right leg. "When you told Crotch Fuzz to 'save it,'" Nikki replied, shrugging. "Guess you're drifting into existential shit again, huh?"

"O-Only toward the end." Yuna's long tail crinkled. "I was talking. With Vegna."

"About?"

"Abouthowhe'skindasortamaybeactuallyBahamut."

It came out so fast it sounded like one word, but Nikki must've parsed it out because her mohawk shrank. "Oh. Ohhhhh shit." She looked back at the closed door. "Is that, uh, good or bad?"

"Dunno."

"Should we be upset?"

"Yeah."

Nikki threw the door open, leaned into the hallway and stuck her middle finger up. "How's that?"

Nickie reared up on her hind legs. She tried to lift a foreleg but tumbled backward with a yip.

"W-What was that?" Tessa was trying not to laugh.

"I wanted to flip that fopdoodle off!" Nickie kicked at the air with her legs. "God, I miss having hands."

"It works." Yuna chuckled into her right elbow.

"Good." Nikki shut the door again while rummaging through her right jacket pocket. She pulled out two small glass vials. "Was gonna keep both of these for myself, but I think you need the other more than I do."

She tossed it to Yuna, who barely managed to catch it after bobbling it between her hands. The dragapult held it up and squinted at the pink gas inside. "Wait. This is—"

"Salazzle vapors. From Twiggy's sister." Nikki strutted toward the bed, tossing her vial to herself.

Yuna kept staring at the pink gas swirling around inside. "Why though?"

"To take the edge off."

The bed fwumped when Nikki flopped down on the edge of it. A meeping Yuna shuffled closer to Leo's plate. Her tail shot into her torso.

"Heh. Never gettin' tired of that." The toxtricity pointed to where Yuna's tail had been seconds ago.

Yuna kneaded her tail out of her torso, pouting. "Is this what you meant when you said you needed air or whatever?"

Sighing, Nikki pushed herself back until her waist spikes plinked against the metal wall. "Yeah. It's the Seifer stuff."

The dragapult straightened up when Nikki actually used Seifer's name. This really was serious.

"I know I don't... get memories like the rest of you," Nikki said, turning her vial back and forth in her fingers. "Still, hearing about Seifer made me think for a bit. You said I fought against Zodiark in the past. But I clearly lost."

She closed her eyes. "So, they must've killed me, right?"

The icepix lay unmoving on the gray and blue, stone ground. Blood stained her fur.

"I... don't know."

"Your face says otherwise."

Yuna jolted. Nikki was leaning over and looking at her.

"I saw you," the dragapult admitted, brushing her right hand over her core.

"Figured." Nikki pulled away, mohawk shrinking. "I don't gotta know the details or anything. Just that... it's gotta go different this time, right?"

"Right. Yeah. Sorry."

"For what?"

"Trying to hide it." Yuna fidgeted.

"Eh, it's whatever." Nikki waved her off. "You were looking out for me. And I pressed you on it."

They both shared a look. The toxtricity's mohawk went pink again for an instant before she looked away and coughed into her hand. "So, uh—"

"C-Can I, um, just ask you one thing?" Yuna blurted out. She was leaning forward, hands pressed down on Leo's blanket.

Nikki opened her mouth, then shut it, then opened it again. Maybe she'd planned on giving a smartass response and abruptly reconsidered. "Yeah."

"What would you do if, y'know, Giratina ends up taking me over?"

Yuna expected the silence that followed. Nikki leaned over. Still clasping her vial, she rested her head on the backs of her hands. A soft, rhythmic thumped filled the room from Nikki tapping her foot against the carpet. She had to be thinking it over, then.

"I guess... I'd fight to get you back."

"And if it's not possible?"

"Screw that."

Yuna's ectoplasm constricted. "Huh?"

Nikki sat up. "After all the shit's that happened to us, you're really going to say something's not possible?"

"I, uh— it's a hypothetical?" Yuna's voice cracked.

"Doesn't change my answer." Nikki swung her legs onto the bed, facing the dragapult in the process. "I'd fight to get you back. Even if it means pissing those Overseers off."

She looked down and mumbled, "Hell, that might get 'em to come to me faster."

Yuna imagined Nikki charging toward some angelic light... only to get vaporized by a giant white laser. She cringed. "I thiiiink I get the picture."

Hell, maybe Nikki really was onto something. Vegna mentioned an Overseer who split his soul from his body the first time. Perhaps he could split her off from Giratina.

Maybe it wasn't a complete lost cause, then. Yuna had a fighting chance. And someone willing to fight for her.

Nikki stuck her vial in front of Yuna's face and waved it. "So, how 'bout it? Dunno about you, but I've had enough existential shit for one day. Hell, for the whole month."

Yuna lifted the vial in her hand. "I, uh, guess so?" She closely examined the pink gas inside. "What exactly should I do here?"

"Pfffbt. That's easy." Nikki brought her vial over by her face. "Y'just do this." She popped the cork off and heavily inhaled. The pink gas flowed into Nikki's face. There were probably nostrils there Yuna couldn't see between the toxtricity's scales.

At first, nothing seemed to happen. Then Nikki reclined. A shiver ran from her head town to her legs. By the time Nikki was slumped against the wall — her waist spikes wedged in a crack between said wall and Leo's bed — her feet were twitching and her mohawk frazzling erratically.

"N-Nikki?" Yuna waved a hand in front of her face. She squealed when Nikki grabbed it and squeezed her palm repeatedly.

"Squiiiiishy," Nikki said.

"H-Hey now," the dragapult squeaked.

"I'm fiiiiiine." Nikki let go. Her arms flopped by her side. "Just enjoying the colors."

Yuna wanted to ask what Nikki meant, but paused when she saw pink spreading over Nikki's sclera. She looked down at her own capped vial.

"Hey, so, as the guy who used to date a salazzle, maybe we ought to consider not using th—"

Yuna booted Reshiram from the back of her mind and popped the cap off her vial. She didn't have nostrils, so she simply leaned over and let the vapors splash onto her facial ectoplasm.

For a moment, she wondered if there wouldn't be any effect. Then the gas seeped into her ectoplasm.

The vial slipped from Yuna's grasp and dropped onto the bed. All around Yuna, the gray metal walls rippled and wiggled. Bright reds, greens, and blues danced around one another, twisting into yellows, oranges, and purples. So many colors swirling around and around and around...

"Feels good, doesn't it?"

A hand on Yuna's leg made her ectoplasm tighten and quiver in a way she'd never experienced before. She looked at the arm and saw streams of purple and yellow trailing off it. They molded into icepix that ran around the arm. Around Yuna's leg.

Ten. Twenty. Thirty. So many icepix. Spinning. Circling.

The arm turned to something heavier. Scales that smothered her jiggling ectoplasm.

Yuna fell onto her back. A thunk suggested something hit the ground, but she was long past caring.

XxX​

"It's not usually this quiet here, is it?"

Vince's question disrupted the soft echo of Leo's golden hooves against the metal floor. The cosmic arceus made his way down the hall. "It's late. Everyone must've hit the hay."

"Where are we going?"

"Quiet." Grishi shushed Vince. A whimper followed from the purple koraidon.

"Still dunno why you're here, B-T-dubs." Leo looked over his shoulder. The zorotwo was levitating Vince alongside him. "We made it back. Shouldn't you go home?"

"Grishi could go home." He rolled his eyes. "Sit and twiddle claws. But Grishi knows that dumb thing to do when everything in danger."

He held two claws up to his eyes, then pointed them at Leo. "So, Grishi do responsible thing and keep eye on Leo and friends. Grishi be adult in the room."

"We are adults," Leo said, continuing forward.

"Then Grishi be mature adult."

"Whatevs." Leo reached his door and abruptly stopped. His chest tightened. His starcloud mane and tail pulsated. "H-Huh?"

"Oh no. What's wrong?" Vince sounded like he was trying to worm out of Grishi's psychic grasp. "Are there Whispers here?"

"No." Leo lifted a foreleg and placed it on the door. "I sense... my power. But that doesn't make sense. What—"

The moment he opened the door he saw one of his plates lying on the carpet next to the bed.

A bed with a dragapult and a toxtricity practically tangled together like a pretzel. Their limbs twitching and torsos shuddering.

Leo blinked once. Twice. He cleared his throat.

... Nothing. Did they even hear him?

The cosmic arceus waved a foreleg. A hand made of dirt popped out of the carpet, grabbed the plate, and chucked it toward Leo, who caught it in his starcloud mane.

He silently stepped out of the room and shut the door.

"Change of plans," Leo declared. The plate melted into his mane. A fiery orange dribbled down his wheel like someone spilled paint on it.

Grishi and Vince exchanged looks. "What's wrong? I thought we were going to your room," the purple koraidon said. "And did you just get another plate?"

"Leo taller now." Grishi held two claws close together. "By smidge."

"My mom's in there. With Nikki." Leo wasn't sure how he was keeping a straight face. "Who I might need to start calling my other mom."

Vince stared back blankly. "What."

"I dunno. They're stoned out of their minds." Leo repeatedly moved his head in a circle. "Maybe they won't remember any of it. Either way, I'm out."

He pushed past Grishi and Vince. "H-Hey, wait! Where are we supposed to go, then?!" Vince said.

"Find the orbeetle in the hangar. He'll set you up with a room."

"What hangar?!" Vince finally got out of Grishi's grip. The purple koraidon started after Leo. "And where are you going?"

Leo quickened his pace. "To take a long, cold shower."

"Why?"

"Why do you think?" And the cosmic arceus stomped into a rift of his own making.

XxX​

Widget did not like lying in a "loaf" position. Even switching to miraivally mode didn't help him out. And the carpet was itchy. Why did they even have to sit on the floor like this anyway?

"So, that's the situation." Gene set a handless cup of tea down on the table at their feet. "Unstable world. Threat to the universe. We could some extra muscle, especially if things keep going south on this side. What do you say?"

The shadowy mewtwo extended his right hand. The two urshifu sitting across the table exchanged looks.

"You said there are a bunch of strong pokémon with this 'resistance' of yours?" Lin asked, a brow raised.

"They're Aeon troops." Gene kept his hand extended. "Mostly dragons and other reptiles."

The other urshifu leaned forward. "So, that include any of them big muscular dragons with the circular plates?" He traced his paws in circles.

"I think he means kommo-o," Widget offered, though he wasn't sure why the urshifu considered that important.

"More than a few," Gene said.

"Any of 'em ladies?"

"Xiao." Lin smacked his brother's shoulder.

Gene shrugged. "I'm sure there are—"

"Ya got a deal!" Xiao grabbed the shadowy mewtwo's hand and enthusiastically shook it. His yellow tail crinkled up in pain.

When the handshake ended, Gene pulled his throbbing hand back and nursed against his stomach. "Great. Welcome aboard." He got to his feet. "We'll give you time to get whatever affairs you need in order, then come back to bring you to our base."

Lin crossed his arms. "What about the dojo, Xiao? And the village?"

"We bring the students, of course!" Xiao got to his feet. "You saw the news on PV. Things are going sideways. Looking out for our people means getting 'em somewhere safer than this nutty kingdom."

"That's... true." Lin stood up, arms still crossed.

"Heh." Xiao rubbed his nose. "You just don't wanna admit I'm right."

"Perhaps keep your thoughts about kommo-o to yourself next time." Sighing, Lin shook his head. "When should we expect you back?"

"Hopefully in a day or two." Gene gestured for Widget to stand. "We're heading over to Blightsmuth next."

"That's on the other side of the kingdom," Lin said. "It'd take at least two days by rail."

"Well, guess it's a good thing we'll be flying." Gene pet Widget's back.

The miraivally's thrusters coughed out smoke. "I beg your pardon?"

"You heard me." Gene stretched his arms up. "And weeeee should probably get going. C'mon, bud."

"Seriously?" Widget watched Gene float over the bamboo floor toward a wooden double door. "Isn't this a bit fast?"

"We're on a tight schedule." Gene snapped his fingers.

Widget bowed his head apologetically at the two urshifu. He shifted back to his cosmic form and trotted after Gene. They stepped through the double doors and descended wooden stairs to a wooden bridge over a small pond with lily pads and bamboo fronds scattered around.

"We have to go back to the base," Widget said.

"Not without new recruits." Gene floated across the bridge, nonchalantly resting his hands behind his head.

"This isn't about getting us numbers." Widget marched after him. His starcloud neck ruff rippled with every step. "You're avoiding Cyril."

"I'm not."

"Puh-lease."

Widget caught up to Gene, who was leaning against a sign reading "Unseen Fist Dojo." He jabbed a gold talon into the shadowy mewtwo's thigh.

"You're trying to recruit new people not long after telling your friend to his face that his boyfriend was as good as dead," Widget said. "It comes off as trying to replace Seifer. It's insensitive. You should know better."

Gene raised a brow. "Really? You're going to lecture me on this?"

The cosmic silvally's crest drooped. "He's been with you for ages. He needs you right now."

"Nah." Gene pushed off the sign. He walked across the dirt road. "I'm the last person he wants to see right now. So, better to do something productive. Better to find us some new recruits." He punched one hand with another. "Nikki lived with Shredder and she's plenty tough. So, the guy must know a thing or two."

Widget squinted. "Which is why you want to go to Blightsmuth?"

Gene turned back, smirking. "Exactly."

"Great." The cosmic silvally sat down. "Then have fun."

"Oh, for pity's sake." Gene pinched his brow. "You're digging your heels in? Really?"

"Yes." Widget held his head up. "Send me back to the base. I won't enable your bad decisions."

They silently stared each other down for several seconds. Eventually, Gene relented. With a lazy flick of his wrist, he spawned a rift. Widget spotted the hangar on the other side.

"Be my guest." Gene gestured toward the rift. "Don't come crying to me when it doesn't go how you're hoping."

Chuffing, Widget marched toward the rift. He paused with one foreleg on the other end to look at Gene.

"I hope you'll reconsider."

He waited for a few seconds. When Gene didn't respond, Widget finished stepping through the rift. He found a few skorps staring at him.

"Oh, uh, hi." Widget awkwardly waved a foreleg. "Anyone seen Cyril around?"

"Medical bay," one skorp said.

"Thanks." Widget trotted toward the hangar door.

Maybe Cyril already had other people with him. Regardless, Widget wouldn't rest until he knew the zoroark was okay.

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Heya, originally I was hoping to come back to this over the weekend, but that didn't quite pan out for me. Well, now's the next best time to get another chapter under my belt, so let's jump right back in with…

Chapter 91

Spoiler

Well, shit.

That's another world they're gonna tell me to stay away from. But what was I supposed to do? You hear all this yapping about bonds between humans and pokémon. So I can't stand by and watch some kid harass an ogerpon cuz he thinks he's entitled to be her trainer cuz he likes her so much.

This was Tama doing Tama things, wasn't it? Since it definitely feels like Bahamut in outlook, but a bit less unhinged.

The worst part was it was like an awful look back at the distant past. Cuz I'm not sure I'd have acted much different back when I was human.

Sometimes this omniverse stuff's a bitch.

Nevermind then, this is

speaking here.

Leo ran into the hanger not long after Noctum and Valkyrie. It was a mess of skorps darting about between computer consoles, several pointing and waving their mutant incineroar hands.

Tune's reminding me that I really ought to get around to grabbing a copy of Rift Apart. Especially since I have a PS5 now.

"What's the matter?" Noctum wondered, looking between the skorps and Cid. The orbeetle's spots flashed asynchronously with the funny sensors attached to them.

"What isn't the matter?!" Cid responded, staring at Cyril's "big board" of computer screens. "This is a nightmare! I can't get a hold of anyone who's over in Tulpise. I just keep hearing that annoying chatot pirate."

Told you that letting him hang around Cyril's burger joint was a bad idea.

The cosmic arceus trotted up to the dragons' sides. Both of them flinched. "Isn't this thing supposed to be a secure magical line?!" the garchomp hissed. "What gives?"

"M-Maybe Gilbert stole an X-transceiver the last time he was here?" Noctum tapped his index claws together. Valkyrie gently smacked the back of his head with her right elbow fin. "Hey, it was a suggestion!"

On the one hand, that would be fitting and not exactly hard to imagine, but the fact that it's explicitly brought up and shot down like this seems to be pointing at a far more ominous answer.

"Tough. There isn't a Gene or Cyril around for me to slap." Valkyrie crossed her arms. "Why the hell do they even let that pipsqueak and his crew show up here if they're against us?"

Valkyrie: "And if this turns out to be because of some sort of 'keep your enemies closer' tripe, so help me..." >_>;

"Technically it's not Gilbert's—" Noctum saw Valkyrie's death glare and shrank back. "Never mind."

Well, at least he read the room. Eventually.

Rolling his eyes, Leo approached the small computer array. "So, like, what's really the sitch? Cuz why would you complain about pirates if you weren't trying to reach the teams in Herbrides?"

Cid wobbled as his levitation momentarily faltered. "Right. Quite perceptive." The orbeetle pointed at a skorp. One of the larger monitors brought up footage of some kind of heavy machinery embedded in a craggy brown environment.

Leo's eyes widened. That rippling static in the center...

Wait, is that another one of Paradox's Paradox 'mons?

"We got us an anomaly, eh!" the skorp who pulled the footage up exclaimed.

"Where are we looking at?" Valkyrie said. Heavy metal thuds followed from her running up behind Leo.

"Iron Island," Skorp said. "Think it's part of that there Sinnoh region."

Sinnoh, huh? I wonder if this means we're about to crash Riley giving away that Riolu egg to Dawn/Lucas.

Sinnoh. Sinnoh. Why was that name familiar? "Wait." Leo stood up straight. "Isn't that on the same planet we found the last anomaly on? The one with that Indigo Plateau place?"

"It's not just that." Cid motioned at skorp. "Next recording."

What came up was blurry. A rush of purple and navy blue slammed into a large, upright sandaconda that was practically a living brown twister. Sandaconda slammed into a rock wall. Boulders and scraps of machinery crashed down on it from above.

Noctum: "I... take it that that's not supposed to be there?" .-.
Cid: "Not at all since Sandaconda apparently are not native to anywhere close to that region."

The footage flickered a few times. When it steadied, purple, armored legs and fiery blades vanished into the static. Instead of a sandaconda, there was a tiny orange pixie at the base of the rubble. Leo's starcloud tail curled up. Had he seen those big V-shaped ears before? Why did they make him think of wheels?

Ah yes, just getting in a

appearance and Gates reference in there.

"That big ol' sandaconda matches one of Cyril's descripterinos for a Paradigm lieutenant!" Skorp boxed the air in front of him. "But looks like some ceruledge gave her the ol' one-two and made off with her power!"

Wait, what.

No, it couldn't be just "some ceruledge." It was a Whisper. It had to be. And if they couldn't reach his mom and her friends...

Ahh, yeah, okay, that makes a bit more sense. Even if that's some convenient timing there... unless if that clash is what caused the anomaly.

Leo stepped toward Cid. "Are those empire dweebs at the island already?"

Three of Cid's spots glowed. "I don't think so. Why do you—"

"Don't wait up for me." Leo turned around.

"Whoa, hey!" Noctum reached for the cosmic arceus. "What are you doing?"

"Going there."

"Hang on." The cosmic charizard frowned. "We have to come up with a plan. You can't go rushing in looking like that."

I mean, he could, but it'd be an absolutely terrible idea and draw a ton of aggro, so... yeah. Let's see what Leo rolls as a disguise.

"Then I won't." Leo concentrated on two of the plates nestled deep in his spirit. His body squashed and stretched, molded by the energy he drew out of the plates. Bright light filled his vision.

"A heracross?" Valkyrie gasped. "Since when can the kid transform?!"

I mean, if llamagod can canonically mess with a phone to turn it into a custom PokéNav, going around in different guises feels like it should be plenty doable, even if IIRC Arceus can't canonically do anything involving Transform.

Leo's opened his chitinous elytron. Wings buzzing, he hovered into the air. "If we make a plan, the empire's going to storm the island. We don't have time. I'm out."

He wouldn't wait for anyone's protests. Leo slashed the air with his pronged horn. Warm sunlight spilled out from the rift. Leo shot through it, though he didn't immediately close it behind him. Might as well let the others have a shot at it.

I am not convinced that this isn't going to end terribly in short order. Especially since I can't remember the last time we actually saw Leo actually fight in this story.

The anomaly rift sat a couple of dozen meters away, amidst the wreckage of a bunch of machinery. Black bands and plating from conveyer belts to his left. Broken remains of lifts and platforms to his right. There were even a few hard hats and worker vests poking out from piles of dirt littered around the rift.

Well, that got morbid and dark quickly. .-.

Leo beelined for the pulsating static sphere. It grew a bit with every pulsation, chewing away at steel beams, pistons, and other wreckage. He glimpsed the orange pixie from earlier. Those two dragons would totes take care of her. No way they didn't follow him.

Leo, you know what they say about assuming...

The heracross flew into the static without a second thought. It brought him into a tunnel of bright lights and swirling, distorted colors. Leo saw jagged, island-shaped crystals in the distance. Sparkling lines crisscrossed far in the distance, too blurry to get any other features from.

He was in that Ginnungagap place again. Like with the first anomaly they'd flown through. That's fine. All Leo had to do was fly through this tunnel, and he'd reach the dimensional mystery dungeon on the other side. Easy pe—

"Ohhhh shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!"

I mean, not that Leo wasn't obviously tempting fate there, but things sure blew up a lot faster than I expected. Time to see what the damage is:

Was that... a flailing toxtricity ahead of him?

It was! It was Nikki! And judging by the big, spectral wing reaching out to grab her...

"Mom!" Leo shouted, surging toward her without a second thought.

Leo: "What on earth are you doing here?!" O_O;

Air hockey truly was a strange game. Yuna was often transfixed on all the tiny holes in the white table shooting constant air streams. Large enough to lift the red plastic puck millimeters off the table, but small enough not to do anything else.

"Ten to nine," Nikki declared. "Game point, baby!"

I take it that we've gone chronologically back in time for this scene. For whatever reason, I don't recall too many such moments in this story in spite of it now being almost half a million words long.

Igneous was leaning so far forward he was practically climbing onto the table. He struck the puck with his green handle. It banked off the gray wall, but Nikki intercepted with a quick swipe. The puck zigzagged back to Igneous' side. Holding her handle in her mouth, Scarlett slid it forward, but only clipped the side of the puck. Igneous missed his ensuing swipe, but course corrected to pin the puck in the corner.

Every click and clack of the puck satisfied Yuna in a way she couldn't put to words. She'd have to see about coming up with some sort of similar game for the taverns in Aeon when this was all over.

Nikki: "You could just... you know, import an air hockey table."

Yuna: "That'd be kinda hard since we don't exactly have a functioning power grid." -_-;

"C'mon, Twiggy." Nikki's mohawk sparked. She ran her handle back and forth rapidly at the center of the table. "No camping on the puck! Only pussies camp!"

Igneous gently tapped the puck, then slammed his handle into it. The puck beelined by Nikki's handle. "Shit!"

Well, he stopped camping the puck, at least. >:V

"Eep!" Yuna swiped right with both arms. She got the side of the puck. It banked backwards. Her ectoplasm shriveled. She quickly relaxed when the puck struck the corner of the goal and bounced back. Yuna gave it a hearty smack with her handle. It banked off the wall just past midfield.

"Gow eeh!" At its middling speed, Scarlett easily intercepted the puck. Nikki blocked her shot. Scarlett missed the counter, but Igneous swiped his handle all the way to his right, practically knocking the dragonair over in the process.

Boy, you really got into this sequence. Though did you play a game with friends or something to get this choreography down? Since something about the order of events feels surprisingly taut.

When the puck clacked off a wall, a distant rumble followed. Scarlett's neck bauble flickered. She looked up, as did Yuna.

"Did you guys hear that?" she said.

Oh, so we're going back a full chapter in time chronologically for this scene. I guess that's a sign that things went really pear-shaped at the mall while Seifer was having his family and space pirate problems.

A couple of more clacks. Nikki lightly shoved Yuna, who watched the lights rattle in the ceiling.

"Um, guys?" Yuna's tail crinkled. "I think we have a prob—" "Don't interrupt!" Nikki growled. More clacking followed. "Yeah!" Igneous said. "This is important!"

Priorities™️, though I find it hilarious that Igneous is also getting sucked up into this. Guess he's not as above it all as he thinks.

The next rumble was louder. The pachirisu twins who were watching the group from the next-door ping pong table exchanged panicked expressions, then leaped off and headed for the exit.

Scarlett spat out her handle. "We have a problem!" She grabbed Igneous with her tail and pulled his head up. "The whole pace is shaking!"

One last clack sounded, followed by a crunchy "What a goal!" from the speakers overhead. Igneous and Scarlett's goal flashed with blue light.

Yuna: "Oh my god, Nikki, are you kidding me right now?!"

Nikki: "What? Not my problem Twiggy left the goal open."

"Winner! Winner!" the same crunchy announcer voice declared. A small spotlight shined on Yuna and Nikki from the box-shaped scoreboard above the table.

"Ha!" Nikki pumped her fist. "Suck it, Twiggy! Loo-hoo-seeeer!" She made an L with her hand and pressed it against her forehead.

This girl's really into her air hockey for her to just blow off all those ominous tremors. Though what's the over/under of the arcade literally having to blow up to snap her out of this?

"Like hell you won!" The grovlazzle's head leaf caught fire. He stomped over to the toxtricity. "You saw that. Scarlett grabbed me! The goal doesn't count! Redo!"

I see that Team Bastion has their priorities in order right now.

"Guys, seriously?!" Scarlett cried.

"Aww, boo hoo." Nikki rubbed her cheeks as if she was crying. "Cry me a river. Scarlett was being gentle with y—"

Yuna heard the crash seconds before a part of the ceiling collapsed. She thrust her hands forward. Two gray, shadowy legs shielded her friends from the rubble. Screams erupted all around her as the arcade patrons and staff made a beeline for the exit.

Yuna: "I can't believe you two!"

Nikki: "Look, you could've spoken up about the whole freak earthquake in the background earlier."

"What the hell?!" Mohawk frazzled, Nikki hopped back onto the ping pong table.

The dust settled and showed a giant metal... claw? It had multiple colorful arcade cabinets ensnared in its grasp. And there was an electabuzz with a magmortar-esque cannon in place of their left arm riding on it.

"We got the cabinets! Hoist me up, mateys!" Electabuzz shouted.

Ah yes, so the space pirates also took the occasion to hit up the mall themselves. Though I'm surprised they're prioritizing the arcade over stuff like jewelry stores.

As fast as the claw appeared, it shot up through the hole in the ceiling.

"Wait, mateys?" Igneous sprinted toward the hole. "I don't see anything!" He tapped the side of his head. "Gene, someone just made off with arcade cabinets from the mall! What's going on?"

Yuna heard distant crashes and rumbles that mirrored those that preceded the giant claw. She also flipped on her X-transceiver.

"—need to explain anything to vous, kitty cat! Why wouldn't we take ze advantage for a fresh place to plunder?"

Igneous: "Please tell me we're not seriously having to deal with featherface causing us problems over being salty over a cage match. That was like 50 chapters ago!"

"No way," Yuna whispered. She flipped her X-transceiver off. "It's the pirates! And they're in our X-transceiver line!"

"No fooling?" Nikki leaped off the ping pong table. "Then we've gotta regroup with the others."

Yuna: "Seriously, why on earth do they keep getting in our way? They're literally nuisance antagonists!" >.<
Scarlett: "That... makes me feel as if we should be worried more about if anyone else is using them as a smokescreen right now." .-.

"How?" Igneous volcarona wings burst out of his back in swathes of fire. "Gene's not responding. It's like he can't even hear me!"

More crashes sounded in the distance. "Ahh, forget that!" Scarlett's white wings unfurled. She flew toward the hole. "It's not safe inside! Let's go!"

Igneous and Scarlett were first through the broken ceiling. Yuna hovered in place while Nikki ran up the wall and along the ceiling, her feet surrounded by blue electricity. When the toxtricity was through the hole, Yuna darted after her.

The back part of the mall was concrete. Which was a good thing, since most of its glass ceiling wasn't there anymore.

Yuna: "Boy am I glad that I don't need to use my feet to get around, since all those glass shards look like a recipe for some nasty cuts." 😬

"The hell is this?!" Nikki's mohawk undulated wildly. "Giant claws shooting out from nowhere?!"

Flashes of gray metal peppered the air in front of them. Assorted large electronic appliances vanishing alongside the metal claws gripping them.

"They're hiding their ships." Igneous looked around. He gripped his red honedge in his hands. "That has to be it."

IMO, Nikki's line would work a little better if it was punctuated to sound more agitated. Though I can already tell that Iggy's brilliant plan is going to be to hitch a ride on one of the claws up to Gilbert's ships, huh?

"With what? A freaking zoroark armada?" Nikki strummed her gills. "I say we shoot straight over where the roof was and see what happens."

Igneous held the honedge up. "Or we have Starlene sense them." He glanced at the dragonair.

Boring, but practical. Assuming that it works.

"R-Right!" Scarlett's neck bauble glowed pink. Starlene appeared. Her electronic wings glowed in time with Scarlett's bauble.

"Uhh..." The latias frowned. "I'm not getting anything." She wrinkled her snout. "No way they can block psychics. These are pirates, not the empire!"

That... feels like a sign that they cut a deal with said Empire, just saying. Like maybe I'm biased since one of my own stories has a plot beat that's not all that dissimilar, but...

Swirling blue ice emerged right in front of them. "Move!" Yuna yelped.

The quartet all broke off in different directions. When the Blizzard buffeted the stone part of the roof, everything slowed to a crawl around Yuna. It was like someone painted the whole world around her in a purple crystal glaze. And an unseen clock loudly ticked in her head.

She'd seen this before. When she dodged Leo's attacks while training with him. Why could she move normally? Is this... from Yaldabaoth?

First paragraph IMO works better as two smaller ones. Though I hadn't even considered the possibility of that being the party that the space pirates teamed up with.

Yuna couldn't call out to her friends. They were barely moving. But what she could do was fly away from the Blizzard. After a couple of seconds, the crystal tinge vanished. Everything moved normally again.

"H-Hey! Princess, what are you doing?!"

The dragapult turned. Scarlett struggled to juggle her own flight with Starlene levitating Nikki. She glanced up and saw another Blizzard forming from nothing.

"Malpirg!" Yuna shouted. Shadows twisted in her hands, and then Reshiram appeared in gouts of blue fire. He gathered a giant orange fireball and spat it into the Blizzard, blowing it apart in a torrent of steam.

Huh, I wonder if the 'Malpirg' there means anything, or if that's just something like Bayonetta-speak lifted from the game.

"Watch over them!" Yuna ordered, then returned to focusing on the destroyed roof.

Blue flickered in the corner of her vision. Yuna rolled away from an Ice Beam in the nick of time. Like before, everything took on a crystal tinge and slowed to a crawl. Yuna seized her opportunity, flying toward the shattered glass roof. She glanced at the mall. Her shadows tugged on her long tail.

"Yes, I see it." Yuna gulped as the time crystal thingy stopped. She'd have to come up with a better name later. Because there was an anomaly in the mall! The pirates couldn't have made it... could they?

Yuna, if you have to ask yourself that question, they totally made it.

No, she didn't have time to consider the why. Yuna tapped the right side of her head.

"— a fool's errand to interfere. Zese snobby so-and-sos could use ze excitement!"

Yuna's tail lashed the air. The line was still down. How was she supposed to get a hold of Leo like this?!

"Ice Beam from above!"

Igneous' shout alerted Yuna. She rolled right. The crystal time stasis took over again. Curiously, Yuna noted Reshiram moving at full speed. "Fire! There!" The dragapult pointed toward the empty space where the Ice Beam formed.

Oh, so this time dilation effect doesn't work on spirits. Interesting, though I wonder if it's pointing towards anything.

Reshiram immediately spewed a Blue Flare. When the time stasis faded, a blue barrier flickered in and out of existence. The flames barely poked through it. Startled shouts came from the other side.

"It's their ship!" Reshiram said, tail turbine crackling. "Or, uh, a ship. I dunno. This is conf— eep!" He frantically darted left and right as Ice Beams and a massive Blizzard rained down from above.

Well, that would explain why everyone was having such trouble getting a psychic read on the space pirates earlier.

"Help! I'm allergic to grog-scented ice!"

Just how drunk was the 'mon that spewed that one out?

Yuna reached her right arm out. Reshiram returned in a stream of light. "Nikki!" she shouted.

"A bit busy!" The toxtricity batted Ice Shards away with her lightning guitar before they could strike Scarlett. Yuna shot toward her.

"Whoa, hey!" Nikki gasped when Yuna wrapped her up in her large tail. "What's the big idea? At least buy me dinner first!"

"Cut the jokes! Anomaly in the mall," Yuna said. She took off away from a flummoxing Scarlett. "I can't reach Leo."

Yeah, being in an entirely different dimension has a way of doing that. ^^;

"Then rift us back to the outpost!" Nikki squirmed in Yuna's grasp. The dragapult wasn't bothered, speeding past Ice Beams before they could even prove a problem. She flew through the empty space between the hallways on the third and second floors.

"It's growing... and fast!" Yuna realized. "We have to see what we're dealing with."

"What about Twiggy and Scarlett?" Nikki tried to look up.

They're going to wind up leaving them behind, aren't they?

Yuna paused and looked back. Flames swept overhead, striking against the same blue barrier as Reshiram's attack earlier.

"Someone has to try and help people out here," Yuna mumbled. "We're already disjointed."

Yeah, I knew it.

Nikki didn't offer a counterargument, so Yuna took that as her cue to fly into the static. Bright, multicolored lights flooded her vision. Her ectoplasm was tugged in six different directions. Grunting, Yuna lost her grip on Nikki. Arms flailing, the toxtricity fell through the open air.

"Ohhhh shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!"

Oh, so this is the part where they run into Leo.

Instinct took hold. Yuna stretched her right arm out. A spectral wing appeared to catch Nikki. It wrapped protectively around her like some grotesque, oversized scarf.

"Mom!"

Yuuuup, here we go.

The dragapult's head whipped around. A heracross sped toward her. But that voice...

"Leo?!" Yuna rubbed her eyes. A familiar cosmic arceus replaced the heracross. "What are you doing here? Did you come through Tulpise?"

"No!" Leo galloped toward her, despite the lack of ground. In a flash of blue and white light, he shifted to a large altaria and snagged Nikki out of the spectral wing.

"Whoa, hey!" Nikki almost fell off his back in surprise. "The kid's carrying me now?!"

Yuna: "Nikki, are you seriously complaining right now?!" >_>;

Yuna flew after him. Unexpected arrival or not, she still had to find the mystery dungeon on the other side. And this bright, flashing tunnel had to be pointing them in the right direction. "How did you get here then, Leo?"

"Anomaly showed up in Eternatus' Earth!" Leo said. "And it spat me out here."

This was bad. If it sent him into the same Ginnungagap tunnel as the Tulpise anomaly, then they were connected! "Was yours growing quickly, too?"

Oh, so Mystery Dungeons do have the potential to connect to multiple locations in this setting.

"Yeah!" Leo flapped his wings, moving right. "Head's up! There's big— agh!"

The altaria banked left. Yuna followed his flight path. The bright lights made it hard to discern what he was dodging until she got close and saw big blue circles for herself.

"Right! No, left!" Nikki yelped. "Wait— gaaah!"

There was a loud pop followed by an explosion... of blue juice?

I take it that they just splatted a giant Oran Berry.

Yuna slowed up. The juice splattered against the light of the tunnel and dissolved into blue smoke. The dragapult sped forward. Her facial ectoplasm rippled.

"Blueberries?" Yuna cringed. More giant blueberries floated haphazardly inside of the tunnel. Leo, covered in blueberry juice, struggled to maneuver around them. "Watch out!" She surged forward. "Rayquaza, go!"

Huh, not quite what I was expecting, but still a blue berry, I suppose.

An emerald arrow torpedoed through the tunnel, passing Leo by and ramming through blueberry clusters. Rayquaza stopped his Dragon Ascent charge and looked back at the blue mist. "Tis not the manner of treachery I expected when I awoke this morning, Princess! Why art these oversized fruits attacking us?"

"I dunno!" Yuna pressed onward. With a bit of concentration, dragon energy sparked in her horns. To her delight, dreepy-shaped blue blasts shot out of her horns, popping a couple of blueberries and letting the juice-stained Leo and Nikki fly past.

"It's gotta be cuz of the mystery dungeon." Leo flapped his damp wings, flicking blueberry juice all along the tunnel.

Yuna: "I'm sorry, but since when do Mystery Dungeons ever do stuff like this?!"

Nikki: "Clearly there's a first time for everything!"

"Ugh, seriously?!" Nikki was still desperately trying to wring juice out of her jacket. "The hell's on the other side, Dieticianopolis? I got my antioxidants already, damn it!"

"We shall find out soon enough!" Rayquaza declared. After a brief recharge, he Dragon Ascented ahead. Blueberry juice filled the air, then evaporated against the harsh light of the Ginnungagap tunnel. "I see a distorted rift up ahead! Tis the dungeon for sure! Tally ho!"

I think that you have a small verb tense error in Nikki's line there. Though are we about to see them head out into a macro universe or something like that?

The path ahead was clear of any giant blueberries. Which was enough for Yuna to recall Rayquaza in streams of black and emerald light. Leo flew toward the dungeon. Yuna was ready to head after him when a ripple in the bright tunnel wall caught her attention.

"Hmm?" The dragapult looked to the tunnel wall on her right. Everything outside remained a swirl of blues, purples, and smudgy gray shapes in the distance. But there was one blur darting quickly around the tunnel wall.

A purple, white, and black blur.

"No, no, no! C'mon, shrink! Shrink!"

That voice... it's Vince!

Wait, what has he been up to all this time anyways?

Even though the rift was still a few hundred meters away, the tunnel was pulling her toward it. Yuna fought against it, her tail undulating rapidly as if she were a fish swimming upstream. It had to be the real Vince out there. Not just one of his projections. And that meant real answers! If she could just reach him...

God, this tug was strong. Yuna was getting tired. The lights were getting brighter. "C'mon, I just—"

"Stupid anomaly! Cut it out!"

Wait, are we about to see Yuna and the gang barge out into Overseerland or something like that?

No, she couldn't let this chance slip through her fingers! Focus!

Roaring, the dragapult's arms stretched out into Giratina's large, black wings. She slammed the red spikes into the tunnel wall. Light filaments exploded all around her. A burning pain shot through her wings.

"Rrrrgggh... you won't... get away!"

I'm not convinced that this isn't a wildly terrible idea, but if nothing else, you can't say that Yuna isn't a determined one.

Keeping her left wing buried in the light wall to stop her descent, Yuna forced her right wing deeper into it. The pain was awful. But she had to endure. Fight it for that chance at grabbing the Overseer.

Bit by bit, the wall parted, until Yuna's wing finally burst through. Rough scales grazed the black ectoplasm. Gotcha!

A surprisingly high-pitched scream rang out as Yuna coiled her wing around the rough scales and yanked the wing back through the wall and into the tunnel.

So Vince screams like a little girl. Duly noted.

And there was the purple and white koraidon, eyes wide with terror. His legs kicked at the air.

"No, wait, stop! What do you think you're doing?!"

"Getting us... some backup!" With one last snarl, Yuna ripped herself off the light wall and hurled Vince through the remaining Ginnungagap tunnel beneath her as hard as she could. He tumbled away from her, screaming pleas for Yuna to send him back. Instead, the dragapult watched the fuzzy rift a hundred meters below her swallow Vince up.

Well, that's one way to get help with everyone's mall problems... unless he wound up going to Iron Island instead, in which case

She fell through the rift not long after. Sky blue light spilled over her. It faded quickly to a bright blue sky and yellow sun reflecting off a giant white and blue dome.

Yuna threw her arms over her face. Talk about one heck of a glare! "Guys?" she called out, still blinking rapidly to adjust to the light.

"Down here, Princess!"

Your video link is dead in this section. What exactly did this link to originally?

After several more seconds, Yuna spotted Nikki waving to him atop the white dome. She stood under an impromptu shower supplied by a pelipper. Leo, judging by the golden glint in his eyes. Vince was next to them... however, he was now on all-fours for some reason. His dewlap had deflated, his feathery crest looked far less impressive, and his tail was curled up to resemble a wheel. He refused to meet anyone's gaze.

Oh, so Yuna meant backup for the anomaly. I didn't catch that one at first. Though it looks like she's gotten Vince stuck in Limited Build so... yeah, probably not going to accomplish much other than just carry the gang around.

Yuna quickly confirmed there was a fuzzy rift above her, though it blended in quite well with the bright sunshine. Then she flew down to join her teammates. "Good to see you're both okay."

"And juice free," Leo said. He stopped spitting up water. Nikki stepped away to take off her leather jacket and wring it out over the dome. "That was hella disgusting. Remind me to stay away from berries for a while."

I can already see everyone getting weirded out when Leo just

s at the next bowl of berries he sees at the mess hall.

"Uh... sure." Yuna rubbed the back of her neck. Oversized fruit was weird, but far from the worst thing they had to contend with.

"So, uh, what's with the plus one?" Leo pointed a wing at Vince. "That's Vince, right? Why does he look like he'd be featured in an ad for low testosterone?"

Wait, meaning that he was already stuck in Limited Build before Yuna dragged him along kicking and screaming?

Yuna did not want to acknowledge that comparison. She knew Leo was watching EV programs during their down time. But what channels?

"This is a nightmare," Vince mumbled. "I'm hallucinating." The purple and white koraidon squeezed his eyes shut. "I just gotta wake up. Wake up and— eyowch!"

Nikki had whipped his right flank with her soggy jacket. Vince stumbled forward. His feathery horns curled up.

Vince: "Okay, nevermind, this isn't a dream!"

Nikki: "I'm gonna need to whip him a few more times to snap him out of it, aren't it?"

"Yup, not dreaming." The toxtricity resumed wringing water from her jacket. "How'd you find him?"

"He was outside the tunnel in Ginnungagap," Yuna explained. "Figured this was a good chance to finally be face to face with someone who knows what's going on."

Vince shrank back. He shook his head rapidly. "You idiots! Do you have any idea how bad this is?!"

Yuna: "No, but you're here, so start talking."

"Tch. Yeah." Nikki waved her right arm dismissively. She put her right index finger against her head. "We've already had it drilled into our skulls a dozen times. 'Dimensional cataclysm.' 'The end of life as we know it.' Blah, blah, blah. Frankly, it's about time at least one of your weirdo secret society decided to pull their weight around here."

"You don't get it!" Vince's dewlap puffed out. He stepped toward Nikki. "I was keeping the anomaly in check! Because this one was growing out of control! And there's a real chance it does some serious damage and ruins me helping you guys behind the scenes!"

This moment is brought to you by:

Since... yeah, "heroes inadvertently making things even worse" is one of the most "Squaresoft plot" things imaginable.

He looked toward the rift. "I have to go back. I—"

"No." Yuna hovered higher in the air. "If this anomaly's really growing that fast, then we need you here."

Vince shrank back again. "It won't work." His horns curled up further. "You dragged me in here. I don't have most of my powers. I'm—" He looked down at his webbed feet. "I'm just a koraidon here."

So Overseers get depowered inside of Anomalies. Not fully sure what would cause that, but duly noted.

"The hell's that supposed to mean?" Nikki's mohawk sparked. "Are you an Overseer or aren't you?"

"There's a protocol!" Vince said. "Higher-ranking Overseers can keep some of their powers when they enter worlds on their own. But most of the time, if we want to be at our best, we have to coordinate with the gods to gain access."

He walked away from them, looking out at the sprawling blue surrounding the dome. "But that didn't happen. And I'm a very junior overseer."

I'm assuming that's a "gods of a given universe", unless if there's definitive Legendaries even amongst Overseers. Though I take it that this is basically the equivalent of negotiating with an author to allow for a crossover chapter.

"What about Leo?" Yuna gestured to the pelipper. "He can still change his form and everything."

"Because some of his power is in this realm by accident," Vince exclaimed.

Right, his plates. Yuna looked out over the water. This dome was practically in the middle of the ocean. Where were they?

... I'm super slow after the whole "giant blueberry" thing earlier, but between that and the mention of them being in a dome in the middle of an ocean, I know exactly where these guys are right now:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EG1MPGfGbU

Having put her jacket back on, Nikki crossed her arms. "So, you're saying you're useless, then?" She rolled her eyes. "Puh-leeze. If I can find ways to make a difference, then you can."

Yuna was tempted to say something to Nikki, but her ectoplasm rippled. Her tail tugged on her lower half. The dragapult spun around. Leo was already looking in that direction, flapping his wings slowly.

"It's... some sort of small battlefield?" Yuna floated over to Leo. It wasn't a large arena, but it was just as white and sparkling as the dome. There were some humans scattered around. One standing at the edge of the battlefield had hair that practically looked like an onion.

Ohai, Kieran. Though I suppose that explains the teaser for this chapter, and that I should update the background music, since we're technically in a different part of Blueberry Academy than I initially assumed:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGcvhrbCoLE

Her ectoplasm rippled again.

"It's them," Leo said.

"Huh?" Yuna followed the pelipper's gaze until she found a ceruledge standing on the opposite side of the battlefield. Sunlight glinted off the two crystals jutting out of his head. One resembled a ghostly blob and the other was just a jagged black box with a smirking face.

Wait, isn't this literally just a Ghost Tera Hat?

"That's the Whisper." Leo pointed a wing at Ceruledge. "I saw them go through the rift in Eternatus after defeating a Paradigm member."

A Whisper with two of Leo's plates in its possession. And one that had defeated a Paradigm member, to boot?

As Ceruledge raised his blades and let out a triumphant laugh, Yuna looked back at Vince and Nikki. They stared at her with perplexed expressions.

What do I do? We're not prepared for this!

Yuna: "... Okay, in retrospect, not bringing Igneous and Scarlett along with us was a terrible idea."

Alright, made it to the end. I definitely wasn't expecting things to wind up going to Blueberry Academy at the end, though I take it that you had some fun with Indigo Disk around the time when you were piecing this chapter together, and it's definitely a memorable change of pace. I feel as if there were a couple moments that went a little over my head, but if nothing else, peaceful days are over, and now it's back to our regularly scheduled programming of stuff blowing up, and I'm all for it.

I honestly did not find a whole lot of things to complain about in this chapter beyond a couple nitpicks here and there. Like maybe it'd have been nice to see a bit more of the space pirate end of things this chapter, but I take it that the focus on Leo and Yuna was very deliberate, so I can't really begrudge you for going that route.

Feels good reviewing this story again, @Ambyssin . It'll probably take me a while to catch up, especially with NaNoWriMo rounding the corner, but I've been having fun with things, and I'm looking forward to seeing where things go from here.

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 100: Positively Adamant​

While Spacial Rend was relatively easy for me to describe in manuscript form, Dialga's Roar of Time is much more... esoteric. Hisuian records suggest a large beam of energy, but that sounds no different from your average Dragon Pulse. Even descriptions from the second Hisuian hero suggest Roar of Time was less impressive a sight than Palkia's Spacial Rend.

I suppose part of it is in the name itself. What does roaring time even equate to? Is Dialga bombarding an opponent with an array of different possibilities? Are they warping time in the area of the attack?

Perhaps the Space Globe can shed some light on this for me. I'll ask Zodiark.

XxX​

The restaurant had been open while the group waited for news about Seifer. And it stayed open even after Cyril's outburst, though Guzzie and Guzmelda tried their best to hastily get the remaining patrons fed and out the door.

Throughout the constant scurrying of the black and pink guzzlord couple, Artemis remained coiled next to a corner table. He stared blankly at a flickering neon record hanging above the jukebox. Artemis had no idea how much time had passed. He didn't care, either.

It was Artemis' fault. Seifer was gone because of him. If the milotic had just understood his place... that he'd been sitting on the sidelines for a reason. Artemis had been out of his depth with the toxic swamp that took over the skorps' home planet. Gene knew that. That was why the mewtwo had Artemis work that stupid drone when they went to Eterna City.

But Artemis complained anyway. Let that dumb samurott talk him into going back out in the field.

And now Siefer was dead.

Why hadn't Artemis just stayed behind?

His scales tingled— no, itched.

He hunched over, putting his hands on his thighs to catch his breath. Akari was climbing off Ursaluna to gather the balms scattered at A̸͈͠r̴̛̠e̷̩͌z̸̳̉ȕ̶̖'̴͚̽s̷̼̓ feet.

"What were you thinking, doing all this yourself?" Artemis said. He managed to catch his breath. "Did you think I couldn't help you?"

Both girls shared a glance.

"Right." Artemis' shoulders sagged. "No one would blame you for thinking so. Not much of a leader, am I? I've never even seen almighty Sinnoh with my own eyes."

"Y'square, mate?"

Artemis jolted. His horn grazed the metal wall behind him. Ribbons curling, the milotic hissed in pain.

Wait, ribbons? He looked at them, blinking repeatedly.

"Oi. Artemis, innit?"

He looked up to see that lycanroc mutt standing in front of him, paws on a sleeping Sigurd's wheelchair. Given the direction Sigurd was facing, they were probably heading to the residential quarters.

"I'm fine." Artemis waved Jaeger off with his right ribbon.

"Ain't a good liar, mate," Jaeger said. He lifted his paws off the wheelchair. "Heard about what happened to Seifer. Damn shame."

Artemis looked down guiltily. "It's my fault. He died taking a blow for me." His ribbons curled up as he suppressed a shudder. "All because I... really thought I could make a difference out there. Me, some... some random nobody milotic."

Jaeger scratched his chin. "Easy to blame yourself right now. But it sounds like Seifer chose to run in and take that blow."

"Only because I was careless," Artemis countered. His brows drooped. "I'd been... icy toward him, because of what happened in the past. Never got to a point where I could forgive him." He shook his head. "Then this happened."

"That's the grief talking," Jaeger said. "Sounds like y'need time to sort through it." The lycanroc mutt rubbed his rocky mane. "Wish I could help, mate, but it ain't exactly my forte."

Artemis' eyes narrowed. "And just what is your forte? You're supposed to be one of these Overseers, aren't you?"

"Intern."

"Whatever!" Artemis flicked a ribbon in Jaeger's direction. "Doesn't that make you strong? Why aren't you out there fighting these guys?!"

He slithered up to Jaeger and jabbed a ribbon into his chest. "If you'd gone out there, then... then maybe I wouldn't have! And Seifer would still be—"

Jaeger grabbed the milotic's shout and shushed him. He tilted his head in Sigurd's direction as a warning not to wake the guy up.

"'Fraid it don't work like that, mate." Jaeger let go of Artemis' snout and stepped back. "Overseers get power from entering a world with the help of the local gods. Didn't happen to me, so I don't have that power. 'M like a normal lycanroc."

"Seriously?" Artemis slouched to the point where his ribbons dragged on the floor. "But what about that emerald sheen your fur sometimes has?"

"Yeh, 's just a glow." Jaeger held his paw up. It flashed emerald for a bit. "Cuz 'm usually a zygarde when I visit a world."

What? The milotic struggled to imagine how one jumped from serpent dragon to rock dog.

Jaeger scratched his ear. "Zygarde got a canid form, mate."

"Oh." Still, Artemis didn't buy it. He straightened up. "Well, we literally have the local god here: Leo. Why can't you borrow some of his power so you can fight? He already shared his power with Cyril and Widget, so..."

His voice trailed off. "He shared... his power with Cyril and Widget..."

Jaeger raised a brow, only to grunt as Artemis shoved him into the back of Sigurd's chair while slithering around him.

"What's the hurry, mate?"

"Leo! I need Leo!" Artemis slithered toward the door. He'd been in such a stupor for so long that it hadn't occurred to him that the cosmic arceus should have been home by now. Which meant that he was somewhere in the outpost.

"What for?" Jaeger said.

"There might still be a way to save Seifer," Artemis said.

Jaeger muttered something, but it was too quiet for Artemis to hear. The metal doors slid open for the milotic. He headed into the glass tunnel.

Yes, Leo was the key. The key to saving Seifer... and to his power woes. Leo was God. He had to have some sort of control over life and death. Now that he had several plates, surely Leo could tap into those powers. And also give Artemis a boost, too.

Blessings for both of them. That was the solution. A way for Artemis to undo his terrible mistake... and to make sure no one would ever get hurt covering for his stupidity again.

It was a solid plan. It was going to work— no, it had to work.

XxX​

Widget had initially checked the "main" infirmary area — several repurposed rooms whose walls Gene had broken down — but found no sign of Cyril or Seifer. He asked one of the cyclizar monks carrying around some towels. She told the cosmic silvally they'd taken Seifer into an empty room at the end of the hall.

The first room he tried had Ifrit and Shiva, who were still asleep. The second had Yiazmat beside a slumbering Calcifer. It was the room at the very end, by a glass wall looking out at the asteroid belt and brilliant aurora, that Widget found an ajar metal door.

He lightly tapped the door with his talons. "Hey. Anyone in here?"

No response. Widget leaned over. His head crest nudged the door open. He recoiled upon seeing a charred, vaguely equine body lying on a blue tarp covering the bed. There were scented candles and lilac flowers around the bed. Widget wondered if those were trying to mask the smell of a burnt corpse.

"What do you want?"

Cyril's voice was hoarse, but he still managed to sound harsh. Widget shrank back, his head crest drooping.

The door opened fully. Cyril walked back toward a metal folding chair beside Seifer's body and slumped down into it.

"I, uh—" Widget couldn't take his eyes off the tarp. He wouldn't have even known that was Seifer had he not seen the lightning fry the keldeo. "I just wanted to check in."

"I'm not up for talking." Cyril let his starcloud mane drape over his face. It was more disheveled than usual. And his ectoplasmic pelt was knotted up, too.

"I know he meant a lot to you," Widget whispered.

Cyril's black fur flickered red. Widget's claws scraped against the floor. Had he said something wrong?

The cosmic zoroark stayed silent, still facing Seifer. Though Widget had no idea if he could see the keldeo's corpse through all that fur.

Eventually, Cyril muttered, "This mean Gene's back?"

"No." Widget stepped into the room. Lilac and lavender scents practically assaulted his beak. It was almost suffocating. But better than the alternative, I guess.

"No?" Cyril's fur flickered red again.

Widget tensed. Was honesty the best policy right now? Then again, he wasn't a great liar and lying could just make Cyril angrier.

"He didn't want to come back." The silvally's starcloud neck ruff deflated. "He thought you didn't want him around. So, he's trying to recruit ousted Crowne Ministers over in Radiance. I think he's heading for Blightsmuth."

At first, Cyril didn't respond. Then he smacked his right leg with his right hand. "Oooof course he is. Gotta find some way to salvage this, right?" He flicked his left wrist toward Seifer's body.

"I think he's afraid," Widget mumbled.

"Of what?" Cyril whirled on Widget. His mane still obscured his face but locks of hair rippled like stormy waters. "Me chewing him out for not dropping everything to get Seifer to safety?"

Widget's crest drooped. "That's, uh... a pretty good guess?" He looked down at his gold talons. This idea was turning worse by the second.

Raspy laughter followed. "No reason to worry." Cyril slapped his right leg again. "Because he was right. As usual."

"Huh?"

"There was no reason to rush him back." Cyril's laughter continued. The gems in his limbs flickered erratically. "That lightning fried him. He was... he was..."

His laughter faded to choked back sobs as Cyril slumped off his chair and onto his knees.

"C-Cyril..." Widget took a step toward the cosmic zoroark... only to jump back when Cyril punched the tarp.

"Why?" He punched again. "Why, damn it?" And again. "Why did this have to happen?" And again.

Widget had to say something, right? "He was trying to save Artemis. Trying... to be the hero he always saw himself as."

"I get that!" Cyril snapped. Widget caught a quick glimpse of the zoroark's puffy eyes before his hair obscured them again. "But the last thing that happened before that was his asshole father disowning him because I let him rile me up!"

He turned and punched the tarp again. Cyril's right arm rippled with static. "I screwed up! I loved him and I... I'll never..."

The cosmic silvally's neck ruff deflated further. Those static ripples meant Cyril would erode into a Whisper if Widget didn't do something.

"It's not your fault." He quickly went to Cyril's side and sat down next to him. "Between the pirates and Xeromus, everything was out of control. I'm sure if Seifer were here, he wouldn't blame you for losing your cool."

"But he did blame me!" Static briefly replaced Cyril's mane and torso. "He scolded me. And I never got the chance to apologize..."

Crap! Widget was making it worse!

"W-Well, um..." He had to think. Think. Think. "If he was, y'know, really mad at you, would he have gone with you and Artemis?"

Widget flinched when Cyril turned to him. His hair was still covering his face, but at least the static wasn't showing up this time.

"I dunno," Cyril whispered. He slumped to his right so his head and upper torso were lying on the chair. "But he's gone now. I'll never get to make a proper apology."

"There might still be a way!"

Widget turned to find Artemis in the doorway. The milotic leaned against the door, trying to catch his breath while also shoving Leo's side with a ribbon.

"Hey! C'mon, dude, my fur's not even dry!"

The cosmic arceus hesitantly entered the room. Water dribbled off his blue-purple, starry pelt. The towel draped over his torso dropped onto the floor.

"You pulled Leo out of the shower?" Widget asked.

"Of course not." Artemis finished catching his breath, slithered inside, and shut the door. "I pulled him out of the shower area while he was drying off." He pointed a ribbon across the room. "Because this is important! Leo can save Seifer!"

Cyril's head snapped in Leo's direction. Leo turned to Artemis. "What?"

"A blessing should totally work!" Artemis sounded awfully sure of himself for what sounded like a complete wild guess. "Look at what it did for Cyril and Widget." He gestured to both with his ribbons. "And you have a ghost-type plate, right? So, you should totally be able to revive a soul. If you're the creator of the universe, nothing's impossible for you."

Widget looked down at the floor. All those concerns he brought up to Gene about Leo's blessing rushed back to the surface. Could Leo really bring Seifer back? Or would he end up putting an entirely different spirit into Seifer's body? Did the cosmic arceus even understand how his blessings worked?

"Wait." Cyril held his hands up. "No, something about that ain't right. Seifer was killed back in Radiance. His soul shouldn't be here anymore. It'd be... claimed by Eternatus, wouldn't it?"

"Maybe?" Leo shrugged. "TBH, I'm not really sure."

"TBH?" Cyril pulled his starcloud hair aside to squint at Leo. "Seriously, dude?"

The two cosmic fuzzballs' ensuing bickering barely registered to Widget, who was repeating Cyril's claims over and over in his head.

Souls claimed by Eternatus. Claimed by... Eternatus...

"I might be able to help with that."

Widget hadn't realized what he said until he saw three sets of eyes on him. Artemis wrapped his tail around one of the cosmic silvally's hind legs. "Don't just stand there. Explain!"

"I, uh—" Widget blinked several times. "Well, y'know, the emperor built me to interface with Eternatus. So, um, I might be able to locate Seifer's spirit. If it's, like, adrift and stuff."

"You don't sound too sure of yourself." Cyril crossed his arms and tapped a foot on the floor.

"But he can try." Artemis let go of Widget's hind leg. The milotic pet the leg with his tail. "For everyone's sake, right?"

"Does that mean I can go back to drying off?" Leo reached a foreleg toward the towel he dropped.

"No, we still need you," Artemis said. Leo brought his foreleg back, an unamused look on his face.

"Uh, right." Widget stepped toward Seifer's body. His form shifted back into his original, Eternatus-esque look. His glassy, red-pink torso was... strange after not experiencing it for so long.

"Here goes." The eternavally shut his eyes and concentrated. What was it the emperor had told him to do?

His fur bristled. No, forget him. Do what feels natural.

Widget took one deep breath. Then another. And another.

Even though his eyes were closed, a dully, hazy outline of the room painted itself in front of him. There were two bright, white-blue flames to his right. A gold flame sat between them. It was so intense, it almost broke Widget's concentration. It had to be Leo's spirit.

Focus. Deep breaths. Widget had to think beyond the—

"What?"

Widget's eyes opened. He stumbled toward the bed, shaking his head and blinked stars from his vision. "That doesn't—" Widget looked at the bed where Seifer's body lay.

"Did you see something?" There was a spark of hope in Cyril's voice.

"A crystal," the eternavally whispered. "A gray and blue crystal... right on the bed. Which I don't understand. Cuz you guys looked like ethereal flames to me when I was concentrating."

Cyril hummed in thought. Artemis slithered between him and Widget. "That's a good thing!" the milotic chirped. "That's gotta mean his spirit's here. Which means Leo can help!" He turned to the cosmic arceus. "I bet all you gotta do is 'break' that crystal and you'll free Seifer's soul!"

Leo's damp starcloud mane dimmed. "Gray crystal? I dunno..."

"Please, Leo, you have to try!" Artemis beckoned him with his tailfins.

"Uhh..."

Artemis nudged Cyril with his left ribbon. "You agree with me, right? You really want Seifer back!"

The cosmic zoroark's mane dimmed. "Yeah. I do."

"Then what do we have to lose?" Artemis looked between Cyril and Leo.

After a few seconds of silence, Leo stepped forward. "Fine. I'll try." He approached the bed. "Maybe it is that simple. And I have a lot of plates now, so that's bound to help."

Widget shuffled back. His fur stood on end. Something about the crystal bothered him. He wasn't sure why, so he kept his beak shut. Widget silently watched golden filaments unravel from Leo's wheel. They gently touched Seifer's corpse. Leo's wheel and starcloud mane sparkled with a blue-purple aurora. The dampness from his shower turned to small bits of steam above his head.

Though tempted to tap into that spirit sensing power again, Widget feared he'd break Leo's concentration. He stood as still as a statue.

... And then the filaments twitched.

Leo's eyes opened. They were full of panic.

The filaments twitched again. Artemis and Cyril didn't seem to notice, gazes locked on Seifer's body. Its hooves were... glistening?

This time the filaments jerked. Was Leo trying to pull them away?

Something's wrong.

Widget had to speak up. "Leo?"

"I can't, nnngh, get them back," he said. The filaments jerked again, but remained attached to Seifer. The glistening had spread over the keldeo's charred body.

"Wait, what?" Cyril stepped up to Leo. "If there's a problem then stop."

Leo's wheel and starcloud mane flickered. "I can't! It won't— why isn't this working? Stop! Stop!" He kept jerking the filaments.

Widget's head crest glowed. He shifted back to his cosmic form. "Do you want me to slice them? I'm sure I can—"

"No! Get back!" Leo stuck his left foreleg out.

Artemis finally seemed to register the problem. He was reaching toward Leo when the cosmic arceus suddenly tensed.

The filaments were ripped from Seifer's body. They flailed about like rapidly deflating balloons. Leo staggered back, eyes wide. Cyril dove onto the floor, narrowly avoiding one.

Widget jumped over one of the filaments just as another smacked Artemis across the face. Despite being thin, the filament's slap slammed the milotic into the wall. His golden scales darkened to black and his ribbons turned into starry nebulas that matched Cyril and Leo's hair.

(Art by Inku.)

Artemis slumped down onto the floor and lay still.

"Artemis!" the cosmic silvally cried. "Leo, you have to make it stop!"

The filaments — no, they were more like tendrils now — continued lashing at the air. Leo staggered back, his wheel dimming and brightening erratically. "I can't! Nothing's working!"

"Then try something els— auugh!"

A tendril slapped Widget's right cheek bolt. Like Artemis, he was flung into the corner of the room. A resounding clang echoed in the room, but Widget didn't hear it. His ears hadn't stopped ringing.

Widget collapsed. The room spun and spun and spun. The gray walls and ceiling melted away into a swirl of reds, purples, and violets.

"Wha?" He blinked rapidly, but the sea of colors wouldn't disappear. "Leo? Cyril?!" Widget tried to lift his head, but found he couldn't move it.

The sea of red and purple rippled. One by one, silhouettes drifted toward him. He spotted a charizard, then a decidueye beside it, then a xatu floating behind them both.

Silhouettes kept popping up. Soon there were ten— no, twenty? Widget had quickly lost count. He tried to move away from them, but he couldn't.

Widget couldn't open his beak, either. Only stare at the silhouettes.

Some larger ones stood behind the others. A reshiram loomed over them all. A miraidon floated beside it. And behind them both... a familiar silhouette resembling a giant hand.

The cosmic silvally tensed up. Those three... were parts of the transformations he used. Widget never thought about why he could transform like that. He figured the emperor had built him that way.

All the silhouettes' lifted their heads. Hollow blue eyes stared Widget down from all directions.

Again, he tried to get his beak open. Nothing happened.

Widget trembled. Why was this happening? Was this because of Leo's power? But it had already helped him before... hadn't it?

One of the silhouettes was right in front of Widget's face. Three heads. Three sets of hollow blue eyes.

Hydreigon stared Widget down. Its main head looked over its shoulder at the silhouettes. Then it turned back to Widget.

Finally, Widget's beak moved. "What do you want from me?" he squealed.

Silence. Hydreigon continued staring.

(Art by Yereren.)

"Puh-please." Widget was able to look around. Everyone was staring. Boring through him with their hollow blue eyes. "I don't... understand..."

Voice.

Widget tensed. His claws dug into... the purple and red swirling beneath him. "Who said that?!" He looked around in a panic. "Was it you?" Widget eyed Hydreigon.

Voice.

It was louder this time. And coming from all around Widget. "Voice what?! I'm talking! You can hear me!"

Hydreigon inched closer. So did the other silhouettes.

Voice. Together. Voice. Together.

"Stop it! You're not making any sense!" Widget pleaded. He tried conjuring an attack to ward off the silhouettes, but the energy fizzled out the moment it reached his beak.

"Stop! Get away!" Widget rapidly shook his head, as if that could somehow force the silhouettes back. "Get away from me!"

Hydreigon placed one of its smaller heads on Widget's crest.

We carry the wills of slumbering lives. We are their Voice.

Melding together, the silhouettes funneled into Widget's chest. His starcloud ruff swelled up.

Widget screamed. A wall of blue light swept away the red and purple ocean, but his screams didn't stop. Not for an unconscious Artemis. Not for Cyril, who was slumped on his knees beside a keldeo-shaped blue and gray crystal.

When Widget's screams died down, his gaze fell on Leo. The tendrils were gone, but the cosmic arceus looked around the room with increasing horror on his face. Rapidly shaking his head, Leo slammed the door open and bolted from the room.

The metallic thumps of Leo's galloping echoed in Widget's head even as they grew steadily farther.

Widget shakily took one step toward the door. Then another. Then a third. He tried to will himself to go after Leo, but that one piercing word kept echoing in his head.

Voice. Voice. Voice.

He managed one last step, before falling over on his side and blacking out.

XxX​

Shane lifted his head off the glowing root of the crystal tree surrounding him. Its prismatic branches and leaves turned the small cavern's walls into a rainbow mosaic. It was practically a sky shifting from the soft blues of morning to the orange and reds of sunset. It was a sight Shane had taken in so many times it had practically lost all meaning to him.

Besides, it wasn't important. He had a visitor. The icetales got up, stretching out a hind leg... only to sharp in a suck breath when the leg cramped.

"Ow! Ow! Charlie— gah!"

He fell over on his side, disheveling his chest ruff and exposing the rainbow crystal underneath.

A crystal the summer form deerling that stood at the opposite end of the cavern eyed intently.

"Angel! Hi!" Shane blurted out her name a bit too loudly as he scrambled to his feet. He winced from his own echo. "Uhh... I wasn't expecting you here. Right now. At this very moment." He awkwardly punctuated his wording while he dusted himself off with four of his tails.

"Well, spontaneity can be one of life's many joys," Angel said, slowly walking further into the cavern. "How's the Tree of Light?"

Shane glanced over his shoulder. "Same as it was the last time you asked. You know we don't have to do the small talk stuff, right?"

When he turned back around, gone was the simple summer deerling. In her place stood a xerneas with a golden pelt, gold antlers, gold crystals on her chest and legs that brought Shane's true form to mind. Her vibrant glow melded with the Tree of Light's aurora to spread a golden tinge around the cavern.

(Art by Digivolvar.)

"True." Angel's gaze drifted toward the Tree of Light's branches. "But I was concerned." She continued forward. Her crystal hooves plinked softly on the cavern floor with every step. "I poked around Ginnungagap. By 2020."

Shane's tails puffed out. "I, uh... I know I'd suggested it, but you didn't have to go do that right away."

"You were distressed," Angel said." She stopped by the icetales and leaned over. Her golden antlers dimmed along with her rainbow eyes. "Still are distressed." She sounded quite sure of herself.

They looked at each other in silence for a few seconds before Shane turned back to the tree. "Maybe a bit," he conceded, pawing at the ground.

Sighing, Angel shrank back down to a summer deerling. She brushed against Shane's side and sat next to the edge of a nearby tree root.

"Something happen?"

"You remember that world that got me in trouble over the whole 'protecting ogerpon' thing?" Shane asked. Angel nodded as he sat down next to her. "One of Zodiark's mystery dungeons targeted that place. 2020's new arceus managed to settle things down, but he... did something surprising."

"What kind of surprise?" Angel wondered. "Not a pleasant one, from the sound of things..."

"He took Vince."

Angel leaned into Shane's line of sight, flabbergasted. "You're kidding."

"Wish I was." Shane sighed. A tired smile spread over his muzzle. "Besides, weren't you the one who said I only know how to be unintentionally funny?"

That flummoxed the summer deerling. Enough for her golden antlers to flicker in and out of existence. "Well that's—" Angel shook her head. "I'm sure I've told you that friendly ribbing — whether from friend, family, or partner — is a small way for two souls to share in the joy of life."

"Maybe." Shane playfully poked Angel's side with a tail. "But I'm not exactly known for being a good listener."

They shared a look and then a quick laugh. Then Shane's ears folded down. "Anyway, it turns out that the Reverse World guardian for that dimension was helping 2020's new arceus."

Angel tilted her head. "And that was?"

"The fuzzy mewtwo-zoroark mishmash." Shane curled two of his tails together. "He, uh, remembers me from when I helped with his ascension."

"I see." Angel put her left forehoof over Shane's right forepaw. "That must have been awkward."

"Well, it did make me feel like I was a dolt," the icetales conceded. "And I betrayed Vince's trust." The gem in his chest flickered. "Not exactly a great quality in an Overseer."

"True." Angel took her forehoof off Shane's forepaw and instead placed it on the rainbow root to her right. She still wore a calm expression. "Still, mistakes are as much a part of life as love and lust. Whether you let them define you or rise above them will determine the sort of person you are. That goes for gods or mortals. Overseers or interns." She conjured a small mote of light that she placed on the tree root. A tiny blue flower sprouted from the root.

"I know." Shane had heard that from Angel before. "This one's... different. Because of all the 2020 stuff." He winced. "And how I contributed to it." He sucked in a sharp breath. "It's... hard not to let it all get to me. Especially when I can only try and help indirectly."

Angel grew back into a golden xerneas. She leaned over and gently licked Shane's back.

"H-Hey!" His tails puffed out.

"You poor thing~" she said. "You've been talking with one of the Dark Matters again, haven't you?"

Shane shook himself until Angel pulled away. "Tama, actually," he said.

"Well, he does still lean cynical on these things," Angel said, shrinking back to deerling. She climbed onto the tree root and playfully nudged the flower she'd grown.

"I know... and he is trusting me on this." Shane got up and stretched in a downward dog pose, fanning out his snowy tails. "But he does have a point about how thin a tightrope I'm walking."

"In what way?"

"It's... dangerous for me to get close to 2020's divine energy," Shane said. As he finished his stretch, he slowly expanded into his necrozma form. He stretched his upper half toward the Tree of Light's trunk. Shane rested an upper wing against it. "There was a reaction when the new arceus showed up. I'm not sure he realized it... maybe because he doesn't have a full grip on all his powers."

He lifted his lower wings. They darkened and staticky red energy pulsated through them. "If we'd stayed together a bit longer, we'd have caused another mystery dungeon to form up. Right after he'd sealed Zodiark's." Shane lowered his wings and the energy dissipated. "And I tried to track down some of his missing plates after leaving 4940, but every time I thought I sensed one... I lost it."

Angel tilted her head, but then her eyes slowly widened. Her golden antlers flickered in and out of existence. "Wait, you don't mean..."

"That divine energy I banished from home must be baked into 2020's." Shane squished his eight-pointed head against the tree trunk. "It still, like, remembers me. And so my presence repels it." His face slid down the tree trunk until he was lying face down on the ground. "I guess it wasn't a problem back when I visited the old outpost because all that energy was sealed up. But now that it's free and spreading around—"

"You can't get close to it without risking a reaction," Angel cut in. Hoofbeats suggested she was walking on her tree root toward Shane's head. "And not the fun kind, either."

Shane half-grunted, half-laughed at that last comment. He turned his head left and saw gold, crystalline forehooves dangling off a tree root.

"Pretty much," he said. "It's like my wings are tied." A pause, and then he added, "And that's not the fun kind, either."

"Oh, you." Angel nudged his left upper wing with her forehoof.

"You started it."

"God of life perks."

Shane turned his head further to find Angel winking and sticking out her golden tongue. "Fine." He rolled over on his back, folding his four wings across his crystalline chest. "At least there's an upside to this. If I could feel that strong a reaction to the new arceus... then it's possible that shadowed soul I mentioned to you might finally be able to let go."

Several seconds of silence followed. Shane was going to elaborate when Angel said, "That silvally?"

He nodded slowly. His head tendrils shriveled slightly. "He's been drowning in shadows for so long. All because I've told him he needs to hold out for the right moment." Shane's tendrils extended. "And I think that moment's here. If I'm right... he may be able to help the new arceus stop Zodiark."

"And if you're wrong?"

Shane's whole body dimmed. "That's... what this backup plan's for."

More silence followed. Enough for Shane to believe Angel decided against pressing him further on that subject.

But where did that leave them? Heck, they'd gone off on such a long tangent that Shane had forgotten why Angel had even dropped by. "So, uh, what were we talking about before?"

"My little 2020 drive by." Angel got off the root. Her golden antlers glowed brighter. "I think its Voice has awakened to their true nature."

"What?!" Shane sat up so quickly his head tendrils whipped back and forth. "Hang on. Shouldn't there be multiple—"

"It was only one energy spike I sensed," Angel said. A shudder ran down her golden body. "But it was... an intense spike. Almost too much to handle." There was a bit of... excitement in her voice. Shane's rainbow eyes swirled around as he tried to come up with an explanation.

Eventually, something sprang to mind. "You don't think..."

Angel nodded. "I do. Mashed together into one entity. A Super Voice, if you would."

"I see." The necrozma traced his wing claws around his chest spikes. "That's... hmm. Not really sure what we can do with that right now. If anything."

"I take it you don't want me telling the higher-ups?" Angel leaned forward, practically resting her head on Shane's top chest spike. His rainbow eyes turned shades of red.

"Uh, well... they'll probably figure out I had something to do with it." Shane laughed nervously. "So, um, maybe we keep it our little secret? I'm sure they'll sense it soon enough."

"Oh my~" Angel fluttered her eyelids. "How scandalous. And yet it's quite exciting. I heard you had a wild streak about you."

"H-Hey now." Shane nudged Angel's golden snout with an upper wing. "Do I need to toss you in a cold shower?"

"Are you threatening me with a good time?"

Shane's head went from gold to bright red. He opened and closed his crystal beak several times.

Angel smiled sweetly. "You've got nothing."

"I've got nothing."

The golden xerneas pulled her head off Shane's spike and stood up. "Well, as much as I'd like to celebrate life with you right now, I should probably get home before I lose track of time." She glanced back at Shane. "If anything else pops up or you'd like any more of my help, you know where to find me."

She sauntered across the cavern for a few seconds before breaking into a gallop. Once her hoofbeats had faded away, Shane slumped back onto the ground, groaning loudly.

He really wished Nero was still around. The old fella would have been perfect for a situation like this. But alas, that wasn't the case. Shane had a feeling he'd need folks like Angel and Tama to get through this crazy situation.

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Alright, running a bit late, but back for another hit of Path of Valor to knock out that Review Tag and peck away at that backlog of chapters I've built up with…

Chapter 92

Spoiler

OS Incident Report #9467
SUBJECT: Necrozma Shane
LOCATION: Mossui Town, Kitakami (Dimension POV-4940)

Oh, so that last teaser was by

. Time to see just how much of a mess he left behind there.

VIOLATIONS: Unauthorized use of loaned divine power, unauthorized interference with mortal affairs
DESCRIPTION: The subject is found to have intervened with a human child's attempt at earning the partnership of an ogerpon. According to the local zygarde, observations via cell reveal the subject jumped in to stop the boy from catching Ogerpon. Subject claims that the boy didn't consider Ogerpon's feelings and was going to catch her without her approval. When the boy sent his own pokémon out to battle the subject and became increasingly agitated, the subject utilized Photon Geysers to knock out his pokémon, then fled with Ogerpon. The cell reports the boy returning home distraught. He was muttering comments about getting strong enough to capture both the subject and Ogerpon.

Good going, Shane. Since you just sent Kieran on his obsessive spiral without anyone there to pull him out from it.

Though "observation by cell" is kinda lulzy since it's similar in terminology to snooping by monitoring a mobile phone. It does feel very on-brand for a Zygarde to refer to it as such, though.

As a preliminary measure, the subject is now on probation. He is henceforth banned from POV-4940. We will assign a new Overseer to observe that Earth. Further disciplinary action is pending based on follow up reports from the local zygarde.

Who isn't

based off his freakout last chapter. Makes me wonder if we're going to see our mystery Overseer in the course of this chapter.

Despite the initial volley and a few potshots from the kilowattrel and pidgeot circling high above them, the real problem was that the pirates on the ground weren't even trying to go for Seifer or the others. Instead, they'd booked it in the direction of assorted houses, blowing the walls and dome-shaped roofs open with clusters of blast seeds wrapped in strange wiring.

Hrm, can't say the BGM isn't fitting for a pirate raid, even if IMO, the original mix of Crump’s battle theme sounded a lot cleaner than the remake's take:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QImV3SdZZ9c

Seifer tried to shoot a girafarig with a metallic tail while it ran out of a house levitating a dishwasher. But they easily dodged his Aura Sphere and retaliated with a Psybeam. While Seifer dodged the pink laser, a chain wrapped Girafarig up and hoisted them into the air along with the dishwasher.

This feels wildly inefficient as a raiding strategy versus just targeting the distribution center for whatever Polaris' equivalent to Amazon Prime is, but I suppose pirates gonna pirate and that their average level of strategic thinking is on the lower end of the scale.

... To say nothing of the other commotion in the area.

"Completely and utterly disgraceful!" Tobias snarled from across the road. The cobalion swung his Sacred Sword at a wartortle, who tumbled back into a cloud of ectoplasm from Cyril's mane. With a holler, the wartortle vanished in a blue flash.

Wait, Cyril can just casually Phantom Warp others like that?

"The hell?" Cyril hopped back, then rolled away to dodge a Thunderbolt from above. "It's like the emperor's troops. They have some sort of failsafe teleporter?"

Yeah, I knew that they were working with Paradox for how well set-up those pirates were.

"Quiet, you mangy peasant!" Tobias snarled, deftly sidestepping a Thunderbolt and Air Slash crescents coming from above. He glared at Seifer, which the keldeo quickly looked away from.

"First you sully our family name by failing to uphold your sworn oaths and getting canned!" Tobias continued. Seifer's face scrunched up. He met an incoming Hydro Pump from behind several bushes with an Aura Sphere. Then he galloped forward and coated the bushes in frosty air. The damp foliage froze instantly from the Icy Wind, and the floatzel responsible for the Hydro Pumps slipped and fell on his rear.

"Then you run away from the kingdom like a dirty coward!"

Ah yes, someone has their Priorities™️ in order right now.

Seifer leveled his prosthetic horn at Floatzel. "W-Wait, matey! At least let me hear the rest." He held up his paws. "It be getting to the good part!"

A point-blank Aura Sphere sent Floatzel tumbling back into thorny rose bushes. His hollers stopped when he vanished in a flash of blue light.

That's at once a lol and an ouch moment there. A 'lolouch', then?

"Above you!"

The keldeo slid along the icy ground at Artemis' call. He spun around and shot Hydro Pumps skyward with his forehooves. But the kilowattrel that tried to zap him flew way too high for them to reach.

"And now you show up out of the blue with this tacky-furred loser calling himself your boyfriend?" Tobias hadn't left his spot half a block over, slicing through a Dark Pulse from an unseen foe with his Sacred Sword. Grayson covered him, summoning rocky spires that sent wartortle and sneasel with flaming head feathers running scared. "That better have been a joke, rapscallion!"

Seifer: "Oh great, like I didn't have enough problems in life right now."

Kilowattrel: "Yer whinin' be fer me or fer Cloppers there?"

"Okay, seriously?" Cyril ducked a swipe of a fire-feathered sneasel's flaming claws. "You don't gotta flex your thesaurus on me, jackass!"

"Stuff it, Father," Seifer growled. He stayed on the move, skidding across the ice he made while looking for nearby pirates to attack. A blast from behind made him spin around. Two espurr with metallic ears appeared from a hole in the roof, levitating a PV set.

"Metallic ears", huh? Meaning that they've been using Mewgenics?

"Drop it!" The keldeo raised his forehooves and shot dual Hydro Pumps. One espurr panicked and stepped in front to erect a barrier. The other couldn't keep the PV set up and it plummeted through the hole in the roof. Seifer shot again as the crashing of glass and metal rang out from the house.

"Fall back!" the barrier-wielding espurr squeaked. Both disappeared in blue flashes. Seifer's brow furrowed. Maybe Cyril was right, and they did have teleporters at their disposal. But where were they taking the pirates to?

Cyril: "I mean, the logical candidate would be back to their ships, but..."

"Rrrghgh... out of my sight!"

Heavy metallic hooves slammed against the ground following Tobias' cry. Seifer turned and, whinnying in fright, hit the deck. A hollering fire-feathered sneasel careened past Seifer. They hit a swing set, which spun them rapidly around the wooden crossbar, then flung them skyward where they crashed into a kilowattrel taking aim at Seifer. Both vanished in flashes of white and blue.

Yeeeeah, trying to solo a Muskedeer was kinda a bad idea™️ there even before counting for the likely quantum leap in level equivalents.

Tobias stopped at Seifer's side. "We are not dropping this." The cobalion's venomous tone made Seifer's neck fur stand on end.

Ah yes, just deleting all the audience sympathy for this guy that somehow survived his introduction a couple chapters ago.

But he spotted Air Slash crescents peppering Artemis and Cyril. "We are!" Seifer shot past Tobias with Hydro Pump jets. "Get away from them!" He slung an Aura Sphere skyward. The pidgeot above his teammates couldn't dodge in time, instead vanishing like the others.

Seifer skidded to a halt on the street. "You okay?"

"I've had worse." Cyril shook himself out. "And I'm hearing worse."

Seifer: "Wait, 'hearing worse'? Cyril, what are you-?"

"Hmph! A filthy liar and an incompetent fighter!" Behind the trio, Grayson shielded himself from Dark Pulses with Stone Edge spires. "Why am I not surprised? And after blowing off all your father's arrangements!" The terrakion struck the rocks, knocking them toward some panicking sneasel.

"Are you serious right now?!" Seifer's prosthetic horn sparked. "We should be focusing on repelling these pirates!"

"Maybe we ought to shift focus to getting people to safety, instead?" Artemis proposed. The milotic barely managed to slither away from a Thunderbolt. He fired a retaliatory Ice Beam. A loud squawk told him he hit his mark. "There are screams and explosions in the distance!"

A house several meters ahead had its door blown off its hinges. Two wartortle ran out with an air fryer and multiple blenders. Metal wires grabbed them and hoisted them into the sky before anyone could get an attack off.

Tobias: "... I'm sorry, but since when were Wartortle ever that nimble?"

Seifer: "Since when you decided to stop and berate me for my love life in the middle of an ongoing raid!" >.<

"You're right." Seifer kept his gaze skyward in case anyone tried to strike from above. "It's a lost cause staying here."

"What a farce!" Tobias bucked a croconaw with his Sacred Sword. "Is abandoning your duty all you can think about now?"

Rolling his eyes, Seifer gestured down the street with his forehoof. "Let's move. I hear voices coming from that direction."

I'm just going to go ahead and assume that Seifer's family is going to not be particularly helpful from here on out, since... yeah, they sure seem content to moan while whaling on background randoms.

Before the keldeo could break into a trot, however, Grayson cut him off. "Where do you think you're going?" The terrakion narrowed his eyes. "You've got some nerve defying your father like that. And after everything he did for you before you threw your life away."

Seifer hadn't felt this small since Isola had sacked him. He wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of dodge. Seifer shot Cyril a pleading look.

"Oh-ho-kay. No. I've had enough of this shit."

Your video link's busted here. What song was originally meant to accompany this moment?

His tail scrunched up. "Cyril..."

"Don't, Seif." The cosmic zoroark stepped to Seifer's side, his gaze still trained on Tobias. "I don't care what you think of me or how much you prattle on about honor and duty." He put his hands on his hips. "Because even though we've only been around each other about three months, I bet I know Seifer better than you do. And you freaking raised him!"

Conflicted over whether to interject, Seifer opened his closed his mouth repeatedly. The few remaining pirates in the area had stopped what they were doing. Even the lone kilowattrel left in the air idly flapped their wings, not sniping at anyone from above.

Well, that's one way to shut down a fight there.

Kilowattrel: "... Should we be raiding right now, or...?"
Sneasel: "No, no, they be getting to the good part here!"

"How dare you." The cobalion stomped a forehoof on the pavement. "I'm not about to let some street trash zoroark lecture me about my son!"

"It ain't a lecture, it's the truth!" Cyril leaned forward, starcloud mane rippling. "This whole time, Seif's been helping us fight against Eternatus. He hasn't abandoned anything! You're the ones who've been sitting on your asses until now!" The cosmic zoroark shook his head. "You don't give a damn about Seif! You just want him to be your vision of perfect!"

I mean, he's not wrong there. Even if IMO, the tail end of Cyril's dialogue vibes better as being more 'shouty' to show off that he's had things up to here and is done with the Muskedeer trash-talking.

Seifer looked down at the pavement. His stomach twisted into a knot. All the earlier jabs and nasty comments he'd made toward Yuna and Noctum ran through his head. He recalled dinnertime conversations about "Aeon scum" and "hick dragons." Silhouettes of assorted Radiant Guardsmon making similar comments flickered around him. Comments he always ignored... because they'd always surrounded him.

His ears swiveled left toward some crunching. Seifer spotted a crocalor tossing handfuls of potato chips into his large mouth. His prosthetic horn flickered.

"What?" Crocalor shrugged innocently. "This be better than me soaps!"

I mean, at least it's not popcorn?

Though I see that Gilbert needs to drill his boss' underlings in line for staying focused on the job given how effective this distraction has been. :p

A Shadow Ball whizzed past Seifer, rippling his tail and mane. It hit Crocalor and the chip bag. Crocalor disappeared in a flash of blue light while the bag's contents spilled out across the grass and scorched rose bushes.

I mean, yeah, he kinda brought that one down on himself.

"Maybe things won't work out between us," Cyril continued, walking in a circle along the pavement. He raised his hands up. "Or maybe there are wedding bells in the future."

Though Seifer again opened his mouth, words failed him. Cyril... really felt that strongly about him?

"Doesn't change the fact that I love Seifer." Cyril gestured at the keldeo. "And no amount of your petty name-calling will change that."

Seifer: "As touching as this is, Cyril, I'm pretty sure that my family's just going to stomp all over it in about five seconds." >_>;

And to punctuate it, the cosmic zoroark spat a wad of saliva at Tobias' face.

The cobalion's eyes twitched as the spit trickled onto his red and pink Radiant Guard uniform. Tobias turned to Grayson. "You saw that, right?"

"Indeed." The terrakion nodded. "He's threatening us."

Cyril relaxed his aggressive stance. "Excuse me?"

Oh right, they're Radiant Guard now. Uh... yeah, nice job pissing off the fuzz, Cyril. Even if this is kinda the absolute worst time for them to be choosing to act on slighted pride right now.

"Exactly." Tobias' Sacred Sword materialized. "So, I've got full reason to do this!"

"Father, stop!" Seifer finally found his voice seconds before Tobias lunged for Cyril, aiming to ram him through with his Sacred Sword. The glowing horn dissipated, however, the moment it touched Cyril's cosmic chest fluff.

Cyril: "You guys are the world's worst cops, you know that?"

"What in blazes?!" Tobias stumbled and fell onto the pavement.

"Never seen a ghost-type zoroark, have ya?" Cyril rubbed his nose with a yellow claw. He turned away from Tobias. "I'm going to go out on a limb and say the last time you showed your wife any affection was when you guys made Seifer. Cuz this right here?" He gestured to Tobias and Grayson. "Absolute maidenless behavior."

Shame that that Crocalor isn't around anymore, since this really is better than some soap operas.

"You cur!" Tobias got to his feet. "Grayson, help me o—"

"ENOUGH!"

I'm going to go ahead and guess that Seifer's losing his cool in live-time right now.

Dual Hydro Pumps struck both Seifer's father and uncle, drenching them and their uniforms. Seifer dropped back to all fours, shaking his head. "This... this childish idiocy has run its course!" He stomped over to Cyril. "You want to know why I didn't go home after getting fired? This right here! I wasn't about to let myself be humiliated!"

Cyril smiled at Seifer, but the keldeo turned his glare on him. "Don't act like you're innocent in all of this! You riled them up! We could've already been helping other people by now!" Seifer paused. All the screams and cries from earlier had stopped. The few pirates still in the area were quiet, undoubtedly watching this for their own amusement.

Yeeeeah, Gilbert really needs to train the gang to be less easily distracted in the field, since this feels like a recipe for Darwin Awards against more serious opponents. ^^;

He brushed his flank against Cyril's side. "I'm... glad you stood up for me. But there's a time and place for this." Seifer turned away from everyone. "We have work to do. So, forget about them."

"Forget about us?!" Grayson's hooves thumped against the pavement.

Seifer: "Oh trust me, I wish I could forget about you right now."

Seifer started forward. Thankfully, Cyril and Artemis got the message and followed him.

"What do you think you're doing?" Tobias roared. "I am your father, Seifer! You get back here right this second!"

Seifer: "You were literally completely absent from my life until two chapters ago!"

Tobias: "That's an artifact of how our author wrote this story! And don't back-sass me, boy!"

The keldeo responded by veering slightly until he was right beside Cyril. His tail swished against the cosmic zoroark's leg.

"You're dead to us, you ungrateful runt!" Tobias shouted. His voice grew more distant. So, they really weren't coming along. "Do you hear me? You'll never set foot in our estate again after this stunt!"

I'm just going to go ahead and take that as a sign that those two are going to get shuffled off the mortal coil at some point- wait.

>Paradox has been consistently making Future Paradox Pokémon in this story
>we have candidates for Iron Boulder and Iron Crown right here

... We'll see if things wind up going where I think they're going, since it would explain a couple things about why we're conveniently getting the rest of Etherium's Muskedeer Trio introduced in the story right now.

"Good," Seifer said, too quiet for his father to hear. "Because I never want to go back as long as you're around."

He pressed onward, trying to shift his attention away from his family and toward protecting the city.

Yeah, I'm just going to go ahead and call it that this isn't the last time Seifer's going to be seeing them. If not necessarily in the same form.

"You call those your strongest warriors?! Pathetic!"

And there's another dead link here. What was the music track that used to be in this section?

Ceruledge slashed at the air in front of him. It rippled with distortion. The people standing across from him took cautious steps back, save for Onion Hair who remained on his hands and knees, staring at the ground.

"I want a real fight!" Ceruledge paced back and forth. "A true warrior who can provide a duel worthy of the mighty Gilgamesh, who is me!"

U wot m8.

As in the Gilgamesh from Final Fantasy since I remember what you said your terms would be if you ever rolled a character with this name for this story. Though I see he's considerably less cowardly than his FF9 incarnation.

The crystals atop his head crackled with energy. "I can scarcely believe it. An entire world where the creatures are the weapons themselves! And you're telling me they're frail? Flimsy?! Feeble?! Other insults beginning with F?!" Gilgamesh repeatedly swiped at the air with every cry.

Leo: "Fweak?"
Gilgamesh: "Pretty sure that's a Persona joke, but I'll take it. 'Fweak' indeed!"

"Tis a tragedy of the highest caliber! How could there be nothing here worthy of my collection?"

Boy it sure is a good thing that this guy is rolling up canonically 10 years after the lazor flower of doom was destroyed, since... uh... that would definitely give ol' Gil there a run for his money.

Yuna tensed at a hand on her shoulder. Nikki leaned over beside the dragapult's head. "Talk about a full course of ham," she said. "So, time to crash this sorry-looking party?"

Before she had the chance to respond, an unseen force grabbed both Yuna and Nikki from behind and dragged them across the gray, metallic roof. "What the hell?!" The toxtricity flailed about. "Oi, Lizard Breath, let go!"

Ah yes, Vince just casually nope, nope, nope-ing the gang out of this one. Even if I'm sure that things won't be that easy.

One final thrust brought Yuna to the ground with a grunt. She quickly pushed herself up to find Vince looking to his left. "Don't look at me! It's this guy's fault!"

Yuna's core flickered. "Gene?!" Had the shadowy mewtwo ended up following them after all? But wouldn't Vince know Gene right off the bat?

Well, never mind, then. Though this one is certainly surprising. If well timed, since... uh... yeah, the gang's going to need the help considering who they're up against.

... No, something was wrong. Gene's Malice Crystal was in his right shoulder, not his left.

"Dumb-dumbs not from here. Grishi sense it." The unfamiliar mewtwo's eyes flickered pink. "Dumb-dumbs with Ceru down there?" Dark energy swirled around his hand. "Grishi will blow to smithereens. Then blow smithereens to super smithereens."

Oh, well then. I wonder if this guy's also a FF reference, but if he is, he's going over my head right now.

Okay, this definitely wasn't Gene. "No, we're not with, uh, Ceru?"

"I think he means the Whisper," Leo said. Still in his pelipper guise, he flew in place a fair distance away. But he honked in surprise when Grishi blipped over to him.

Yuna was so used to Gene's Phantom Warping, it took her a moment to realize Grishi teleported. "Look, we don't have time for this," the dragapult said. "We're here to stop Ceruledge. Because he's putting our world in danger. So, leave us alone. This doesn't concern you."

Not fully convinced that's going to be enough to get you out of this one, Yuna, but we'll see.

Grishi crossed his arms. "Pultpult waltzes into Grishi's home and thinks can tell Grishi what to do?" He shook his head. "Bad comedian. Nothing for Grishi to laugh at."

Okay, what's with this guy and the Ayla-speak anyways? Since I'll admit that was definitely unexpected coming from a Mewtwo.

"I'm not—" Yuna cut herself with a groan as she squeezed her temples with her hands. She was at a loss what to do about this... bizarre mewtwo. And the others seemed just as confused. Leo continued to drift further away from Grishi.

"Hrrrm." Grishi landed on the metallic roof, crossing his arms. "This all it takes to put Pultpult and friends at loss for words." He shook his head. "Sad sight. Dumb-dumbs indeed."

There's going to be a fascinating story behind this guy, I can already tell.

That last jab was enough to get Nikki back to her feet. "Oi!" The toxtricity's mohawk flared. "If you wanna help, then say it. If not, then stay outta our way." She stared Grishi down. The shadowy mewtwo's look remained one of indifference.

... Until he held his hands up. And a ripple of blue light turned Grishi... considerably fluffier than before.

"Fine. Grishi play along."

"Huh? A zoroark?" Vince's dewlap puffed out. Then the purple and white koraidon tilted his head. "Wait, no... zoroark mane. And chest fur. But still mewtwo?" His feathery horns drooped. "I'm so confused here."

Oh, hello Zoroark/Mewtwo fusion. That one's definitely unexpected.

"Then Seerseer butt out." Grishi flicked his fuzzy tail dismissively. "Clearly biggest dumb-dumb here."

Yuna's core flashed. Was Grishi implying he knew Vince was an Overseer?

Grishi: "Did Grishi stutter?"
Yuna: "I have so many questions right now."

"What's your deal, then?" Nikki eyed the... zoroark-mewtwo mishmash. Zorotwo. "You clearly know more than you let on."

"And dumb-dumbs don't?" Orange claws appeared from Grishi's fuzzy fingers. "Land Grishi's home, not building. Blueberry Academy in Unova region." Grishi knelt down and tapped the metal with his claws. "Stupid humans build fancy pants school in middle of ocean, off coast of Castelia City."

Wait, wait, wait, is that actually canonical? Like I know that Blueberry Academy is definitely in Unova and linked to the Battle Subway, but I didn't remember the game ever explicitly mentioning what it was close to in the region.

"This thing's a school?" Nikki walked carefully across the roof. "It's not even that big."

"School very big." Grishi stood up, a serious look in his eyes. "Mostly underwater."

"Underwater?" Yuna swallowed hard. Memories of her unpleasant dip into Wyndon River flooded back. The harsh currents and frigid water sent chills through her ectoplasm.

Makes me wonder if Yuna's going to have some lingering PTSD over that near-drowning later on in the story, but I can see how this would be uncomfortable for her, yes.

"Talking waste time." Grishi floated into the air. The zorotwo's eyes glowed bright blue and his claws retracted into his fingers. "Grishi show instead."

Nikki's mohawk grew. "Wait, what are you—"

An intense psychic force took hold of Yuna before Nikki could finish her statement. Everything was a swirl of bright colors. Up was down. Left was right. God, why was everything spinning? Good thing dragapult didn't have stomachs.

It all came to an abrupt stop when Yuna fell onto crisp green grass. "Oww..." She rubbed her triangular head, then slowly sat up. "Did you just teleport us?"

Oh, so they didn't go to the Terrarium last time. Well, I suppose that they're there now. Though wait, are Teleports always this disorienting in this setting, or is Grishi just clumsy with his?

"Grishi did. Slower with group, but still saves time."

Well, I suppose that explains why it was an unpleasant experience for them.

The zorotwo was somewhere behind Yuna. However, any desire to give him the stink eye faded when she saw the sprawling grasslands stretched out in front of her. Small trees and bushes were haphazardly interspersed between misshapen, round and jagged rocks. It was also... disturbingly flat. Unnaturally flat, in fact.

I'm going to guess that the link there was meant to pothole to one of the Terrarium Biome themes. Not sure which one, since it's kinda dead now.

Hoofbeats accompanied swishing grass to Yuna's right. Deerling scampered away, with a trio of sawsbuck eyeing the group suspiciously. When their gazes fell on Grishi, however, their expressions softened. With respectful nods, they turned to trot after the deerling.

"The hell is this?!" Nikki's cry snapped Yuna to attention. The toxtricity stood on a nearby flat rock, cupping her hands around her eyes. "Are those... canyons over there? And there's freaking miniature snowy mountains next to them!"

Grishi: "Dumb-dumbs in Terrarium right now. Is main attraction of Blueberry Academy."

"Indeed. Is Blueberry Terarium." Grishi blipped in front of them. Curiously, he was disguised as a reuniclus. "Biggest part of school. With giant dome to protect people from crushing pressure of ocean depths."

Yuna tensed. They really were underwater, then. And quite deep, judging by how Grishi described it.

"A dome?" Leo, still in pelipper form, flew around. "It looks like the same bright, sunny sky from earlier."

Now that you mention it, the sky did look shockingly natural minus the lack of any obvious sun in the games, huh?

Grishi wagged a gelatinous finger. "That humans' trick. Panels simulating daytime and nighttime for pokémon living here." He turned pointed skyward. "Core unmasks trick. Powers Terarium. But now is powering big problem."

The quartet followed Grishi's gaze high into the sky. Yuna feared she'd look right into sunlight — artificial or not — but instead there was... something spherical dangling from a ceiling that wasn't really there. A ball of static pulsated like a heart. Every ripple swallowed motes of gold and silver light trying to escape.

I'm going to go ahead and guess that that's the Anomaly that everyone's been looking for.

"Grishi not know how humans set up auxiliary power," he continued. "Do know that static ick growing. Grishi was watching it until sensing your arrival."

"The dungeon core!" Leo landed. In a flash of blue, he went from pelipper to scyther. "We gotta scope out that Gilgamesh guy so I can seal this."

Yeah, I knew it.

"Oh?" Grishi turned. The fake reuniclus looked Leo over. "Form shifted. Aura's scythery. Mew?" He waved his gelatinous arms. "Grishi gave info. Now time for outsiders to do same, like promised."

Wait, implying that Gilgamesh has Bug Tera-typing? Or...?

Everyone's gazes fell on Yuna. She looked back at Vince. He was the Overseer. If anyone should do the explaining, it was him. But the purple and white koraidon stayed silent and Grishi's scrutinizing gaze fixed on her.

Seriously? Yuna wasn't going to let this slide. "Ask him." She pointed a claw at Vince. "He's the one who knows the most about all of this dimensional instability stuff."

Vince:

To her surprise, Grishi shook his head. "Grishi said it before: Seerseer biggest dumb-dumb. Grishi won't listen to Seerseer."

Yuna flinched. Maybe Leo could— nope, he'd turned away and was slicing and jabbing at the air, as if training to fight.

"I wonder if this Grishi guy's worked with Overseers before," Reshiram said. In Yuna's mind, he tapped his chin with a wing claw. "Would certainly explain why he seems to know about them."

- Peeks up at intro teaser -

Um... yeah, he totally has. I can already tell.

"Sounds like they harshed his mellow in the past," Shaymin added, perched atop Reshiram's head. "Think this is one of those times you gotta be the bigger 'mon and go with the flow here."

But Yuna was tired of being the bigger 'mon. Sighing, the dragapult straightened herself up. "We're from another dimension. Our world's... unstable. And it's causing some sort of... breakdown in space-time."

She gestured to Leo, who had moved on to slicing the grass. Trimmed grass clippings fell by the scyther's feet. "Leo is... the arceus of our world. But the plates he needs to stabilize everything have been scattered to different worlds. Like this one."

Grishi: "Grishi doesn't even want to know, does Grishi?"

Yuna: "... Probably not, no. And I'm not sure if we have time to give a proper explanation right now." .-.

The small head inside Grishi's gelatinous body bowed in thought.

Leo finally stopped trimming the grass. "And there's this whack ass dude called Zodiark who's also after the plates. And making these anomalies. Maybe." He shrugged. "Not sure, tbh. But he keeps conjuring these nasty pokémon — we call 'em Whispers — to get in the way."

Wait, Leo is actually saying chat acronyms out loud while speaking? I'll admit, I did a double-take there.

Yuna nodded her approval. Then a yawn in the back of her head made her tail jiggle. Can I help you?

"Was just thinking," Cresselia mumbled. "Aaaaaaawmbout this Whisper. Gilgaaaawmesh talked all normal and stuff."

"Verily! Like Chernabog," Rayquaza added. "T'was a Paradigm member, yes? I believe Gilgamesh might be, too."

But Leo mentioned seeing Gilgamesh take a Paradigm member's power and run off into the anomaly, Yuna pointed out. The scyther was saying something else while pacing in front of Grishi, blades at the ready. Wouldn't that make him a Whisper first?

Technically, if Word of God is to be believed, Gil likely can't be classified as a Whisper, either. We'll see, I suppose.

"Does it even matter?" Shaymin wondered. "He's bad, so we gotta take him out. Them's the breaks."

Especially if Gil fits the original idea bandied around way back in the day on your Discord server, since... uh... yeah. Pretty sure that just flatly importing characters from non-Pokémon universes is bad for the health of the broader omniverse here.

A simple conclusion, but what Yuna ultimately agreed with. She tuned the Sages out to focus on the others again.

"... Will allow you to dive into static ick and make it go away?" Grishi said. Leo stopped pacing and nodded.

"It's the core of this mystery dungeon. Once I seal it, everything's dope," Leo declared.

Okay, yeah, you're starting to get me worried, Leo, since this smells an awful lot like a jinx here.

"But we haven't faced one Whisper with multiple plates," Vince said, pawing at the grass with a foreleg.

"What's this 'we' business?!" Nikki stomped toward the purple and white koraidon, cracking her neck. "We've done all the heavy lifting while you've sat on your scaly ass and left vague hints about Red Chains and Overseers blowing up our home if we don't do good enough!" She jabbed an accusatory finger into his left flank.

Harsh, but not exactly inaccurate there. Especially with the way that Vince blips in and out of screentime once every 20 chapters at a time.

"I, well—" Vince shrank onto his belly. Then Grishi appeared between Vince and Nikki, holding up his hands.

"Blame game not helpful," the fake reuniclus declared. "Anger go to Whisper. Think he retreated down here in time we've been talking." He turned away from them both. Grass tickled his gelatinous body as he bobbed through the air. "Very strange that plate corruption resembles Terastalization."

Terawhatnow? Yuna tilted her head. "I'm not sure I follow."

Ah yes, time for Yuna to find out about how there's a world where you go around with giant doofy hats for extra power.

Grishi stopped. "Hmm? Terastalization not exist in Pultpult's world?" He looked to Leo for confirmation.

"I've never heard of anyone sprouting crystals from their head." Nikki shrugged.

"Our records didn't indicate anything of the sort," Vince added, only to flinch when Grishi looked ready to shush him.

"Is strange process where magic crystal energy changes pokémon's typing," Grishi explained. "Core uses this energy to power Terarium. Grishi senses it." He shook his head. "But only can change to one type. Not two. Whisper very strange."

... Huh. I wonder if that implies that Gil can outright change forms in battle or not.

"This core itself is strange," Yuna said. She floated over to Grishi's side. "The mystery dungeon portal is growing quicker than any other back in our world."

"And it's in multiple places," Leo reminded her. He traced a circle in the air with each scythe.

Sure smells like a convenient way to go dimension-hopping in a few chapters, just saying.

Grishi hummed in thought. "Perhaps core growing around big source of Tera energy what making it so unstable." He drifted forward. "Then time of essence. Come! We go find Whisper."

Sparks of blue and black energy erupted in the distance. "Think we know where it is." Nikki hiked up her jacket. "We teleporting over there or not? Could give us the jump on him."

"W-Wait!" Vince stepped away cautiously. "Maybe we should strike from a safe distance instead? It's not like Gilgamesh is psychic."

Nikki: "Seriously?! Of all the times to be a giant weasel and slink away, you're going to do this now?!"

Vince: "Look, I literally can't fight in this form, okay?!" O_O;

"Seriously?" Nikki's mohawk frazzled as she whirled on the koraidon. "The hell's your problem? I thought you Overseers were supposed to be uber strong and shit!"

Yeah, I figured that Nikki wouldn't be impressed here. Even if the nuance is a bit different than what I reflexively assumed.

"I'm still new to this," Vince whimpered. His feathery horns curled up. "That strength comes from ages of training... which I haven't exactly gotten."

"So, what, you're just a wimp, then?"

Vince: "Again, I can't fight like this!"

Nikki: "Gee, what next? Are you going to conveniently come down with a stomachache?"

"I literally can't battle in this form!" Vince said, shifting uneasily. "Us koraidon need to be in our battle forms."

Man, when I call 'em, I call 'em.

Nikki shook her head in disbelief. "What about standing on two legs gets you fighting fit? Is your species a giant dick joke or something?"

No, that would be Miraidon. Sorry roboderg fans, but we all know it's true.

"Nikki..." Yuna reached toward the toxtricity. Nikki held her hands up.

"All right, all right. I'll lay off." She started forward, hands still raised. "If he's that insistent he can't do diddly squat, then let him stay here. The kid'll have to remember to warp him back with us." She cracked her knuckles. "Then we can actually drill him for information."

"Please don't," Vince whispered.

Leo: "To the 'interrogating' part or the 'leave alone' part?" ^^;
Vince: "... Yes."

Yuna could only shrug at Vince. Nikki was being a bit too harsh, sure, but Vince wasn't exactly the most helpful. And they were on a time crunch. "Let's get going. I think we should keep our distance and see what we're up against."

"Then Grishi warp group part of way." The reuniclus held his hand up, pausing to glance at Vince. "Except Seerseer."

Yuna braced herself for the world to spin once again. What she wasn't counting on, however, was Leo suddenly buzzing off to the left. She tried to call out to him, but Grishi activated the teleport. After a few dizzying seconds, she found herself up against a rock face. Grishi had put them in a patch of dirt surrounded by large rocks.

"Leo? Leo, where'd you go?" The dragapult looked around. He hadn't flown far, so surely the teleport must've—

"Leo run out of Grishi's range." He floated up toward the top of one of the rocks and stopped. "What Leo thinking? If Leo saw something, should've told others."

Well, that was certainly fast. Time to see how long it takes before this train fully goes off the tracks.

"What do we do, then?" Nikki looked around for anything she could use a footstool to get closer to where Grishi was floating. "Go back for him, right?"

However, Yuna's core rapidly flashed. "I... I don't think we can," she whispered.

"The hell's that supposed to mean?"

The core's flickering only got faster. Yuna's ectoplasm quivered. It had to be her powers reacting to something nearby.

Yuna: "Oh that can't possibly be good."

"The Whisper." Yuna tensed up, like she was waiting for a surprise attack. "It's getting close. We have to be ready for—"

Except, instead of any ghost or dark attacks, the ground beneath Nikki's feet trembled. "An Earthquake?! Since when the hell do ceruledge get that?!"

That's from one of the Arceus Plates that was stolen, huh?

Yuna grabbed the toxtricity and flew toward Grishi. "It no ceruledge," the fake reuniclus declared. A faint pink glow surrounded his body.

"Then what—"

Grishi silenced Nikki with his telekinesis. His gelatinous form rippled.

"Different Tera energy nearby. Ground-type." His words were grim. "Grishi think... there third plate here, in different Whisper."

Well, nevermind then. Though I see that we're getting all the MacGuffins this time around. Though I suppose it makes sense if the omniverse is progressively spiraling as the story goes on.

GL Exploration Log: Castelia City, Unova (Dimension POV-4940)
Hustle and bustle. Just like the Big Apple when I'd go to visit it way back in my human life. The people are generally more polite than New Yorkers. Though I wonder if that's because I'm a fluffy ice fox and not some guy meandering around while people are trying to speed walk to their jobs.

I'll heavily take the under on

being impressed with the local subway system. Even if a part of me wonders how this will land with readers that don't have the benefit of context of having read Guiding Light in the past.

There was a lot of hubbub around the harbor, though. Apparently, there's an aquatic construction project beginning. Something about building a school on the water? With some kind of underwater biodome that can withstand the ocean's crushing pressure? Not sure, but I'm going to have to revisit this place to check on the progress.

I'm just going to assume that this entry was written before the Kieran Incident™️ since... yeah, good luck making good on that anytime soon.

Alright, made it to the end. This felt like a bit of a transitional chapter since Seifer's chewout of his family and comedy with pirates and Yuna meeting the local superpowered fusion aside, the bulk of the action seemed to be just moving the characters in place for where they needed to be for the future. For what it's worth, the journey along the way was decently entertaining, and I'm certainly keeping a close eye on Gilgamesh. Since I remember what you said you'd do with a character named that in this story, and it'll be interesting to see if you stuck to your guns there or went another route.

I don't have a whole lot to complain about beyond a couple of small nitpicks about punctuation and the like. I do wonder if teeing up 3 MacGuffins to be snagged all at once is accelerating things a bit much in terms of plot pacing, but eh. I understand the meta behind when you want to get this story done, and you more or less had a baked-in excuse in-story to justify such an acceleration, so I won't judge too harshly.

Glad to be back in this story @Ambyssin , and I'll be looking forward to seeing where things go next sometime soon. ^^

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 101: Personal Space​

Noctum floated on his back in the sparkling water. Emotion kept the lake — the humans called it Verity — around their home as pristine as anything Noctum had seen. The sun's reflection glistened all around him. Even the shabby magikarp keeping their distance glimmered from the sunlight.

He lazily turned his arms in circles, drifting across the water. The surface was warm while the water underneath was cool.

It was so interesting! A fine example of the power of space at work. He hummed softly, floating closer to the small grassy island in the middle of the lake.

Akari sat on the edge, dangling her legs in the water. Emotion drifted between the trees behind her, running their nubby hands across bare branches.

"... Don't know what I'm going to do, Irida." Akari shook her head. "There's still some friction between Diamond and Pearl."

Noctum stopped swimming and tilted his head.

Oh, right. The one who gave blessings to him was here, too.

"Diamond and Pearl?" Irida glanced at Noctum. "Do you mean..."

"Dialga and Palkia." Akari lazily lifted her right leg. Water dribbled off it. "I thought they'd be appropriate nicknames."

"Right." Irida looked at reflection in the water. "You do call your pokémon something other than their species."

Akari raised a brow. "Do you not?"

Irida looked left. Underneath the slim shade of one of the bare trees, a glaceon poked at a napping espeon's side. After a few more nudges, Espeon's closed eyes twitched. His forehead gem glowed. A burst of telekinesis unceremoniously tossed a mewling Glaceon into the lake.

Noctum picked his head up, worried Glaceon couldn't swim. Still on his back, he swam in her direction.

"I never considered it," Irida admitted, watching the water. Fortunately, Glaceon surfaced, but she was quite miffed. Noctum reached her. He dipped his head underwater and positioned it under Glaceon. Then he extended his long neck, creating a makeshift bridge for Glaceon to climb back onto the island.

She immediately barked and hissed at Espeon. Ice crystals formed on her damp fur.

Still curled up in a ball, Espeon poked one eye open. Then he closed it and simply purred.

Glaceon screeched. An Ice Beam formed in her mouth.

"Stop it, Glaceon!" Irida smacked the ground with her left hand. "You shouldn't have been bothering Espeon while he was napping and you know it."

The Ice Beam faded into frosty air. Glaceon looked down guiltily.

"And Espeon." Irida was on her knees. Her arms were crossed. "You don't fling people into the lake because they're bothering you."

Espeon didn't appear to acknowledge Irida. Noctum thought a little persuasion was in order, so he lifted his head and spat a tiny stream of water at Espeon. The moment it doused him, Espeon jumped to his feet, back arched. He loudly hissed at Noctum, who simply nudged his head in Irida's direction. Espeon's ears folded and he muttered what seemed like an apology to Glaceon and Irida.

"Ah, uh, thank you, Palkia." Irida bowed her head respectfully.

Noctum smiled and lowered his head back against the water's surface.

"That might be it," Akari whispered.

"What do you mean?"

"I think I know a way to mend the rift between Diamond and Pearl." Akari got to her feet. "It's like two siblings bickering. A parent can help stop the arguing."

"A parent?" Irida tilted her head.

"I've just gotta finish seeking out all the pokémon here in Hisui," Akari declared.

"A-All the pokémon?!"

Noctum caught the meaning. She was talking about the Creator. The thought of their disapproving look drove Noctum to dive underwater...

XxX​

The cosmic charizard sat up, sucking in a sharp breath.

He wasn't underwater. He was just in one of the drab, gray rooms at Cyril's outpost. An infirmary room, judging by the jars with berry pastes and glowing fluids sitting on the shelf opposite his bed. There were two other beds to his right. Widget lay in one and the other had... some black-scaled serpent with starcloud ribbons. A... cosmic milotic? The resistance didn't have one of those...

"Finally up, are we?"

Noctum squeezed the covers in his hands.

"V-Valkyrie," he squeaked. The garchomp sat on a chair beside the door, idly flipping through some sort of magazine. "H-Hi." He hastily threw his covers off and scooted to the edge of his bed. "What, uh, are ya reading there?"

"Lingerie holowear magazine." Valkyrie nonchalantly turned the page. She looked up at the cosmic charizard. "You want it? Maybe you'll find something fitting."

Noctum blinked a few times. "I don't... know what that is."

"Tch." Valkyrie crumpled up the magazine and tossed it into the trash bin on the other side of the door. "It was a joke, you dweeb. That was just some trashy Qliphoth celebrity gossip magazine." The garchomp crossed one leg over the other. "Needed something to pass the time since you've been zonked out since yesterday afternoon."

"Since yesterday afternoon?" Noctum's starry tail flame shrank. He tried to remember what happened. They had gotten back from stopping Vortex's rampage and then...

"There was this pressure." Noctum put his right hand over his chest. "Crushing."

"A bit young for a heart attack," Valkyrie scoffed. She switched crossed legs. "You dropped to the floor and kept muttering something about 'time's gone,' then you passed out."

"I see." The cosmic charizard tapped his claws together nervously. "What else did I miss?" He glanced at the beds next to his.

"Seifer didn't make it," Valkyrie flatly said. "Or, more accurately, he was already dead when we got him." She pointed at the cosmic milotic. "Apparently Artemis thought Leo could bring Seifer back from the dead." She turned her claw on Widget. "And brought him along for the ride. But something went wrong. "

The garchomp snorted pink-purple embers. "You've already seen Artemis' makeover for yourself. That's not everything, though." Valkyrie kicked the side of the empty bed to her left with her leg.

"Seifer's body's crystallized, Cyril's catatonic, Leo's locked himself in a broom closet, and Gene's faffing about in Radiance instead of being here to rally the troops."

She leaned her chair back on its hind legs. "Any questions?"

Noctum blinked once. Twice. He went over Valkyrie's recap again, but struggled through the full sequence of events. Why would any of this alter Artemis' appearance? Or hurt Widget? And if Leo was back from the mystery dungeon, what about Yuna and the others who went with her.

All of those questions wrestled for his attention, leading him to dumbly mutter, "Uh, what's catatonic?"

Valkyrie's death glare told him that was the wrong question.

"Err, I meant... how's Yuna?" Noctum laughed nervously.

"Could be worse." Still propping up her chair, Valkyrie shrugged. "She brought that koraidon Overseer here somehow. And some weird zoroark and mewtwo mishmash from the latest mystery dungeon.

"Oh, and itsoundslikeshetooksalazzlepheromonesandhadherselfaniceacidtriplastnight."

"Wait, she did what?!"

"She's fine." Valkyrie waved dismissively. "Embarrassed, but fine. Nikki's the same way. They must've tripped balls together."

Noctum had no idea what to make of that.

"Besides, there are more important things going on." Valkyrie let the chair drop back to all fours. She got up and her usual stoic expression returned. "Your appearances changes again, then you just so happen to become unresponsive, muttering 'time's gone,' right before we learn Seifer was declared dead? I refuse to believe that's a coincidence.

"You know something. What aren't you telling me?"

The cosmic charizard gripped the side of his bed. A part of him knew this had to come up eventually, but why did it have to be right now? Especially when she'd finally started to trust him.

"This is a 'reincarnated souls' thing, isn't it?" Valkyrie squinted at Noctum.

His tail flame shrank.

"Knew it." The garchomp paced by the foot of Noctum's bed. "I have my theories." She stopped and crossed her arms. "But I want to hear the truth from you."

Noctum tightened his grip on the bed. Was that meant to be a gesture of trust?

"You promise not to get mad?" Noctum brought his legs together and hunched over. "Or knee me in any sensitive places?"

Valkyrie kept her arms crossed. "As long as you tell me the truth."

"Okay." Noctum took a shaky breath. He really hoped this wouldn't cause any problems. "That strike from Halvus I absorbed reminded me of my past life." His wings unfolded. "I was this... big dragon who controlled the flow of space. Palkia."

"Control the flow of space?" Valkyrie's arms fell by her sides. "That sounds like... like..."

"Like a god? Yeah." Noctum grabbed his tail and brought it around. He stared into the starcloud flame. "I think Arceus created me, which means I'm connected to Giratina. And I had a counterpart who controlled time, Dialga. Kinda like this big blue-gray dragon-horse thingy. They were haughty and talked like they were better than me instead of an equal."

"Wait, horse-dragon?" Biting her lip, Valkyrie glanced at the door. "Are you implying what I think you are?"

The cosmic charizard nodded. "Seifer was Dialga." He squeezed his tail. "Which makes me wonder how much of his early attitude — y'know, before he got fired — was Radiance's culture and how much was his true self leaking through."

Noctum held a claw by the end of the tail flame. It wasn't warm. It hadn't been warm since it changed.

"It could apply to me, too," he mumbled. "The stuff you got on my case for — wanting to please everyone, following others' directions, hell being a servant — was what I was like as Palkia." Noctum ran a claw through the starry flames. "I wanted to do the job Arceus gave me right. So people could live happy lives. I figured if they were happy, then I was happy."

Valkyrie was still looking at the door. After a few seconds, she asked, "Where do I fit into this picture?"

"Y'know that crisis?" Noctum squeezed his tail again. "The one Zodiark manipulated Giratina into causing? It made Dialga and I fight... and, if I'm honest, they had the upper hand. But then a few humans sought me out to help stop it. One of them... was Yiazmat." He looked over his shoulder at Artemis. "Another led a group that worshiped Dialga."

Sighing, Noctum looked at Valkyrie. "And the third... led a group that worshiped me. She was a very gentle human, from what I remember."

More silence. This was one tenser, with Valkyrie's expression shifting between disbelief and anger. She raised a claw, then lowered it.

When she finally spoke, all she managed was a single, "Damn it." Valkyrie walked over to the wall on Noctum's left and leaned her right arm and head on it.

"I'm sor—" Noctum caught himself, knowing an apology would only further irritate the garchomp. "I wasn't sure whether to tell you. Because, y'know, we're friends. I thought if this came out... it'd make everything awkward." He swallowed hard. "But you asked me for the truth. So, I gave it to you."

He squeezed his tail, ready for Valkyrie to yell at him. Instead, the bed shifted and creaked as the garchomp sat on the edge of it.

"Thank you," Valkyrie whispered. "For being honest."

Noctum's tail flame grew a little. He scooched closer to her. "You're not upset?"

"Dunno." Valkyrie shrugged. "It does... explain one thing for me." She sighed. "Part of why I chose to work as an assassin was to get stronger, you know. But I second-guessed that choice for a while. I was already a garchomp. I had Tesla's dumb experiments. I was strong. Why did I think I needed to be stronger?"

She glanced at Noctum. "Was that something this human worried about?"

After thinking on it for a minute, Noctum nodded. "You did express those fears to Yiazmat, I think?"

"Figures." Valkyrie snorted blue-purple embers. She leaned forward, resting her arms on her knees.

"Do you miss her?"

"Hmm?"

"The old me."

"Oh." Noctum lazily swung his left leg out, then back in. "Maybe?" He slowly, repeatedly kicked the air. "I'm friends with you, though, Val."

"You're just saying that."

"Am I?" the cosmic charizard wondered. "I was partnered with Yiazmat. I'm not really sure how much I actually saw you back then."

Valkyrie clicked her tongue. "S'pose that's fair. Must've been a real lonely ass god, then. To think I make for good friendship material."

Noctum frowned, then grunted when Valkyrie thwaped his backside with her tail. "It was a joke."

"You put yourself down, though," Noctum mumbled.

The garchomp thwaped Noctum's backside again. "I know you know about self-deprecation. C'mon."

"Okay, okay." Noctum pivoted left to protect his flank from Valkyrie's rough, scaly tail. "In any case, you wanted the truth. I gave you the truth." He slouched and leaned back, bracing his arms on the bed. "If I had to guess... that deep part of my soul must've, like, realized the connection with Seifer and felt it fizzle out. Which made me black out."

"Can't say I get the spirit mumbo-jumbo behind it." Valkyrie also slouched backward, mimicking Noctum's posture. But she had to be more careful not to puncture the mattress with her claws. "Had you seen death before?"

"O-Of course." Noctum's tail flame sparked, both from the questions and how fast he answered it. "I mean, other servants died of old age. Calcifer's parents, too." He glanced at the beds to his right. Artemis and Widget were just as out of it as he'd been. "And, y'know, there were dragons who fell to Whispers in dungeons."

Valkyrie shook her head. "No, I mean. Have you ever seen a death like Seifer's before?"

Noctum tensed. He bowed his head, then slowly shook it.

"Think that's the real problem," Valkyrie said. "Not some deep soul bond or whatever."

The cosmic charizard grunted. Of course the assassin would think that. "Well, I wasn't, y'know, trained to be desensitized to this stuff."

He saw Valkyrie's tail moving this time and pressed it into the mattress before it could smack his left leg.

"Yeah, I'm used to it now," Valkyrie said, eyeing Noctum's hand. Rolling her eyes, she moved her tail away. "Wasn't always the case. Some of the early deaths... they've stuck with me."

"Like your early jobs?"

The garchomp shook her head. "Before that. Citadark."

Noctum swallowed hard. "L-Like people getting executed by Vegna?"

She shook her head again. "Prisoners killing each other."

"Oh." Noctum's voice was tiny. He went back to kicking the air with his legs. "I guess, uh, you put too many criminals on an island..."

"Tesla had these weird collars that could suppress pokémon's powers," Valkyrie explained. When Noctum glanced at her, she was kicking the air with her legs, too. "It didn't stop the nastiest ones." She sighed. "Saw my first death when some heliolisk had managed to sharpen a cafeteria tray. He used it to—"

Valkyrie stopped herself. "Nah, forget it. The details don't matter."

Silence followed. Both dragons knew they were mimicking each other. Valkyrie stared Noctum down. Was she trying to will him to stop?

Noctum decided to indulge her... by scooching next to her. "You gonna be okay?" he said.

The garchomp stopped kicking the air. She raised a brow. "Are you?"

Dang. He wasn't prepared for that one. His tail flame shrank.

"I'm not sure."

He tensed when Valkyrie raised her right arm, only to relax when she patted his left shoulder.

"Guess that makes two of us." She laughed bitterly. "But at least we get to be screwed up together, right?"

Noctum's mouth hung open. Valkyrie scraped his shoulder blade.

"Ow!" The cosmic charizard's wings tensed. "L-Look, it's hard to know when you're joking!"

"Sounds like a you problem." Valkyrie yawned. "Well, those two lugs are still out of it." She stretched her arms up. "And I can't imagine Vortex waking up any time soon. So, I'm feeling lazy."

The garchomp flopped down on the bed, splaying out on her side. "Lemme know if they wake up, I guess."

Noctum grabbed his tail. "H-Hey, y'know there are other beds here, right? Why do you have to use mine?"

"Lazy." Valkyrie yawned again. "You don't like it? Make me move, Palkia."

Noctum opened his mouth, then closed it. He held a hand up, then lowered it when Valkyrie smirked at him. Sighing, Noctum got to his feet and shuffled over to the bed across from the one he'd been using.

Valkyrie snorted. "Dork."

"I heard that." Noctum frowned.

"I wanted you to."

Despite the sassy tone, there was a grin on Valkyrie's face. Noctum took that as a win.

XxX​

Yuna's day couldn't have started off more awkwardly. She woke up curled around Nikki, with her tail draped over the toxtricity's lower half like a blanket. With a yelp, the dragapult darted out of bed.

Leo's bed. Where they slept together. And where... something else happened the other night. But Yuna's head was so foggy. It was all a blur.

Nikki slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Maaan, why'd you have to get up? I was comfy." She felt around the bed, probably looking for her leather jacket. Yuna couldn't remember her taking it off.

"It's on the floor." Yuna pointed to the foot of the bed with her tail. Nikki crawled forward, then lay on her stomach. She barely had enough reach to grab the jacket and toss it up onto the bed beside her.

"Bluuugh." Nikki's mohawk slowly came to life. "Twiggy's sister doesn't screw around. That shit hit hard."

Yuna fidgeted nervously. "Um, Nikki? Do you... remember last night?"

"Yeah." Nikki stretched her legs out. "Haven't had a night like that in a while. I feel like a new tox." She rolled over on her right and propped her head up with her arm. "Why?"

"I, um—" The dragapult's tail crinkled. "It's all kinda fuzzy for me, but I, um, think something happened?"

Nikki snorted. "More than something. Mostly for me, though. Pretty sure you told me things don't work that way for dragapult."

Then Yuna's blurry memories were right. "Ah." She drifted toward the ground. "What, um, should we do now?"

"Strip the bed." Nikki glanced over her shoulder. "Then, uh, I guess if we're trying to be responsible we find out if there's, y'know, world-saving business to do. If not, lazy day, babyyyy."

Yuna blinked a few times. "You mean go back to bed?"

"Pfbt. Nah." The toxtricity rolled off the bed. She put her jacket on, then grabbed the covers and yanked them off in one smooth motion. "Means not doing anything productive. Everyone needs a good lazy day now and again."

"Oh." Yuna got off the floor and helped Nikki by grabbing the other end of the fitted sheet to get it off Leo's bed. "You're, um, really nonchalant about this."

"Do you want me to make a big deal of it?" Nikki balled up the covers and sheet. She had to wrap both arms around them to stop them from spilling onto the floor. "I'm not Pillow Prince. Don't need fanfare saying I had a fun night with someone I like."

"But you'd tease someone if you knew, wouldn't you?"

"Hell yeah I would. Cuz it's funny."

The dragapult's ectoplasm quivered. Yuna's torso tightened. "I, um—" She tried to keep her form stable, but her tail also twisted around until it was as thin as a straw. "I've, um, never really... thought about that kind of stuff before?"

She looked down at her core.

"I doubt this is a Yaldumbass thing," Nikki scoffed.

Yuna's thinned tail shriveled up. "Y-Yaldumbass?"

Smirking, Nikki marched toward the door. "Seemed appropriate." She glanced at Yuna. "Look, I'll leave it up to you. We can forget about it if you want."

"N-No." Yuna took several deep breaths. Her torso and tail slowly expanded. "I think it was... nice. B-But maybe we don't do anything that crazy again?"

"Fair enough." Nikki nodded. "I'd shake on it but, well..." She lifted the ball of linens in her arms. "Can you get the door?"

Yuna floated over and opened the door. They headed for the laundry room and gave the linens to two of the skorps manning the washing machines. Then they headed for the hangar. Yuna was startled to learn that Grishi was in the outpost, having come back with Leo and Vince. Cid wasn't around to offer a report, nor was Gene. But Alder told them that things were quiet on the anomaly front.

Nikki took that as her cue to declare a lazy day. Which led them up to the restaurant where they sat at one of the tables by the glass wall offering a view of Guzzie Jr.'s arena. Sparks and fireballs flickered in the corner of Yuna's vision as the two sat quietly waiting on the "surprise" Nikki ordered.

Guzzie's loud stomps heralded his arrival. Yuna watched the guzzlord set down a tray with two large glasses and a big plate of fries.

"Here you are." Guzzie took the dishes off the tray. "Two chocoholic milkshakes and a plate of fries. If you want anything else, let Guzzie know." He turned and headed back toward the kitchen.

"Excellent." Nikki rubbed her hands together eagerly. She pulled one of the milkshakes toward her. "I can't believe you've been here two months and haven't gotten a single shake. Wild."

Yuna reached for the other glass. "I guess I don't see what the big deal is? What does shaking the milk do to it?" She looked at the thick, creamy chocolate in the glass. "Other than make it look a little like that ice cream stuff people enjoy?"

Nikki gave Yuna the most dumbfounded look she'd ever seen. "You're shitting me, right?"

"No?"

"Good grief." Nikki took a fry and tossed it into her mouth. "It's not called a milkshake because you're shaking the milk. You blend ice cream, milk, and other shit together." She scooped whipped cream off the top of her shake with two fingers, then licked it off.

"Then why call it a milkshake?" Yuna whined.

"Hell if I know. Your confusion's cute, though." Nikki grabbed two more fries and scarfed them down. "Next you're going to tell me you think root beer is booze made from plant roots."

Yuna's ectoplasm shriveled. "I-It isn't?!"

Nikki stared at her in disbelief. After a few seconds, she slapped the table, howling with laughter. This quickly faded to a stoic expression. "You're a freaking riot, Princess," she deadpanned.

Frowning, Yuna licked the whipped cream from the top of her shake. "Why'd you order these things together, anyway?"

"To show you one of the best combos in the realm of foodstuffs," Nikki declared. She grabbed a large fry and held it up for Yuna to see. "Fry." She pulled it toward her milkshake. "Dipped in shake."

Nikki ate the large fry in a single bite. "Yeah, that's the good shit right there."

Yuna looked between her milkshake and the fries. Shrugging, the dragapult took a few fries. She dipped one into the chocolate shake, then pulled it out and ate half of it.

Her ectoplasm jiggled. "Mmmm." Yuna finished the fry, then dipped the other two and scarfed them down. "Yeah, I think I see your point." She licked her golden claws. "It's good! I like the mix of sweet and salty." It reminded her of the kettle corn she'd had the other week.

Smirking, Nikki grabbed some more fries. The toxtricity dipped one into her milkshake. "You can admit I have good tastes~"

"I guess you do." Yuna chuckled.

The awkwardness of the morning had melted away. Part of Yuna felt guilty that she was having fun doing something so... silly and insignificant. But that was quickly snuffed out by the part of her that just didn't care.

"Fries and milkshakes for lunch?"

Metallic hoofbeats drew Yuna's attention left. Shimmer walked toward them, with Igneous and Scarlett not far behind. The dragonair spotted the fries and shook her head.

"A Nikki classic, I see."

The toxtricity wiggled a shake-covered fry at Scarlett. "You know it. If y'all want shakes, you gotta order them."

"I'm good." Shimmer stopped by the table. "That stuff would go straight to my hips."

"Pssh. You have nine tails." Nikki ate the fry in her hand. "More than enough to cover your ass no matter how doughy."

Yuna snorted. Luckily she hadn't eaten the fry in her hand. "N-Nikki."

Nikki tossed a fry into her mouth. "I calls 'em as I sees 'em."

"Har, har." Shimmer rolled his eyes.

"We figured we'd check in," Igneous said. The grovlazzle put a chair down at the corner of the table opposite the glass wall and sat down. "You guys hear about what happened last night?"

Yuna and Nikki exchanged a look, then shook their heads. She had a bad feeling Igneous was about to ruin her good mood.

Igneous passed along a recap Valkyrie gave him of what happened with Artemis, Widget, and Seifer. He crossed his arms and shook his head. "Not sure what we should do with this. It's concerning, though. Especially because of what happened in Herbrides yesterday."

Nikki rested her left arm on the table and used it to prop up her head. She sipped at her chocolate shake. "More Xeromus shit? You already killed the vibe, Twiggy, so just spit it out."

Sighing, Igneous recounted a claim Xeromus made about Leo not being the true arceus of their universe. Instead, the crazed silvally believed that title belonged to the cloud monster that killed Seifer.

"Then he's obviously lying," Nikki said. She set her shake down and pinched her brow. "Nnngh. Brain freeze."

"Is he?" Igneous tapped his chin. "Leo's blessing went haywire."

Yuna frowned. "It didn't for Cyril or Widget." She decided she'd had enough fries and switched to slowly sipping her milkshake.

"What if that was because Leo didn't have any plates at the time?" Igneous wondered.

"Sheesh, Twiggy." Nikki rested her head against the table. "You put the 'kill' in 'buzzkill.' That's the kind of shit I'd expect out of, like, the Reaper."

Hearing Vegna's title made Yuna suck up a bit too much of the milkshake. A dreadful chill condensed her ectoplasm. "Aggggggh." She covered her torso with her arms and squeezed tightly.

"Oh, right, dragons hate ice." Nikki's mohawk flickered. "Guess brain freeze is even worse for you."

The dragapult kept rubbing her arms and chest until her ectoplasm settled. Then she rested her hands on the table like she was going to push herself up from her chair. "I should go talk to him."

"Why, so you can tell him what Twiggy said?" Nikki wondered.

"N-No." Yuna frowned. "To, y'know, assure him this wasn't his fault and stuff."

Scarlett paused with her tail hovering by the half-eaten plate of fries. "Uhhh, do you actually know what you want to tell him? Cuz if you just put your foot in your mouth, it might make things worse."

"Of course I do."

She didn't. And she could practically feel Reshiram's disapproving look.

"Well, still. I'm his mom." Yuna rose from her seat. "I should be there for him. Besides, it's not like a locked broom closet can stop me if I use my rifts."

The sucking of air came from Nikki's direction. She set her empty glass down and fiddled with the straw. "Don't you need to have been somewhere to rift to it?"

"Yeah."

"Have you gone into that broom closet?" The toxtricity raised a brow.

Yuna opened her mouth, then shut it and sat back down, slumping over on the table.

"What about Gene?" Shimmer asked. The ponytales tapped an icy forehoof on the floor. "He could get you there."

"He's not here."

Everyone's heads turned to find Jade waddling toward them. The salugia had what looked like one of Cyril's laptops under her left wing.

"Right. Cid mentioned that," Yuna said, picking her head up. "Where is he?"

"Heading to Blightsmuth, apparently," Jade said. "He wants to meet with that shredding guy."

"Shredder?" Nikki and Scarlett said in unison. They exchanged a surprised look.

Jade slapped her knee with her free wing. "That's the one!"

Yuna tilted her head. What did the shadowy mewtwo want with an ex-Crowne Minister?

"Tis not like thou can ask him," Rayquaza said.

"Huh." Nikki leaned her chair back, balancing it against the metal column behind her. "That means he could rift us over there when he comes back."

"You thinking of going home?" Scarlett said. The dragonair pulled the plate over to her, leaned over, and began scarfing down some of the fries at the edge of the plate.

Nikki stretched her arms up and cracked her knuckles. "It'd be nice to see the ol' joint while we've got some time to breathe."

Yuna nodded in agreement. It'd be something different. Plus, she'd brought Nikki home. It only seemed fair that she visited Blightsmuth.

"Well, I dunno how long he'll be." Jade reached the table and set the laptop down. "In the meantime, Cid said I oughta show you this." She grabbed the laptop and opened it up to a page of that weird Chatter thing Yuna heard mentioned before. Judging by the large play button taking up most of the screen, this was some sort of video.

"Okay, trackpad. Trackpad." Jade examined the laptop. "Which one's the— aha!"

She pressed a square on the base of the laptop and obnoxious music with some sort of guitar blared from the speakers as a... vaguely familiar sylveon in a skintight blouse studded with sequins hopped into the feed.

"Whassup #XanFam?! It's your lovely star-studded sylveon!" He winked at the camera and tons of pixelated hearts appeared on the screen. "And it's time for today's #ThreeCheersThreeJeers!"

"The he— ack!" Nikki fell out of her chair, which toppled to the floor with a clang.

Whinnying, Shimmer's tails puffed out. "Xander?!"

Xander hopped backward, sparkles trailing behind him. "Our first #Cheer goes to DJ Spiri2mb." A bunch of pixelated thumbs-ups appeared on the screen behind the sylveon. They rapidly gave way to a blue and purple spiritomb wearing sunglasses with flame decals on the frames. It also showed his name, which had a number two in it for some unfathomable reason. "His latest single 'Afterlive' just dropped and it is #flames."

The group could only stare in disbelief as pixelated fire icons and clapping hands appeared all over the screen.

"What is this?" Scarlett's wings fluttered nervously. "It's like he's... hosting some sort of show?"

"And now the first #Jeer... to the police department for Canalave City!" Xander continued. This time a bunch of thumbs-downs appeared on the screen, giving way to footage of a bunch of doodles of human cops lounging about in office chairs and hammocks. "They just sat by and twiddled their thumbs while the rebels swooped in and wrecked Iron Island!"

Xander's screen transitioned to show some kind of construction site with a bunch of broken machines and pieces of metal.

"Hey!" Jade squawked, tail flaps curling. "It was like that when we got there! The Whisper did that!"

"Forget it." Shimmer couldn't take his gaze off the laptop as more pixelated thumbs-ups surrounded a dancing Xander. "Why is he there? Don't tell me the emperor brainwashed him like he did the volcarona twins!"

Yuna's legs retracted into her torso. "Err..."

The ponytales tensed. "Don't 'err' me." He glanced at the others. "What am I missing here?"

No one wanted to break the news to Shimmer, leaving Xander's recording to continue.

"... Move on to our final #Cheer. As always, it goes to our beloved Grand Emperor Paradox for his stellar work getting rid of the Iron Island rift the rebels created!"

"Shut that off!" Shimmer hissed. His horn glowed pink. A similar glow surrounded the laptop, which slammed shut.

"H-Hey, careful. That isn't mine." Jade picked up the laptop and inspected it.

Sighing, Igneous leaned over and put a hand on Shimmer's right shoulder. "I hate to break it to you, but Xander joined Paradox willingly."

"What?!"

"We managed to spy on Paradox capturing our classmates," Yuna admitted, massaging her legs out of her torso to mixed success. "Xander practically threw himself at Paradox's feet."

"I thought he'd get turned into an Eternatus Trooper," Nikki scoffed, getting back up and dusting off her leather jacket. "Or one of those robots."

The ponytales wasn't impressed. Shimmer's horn was still glowing. "And when was anyone going to tell me this?!"

"When the need arose." Igneous squinted at Jade. "Evidently, this is that need."

"Um, is it really that surprising?" Scarlett asked, brushing her left wing against her neck bauble. "I thought you realized your guys' relationship was built on basically nothing."

Yuna frowned at that. Xander was part of Radiant nobility, right? Why else was he at Horizon? "What is his background, anyway?"

"He's—" Shimmer stopped himself. His eyes slowly widened, then the ponytales hung his head. "Oh no..."

Everyone looked at Shimmer expectantly. "Well?" Nikki said. "Don't keep us waiting!"

"Polarisvision!" Shimmer blurted out. His shoulders sagged. "His father's the head of one of the biggest media companies in the kingdom... which he sold to Polaris, like, five years ago!" He tensed up. "Xander was the one who would get me onto the sets of movies or PV shows and that's how we ended up dating..."

"Then of course he'd make dumb videos for Paradox." Nikki threw her arms up. "Guy's clearly an attention whore!"

"How much attention could he really get?" Scarlett wondered. She slowly ate a couple more fries. "This Qliphoth place is ridiculously b—"

"He has fifteen million followers on Chatter. His account was made two weeks ago." Jade got the laptop screen on again, showing the numbers alongside a picture of the sylveon lying in a very... lascivious pose.

Eyes widening, the dragonair swallowed hard and descended into a coughing fit.

Shimmer scooted away from the salugia, whinnying. "F-Fifteen million?!"

"Well, shit." Nikki leaned over and rubbed Scarlett's back. "That's obnoxious. But does it really matter?"

"It would if the guy's a Paradigm lieutenant." Jade paused for a few seconds, smiling dumbly. Then she pointed at the small paragraph on screen, below a gold banner reading "Chatter Premium EX Plus Plus Member."

"His bio says he's one."

Nikki threw her arms up again. "Well screw me for asking, I guess! So, what, do we humiliate him online by using one of Boss Kitty's drones to catch him doing something stupid? Turn his fans into an angry mob? I bet Scarlett and I could write a killer diss track if we want a more musical option."

Yuna drummed her claws against the table. "No, I'm pretty sure we have to beat the Paradigm out of him."

"But getting to him's going to be a problem if he's really that big," Scarlett squeaked, leaning over to nervously nibble on a fry. "Starlene needed security and stuff to keep the public away from her and that fanbase was a fraction of a fraction of what Xander's got."

"I have a proposal, then." Nikki's right arm shot up. "We don't worry about it today." She picked her chair up, spun around it, and sat on it so her arms were draped over its back. "Think about it, guys. We don't know where he is, who's with him, or what sorts of powers he has. We're not the intel gatherers and Boss Kitty's off paying Shredder a house call for some stupid reason.

"Besides, these Paradigm dweebs keep showing up whenever new rifts pop up." The toxtricity smirked. "So, if we wait for the next mystery dungeon, then there's a chance he just shows up and we kick his ass."

Sighing, Yuna leaned back. Her ectoplasmic body practically draped over the back of her chair like it was a towel rack. Nikki did have a point. It didn't make sense to go after Xander without a plan. And a solid plan needed solid information.

"I just feel guilty sitting here when something's wrong," the dragapult mumbled.

"Don't think of it as sitting around then." Nikki drummed her fingers against the back of her chair. "Think of it as resting up before whatever our next battle is."

"I guess." Yuna traced a claw around her core. "But what do we even do to relax?"

"I'd suggest a spa day, but we don't have one of those," Shimmer said.

"Don't look at me." Jade raised her large wings. "These silly things aren't good for mixing up herbal remedies like I did in the ol' apothecary days." She looked over her shoulder. "Plus, I don't even have any supplies."

"But the monks do," Scarlett pointed out. The dragonair straightened up and looked at the salugia. "What if you were giving instructions to us?"

"Teaching? Moi?" Jade pointed at her face. "I never considered it."

"Seriously? Herbal remedies?" Nikki squinted at Scarlett.

"Do you have a better idea?" Scarlett countered.

The toxtricity went back to drumming her fingers against the back of her chair.

"It can be pretty therapeutic grinding up herbs and ingredients with a mortar and pestle." Jade pressed a wing digit against the laptop. "But it's up to you guys."

Scarlett looked around at the group. Yuna pulled herself upright and shrugged at the dragonair.

"I'll give it a shot. It's something different." She glanced at Nikki and Igneous.

"Yeah, sure," the grovalzzle said.

"Oh, what the hell. If even Twiggy's doing it, then I'm in."

Jade's tail flaps wiggled in excitement. "Great! Then, uh, I'll go find some supplies and a quiet room!"

She turned on a dime and quickly waddled toward the door to the residential quarters. Yuna glanced at the now empty plate of fries.

This wasn't how she imagined today going. But all things considered, she'd take it over any mystery dungeon chaos.

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Heya, been kinda slammed with real life lately, but I figured that it was time to start catching up a bit more with this story, picking right up where I left off with:

Chapter 93

Spoiler: Line-by-Line

I have another finding to report on the space core. In addition to Dreamweaver, the vast reservoir of energy within it, I've found something else. Something that almost feels... alive?

'Dreamweaver', huh? Wonder if that'll be Terapagos there.

I'm not sure if that's the right phrase to describe this. What it is is some sort of... nigh encyclopedic array of knowledge. Of this world. Of seemingly countless worlds beyond ours. Information on every pokémon, even those consigned to myths and legends. Details about realms where pokémon don't exist. Worlds where pokémon are instead creatures beyond comprehension dubbed Ultra Beasts. There are even records of pokémon forming civilizations similar to our own.

Oh, so they're the omniversal equivalent of the Akashic Records.

The rational side of me wants to dismiss this as some sort of fantasy wrought by the space core's power. But the knowledge can be relayed to me as if I was conversing with another human. If I ask the space core questions, this encyclopedic entity provides me with logical, factual answers.

Is there truly a living soul within the space core? Or is this... some sort of artificial construct beyond even my wildest comprehension?

UPDATE: I asked the construct if I could name it and it said I could! It just gets stranger. I've gone with "Zodiark" for now, in reference to the zodiac. It fits well against Dreamweaver, in my opinion.

Well then

Still holding Nikki, Yuna flew to Grishi's side. The toxtricity managed to swing herself out of Yuna's grasp and grab hold of the edge of the large rock. She pulled herself up but stayed on her stomach.

Oh hey, Aether Foundation music. I suppose it fits with a megastructure at sea having dodgy stuff happening on it.

"I don't see anything," Nikki whispered. "Where's this ground-type beast, huh?"

The rock trembled, as did the ground beneath. Grishi's gelatinous body flickered blue. "There!" He pointed to the right. Then he levitated Nikki beside him.

Boy, I sure hope that the Terarium's built to be quake-resistant, otherwise a lot of people and Pokémon are about to get swimming lessons in short order.

"Gah! Hey!" Nikki's hands and feet twitched. "Why's everyone yanking me around? I'm not a ragdoll, damn it!"

"Quiet!" Grishi hissed. His gaze stayed focused to the right, where a herd of bouffalant ran away from... something vaguely sawsbuck-esque. If the sawsbuck looked like it was made of pottery and had a giant bowl on its head. A bowl filled with brown crystals that looked like a clump of dirt covered in grass.

Oh, hello Ting-Lu.

"That's gotta be it," Yuna mumbled. "But I've never seen a pokémon like that before." Her tail crinkled. "What is it?"

"Ting-Lu," Grishi replied. "Strange pokémon. Brought to life from bowl on head." He shook his head. "Colors not right, though. That because Whisper?"

"Yeah." Some of the other Whispers had strange color schemes. Not that Yuna had a normal frame of reference here. She'd have to take Grishi's word for it. Ting-Lu continued to stomp across the ground a few hundred meters away. Cracks and fissures ran through the dirt. A couple of small trees splintered and fell to their sides.

Waaaaaait, isn't this just Ting-Lu's shiny color scheme?

"It's not paying us any attention," Nikki whispered. "Let's try and take a shot at it from afar."

"Ground-type," Yuna whispered. She glanced at Nikki, recalling the whole kerfuffle with fighting Chernabog. "Nikki, do you think you should let us take the lead here?"

The toxtricity frowned. "I said shoot from afar," she muttered.

Yeeeeeah, that's not going to end well for Yuna given what Ting-Lu's secondary type is.

"Right. But as long as we're together..." Yuna flinched when the ground rumbled yet again. Unfezant and tranquil flew away from Ting-Lu, squawking their alarm.

She didn't want to keep Nikki out of things, but it wasn't safe. Yuna fidgeted nervously. She was being polite, unlike Gene.

Ah yes, such a high bar to cross there.

"Maybe have her search for Leo?"Reshiram offered. But Yuna knew that would just upset her.

"Okay." Nikki scooched back across the rock. "I'll wait. See if I can find an opening to Boomburst him."

Cue things going sideways in 3... 2…

Like not that Nikki wouldn't be crazy disadvantaged right now, but splitting up in the face of an opponent this strong just sounds like a terrible idea.

Yuna stayed silent. Did Nikki really have the range to pull that off? Maybe if she or Grishi could knock Ting-Lu into the air. But did Yuna even have anything to strike the Whisper effectively?

"Think that's my cue." Shaymin hopped off Reshiram's head in the back of Yuna's mind. "Time for a mini adventure. Shoot me out of a horn like I'm a dreepy."

Well, that music escalated quickly. Time to see what our legendary Wanderer can do in battle.

What? Did he have any idea how fast dragpult horns could fire?

"Relax." Shaymin hopped in place. His mossy fur fluttered with excitement "Rayquaza's taken me skydiving before. I know fast."

Shaymin: "Technically, I am, so..." ^^;

The mental image was too much for Yuna to bother verifying with Rayquaza if it was true. "Okay," Yuna said to the others. "I'm going to shoot Shaymin. When you see some grass move, uhh I guess we attack?"

Grishi said nothing. Yuna assumed he had no objections. Her core sent green light up her right shoulder into one of her right horns. The sudden weight change told Yuna Shaymin was in position.

Ting-Lu had its back toward them, spreading cracks through the dirt with every step. It was time to act. Yuna concentrated on her right horns. After tensing a moment, a green streak soared forward.

Shaymin: "LEEROOOOOYYY!! JEEEENKIIINS!!"
Yuna: "This was a mistake, I can already tell."

"Go!" Yuna raced after Shaymin. Green rings encircled the miniature green comet careening toward Ting-Lu. The rings descended on Ting-Lu, showering it in green light that quickly faded to mist. The smell of grass clippings quickly filled the air. Now in sky form, Shaymin flew out of the mist, brimming with green light.

"Keep striking from a distance!" Rayquaza said. "Seed Flare doth lower the fiend's defenses to your ranged strikes, Princess!"

Clever plant there. Let's see how good his evasion is at these quarters, though.

That was simple enough now that Yuna had Dragon Darts. She prepared to fire when a sudden heaviness dragged her down from the air. She hit the grass with a startled squeak. And a grunt further ahead suggested the same thing happened to Shaymin.

"Is this, nrrrgh, Gravity?" Shaymin's voice was strained. Yuna struggled to pick her head up out of the grass... which tickled her ectoplasm while the ground shook.

Up! Up! She had to get back into the air somehow.

Wow, that was certainly fast for things going sideways.

A sudden spark of inspiration led to two spectral wings emerging and pushing against the ground. It launched Yuna just high enough to dodge the Earthquake before she landed in a dirt patch. Shaymin, on the other hand, grunted in pain several meters away.

Well, that answers the question about how good Shaymin's close-quarters evasion is. Even if he's dealing with a deck stacked against him at the moment.

Ting-Lu fixed its attention on Yuna. Purple static fanned out of the crystal dirt mound on its head and formed Zodiark's masked face.

"So, you finally pulled back the curtain." Their voice was as distorted as ever. "Even in a dragapult shell, I know it's you, Yaldabaoth. Back to your usual pattern of hostility."

Yuna: "... You're kidding me right now." >.<
Butterfree Effect: "What is there to kid about, really?"

Ting-Lu reared up again, but green Seed Flare rings flew in from behind and struck it. It stumbled. Zodiark's facial projection flickered. Ting-Lu spun around. Yuna decided to follow Shaymin's lead. Even stuck in the grass, she could still attack. If she angled her head right...

"You are the one bringing chaos and suffering to this world," Zodiark continued. "Just as your past interference led to a world filled with suffering."

I mean, he's not wrong. Especially considering what Yaldabaoth does in Gnosticism. Even if Butterfree Effect's desired alternative isn't exactly a step up.

Yuna fired dreepy-shaped blue energy spears. Ting-Lu stomped a fore and hind hoof against the ground. Mounds of dirt sprouted up in front and behind it, stopping both Yuna's Dragon Darts and another Seed Flare that Shaymin had fired from the opposite side of the field.

"How predictable." The silhouette of Zodiark's head phased through a dirt wall. "Like refusing to acknowledge your own failures."

Time for confidence-murdering mindgames? Since this sure sounds like it's time for confidence-murdering mindgames.

Suddenly the dirt mound was flying forward. It was going to crush Yuna! The dragapult tried to go airborne but couldn't. She did the next best thing and rolled right. Despite her triangular head slowing her movement, Yuna got out of the way. And when the dirt mound passed her by, the world crystalized and everything slowed to a crawl.

Just like before. The pressing weight wasn't there. Yuna quickly shot Dragon Darts from her horns. When the time stop wore off, Yuna was forced to the ground once again. But the Darts caught Ting-Lu by surprise. Then Seed Flares struck it from behind.

Wait, is that supposed to be bland-name Witch Time? Or is that something else there from the 'crystalized' appearance things take in Yuna's vision?

"Why press this attack? What do you think you'll accomplish?" Zodiark's face flickered in and out from around Ting-Lu. "The more you force this Whisper to strain, the greater the risk you place on this facility."

"I don't, nnrrgh, believe you." Yuna pushed against the ground. Why was this infernal Gravity lasting so long? And where the hell was Grishi?!

Well, looks like we might get to see how well the folks in the Terarium can swim after all.

"You should." Zodiark's wheel-shaped mask turned into a hexagonal panel. "The core helps with the dome's integrity."

Ting-Lu turned... and ran away from Yuna.

Can't tell if Whispers have enough sentience to decide that they really don't want to make glub glub noises, or if this is a feint here.

"He's bailing!" Shaymin cried. Grass shuffled several meters ahead of Yuna as Shaymin came to regroup.

"What do you think will happen to all the people here if a part of the dome breaks, Yaldabaoth?" Zodiark asked. "It seems this Whisper wants to break it. What will you do? If you keep fighting it, you may be the one to break the dome instead."

This sounds like an answer for "Pokéball, go!" ad nauseum until one works. Not that Yuna would know about that.

The silhouette faded away. Gravity's intense weight subsided. But Ting-Lu was already bounding south, kicking up grass and dirt. There was a rock wall stretching out along what had to be the edge of the Terarium. And Ting-Lu had its head lowered like it was going to try and ram it.

"Shaymin!" Yuna called. A stream of green light shot into her core. Then Shaymin reappeared on Yuna's head while she flew after him.

Yuna: "I... don't suppose that just shoving the Whisper into a Phantom Warp is an option, is it?"

Shaymin: "Couldn't tell ya (even if I doubt the story will let us get away with that that easily), but we kinda need to get a bit closer to even try." ^^;

Leo flew as fast as his scyther wings could carry him. Which was pretty quick, all things considered. Fast enough to zip past grass, shrubbery, and trees toward a downward slope that led to weird stations made of glowing white cubes.

I should be a lot less surprised that Leo can effortlessly shift form like this since "something something creator god", but I still did a double-take here.

He dropped to the ground the moment his suspicions were confirmed: Onion Hair had come down here. The scyther's eyes weren't playing tricks on him.

But how did he spot Onion Hair so easily? The sky plate, maybe? A literal bird's eye view...

Oh, so those plates are doing things other than just progressing Leo through puberty.

Leo walked forward. Onion Hair had put six poké balls into a red and white cylinder. Soft light bathed them.

A healing machine.

Like what Pokémon Centers used. The scyther blinked. Those terms had popped into his head. It was almost instinctual.

Must have heard it from Alder.

-peeks up at the chapter teaser-

Yeeeeah, I'm not sure that was Alder you heard things from, just saying.

Leo kept moving forward. Something about the way Onion Hair watched the healing machine didn't sit right with him.

"... Change tactics." Onion Hair was talking to himself. "Ceruledge's aggressive. Lot of offense. Need to find a way to slow him down. Incineroar's Intimidate. Then pivot with Parting Shot out to Grimmsnarl. If I can Trick a Ring Target onto him..."

I see Kieran is taking losing about as well™️ as he canonically does.

Ceruledge? Leo's eyes widened. Onion Hair was going to go after Gilgamesh again? He lost last time! And this guy had no idea Gilgamesh was a Whisper. That was too dangerous!

The healing machine turned off. "Finally!" Onion Hair gathered up the poké balls.

Wait, is it even healthy to go straight back into battle immediately after using a healing machine like that?

Leo had to act fast. But what could he do? If he tried actually talking to Onion Hair, he might freak the kid out.

... Except Onion Hair already heard Gilgamesh talking.

"Ah, screw it." The scyther sped down the slope. He jumped into the air.

"WAIT!" Leo cried, flying over a metal arch and landing beside Onion Hair on the edge of the white cube platform. "You can't go after Ceruledge again! He'll hand you a giant L for sure!" He held up his scythe arms.

Cue the screaming in 3... 2...

Onion Hair jumped, dropping the two poké balls he held. As he bent down to pick them up, he kept his eyes trained on Leo. The scyther noticed the heavy bags under his eyes... and an increasingly empty look the longer Onion Hair made eye contact.

"Talking... pokémon..." Onion Hair stood up. He was practically looking past Leo. An indifferent expression settled across his face. "This doesn't involve you. Stand aside. I'm the strongest trainer in this place. That means you've gotta listen to me."

Well this sounds totally healthy and not completely unhinged at all. /s

Definitely feels on-brand for the character, though.

Seriously? Leo raised a brow. This guy had to be at least a little bit younger than him.

... Or younger than he felt with four of his plates, anyway.

"Can't do that." Leo widened his stance. "Ceruledge has something that belongs to me. I'm gonna take it back."

Um, Leo? You probably don't want to just stand and explain this in front of Mr. 'You've gotta listen to me' right now.

"Then you can have it when I'm finished beating him." Onion Hair started forward. "I don't care if you can talk. I'm in charge here."

Leo sidestepped right, holding up his arms. "You can't battle him."

"I can and I will." The empty look in Onion Hair's eyes turned to scorn. "What are you going to do? You're one scyther. Do you even have a trainer?"

I can see why

felt an uncomfortable resemblance between his old self and this guy.

"I don't." Leo's wings buzzed nervously. "But I'm totes strong. And I think... sending your pokémon at Ceruledge again so quickly after losing to him is a major fail."

"Don't you dare speak for my pokémon!" Onion Hair snarled. There was a hint of... frenzy in his eyes. "I understand them plenty! Just like I understood the ogre!"

He tapped a clenched fist against his thigh repeatedly. "Strong trainers make strong pokémon. My pokémon are strong. Because I'm strong."

He wasn't looking at Leo, though. It was almost like Onion Hair was talking to someone else. But who?

That would be the S/V protagonist of this universe.

"I'm the strongest person here." Onion Hair's fist tapped against his thigh faster and faster. "I'm beating Ceruledge. You can't stop me. Ninetales can't stop me..."

Leo frowned. Ninetales?

Oh right,

did the honors of smashing Kieran's dream to pieces in this universe. And... uh... yeah, I'm not counting on a friendship arc to make things all hunky-dory again.

He sidestepped Leo and ran onto the grassy field. "I know what I'm doing!"

The kid was surprisingly nimble. But Leo was faster. He flew past Onion Hair and hovered in his path. "Then use me as your pokémon instead!" the scyther begged.

Onion Hair skidded to a halt. "You can't be serious." He tapped his heel against the ground repeatedly, kicking up a small divot in the grass. "Even Terastalized, Ceruledge still has fire-type attacks. You'll get torched."

"Nah, I'd win!" Leo insisted. Sure, he hadn't directly fought a Whisper before. But he had four plates. His powers were growing. Why else could he change into other pokémon?

Cute meme drop there. Wonder if that's where you got the idea for that birthday gift from.

"Typing's still important." Onion Hair shook his head. "You don't have a trainer. So, you haven't had real training. You're not strong enough."

"I've trained plenty." This was going nowhere. And every second wasted talking was time for Gilgamesh to do... something. Or the other Whisper that he left Yuna and Nikki to deal with. "I'll prove it to you! One-vee-one me!"

I'll frankly be more surprised if this doesn't wind up turning into a disaster somehow. Since I remember how Kieran was about catching Terapagos and just going and dangling a

in front of him...? Especially if he has that Master Ball...

There was a flicker of that earlier madness in Onion Hair's eyes. Then an eerie smile crept onto his face. "Okay, yeah." He was tapping his fist against his leg again. "Fine. I'll show you how out of your depth you are by knocking you out. Then you can't get in my way."

Onion Hair had already pulled a poké ball out of his hoodie pocket and tossed it to the side. A dragonite emerged, stretching his arms out. He looked at Onion Hair, then Leo.

"Battle time," Onion Hair said. He hunched over, resting his right arm on his right knee. "Get set."

Kieran: "♫ I’m going to win this time
I’m going to win this time
I’m going to win this time
I’m going to win this time ♫"
Leo: "Um... could you stop that? You're kinda creeping me out right now (also, I'm pretty sure you're supposed to be doing that in another story)..." ._.;

Dragonite nodded. His expression sharpened. The beating of his wings intensified.

"Strike first! Extreme Speed to the chest!"

Leo's eyes widened. He has—

A scaly shoulder slammed into the scyther's torso. Leo barely had the time to fold in his wings before hitting the grass and rolling to a stop, bracing himself with his arms.

"Follow up. Breaking Swipes. Down, then side."

Wew. Kid's not messing around there. That definitely feels on brand with Kieran circa ID.

With a roar, blue energy shrouded Dragonite's arms. A few flaps of his wings closed the gap with Leo. He rolled right, dodging a downward swipe of Dragonite's right arm. But Dragonite followed up swinging his left arm sideways.

Leo pooled energy into his arms and raised them up. His X-scissor clashed with the Breaking Swipe.

"Regroup," Onion Hair said, still hunched over. The order came with a flash of that frenzy in his eyes.

Leo:

(Right! Back!) Dragonite broke away, flying back to Kieran's side.

Sighing in relief, Leo righted himself. His arms felt... weaker than earlier. It must have been the Breaking Swipe. Gah, there were so many moves to keep track of! And only ones with types matching his plates were clear in his mind.

... Wait, who is saying the paren-text there? Kieran's Dragonite? Or Leo's inner voice?

"Give up." Onion Hair had his eyes locked on Leo. "You're already looking shaky."

Leo held his arms at his sides. "I'm just getting started."

Much as Leo dreaded showing any of his serious power, he was at a disadvantage as a scyther. He had to change tactics.

Yeeeeeah, I sure hope that Kieran doesn't already have that Master Ball right now, since I'm not convinced that Leo would know how to resist it at the moment.

"Extreme Speed! Grab him!"

Not again! Leo shot higher into the air. Dragonite passed underneath.

"Thunder straight above!"

He has Thunder?!

(Okay! Up!) Lightning crackled in Dragonite's arms. He hurled a large bolt skyward. Leo barely managed to spin out of the way.

Well, I guess that answers the question about what the paren-text is, even if I kinda wonder if it should've been made a little more obvious initially.

Finally, an opening! Leo rained Air Slash blades down from the air, just like he'd seen Noctum do time after time.

"Take it! Then retaliate with Thunder!"

Wait, what?!

Leo: "In retrospect, maybe it wasn't a good idea to challenge Onion Hair to a battle when I've mostly been performing support actions in fights so far."

Dragonite crossed his arms over his face. The Air Slash blades forced him to land, but he stood tough and hurled another lightning bolt. Leo couldn't end his own attack in time. The scyther plummeted from the air in a burst of sparks, crashing into the ground.

Nothing had hurt Leo like this before. He shakily propped himself up.

Can't tell if that's a sign that Leo carries the typings of the Pokémon whose forms he adopts or if Dragonite is just hitting that hard right now.

"See? I told you." Onion Hair hadn't broken his stance the entire time. That frenzy returned to his eyes. "You're not strong enough. Stand aside."

... We're not about to see Leo go through an unhinged quest to get stronger for a while, are we?

"N... no..." Leo couldn't give in here. He finally had enough power to do something. He couldn't stumble at the first hurdle like this!

I mean... if you don't know how to wield your power effectively, that's kinda expected, just saying.

His wings buzzed slowly. A soft, sky-blue light surrounded him. The lingering pain from Dragonite's Thunder faded.

"He's Roosting!" Onion Hair cried. "Extreme Speed now!"

Leo was a bit further from Dragonite compared to the start of the battle. Which gave him enough time to run left and dodge Dragonite's shoulder.

"Follow up! Breaking Swipes, double right!"

(No move!) Dragonite growled, blue energy returning to his arms. Leo kept running across the grass, however. This wasn't the time to stand around. He had to stay on the move— no, Leo had to change forms.

I can already tell that this is a terrible idea that will end terribly.

Stop thinking about types. Leo's scyther feet swished through the grass. Dragonite was gaining on him in the air.

"Redirect! Extreme Speed when you're close enough!" Onion Hair shouted.

If Dragonite was expecting him to keep running, then Leo had to act now. He skidded to a halt, focusing on the plates swirling around inside him.

Water... water... WATER!

Ah yes, the other type that would have a bad time with orange Barney's Thunder there. Kid's panicking something fierce right about now.

Thin wings and bladed arms gave way to a shell and shoulder-mounted cannons. Cannons that Leo aimed at a startled Dragonite.

They fired dual water bursts large enough for the recoil to send Leo onto his back. A startled holler told him the Water Spout hit its mark. Leo rocked himself back and forth to get to his feet. He found Dragonite lying in a rapidly muddying puddle closer to Onion Hair than earlier.

The boy's stance had broken. That frenzy had given way to shock, followed by a panic. "Get up!" Onion Hair shouted, pointing at Leo. "Getupgetupgetup! Thunder! Blastoise are way slower!"

Leo: "In retrospect, I should've drawn off some other Plate back there, huh?"

Leo couldn't let that attack get off. He bent over slightly to account for the recoil, then Water Spouts gushed from his cannons. Dragonite was too busy gathering lightning and could only widen his eyes before getting drenched. He slid across damp, muddy grass, flailing his arms and legs around. His roar of protest grew steadily weaker until his arms and legs flopped by his sides.

Dragonite: "Wh-What the-?! I call hax! Even if you can shapeshift like that, I had a type resistance!"

The blastoise shambled forward a bit, keeping his cannons trained on Dragonite. He only relaxed when, after several seconds, Onion Hair dropped to his knees.

"No..." Onion Hair stared down at the grass. There was a vacant look in his eyes. The same one Leo thought he saw when Gilgamesh was gloating after his win outside the school.

"Not fair," the kid mumbled. "It's not fair... not fair... not fair!" Onion Hair smacked the grass with his fist repeatedly. "Why? Why do you keep getting in my way like this?!"

Leo: "Um... I think that I just broke Onion Hair there." .-.

Leo frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"It's you..." Still on all fours, Onion Hair looked up. His eyes were still empty. "That ninetales who humiliated back home. You're doing all this to me!" Onion Hair's right eye twitched. "I bet you're the one controlling Ceruledge, too!"

Leo: "What? No! I'm an Ar- er... very special Blastoise?"
Kieran: "You were a Scyther 30 seconds ago!"

Dragonite managed to stumble his way back to Onion Hair's side. (Kieran?) Wincing, he leaned over to try and pick his trainer back up.

"Huh?" Kieran blinked at Dragonite. "Oh, right. You should rest for now." He took out Dragonite's poké ball and returned him. "Guess I've got to heal him again." Kieran's grip on the ball tightened.

Oh, and there's our explicit namedrop for Leo and the audience there.

"I don't know any ninetales," Leo insisted. How much did he really want to tell Kieran? The kid wasn't in a good frame of mind.

"I don't believe you." Kieran got back to his feet. "You can talk. Ninetales and Ceruledge can talk. You're all related."

Leo:

Kieran:

Leo: "... I can explain myself if you calm down a bit? Maybe?" ^^;

The blastoise looked down. "Well, Ceruledge is someone I'm trying to stop. Because he has things that belong to me. And they're powering him up." He shuffled back from Kieran and turned to look out over the grassy fields. "I'm from a different world. Ceruledge has helped make a mystery dungeon linking my world to your school. And I have to seal it off before it's too late."

Kieran looked confused. But Leo would take that over the earlier emptiness. "I don't want you fighting Ceruledge because you could get seriously hurt. Same for your pokémon."

Oh yeah, Kieran's going to take this well™️, I can already tell.

"But he didn't do that when we battled outside of school." Kieran fiddled with the lock of hair dangling from his forehead. "All he said was he wanted someone to give him a real challenge. And kept talking about weapons to collect..."

Now that was strange. A Whisper who only wanted to have a good battle? Weren't they all vicious daemons who went on rampages?

That's how you know that he's not really a Whisper, Leo.

... But the only person Leo had seen Gilgamesh attack was that Paradigm Lieutenant back in his world's Iron Island. And even then, he left the victini that emerged alone and went into the rift.

Leo lazily kicked his leg back and forth along the grass. "Okay, maybe Ceruledge isn't harmful. It's still not your fight. I won our battle."

"Yeah. Yeah, you did."

The blastoise winced. Kieran was trying to guilt-trip him. Why else would that have sounded so depressing?

Because you've crushed his hopes and aspirations and he doesn't know what to do right now?

Then again, Leo's performance against Kieran was far from flawless. And Gilgamesh had both dark and ghost-type, on top of the fire-type stuff that a ceruledge could usually do. Leo didn't have fairy-type at his disposal. He'd have to rely on water and flying. And it was a lot to keep track of.

Maybe a trainer could help me out here?

Well, it's not quite the journey I was expecting to get here, but yeah. This will end well™️, I'm sure.

Sighing, Leo turned around. "I guess... we could work together?"

Kieran started fiddling with that dangling lock of hair again. "Like, you want to be my pokémon?"

"Well, you can't catch me." Leo shook his head. "And... you'd have to keep this a secret."

"I can do that." Kieran kicked his heel against the dirt repeatedly. He looked over Leo's shoulder, toward the middle of the Terarium. "What kind of secret?"

Perhaps this wasn't the best idea. But screw it. Leo was already taking big risks separating from the others. What was one more?

He shifted back into his cosmic arceus form. "This is what I really look like. I can use pretty much any move that's bug, fighting, flying, or water-type. But against that ceruledge, only two types make sense. And that's where I need you to help me out."

"Any move?" Kieran's eyes widened. He looked down, rapping his fist against his thigh. "Wowzers..."

Dragonite: "... Boy do I suddenly feel really small and inadequate right now."

"I don't know what happened to you with Ninetales," Leo continued. "You don't seem like a bad guy. Maybe a little crazy with all that strength stuff." But hopefully this could snap Kieran out of that. "I'll look past it. So, you in?"

I'll believe it when I see it, Leo. Since giving him more strength to throw around feels like almost exactly the opposite of what Kieran needed at this point in time canonically.

He extended a foreleg to Kieran, who blinked at it.

"Are you... asking me to shake on it?"

"Was thinking more fist bump, but if you want the boring option—"

Kieran tapped Leo's raised hoof with an open palm. "C'mon. I think Ceruledge is hanging out in the center of the Terarium. We'd better hurry."

Leo bucked a startled Kieran onto his back. "Four legs are faster than two," he said, then galloped off across the field.

Whelp, I suppose that the story of this inevitably going pear-shaped will have to wait for another chapter. ^^;

It wasn't hard for Igneous and Scarlett to find Gene and Widget. The shadowy mewtwo and miraivally were floating over streets full of people fleeing away from the mall. Widget kept shooting Thunderbolts that would suddenly come to a stop against open air, then Gene would punch through Shadow Balls.

I take it that mall security in Etherium is as laughably equipped as the real deal is IRL. Though this sure is a good time for the Radiant Guard to be totally useless right now.

"What about the people down there?" Scarlett flapped her wings. "Shouldn't we be helping them?"

"Dunno. Don't you guys think it's weird that the pirates aren't actually attacking anyone?" Starlene countered.

No, not really, since they've been heavily prioritizing running off with loot since we saw them like five chapters ago.

Igneous was at a loss. It was too much happening at one time and every time he tried turning on his X-transceiver he was met with Gene bickering with Gilbert.

"We'll get answers the direct way," the grovlazzle said. With several flaps of his volcarona wings he sped through the air to catch up.

Just like Starlene said, however, no one was firing on him. Even the initial volley he and Scarlett weaved through to distract the pirates had died down. Just what was going on?

He reluctantly turned the X-transceiver back on.

"... Still be here!" Gilbert scoffed. "You could whisk zese stupid so-and-sos away in seconds."

... Or they could be up to something. Wonder if that's Gilbert arguing with their benefactor right now.

"And incite a mass panic in the process!" Gene growled, tail lashing at the air. "Just tell me what you're up to and I won't blow up your command ship."

"Ah, mon petit kitty cat." Gilbert tsked through the radio. "Always lacking in ze genteelmonly ways. Perhaps you should try asking nicely. Or sending ze flowers."

Gene: "Okay, screw that, I'm blowing his ship now."

Another Thunderbolt crackled through the air. Igneous finally saw a hint of a barrier, which parted long enough for Gene to sling a Shadow Ball through. But it quickly vanished. If it had hit anyone, Igneous couldn't tell. And there were no screams, either.

"Hey!" Igneous stopped a couple of meters behind Gene. "What are we doing just floating around here for?"

"Trying to get through these obnoxious barriers," Gene said. "Your timing's impeccable. Summon that crazy sword of yours. Maybe your freako powers can get rid of the shield."

Igneous: "... Have you tried using Taunt?"

Gene: "They're obviously not cast by Pokémon, okay?!"

"Okay, but why?" Igneous said.

Sighing, Gene pinched a brow. "Because cloaking and disrupting our comms wasn't part of the deal."

Widget sputtered. His thrusters stalled for a moment and he dropped from the air with a squawk before hastily recovering. "I'm sorry, what?

Embers crackled around Igneous' leafy tails. "The hell do you mean? You're saying you planned this?!"

I'm sorry, what.

"Oh, this wasn't my idea. It was Boy Wonder's." Gene flicked his right arm dismissively.

"Who?" Scarlett fluttered in place. Though her nervous tone of voice told Igneous she already had a hunch.

"Shimmer." Gene's tail lazily swished back and forth. "To make his mom look bad, he wanted the pirates cause some property damage without actually attacking anyone." He rubbed his snout. "Except us. Which is what I negotiated." His expression soured. "Where'd the dweeb run off to, anyway?"

Well, he certainly picked up some Machiavellian tendencies from his parents to think of this.

There were so many things wrong with Gene's claims that the grovlazzle didn't know where to begin. "We came here to investigate spreading distortion! You were going to put us in the line of fire for... for..."

"It was you who fired ze first shots at us!" Gilbert countered through their disrupted comm line. "We were all set for ze simple smash et grab but zen you made with ze shooting of our faces. Plus, ze anomaly wasn't part of ze deal."

"But you had the cloaks up first!" Widget said, still glaring at Gene. Igneous was miffed with the shadowy mewtwo, but also found Shimmer's convenient disappearing act incredibly suspicious.

... I actually hadn't thought about it, but Shimmer's setup right now sure would be convenient if Dermezel needed a mole in the Resistance...

"Oui, because mon capitaine detected ze anomaly before we set out for ze raid!" Gilbert replied.

Igneous wings buzzed in surprise. Blackskull had known about the anomaly the whole time? Before Team Bastion found it? Just what the hell were these pirates?!

Opportunistic and untrustworthy allies, clearly. Though you should've seen this coming given that the saw 'no honor among thieves' has more than a hint of truth to it.

"As soon as mon mateys have ze last of ze electronics mon capitaine needs, we make with ze leaving!"

Will those things even work in the QN? Like Polaris wouldn't have gone so far to just rip off voltage and amperage standards, would it?

"Then we stop fighting!" Scarlett said, fluttering her small wings nervously. "If we shoot ships out of the sky, they could crash down on the city and anyone who's below us!" The dragonair pointed her tail down. There was a park with assorted corviknight, pidgeot, braviary, staraptor, and groups of squawkabilly carrying large flying carriages. People were shoving their ways into them.

That feels like a bit of a bad idea for an emergency situation with stuff flying around in the air, but y'all do you there.

"And besides, the anomaly's back in the middle of the mall." Igneous looked over his shoulder. The static wasn't visible, so it thankfully hadn't gone past the destroyed roof. "Looked to be growing quickly. We ought to find the others and figure out how to deal with it."

"Oui! Zat is a vonderful idea!" Gilbert exclaimed. "In fact, ze last of ze crew has reported back. So, allow me to make with ze sweetening of ze pot!"

"The hell does that mean?!" Igneous said, but the connection to Gilbert went dead. Before the grovlazzle could ask Gene what the next steps were, bright blue flashes lit up the midday sky. Four large space pirate ships appeared, each surrounded by a glistening blue barrier.

Can't tell if they're actually going to be helpful here or just turn on the Resistance now that they have the upper hand.

"Gene, what did you do?" Widget said, eyes darting around.

A large projection appeared above the ship closest to the quartet. A black-scaled tyrantrum head gazed down at them. The gemstone in place of their right eye glistened.

"A fair morrow, Herbrides scallywags!" Tyrantrum's projection bellowed. "This be Cap'n Blackskull, scourge of the galaxy! And five-time reigning runner-up in Hoenn Digest's semi-annual homemade butterscotch pudding competition!"

Ah yes, another Tyrantrum pirate joins the fold. Even if this one's a bit more stereotypical in aesthetic and vibe than my own.

At first, there was silence. Then, one or two screams from down on the ground turned to ten. Then twenty. Then hundreds. People redoubled their efforts to get into the flying taxis, or sprinted through the park to get as far away from the mall and the nearby town square as possible.

Wow. The Pokémon in this town really hate butterscotch, apparently.

"On behalf of me crew, I'd like to personally thank ye fer contributing yer machines to the Blackskull Buccaneers!" Blackskull continued, his gemstone eye crackling with amber energy. "We'll be sure to take good care of 'em, won't we lads?"

Raucous cheers filled the air from the flying ships.

Igneous hovered closer to Gene. "Was this part of your plan?" He leveled his claws at the shadowy mewtwo.

Gene held up an index finger. "Give it a sec."

Igneous: "That's not a 'no'!"

Gene: "Again, wait for it..."

"I'd say to take the losses up with yer insurance, but I don't think ye landlubbers cover space pirate raids!" Blackskull said, before his holographic head roared with laughter. "If I were ye, I'd go banging on the palace doors of yer lackadaisical queen and useless Radiant Guard! Where even are they, hmm?"

Okay, that certainly sounded like something they'd script to make Isola sound bad. Maybe the pirates had gone back to the original deal?

... Igneous was still going to ream Shimmer a new asshole when he got hold of the ponytales.

As you should, since I'm not convinced that this isn't going to go sideways really fast.

"Now then, as fer ye resistance blokes." Blackskull gazed down at Igneous and the others. "I think ye oughta be hustling yer bustles. That there rift be looking a touch unstable, if ye catch me drift."

As if on cue, a circular wall of purple light raced out from the mall. Igneous' scales burned against his back when the light rushed past him.

Smaller purple rifts burst open between the ships and the ground. Fresh screams rose up as rows of trees in the park suddenly sprouted berries large enough to snap said trees at their trunks and send them crashing into the ground.

Well, that was more than a little bit of an understatement, there. Though small typo for "Igneous' scales" there

Blackskull looked around at the other ships "Fall back, me hearties! We be late fer our monthly team-building yoga class at Sandygast Saul's Meditation Station!"

"You're leaving?" Gene's shoulder crystal sparked. "What about no hurt civilians?"

"Bah, fine!" Blackskull's crystal eye glowed. "Ye want some help? I'll give ye ol' Iron Beak Barbarossa!"

As the flying ships vanished one by one, a blue, circular portal opened over a street where a crowd of pokémon were attempting to flee from the rifts opening in the sky. A large, robotic cramorant flew out, beak wide open, and swallowed everyone up.

Gene: "How is that helping?!"

Blackskull: "It be a robot. They'll live."

Scarlett flew in front of the others and was about to protest, when she saw Barbarossa flying away from the rifts. Her bauble flashed pink. "Starlene says they're okay." She paused. "I think."

"Great." Widget's voice cracked. He nervously rubbed his forelegs together. "But what do we do? Go after Yuna?"

"No." Gene held his hand up. "Find Cyril and the others. I can get a bunch of these folks evacuated." He cracked his knuckles. "It'll be a piece of cake."

Aaaaand he jinxed it.

Igneous was still mad at Gene. But that could wait for later. And with the pirates gone, their communications should have been back online.

"Cyril, you there?" the grovlazzle asked. "Where are you?"

"... out... but... thing..."

Static garbled the cosmic zoroark's response. Igneous' breath caught in his throat.

"No..."

Scarlett: "... Iggy, why are you reacting like that?" ._.

"What's wrong?" Widget's cheek bolts turned slowly in their sockets. "You don't think it's the anomaly messing with our X-transceivers, do you?"

Igneous shook his head. They were supposed to be on the periphery of the city. If they were far from the anomaly portal, then...

"The last time my line went dead, it was because Xeromus showed up! And that means they're in trouble!"

Well, then. See, I knew that he jinxed things talking about how easy they were.

The grovlazzle's wings ignited. "We have to try and find them now!"

"Iggy, wait!" Scarlett called, but Igneous shot off to the west, leaving a trail of embers behind him.

Ah yes, our protagonists are making all the rash decisions that totally won't come back to bite them later this chapter.

Alright, made it to the end. I'll admit, I didn't quite see the space pirate raid plot thread going where it did, but I suppose that this story's always been on the unpredictable side. Ditto for where things wound up going with Kieran and Leo's encounter, even if all three threads we checked up on gave me "won't end well" vibes. It was also nice to finally see Blackskull in person in the story, and I hope he'll come around again in the future, since he was a riot.

I don't have a whole lot to complain about for this chapter, mostly some typos. I do think that the speech of Kieran's Dragonite should've been set up a little more explicitly, since it took me a little while to catch on to that not being from Leo's thoughts, but that's ultimately a minor quibble.

Glad to finally be back in this story, @Ambyssin . I'll be aiming to catch up a bit before Review Blitz rolls around to try and make getting current again a bit more plausible. Dunno what that journey's going to look like, but thus far things have been looking promising, and I'll be looking forward to seeing where they shake out. ^^

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 102: Blightsmuth or Bust​

"Okay, be honest. What do you think?"

After a solid two weeks of some very strange changes — getting her tails shaved and dyed with her hair to resemble a fire vulpix, stitching together weird tubes for her hind legs, and gathering thorns from nearby mystery dungeons to put on leather bands — Nickie had finished her makeover. She stood between Tessa and their room's mirror, admiring her torn-up leg tube thingies.

(Art by Pledge.)

Tessa still didn't understand what the point of wearing them was if they were torn. Torn scarves were useless for dungeon crawls. What good would these "thigh-highs" be?

Nickie's ears folded and her earlier enthusiasm melted away. "You hate it."

"Huh?" Tessa's aura feelers shot up. "N-No! O-Of course not! Whatever would give you that idea?"

"That dumbstruck look on your face." Nickie's gaze fell to her paws. "And your voice cracked."

Wincing, the riolu rubbed the back of her neck. "Sorry. I, uh— it's not something I really understand."

She had to save face. Tessa quickly stepped to Nickie's side. "But you're happy with it, right?"

Nickie slowly nodded.

"Well, if you're happy, then I'm happy." Tessa's tail wagged.

Some of Nickie's earlier energy returned. Her tails wagged asynchronously.

"Yeah," she said. "Yeah, I love this!" Nickie stared at her reflection. "It's the most... me I've felt in a long time."

The icepix nuzzled Tessa's side. "Thanks for helping out."

Tessa's aura feelers shot up. Her tail wagged faster. "W-What are friends for?"

XxX​

Sticky hated everything about Xander's studio. From the cameras wrapped in pink felt and covered in glitter to the sequined hearts on the outline of the greenscreen to the shelves on the other side of the room haphazardly stuffed full of props and other things the sylveon could use for his clips.

[The concentration of sparkles in this room is fifty percent over legal thresholds,] Iron Enforcer declared. The robotic type: full scanned the room. [Shall I destroy the building?]

"No." Sticky sighed. "Paradigm-owned facilities are exempt from sparkle regulations." The naganadel looked down at his tablet. "Which is a sentence I totally thought I'd say in my career when I graduated business school..."

Iron Enforcer's eyes turned blue and displayed loading icons. They soon faded back to their default red. [Understood. Sparkle threshold parameters updated.]

"Hey, hey. If it isn't my favorite #secretary!"

Sticky fought to hide the disgust in his expression. "Executive assistant," he growled, glancing toward the opposite corner of the room to find Xander strutting toward him. The sylveon swished a fur boa out of his face and lifted star-framed sunglasses off his eyes.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Xander asked. "Something from our #GoatedGrandEmperor?"

He pranced over to the naganadel's side and produced a uPhone from his pink coat pocket. He swiped onto Chatter. "Check it. I got that shit #trending this morning!" Xander scrolled down a page full of chats about Paradox, including assorted pieces of fan art.

[Those portraits are highly inaccurate.] Iron Enforcer's red parts glowed. [Grand Emperor Paradox does not have muscles. Shall I hunt down the ones responsible?]

"No." Sticky waved the robotic type: full off. "I'm here with a new assignment for you."

"Oh?" Xander stepped back, still clutching the uPhone in a ribbon. Another ribbon pulled off the sunglasses. "I thought I'm defending the #Needle over by my bedroom."

"Change of plans." Sticky tapped at his tablet. "Guile Hideout will take over temporarily. You're taking your act on a little road trip to old stomping grounds."

Xander's brow furrowed in thought. "You mean the Kingdom of Radiance?"

Sticky nodded.

Sighing, the sylveon tapped on his phone. A loud "OOF" reverberated through the room. Sticky tensed.

"Enjoying our soundboard, are we?" Sticky deadpanned.

"How else should I react to a #buzzkill?" Xander winked and stuck his tongue out at Sticky.

Iron Enforcer's head crest sparked with red energy. [Uncooperative attitude detected. Permission to muzzle him?]

I wish. Sticky put a hand on Iron Enforcer's glowing crest. "Your orders are to take Iron Enforcer and escort Lieutenant Turian and her important package to Lieutenant Cassius in Khelifet."

Xander clutched his boa with his ribbons. "Ugh, seriously? That #hotbox? Do you have any idea what the heat'll do to my fur? Not to mention my makeup! I've got #sponsors to think about!"

[Your duty is to Grand Emperor Paradox.] Iron Enforcer stepped toward Xander, eyes glowing. [Dereliction is cause for termination.]

"You're getting riled up for no reason," Sticky scoffed. He swiped across his tablet. "It's not much actual traversal. A handful of teleports will take care of things. Plus, you're meeting Lieutenant Cassius underground."

The sylveon's eyes slowly widened. "Is this that #BloodMoon thing?"

Sticky pinched his brow. "Yes, it's 'that #BloodMoon thing.' Are you not reading your briefings?"

"I #speedread 'em!" Xander put his sunglasses back on. A holographic "DEAL WITH IT" flashed underneath his smug face. "The #brainwaves are already hitting. I can cook some good #StreamValue outta this."

He turned away from Sticky and pulled his uPhone in front of his face. "Lemme just chat the #XanFam the deets."

[Denied.]

Iron Enforcer darted to Xander's side, holding its open maw around a startled Xander's uPhone.

[Mission parameters dictate no location disclosure until we are at our destination,] it stated.

"Okay. Sheesh." Xander put the uPhone back in his coat. "Anything else?"

"You have sixty minutes to prepare." Sticky flicked his wrist toward the door Xander entered through. "I suggest you put that to good use."

"Copy that, Captain Killjoy." Xander sauntered toward the door, lazily saluting Sticky with a ribbon while keeping his back turned.

The naganadel sighed. He really hoped Paradox knew what he was doing with this plan. Three Paradigm lieutenants in one spot when they'd already lost several of them sounded like a terrible idea.

But Paradox must've known something Sticky didn't. After all, the emperor had never been wrong before. Sticky couldn't lose faith. Even if every encounter with Xander made him want to throw up.

XxX​

Awkwardly sitting on a metal stool with her tail curled around its legs, Yuna banged magazine stacks on the coffee table in front of her with the wooden sticks in her hands. The thwapping carried a steady enough beat. One, two, three... one, two, three...

"Nice, Princess. You're keeping decent pace."

Nikki stopped strumming her guitar and sat up on the couch behind the coffee table. She placed the guitar beside her, propping it upright.

"Thanks?" Yuna dropped the sticks on the coffee table and wrung her hands out. "Tiring, though."

"Why?" The toxtricity tilted her head. "Dragapult don't have muscles."

"Uhhh..." Yuna looked at her shriveled hands. "Forget it."

"How do you feel otherwise?" Nikki leaned back, draping her right arm over her guitar.

Yuna shrugged. "I... guess my head's a bit clearer than yesterday?"

"Then it's working!" Nikki snapped her left fingers.

The suggestion Yuna give drumming a try came after two days of balm making sessions with Jade. Yuna thought smacking magazines like they were drums was rather silly, but after several minutes she'd settled into it.

Besides, the Sages weren't bothering her. And she hadn't had any intrusive Tessa or Yaldabaoth-related thoughts the entire day. So, Nikki's silly idea did something.

"We ought to take a break, though," Yuna suggested. "Maybe lunch."

Nikki nodded approvingly. "Any thoughts?"

Yuna smirked at the toxtricity. "Well, I figured you'd have a new suggestion."

"Hmm." Nikki leaned forward, tapping her chin in thought. "What about grilled cheese?"

"That's a thing?" Yuna raised a brow. "What's the point of grilling cheese without any meat or veggies?"

Chuckling, Nikki got to her feet. "It's a sandwich." She stretched her arms up. "You get tomato soup with it. Dip the grilled cheese in the soup." Nikki kissed her fingers like those chefs on the cooking shows some of the monks watched. "C'mon, we'll try it."

Yuna floated off her steel. "Okay, but a cheese sandwich sounds silly."

"Oh ye of little faith." Nikki stepped out from the couch and turned left. In the corner of the room, Scarlett shut a notebook and uncoiled.

"Lunch sounds good to me." The dragonair turned to Igneous and Shimmer, who were hunched on either side of a chair playing some sort of card game. "You two hungry?"

Shimmer blinked a few times, then placed his cards face down on the chair. "Absolutely."

Before Igneous could respond, however, a jagged purple rift appeared in the door. Gene stepped through, much to Yuna's annoyance. It seemed like lunch was about to get put on hold.

"Your guy Shredder's a stubborn dude," Gene declared, yellow-tipped tail lazily swaying back and forth. "Wouldn't commit to the resistance. And has some kinda intel he's sitting on."

Igneous stood up. He shook one leg out at a time. That kneeling must have hurt. "Why didn't you just read his mind to get the intel? I know you can get around dark-types."

"Goes against team spirit." Gene tapped his right temple with a finger.

In the back of Yuna's mind, Reshiram's fur puffed out like he'd gotten electrocuted.

Something wrong?

"He's lying about the team spirit reasoning," Reshiram said. "But I don't think I want to know the truth."

And judging from Nikki's scrutinizing look, Reshiram wasn't the only one questioning the mewtwo.

"So, what, you want me to convince him?" Nikki wondered. She had mentioned wanting to go home the other day.

"Nah." Gene pointed to Shimmer. "I'm here for Twinkie."

Shimmer's tails puffed out. "M-Me?"

Gene held up an index finger. "Shredder agreed to cooperate if our weakest link spars with him."

The ponytales' ears folded.

"I don't think he's weaker than a skorp," Igneous muttered.

"Not like that." Gene waved a hand dismissively. Then, in a pale imitation of a gruff voice, he said, "A band can't jam if everyone's hearts aren't in it. So, I wanna see that weakest heart in action."

The shadowy mewtwo tapped his right temple. "Even if the monks or the skorps aren't that strong, they're committed to this." Gene pointed to Shimmer. "I've yet to see that kind of energy out of Twinkie, here."

"But I helped set up the thing with the pirates!"

Everyone squinted at Shimmer, who promptly shrank down to his belly.

"W-When do we leave?" he squeaked.

"Right now." Gene snapped his fingers. His tail pointed to the rift behind him, which had stayed open for their entire conversation.

XxX​

"What a... unique aroma your guys' home carries."

It hadn't taken long for Shimmer to go from lagging behind the group to walking the fastest of everyone down the uneven cobblestone road. The ponytales' snout was wrinkled and his tails were constricted like deflated balloons.

Nikki likewise held the collar of her leather jacket over her face. "Man. I was used to it. Guess I've been away too long."

"It's not as bad up here," Scarlett said, flying with Yuna and Gene over the others. The dragapult's gaze was fixed on the black and brown wooden roofs. Many of them had holes covered by haphazardly hammered in wooden planks or discolored tarps. One she passed on her right had some strange green fuzz clinging to it.

"People actually live here?" Shaymin popped up in Yuna's mind, wrinkling his tiny snout in much the same way as Shimmer. "The kingdom doesn't show this place any gratitude."

Which lined up with what Yuna heard from Nikki. Still, she couldn't have imagined anything this bad. The dragapult passed more wooden buildings. Two on her left didn't have proper doors or windows and just had bedsheets clinging desperately to the empty frames. Similar green fuzz was on the sheets.

Buzzing up beside Scarlett, Igneous hovered over a broken stone chimney. "How many people are supposed to live here, again?"

"Not a lot." Nikki lazily flicked her right arm, passing by broken streetlights with strange pink moss growing on their poles. "Before I left for another year at Horizon, those who were left were living around the central plaza."

Scarlett dipped down slightly. "What do you mean 'those who were left?' Did something happen?"

"Just the usual yakuza 'recruitments,'" Nikki scoffed. "Luring folks away with the promise of better shit than this." She gestured to a one-story house whose front half had collapsed on itself. "I know you said you were secretly sending Shredder money, but that can only do so much when the people he'd have to hire to fix this shit won't come to the city."

Yuna winced. Aeon's skies might've been choked with ash, but at least their towns weren't dead and decaying like Blightsmuth.

"Can you even call this place a city anymore?" Reshiram wondered.

Does it matter? Yuna countered.

Ahead of her, Gene whistled and pointed in front of him. Shimmer looked up, then broke into a trot. Nikki jogged after the ponytales.

"What's the rush?" Yuna flew faster, catching up to Igneous and Scarlett.

"Central plaza's a few blocks away," the dragonair replied. Her feathery wings flapped to carry her ahead.

"Ah." Yuna followed her. The buildings up ahead had shifted from decaying wood to a mixture of stones and rocks. And they were actually in one piece. Although there was a large stone wall in the cobblestone road where the wooden houses stopped. Shimmer skidded to a halt by it. And a sigilyph had stopped Gene up ahead.

"Yo, Gruber!" Nikki's mohawk brightened and she waved at the wall. "Blights out, my guy!"

The rock wall shifted. There was a hidden door at the bottom! Nikki rested her hands behind her head and strolled on through. Shimmer followed her, looking a bit less certain.

Sigilyph floated to the side.

"Blights out." Sigilyph's eye glowed blue. He must have been Gruber. "Shredder's waiting up ahead for ya."

Gene nodded and continued forward. The others followed him.

"Surprised to see you back here, Scarlett," Gruber said. "Thought you were too good for us now."

The dragonair winced. Her feathery wings shrank a bit. Igneous was quick to flutter over to Gruber. "Are we going to have a problem? She's been helping us out, y'know. The same way we're trying to get Shredder to help us."

Gruber looked Igneous over. "No problem here." The sigilyph's eye dimmed. "You can call off your, uh, girlfriend?"

"I'm a guy," Igneous growled, then flew off. Yuna followed him, shooting Gruber a look. He quickly drifted toward the top of the wall, likely pretending he hadn't noticed Yuna.

Yuna continued onward, trying to forget that brief awkward spat. The rundown houses and buildings had given way to an open square of uneven cobblestone. There was some sort of caged off battle ring in the middle of the square. A handful of pokémon were off to the sides of it, attention focused on a raised wooden platform. An obstagoon sat atop a large speaker, nodding in time with the beats of a rillaboom drummer. An electabuzz and low key toxtricity were playing on electric guitars, though Yuna had no idea what was powering them.

"I brought your twink, Shredder."

Gene had managed to parade Shimmer past the small group of pokémon to the front of the makeshift stage. The music abruptly stopped. The three musicians glanced at the obstagoon, who swung his legs around and hopped off the speaker.

"Well, ain't this a cute little present." Shredder strutted across the stage. "Your weakest link is the crown prince? And here I thought he was running around with that egghead, Demerzel."

"Th... things changed." God, Shimmer sounded so tiny. Even in the air, Yuna saw his legs shaking. But Shredder was just one obstagoon. How did he compare to, say, a giant, rampaging Vortex?

"You wanted the guy with the least heart." Gene pat the ponytales' back. "And I delivered. I even threw in a couple of your buds... as a little treat." The shadowy mewtwo blew a kiss at Shredder.

Reshiram sighed in Yuna's head. "I knew it."

Knew what?

"Oh, for pity's sake." Nikki walked over to them, pinching her brow. "The one time I wish my gaydar steered me wrong." She looked between Gene and Shredder, frowning. "World's on freaking fire! We don't have time for this shit!"

"Ah, ah." Shredder wagged an index finger at Nikki. "World ain't crumbling this second, Sparkplug."

Nikki's mohawk turned pink. Was Shredder where the toxtricity picked up her mocking nickname habit?

"See, we got us a problem of our own." Shredder gestured out to the small group of pokémon. An espeon and floragato with shabby fur mewled in acknowledgement. "And that problem might funnel its way right into your even bigger problem!"

The obstagoon smushed his hands together. "Maybe we should work together. But I gotta know I can trust you." He glanced at Shimmer. "All of you."

Shimmer's ears folded. "You know I don't agree with what my mothers are doing, right? That's why I—"

"You were grandstanding for the news with that egghead veggie." Shredder pointed accusingly at the ponytales. A couple of dark linoone booed, along with Espeon and Floragato.

Shredder returned his attention to the others. "It's all about trust. Top to bottom." He snapped his claws and pointed at Gene. "And, yeah, that was a double entendre."

Yuna rubbed her eyes, wondering if maybe she'd been better off staying in bed.

"This guy was a Crowne Minister?" Reshiram said. "It's like if Nikki tried going into politics..."

"You want this settled quickly?" Shredder gestured to the caged ring Yuna was floating over. "Battle's the simplest language us pokémon speak. I'll get everything I need with a li'l one-on-one." He leaned over, resting his right arm on his right knee. "Or ya gonna wuss out?"

Everyone's gazes fell on Shimmer, who swallowed hard. "W-Well I'm here, aren't I?"

"Then we got us a rumble!" The obstagoon leaped off the stage, landing beside Shimmer with a hearty thud. "Open the door and let us in!" Shredder barked.

Floragato shot her grassy yo-yo toward the fence. It twirled around a handle and opened a door Yuna didn't even realize was there. The dragapult drifted toward Nikki while Espeon and two linoone ushered Shimmer and Shredder into the ring.

"So, um, just how troublesome is Shredder?" Yuna whispered. "Cuz, like, Igneous and Noctum said Shimmer was there for the whole Iron Jugulis thing."

"Oi, Sparkplug! I know you ain't 'boutta just stand there gawking with Blockhead! Get your ass onstage!"

Igneous looked between Nikki and Shredder. "For what?"

"It ain't a rumble without some backing music!" Shredder played air guitar. "C'mon, Sparkplug. I know you've got it down pat." He jerked his head toward the stage, where the low key toxtricity from earlier was holding out an electric guitar.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going." Nikki strutted over, nodding and waving at some of the locals. Scarlett glided down atop the speaker where Shredder had been sitting. Nikki swiped the guitar out of the other toxtricity's hands. She ran her left fingers along the cords and looked out toward the ring.

"So, um..." Shimmer looked around in confusion. "How exactly do we start th—"

Rillaboom raised his drumsticks and smacked them together.

"A-one! A-two! A-one, two, three!"

Nikki rifled off a quick chord progression and the cage door slammed shut. Shredder rushed Shimmer down, leaving the whinnying ponytales galloping left. He was fast enough to dodge swipes of Shredder's blackened claws.

Shimmer skidded across the uneven stone, slinging Ice Shards from his glowing horn. Two plinked off Shredder's gray back before the obstagoon whirled around and swatted the other two aside.

"Ha! You makin' things drafty?" Shredder then turned around and shouted at Espeon, who was manning the door with Floragato.

"Shred! Shred! Shred! Shred!" the locals chanted.

Yuna frowned. What was Shredder doing?

She quickly got her answer. A faint blue light appeared around Espeon. And when it did, Shredder's chest and arms beefed up a bit. Yuna spotted a panicked look in Shimmer's eyes. He shot an Ice Beam from the tip of his horn, but Shredder spun around and held up his crossed arms.

An X-shaped shield absorbed Shimmer's attack. "Too slow!" Shredder sneered, then he turned and barked at Espeon again. The same faint light appeared... and Shredder's muscles grew even larger.

"All right, now that's what I'm talking about!"

Yuna looked to Nikki, who was too busy with her guitar part. Rillaboom and the other toxtricity backed her up on drums and bass.

"Oh shit." Igneous gasped as Shredder ripped stones out of the ground and flung them at Shimmer.

"What? What did I miss?" Yuna drifted over to the grovlazzle's side, watching Shimmer deflect one stone with a shield, only for the second to strike him square in the snout. The ponytales staggered back, snout bloodied, while the locals whooped and hollered.

"Shred! Shred! Shred! Shred!"

The obstagoon charged Shimmer down, though his steps were slower and lumbering than before.

And then it hit Yuna. Those weird roars from before...

"He used Scary Face on Espeon." Igneous looked over at her. She was reared up, shaking the cage door in excitement. "If Espeon's got Magic Bounce... and Shredder has Defiant..."

"He slowed himself down to raise his own strength?" Rayquaza burst into the back of Yuna's mind. "Forsooth! Tis quite the bit of strategery!"

"Shimmer, look out!" Igneous cried. But the ponytales was too dazed from the earlier blow. Shredder's Night Slash swept Shimmer off his feet and flung him all the way right where he smacked against the metal grating and crumpled to the ground.

"That's garbage!" the grovlazzle grabbed the cage in front of him and shook it. "Using Scary Face on the crowd like that?"

"Street rules, bitch!" Shredder countered. "Anything goes!"

"Damn." Gene walked over to Yuna's side, shaking his head. "Maybe I should've lied and picked that dumb purple and white koraidon your kid brought home with him."

Yuna resisted the urge to snap at Gene, instead watching Shimmer fire enough ice from his hooves to freeze Shredder's legs mid-charge. The obstagoon effortlessly shattered the ice, but it still gave Shimmer enough time to fire a Dazzling Gleam from close range. The burst of pink light forced Shredder back, hissing and crossing his arms over his face.

Another X-shaped shield formed up, but Shimmer surprisingly didn't press his attack. Yuna expected him to fall for the bait, but the ponytales instead ran away from Shredder.

"Oi, where do you think you're going?"

"Shred! Shred! Shred! Shred!"

Shredder ripped a couple more stones out of the ground, but Shimmer fired an Ice Beam right when Shredder was reaching down for the second. It froze his left hand and the stone. Eyes widening, Shredder hurled the stone in his right hand toward Shimmer.

"What are you doing?!" Igneous called as Shimmer skirted the stone and reached the steel cage. The ponytales jumped up, spraying icy mist from his hooves. They stuck to the metal grating. The steel cage wobbled as Shimmer ran along the side of it.

"Nice try, Happy Feet!" Shredder grabbed hold of the opposite end of the steel cage and throttled it. The loose metal grating rippled like it was a set of linens Aeons were trying to air dry.

Horn sparking, Shimmer struggled to maintain his footing.

"Get off, Shimmer!" Igneous begged. He was worryingly into this. Yuna held her tongue, though, because Shimmer's whole body glowed white. The ponytales unleashed a wave of chilly air.

Hissing, Yuna shrank back toward the stage. The cold stung the dragapult's ectoplasm and she wanted no part of that. When she lowered her arms, she found the whole steel cage iced over, with Shredder's hands stuck to the grating.

Before the obstagoon could break the ice around his hands, Shimmer lunged from his position near the top of the steel cage. Fairy dust gathered around his horn. Shredder yanked his now-glowing hands free and swung at the diving Shimmer.

Dazzling Gleam's brilliant pink light collided with Shredder's jet black Night Slashes. A blinding flash forced Yuna to shut her eyes and turn away. Gasps and shouts from the crowd suggested they fared similarly, though somehow Nikki and the other musicians were still playing.

At Rayquaza's urging, Yuna lowered her arms and found Shredder clutching Shimmer by his horn. His black and white face was scuffed up and covered in a layer of pink fairy dust while Shimmer's mane was completely disheveled.

"Cut the music!" Shredder ordered, letting go of Shimmer. "I've seen enough."

The ponytales dropped to his rear with a grunt. "Damn it." He shot an apologetic look toward Yuna and her teammates. Gene had turned away, pinching his brow and shaking his head. Igneous looked ready to try and melt the cage and head inside. The small crowd was about to cheer for Shredder claiming victory.

Instead, everyone gasped when Shredder suddenly hoisted a startled Shimmer back up.

"He's got guts!" Shredder bellowed. At first, no one responded to the declaration. After Shredder repeated himself, however, various onlookers raised paws and wings in a delighted cheer. Espeon went to rattle the cage again, only to back off with a hiss upon touching the cold steel. Floragato twirled her yo-yo.

Shimmer stared blankly. "I don't get it."

Yuna thought much the same. "Are we missing something?" she asked Igneous, who could only shrug.

"I never said you had to win, Snowflake." Shredder laughed and thumped a squealing Shimmer's flank. "I wanted to see if you had heart." The obstagoon placed his fist against his chest. "And I saw heart. Freezing the damn cage and lunging for me like a crazed feral after I've buffed up?" He flexed his bulging biceps. "Yeah, that takes real grit! You've changed."

Shredder pointed to Gene. "We're in, Kitten."

The shadowy mewtwo whistled. "Well, damn. Didn't see that coming." He Phantom Warped through the icy cage and floated over to Shredder. Presumably to talk some manner of specifics that Yuna wasn't interested in. She watched Igneous help Shimmer out of the ring. A couple of the linoone patted the ponytales as he went past.

"That was ridiculous," Igneous said, looking Shimmer over. "Are you okay? What were you thinking? You could've—"

Shimmer flinched. "I was, uh, thinking of you?"

The grovlazzle's head leaf caught fire. "I-I'm sorry?"

"J-Just, y'know, some of the crazier things you've done." Shimmer brushed his forelegs together nervously.

"Well that's— I, uh—"

"Pfffffffbt, your leaves are gonna burn off at this rate, Twiggy!"

Nikki and Scarlett's approach was enough to get Igneous' head leaf to simmer down.

"Something you want to tell us?" The toxtricity fluttered her eyelids at Igneous and Shimmer.

"No." Scowling, the grovlazzle crossed his arms.

"They're feeling things out," Scarlett said.

Igneous's scowl turned to a glare. "Seriously?"

"I'm pretty sure she already knew," the dragonair said.

"Two for two today, baby." Nikki fist-pumped. Scarlett chuckled while Yuna looked between the two in confusion.

Before she could ask what Nikki meant, Gene landed behind Scarlett.

"All right, pack it in. We're taking this conversation back to the base."

"Already?" Nikki raised a brow, then shrugged. "Eh, it ain't like we've got much around here to worry about. Guess we can call it a day early."

Gene shook his head. "Far from it. Shredder's gonna tell us about that problem he mentioned earlier. It sounds like we'll have work to do."

The toxtricity slouched. "Grrrrreeeeeat."

Yuna looked past her teammates, where Shredder was organizing the 'mon who'd watched his fight with Shimmer. This was a... strange acquisition for the resistance. And the dragapult figured she wouldn't know what to make of it until she learned exactly what Shredder wanted their help with.

XxX​

A day lying in bed staring at the wall was long enough for Widget. Valkyrie knew he'd woken up, but the garchomp let him be. She even stopped checking on him, leaving the cosmic silvally to lay around and stew in his thoughts until he reached a firm conclusion.

Those silhouettes were him.

Widget finally understood what the emperor meant when he said he'd "drawn from Eternatus itself" to create him. And what being built to "interface directly with the Benefactor" stood for.

The Eterna energy that forged him... was nothing but slumbering souls. Powerful slumbering souls. And Widget was sure they were connected to Leo. The arceus must've "woken" them up.

All of Widget's fears were true, then. He wasn't his own person. He was never meant to be his own person. Just a machine running off spiritual energy. One that would follow Paradox's will.

As Widget forced himself out of bed, he wondered what this meant for the Eterna Empire as a whole. Paradox had drilled into him — heck, into everyone, really — the horrors of the Kingdom of Radiance. How their source of electricity, ether, came from the people trying to live their lives within the Empire.

... But at the same time, a lot of stuff inside Eternatus ran on Eterna energy. Paradox had taught him it was a wondrous and limitless power source with no real drawbacks.

It had to be the same as ether, then. Energy drained from spirits. Were they spirits that tried to stop Zodiark, only to end up in stasis instead of reborn like Yuna and the others?

Widget didn't know. And his head pounded from thinking about it. He glanced at the occupied bed next to him. Artemis lay there. The milotic had gotten hit by Leo, too. And now had a similar cosmic makeover for his troubles.

"Hey." Widget nudged the side of the bed. "You okay?"

Silence. Artemis' eyes were shut, but Widget didn't think he was sleeping. Ignoring him, then. When this whole thing was Artemis' idea in the first place.

The cosmic silvally nudged Artemis' black-scaled body. "Get up." His tone was firm.

"Why?"

Widget stared blankly. "We have work to do."

Artemis slowly turned and poked an eye open at Widget.

"Why... am I here?"

It wasn't surprising Artemis was taking it all even worse than before. Valkyrie muttered about how shaken up he was over Seifer's death. Widget wasn't sure what he could offer the cosmic milotic.

"Because you're trying to help the resistance." It was the best Widget had.

"Not that." Artemis lazily swatted the air with a starcloud ribbon. "Why am... I in this world?"

Widget's neck ruff dimmed. "Excuse me?"

Artemis shakily pushed his head up. "Xeromus was right. Leo's not the arceus I remember."

Wait, was Artemis saying he was a reincarnated soul, too?

The milotic's ribbons shriveled. "I recognized things. Noctum, Valkyrie, Seifer, and Yiazmat." Artemis' breathing was shaky. "We all... we have to be from that first world Yuna mentioned. The one Zodiark fled from, and Giratina pursued." He shook his head. "But Leo's not from there."

He coiled up on the edge of the bed. "Noctum is Palkia. Seifer is Dialga." His eyes darted around nervously. "I let Dialga—"

"Breathe."

Widget stepped to Artemis' side without even thinking. He offered his left shoulder for Artemis to lean against. Artemis stared silently at the cosmic silvally.

"Why are we here?" Artemis whispered. "How could I... let Mighty Dialga—"

"You can't think like that." Widget nudged Artemis' starcloud ribbon. "We can't think like that."

Artemis raised a brow.

Widget's neck ruff swirled around. "Whatever Leo did... messed with my head, too." He sighed. "It seems like souls from two different universes are reincarnated. I wish I had answers for you, but I don't.

"What I do know, is that Leo's frightened." The cosmic silvally looked Artemis in the eye. "He couldn't have expected that to happen. We have to... tell him it's okay."

That was the right thing to do. Widget hoped that between his words and pleading expression, he'd convince Artemis to come with him. Artemis did have his head bowed in thought, but he said nothing.

After a minute, Widget was ready to leave the infirmary when Artemis slithered off the bed.

"I guess you're right." The milotic held his head up. "I've made some serious mistakes. If I don't try to make things right, then I'd be humiliating my past self."

Widget nodded, offering Artemis a smile. The two exited the infirmary. Widget found Jade waddling down the hall and she confirmed that Leo was still holed up in the third floor broom closet. They headed over to it and Widget knocked on the door.

"Leo?"

No response. Widget tried again.

"C'mon, Leo. I know you're in there."

Still nothing. Artemis slithered up to Widget's side and jiggled the handle. "Leo, it's Artemis. Look, I'm sorry I pushed you like that. It was wrong of me."

The lock clicked open and the door swung inward, revealing Leo awkwardly seated between shelves stocked with laundry and dishwashing detergent. At least a dozen brightly-colored, empty, crumpled ice cream pints were strewn about the floor. Some had strings of melted ice cream trickling out of them.

Widget stared blankly at the floor. "Um, does Guzzie know you've been taking this ice cream?"

"No." The cosmic arceus set a half-full pint down beside a bottle of laundry detergent. Minty green melted ice cream stained his facial fur.

"Oh," Widget whispered. Well, this was off to a fantastic start. The cosmic silvally had to save face quickly. "Listen, Leo—"

"We've worked together before, haven't we?"

Widget stepped back. His starcloud ruff condensed. "Huh?"

"I saw it." Leo leaned over and smushed his face into the ice cream container. When he lifted his head up, his face was greener than before. "When I lost control. You were a hydreigon. Begging me to let you summon a human because there was something wrong with this thing called a Worldcore."

Hydreigon's silhouette flickered in front of Widget. It faced Leo, all the heads at attention.

"Leo, I'm really sorry." Artemis slithered between Widget and the arceus. "It was wrong of me to force you to try and save Seifer. I was... blaming myself for his death, and so I stupidly thought I could use you to fix my mistake."

Leo eyed the milotic. "Yeah, well, I should've tried harder to put my foot down. Lesson learned." He leaned over and sloppily gobbled more ice cream from the pint. When Leo pulled his head up, he squished the now-empty container with his forehead and lazily tipped it over so it fell on the floor beside the others.

Well, this wasn't a disaster. But it wasn't going great, either. Widget tucked his head under one of Artemis' starcloud ribbons. "Are you going to be okay? Is there anything we can do for you?"

"More ice cream'd be swell," Leo said.

Artemis and Widget exchanged incredulous looks. Leo glanced at the pile of ice cream pints by his hooves.

"Oh." He blinked slowly. "Guess I overdid it."

Leo grabbed a raggedy towel from a metal shelf on his left and wiped his face. He tossed the rag onto the pile of empty pints. "It didn't work... because of Seifer's soul. He's not from the past I know." Leo looked at Widget. "But you and Cyril are."

He stepped over the pile of pints. "How am I supposed to fix things if I don't understand my powers? If I don't understand what's going on?"

His concerns weren't that different from Artemis'. Or Widget's, for that matter. The cosmic silvally looked down guiltily.

"I don't know. For now... I think we have to take it one step at a time." Widget pulled his head back from under Artemis' starcloud ribbon. "And that first step is, y'know, getting out of the broom closet."

With a nervous laugh, he hastily added, "And not eating your weight in ice cream."

Leo's starcloud mane and tail dimmed. "Yeah. At this rate I'll be thicker than Cyril." He shook his head, sighing. "One of those steps isn't going to have to be talking with Mom, is it?"

"I don't follow." Widget tilted his head.

"Mom and Nikki got stoned in my bed and made out with each other," Leo flatly said.

Silence followed, with Artemis shooting Widget a flabbergasted expression.

"Iiiiiiiii probably shouldn't have said that out loud." Leo tapped a gold forehoof on the floor. "Welp. I guess it be like that."

That was... more of that strange lingo Widget didn't understand. Yet the silvally felt compelled to say something.

"It's up to you how you want to handle Yuna."

"Then I'm-a ignore it."

Leo stepped through a rift and appeared beside Widget. "If it happens again, I'll just douse 'em with my splash plate." His wheel shifted from gold to blue.

Widget doubted that was a healthy approach, but he wasn't going to criticize. He'd actually gotten the arceus out of the broom closet.

"So, what now?" Leo looked around. "Seems kinda dead around here."

"About that..." Artemis slithered out of the broom closet, a ribbon pressed against his head. "It sounds like Gene's back. And calling for a team meeting in the hangar."

Widget raised a brow. "What's it about?"

"Blightsmuth's old Crowne Minister is here," Artemis said. "Apparently, he has some information that might be connected to the Empire."

Leo and Widget exchanged confused looks. Blightsmuth was where Nikki was from, right? This didn't sound good.

"I guess we're going to the hanger, then," Widget said.

He didn't know what to expect. But as Leo opened up a rift to bring them to the hanger, he hoped it didn't mean they'd have to jump right back into the fray.

 

[Kiba Makuro]

Hello Amby, I’m here for V-Wheel covering Path of Valor, Prologue Darkest Before Dawn, and Chapter 1- Uh, It’s My First Day

Well this was a surprising bit of chapters. As you mentioned on Discord, and what I immediately understood based on talks the prologue starts with some different characters, primarily legendaries who vaguely know of the protagonist. The three Kanto birds, and Douglas talk about stuff regarding the Needles that'll definitely be relevant later, but unfortunately get jumped by Shadows. Pretty cool how you just straight up transformed them into the Galarian birds (rip Douglas), II enjoyed that concept, and I wonder when/if it'll get used again.

I like the way the majority of the prose flows, not too overwhelming, or basic (though I’m one to talk at times). There were some phrasing quirks that bothered me a little in the beginning of the prologue but I managed to pull through.

To avoid treading too much on what the previous p + ch1 reviews say I will talk about something different.

I find it kinda funny that Path of Valor takes a different approach to world building, in the way that you just kinda dump some background and quite a few funny words around in the Prologue and Chapter 1. Most folks recommend against that but it seems like you can get away with that. Just an observation, unfortunately I'm too early to tell how it's handled for myself but I've heard that it is well.

Very interesting how we have slightly similar ideas. Not the whole kingdom thing, or the open corruption of legendaries, but more of Pokemon after a certain something. Non-Pokemon foes taking out Legendaries isn’t new to the mainline pmd series, but happening right off the bat is a fun choice. The way you write moves during fights is kinda similar to what I do, which was surprising, I didn't expect anyone else to always want to state the move, and then also not force ‘used’ into the sentence. Not alone in that!

I will say I feel like the plot of Chapter 1 was a tad bit much to digest. I suppose that’s to get us into Yuna’s head, there’s so much going on when you move to a new place, much less a new kingdom and school. Though without reference from her old life, besides the hints that she isn’t used to fairy-types stares, and only she knew a shiny Charizard.

But with so many named characters, brief but stacking introductions things got hard to follow along. Now it may just be me, but the way you wrote Baraz, and Noctum alongside Yuna made it feel like the audience was supposed to “know” them. I suppose you did say in the summary that this is a sequel to Guiding Light, but I feel like that's more so for the plot (perhaps).

And here is where I will just drop things I think are references, despite knowing/ remembering barely anything about the series: Looks like Yuna wants to be a hero, hey wait a minute… Yuki Yuna no Yussha reference? (Probably wrong, given her full name is something else) And Xeromus and the Shadows feel like Kingdom Hearts inspired (pretty certain on this)

Regardless of all that, these two chapters were a fun read. Keep up the good work.