Pokémon Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Ties of Fate

[Navar]

"Didn't you just say that Exploration Teams get to leave the island and explore the world?" The Outlander said. "If you wanted off the island, why didn't you two form a team?"

"..." Kora and Minerva paused for a second, looking at each other blankly. Then a sudden wave of realization washed over them, as well as the overwhelming sense of being complete idiots. They both facepalmed in shame, letting out a shout of frustration at themselves.

"Are you two SERIOUS?!" Rio exclaimed. "Did you both SOMEHOW not put that together?"

This scene is so fucking funny, you have no idea how I'm laughing at this.

Well, here we go for my thoughts on this chapter. Zen is a bitch. I hate him. Kora is still a good boy, and I'm a bigger simp for him than I was before, congrats Fuze, the furbait is working.

Story-wise, the thing that striked me the most was the dream sequence, it was weird(and made me think of Zen as a prick even more), but it fulfilled the purpose of giving more character to Rio, which I... I like him and want to learn more about how the "Outlanders" work. THe mystery is good, looking forward to read the rest of this story. Again, good work Fuze!

 

[Navar]

Okay, this chapter was intense. Probably my favourite so far, actually. Gonna go to my review now!

Chapter Four: Outrage at the Springs​

Zen was too lost in thought to realize where he was going, a common occurrence for the Bisharp, but still a hassle to deal with.

Oh God I have that habit too. Zen continues to be a prick, but at least he's... A lost one? This didn't come out very well. Okay, this made me laugh, for no reason. What I wanted to say was: nice prose!

"These are so absurdly weak and entirely void of the toughness of a tree, but they seem to be very much alive..." Zen thought out loud. "Regardless, it will be impossible for me to climb to a higher vantage point in this section of the woods. How... How exactly did I get here?"

Jesus this guy has that noble grace, and yet he's such a jerk. I hate him, but at the same time I like him. Good work Fuze.

With how much the Bisharp's greaves sunk into the ground with each step, it was possible that sprinting actually made him slower than if he was just walking! It didn't help that he couldn't tell where he was going, either.

"Where the hell am I?" He growled.

Zen was sent to BRAZIL. This description was fun, and detailed. Just the way I like it!

Zen cursedcussed under his breath

I think this is a grammar error? I'm not sure what you meant to say here, it's probably best to check it out.

Eva and Kane were on the floor, still blissfully asleep, while Zen was in utter agony. He could hear his mind screaming and his body aching as dark aura was drawn out from his body, and his pained screams filled the forest. With everything inside of him now burning, his body feeling as if it was overflowing with his own aura and moments away from bursting, and the darkness and bitter cold of the night were the last things he experienced...

Ouchie ouch. This isn't good... And I'm hooked by the mysterious berry! Haha!

"Uhhggg, my back..." Kora groaned. "The ground was so soft when I went to sleep, why is my everything sore?"

Kora represents me when I wake up. Enough said.

"I never learned to read." Kora answered with an innocent smile. "Not a lot of things to read on an island, after all."

Kora you're so damn adorable it's gonna make my teeth rot. Nice characterization of him, I like it!

"Are you ok, Rio? It might just be me but you look quite heated at the moment."

I hate this. Good job.

"There is a slight possibility that Zen was possessed. And if that possibility is true, then there is another slight chance that the Pokemon behind it is an adversary that I laid to rest about two decades ago. A deranged, evil scientist by the name of Maxwell," she explained. "He was a monster and worked with the literal devil, but my team and I took care of them ages ago."

...Oh boy the lore dump. I don't mean it in a bad way, just... It makes sense for Diana to do that, I suppose. Her being an Outlander and all.

My final thoughts: Nice chapter, you set up the intrigue quite well and I'm excited to see the rest of this story. See ya on the next review, Fuze!

 

[Navar]

Chapter Five: Their Training Begins!

Well, I read this one quite fast, time to give you my thoughts!

Diana stood alone, the thought of something or someone or… Maxwell being right under her nose always in the back of her mind. She tried to shake it away, figuring the best way to do that would be to get busy.

The plot thickens as I like to say. This is gonna be fun to watch unravel.

"Sweet Arceus!" Diana exclaimed, clutching her chest. "By Arceus' name, Zen! Why are you so good at sneaking up on me?"

"You were distracted. Even a hunter can be caught by surprise with something on their mind." Zen crossed his arms and grinned.

Oh, so Zen does have a sense of humor, nice to know. Good for him, and kudos to you to not make him 100% grumpy.

"M-My behavior during that event was... shameful. I've never lost myself over the scent of food before, and since I assumed the Outlander and his companions would be arriving soon, I didn't want to risk them hearing about it..." Zen cleared his throat and turned away, getting a giggle from Diana.

Awww, he can be adorable as well, nice, nice. I liked this entire scene, showing more of Zen than meets the eye.

"I-we couldn't! An entire pie?" Minerva stammered.

"F-For free?!" Kora exclaimed.

"I'll take it if they won't!" Rio said, unaware of his tail wagging excitedly behind him.

And Rio is also cute! I love him now, he's a good boy and a good character, keep it up.

Kora sliced two slices from the pie, keeping himself from downing the entire thing. The crust of the pie was a velvet red and had a satisfying, flaky crispiness to it as Kora sliced through. As the fox lifted a slice out, the three were met with an almost alarming sight; a viscous, gooey, dark-red jelly that shared the same color as the berry's insides, and perfectly cubed chunks of said berry.

God damn it Fuze, this is making me hungry for the berry, although I'm curious as to why they weren't possessed like the metal boy earlier. Intriguing, I say.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Kora sorrowfully exclaimed. "The price of the pie will be my downfall! Curse you, you deliciously deceiving desert!"

MY BOY GOT HIS FEELINGS HURT, UNNACEPTABLE. This entire scene was really wholesome and funny, loved it.

"Rock!" Rio and Zeke blurt out at the same time. On the sidelines, Jax pounded a fist into the ground and Kora cheered.

"I was right! I knew it!" Kora laughed, pointing at Jax with a smug look on his face. "You're buying me a pie when we're done today!"

Cute interaction! Zoroarks are always so fun to see, mostly due to how you can write them. Nice work.

"Let the fight... Begin!" Jax shouted promptly, jumping to the side of the arena and slamming his hand on the ground in place of hitting a bell. Rio and Zeke charged towards each other, their blood boiling for battle. Kora and Jax leaned in, watching with anticipation. Minerva and Nate, even though they kept themselves contained, were just as excited to see this fight to the end.

Overall, another good chapter that you wrote. This story has me invested on it, every character is good (even if I'm a simp for Kora...) and the plot has my interest. So, this was my review, nice work Fuze!

 

[Navar]

Chapter Six: The Drive to Grow

First things first, loved this title, very interesting, anyway! Review time!

Rio seemed to have a better grasp on battling than in his two other fights. For one, while his movements were still clunky, he was able to evade some of Zeke's more telegraphed attacks, and block the ones that would have caught him by surprise before. Of course Zeke had no problem dealing with Rio's attacks, the few that actually landed felt like virtually nothing to the seasoned fighter.

This is character development. Rio is growing as a person(Pokémon?) and it shows, this battle is gonna be nice to read.

"..." Rio looked in awe at his paws, then over to the others, equally amazed at.. whatever it was that just happened. They were all in silence for a minute, until it was shattered by Jax and Kora.

"THAT WAS SO FREAKING AWESOME!" The two overgrown children roared with pure excitement.

...What the fuck. I'm hyped, holy hell that was amazing!

"No, Minerva," Nate stated firmly. "I'm not going to fight you anymore, you couldn't beat me. Look at yourself, you can barely stand." He had a point. As Minerva stood it took all she had to just to not fall back over. Dealing damage was right up her alley, but taking it was an entirely different ordeal.

"Shut up!" she barked. "I'm still standin' so I can keep fightin'!"

An interesting analyzis on Minerva. She's... Hm, how can I say that? Well, she definetely has reasons for her personality and actions, I hope the following chapters explore her more.

"Well, you don't really look fine. Kinda like an upset cat that's too grumpy to let her friends help her," Rio said, also trying to poke Minerva.

Oh yeah, talking things out is always good. Nice job, Rio!

"I'll show that bastard who's a 'runt' between us..." She swore to herself, finishing another bit. "I'll show him who's really useless, who actually knows what a fight is..!"

Sour again, but just like before, Minerva didn't care. The pie was a gift, and if there's a bit of sour while eating it, she wouldn't let that ruin it. Besides, the sour was drowned out shortly after by a tango of sweet and spicy, which seemed to be led on by the latter. It wasn't a combo she was expecting, but she enjoyed it nonetheless.

And with this, another chapter read and reviewed! Again, this fic has my attention, enough to break my block, so I'll keep reading it, nice!

 

[Navar]

Chapter Seven: Ok, Now Their Training Begins. For real.

After this, I'm gonna take a break, sitting on the chair for the entirety of my day. Oh well.

"Hey guys! We were just heading back, so ya didn't have to come looking for us!" the Zoroark said, playfully punching Jax in his chest.

"Actually, why were you guys coming out? You look like you have something important to say," Rio asked, getting a proud smirk from Jax.

Their relationship it's so fun, haha. Points for characters!

"So we get to fight for a whole month without being interrupted?" Kora asked with an excited smile. Jax returned a smug grin and pounded his fists together.

"You know it little buddy!" Jax and Kora pounded their fists together and smiled brightly, causing Zeke to roll his eyes.

Again, I love their relationship! It's too cute!

"Really? I thought you'd be too busy brooding to care about Rio?" Zeke scoffed.

"Seriously, what is it?" Zen asked. The Blaziken cleared his throat.

Oh, Zen's back. And still a prick, as usual.

"Really?" Zen quickly glanced at Rio, "Perhaps, I should assist as well. For purely analytical reasons, of course." Rio was surprised by what looked like a change of character.

An analytical prick, but one, nonetheless. This training sequece was fun to read.

"Hmph..." Zen contemplated for a moment. "That could have some decent implications later down the line. Energy Absorption, or Type Absorption, whatever it turns out to be, can easily remove any paralysis, poison, burn, what have you. We'll have to see what your body or that band can take."

Oooh, if Rio can do that then he's made for exploring! Haha, very, very interesting

"I wanted to train with you guys! Mom said I could so I came down right away!" The young Zorua said excitedly. Kora did his best to not show how utterly uninterested he was to fight with his or against his younger brother, so instead he tried to change the subject.

AAAAAAH HE'S SO CUTE I LOVE HIIIIIIM

Kai turned to his brother and stuck out his tongue.

"Liar liar!" He taunted. "You two never train! Her hitting you because of a joke isn't training! Even when you fight Eva and Kane, you're hardly even trying! Eva would say something mean, then Minerva would beat her and Kane up!"

Too... Cute... aaaaaaaaa

"You and me never do anything together, bro! So we gotta train together until we're super-best buddies!"

AAAAAAAAAA

"Really? AWESOME!" Kai cheered excitedly, hopping around Kora with boundless energy. "I'll leave you guys to fight then, and after that, I'll join in!" The Zorua scurried off to the side, sitting a good distance away from the battlefield.

Okay, after dying of cuteness, I gotta say: I love sibling relationships in fiction, this clicked with me instantly. It's so adorable!

"I'm glad you asked," Nate dropped the two bands, they hit the ground with a loud thud. To say that the feline was surprised would be an understatement.

"WH-WHAT THE?! How much do those things weigh?!" Minerva shouted, a bit of regret showing on her expression.

Oh God Minerva is going through an anime training arc. Yikes.

Again, keep your story up, Fuze! You got yourself a reader, now, I'm gonna rest for a bit, but by the end of today I shall finish this fic! See ya!

 

[Fusion]

Chapter Fifteen: Lost Together​

James and Tia chatted away after taking care of the young trio's wounds. Zen was near Kane with his eyes shut, so probably asleep (no one could tell), and Jay sat next to Nina and Lucas on a bed. The Frogadier was still conflicted, staring at the flower Kora gave her. She didn't know what to do with it…

"You feeling any better? I'd pat you on the back, but…" Lucas said jokingly, although neither Nina nor Jay thought it was funny. At all. "S-Sorry…" Lucas apologized, pushing the tips of his claws together.

Nina let out a pensive sigh. "Do you guys think overreacted? I mean, he really did look sorry," she asked her friends. They both shrugged, Jay because he wasn't there and Lucas because he didn't mind fighting the fake Kora.

"Oh please, I wouldn't give that idiot any leeway. It isn't the first time he got someone hurt," Eva said as she walked in. "Trust me, it's best for you not to get near him. He brings nothing but trouble," she warned. She then noticed the flower Nina was holding. "What kind of flower is that? Looks pretty, I've definitely never seen it on the island…"

"I don't know, Kora made it after we put his Lucario friend in one of the empty rooms," Nina said, holding it out for Eva to hold.

Eva hesitated before cautiously taking the dark flower in her claw tips. "Kora? Really? I didn't think he'd be able to do… anything like this, actually," Eva said, sniffing the flower. It's scent was similar to a lum berry, but off somehow.

"Do you two know each other?" Nina asked. "Well, obviously you do but, like… do you know each other well?"

Eva frowned and nodded. "I did, for better or worse. He's been nothing but trouble since we were kids. I'm glad I tried and split off from him."

"Really? I always thought you two were pretty close," James butted in, grinning playfully. "I mean, the two of you always hung out together; eating berries, telling stories, camping out by yourselves. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was your boyfriend."

Eva suddenly turned bright red and sputtered. "A-As if!" Nina giggled, and Lucas and Tia got a good laugh in, too. All the commotion even woke up Zen and Kane nearly fell out of bed. "W-We weren't like that at all! H-he was annoying and... and obnoxious!"

"If that's true, why are you redder than I am right now?" Lucas asked, holding back his laughter.

"It's just, uh, hot in here! Yeah, it's hot!" Eva answered, nodding and crossing her arms.

"Is it hotter than your boyfriend?" Jay asked with a smug grin, making Eva turn somehow even more red.

Eva let out a peep, then quickly covered her snout. Her ears twitched as she heard James snort, then glared at the Floatzel furiously.

James felt someone staring at him with murderous intent, then locked his eyes with his daughter. He let out a higher pitched peep than she did and backed away. "It's j-just a little joke, Eva! Some harmless father-daughter humor! No need to get, um, angry... right?" James tried to reason with his rage-filled daughter.

"WRONG!" Eva shouted, grabbing James' arm and lifting him above her head. With all her might, she threw her father right out the infirmary. James crashed into the wall somethin' fierce. Eva dusted off her paws and looked proudly off to the side. The young trio giggled between themselves, and Tia smiled and rolled her eyes. Even Zen almost smirked. As the others were distracted with themselves, Eva slipped out the infirmary.

<><><><>​

James was perfectly fine, just upside down and giggling to himself. "Did we do a good job? Was the throw authentic enough or do we have to do it again?" James asked, smiling.

Eva giggled and nodded. "Nah, everyone believed it. Thanks for helping lift the mood, even though it was at my expense," Eva said, sitting down next to James.

The Floatzel sat himself up straight and brushed some dirt off himself. "If you don't mind me asking, do you really still hate Kora?" he asked. "Actually, hate is a bit of an overstatement…It's more like you have an incredibly short temper with him. Anything he does can set you off like a lit match hitting oil."

Eva leaned on the wall and let her arms rest on her lap, letting her eyes close. "It's not that I hate him, it's just that he can do better, I know he can. But everytime he messes up, everyone cuts him so much slack!" she huffed. "I want him to do better. And yeah, sure, I might be a bit strict against him, but he's not getting anywhere with everyone letting him off easy!"

James rested a paw on Eva's shoulder, giving her an understanding smile. "So, you still think of him as a friend? Or an annoying little brother at least?" he chuckled. "I guess it'd be weird to point out that that was exactly how me and your mother acted, huh?"

Eva giggled and rolled her eyes. "Blegh, sure, I totally believe that."

"I am being entirely honest! You and him remind me of us, minus the whole… him being a Zoroark, thing," James said, smiling. He sighed, and a more serious look fell upon James. "Look… I understand you want Kora to be better, but I can tell there's still some bitterness in you towards him. That bitterness isn't going to help him in the slightest, you know? What happened between you two was almost a decade ago, and some part of you still holds it against him. That's not healthy for either of you."

'More than just some part, actually…' Eva thought to herself, then sighed. "I… know. But moving on isn't as easy as you'd think. Not with this." Eva looked away from James, running her paw over her head. "I'll figure out what I need to do on my own, but Kora can't do that. He isn't… he doesn't know how."

"Are you sure about that? He's not as inept as you make him out to be," James chuckled. "You're starting to sound like Zen, dear. Maybe he's your boyfr-" A claw aimed at his snout shut James up real quick, plus the deadly glare for good measure. James put his paws up and inched away, zipping his mouth shut.

Eva snorted and snickered. "Good," she said, giving James a smile.

The two were about to head back into the infirmary when they heard someone huffing and puffing down the hall. The exhausted form of Jax made his grand reappearance; hardly able to talk, sweating like it was the middle of summer, and stumbling with every step he took. He used every one of his arms to not fall over immediately.

James and Eva watched as Jax suddenly lurched forward, but caught himself, both wandering what was wrong. The Machamp stepped closer to the two, reaching weakly out towards them.

"You alright?" James asked. Jax lurched forward again, leaning on James. He was so much heavier than he looked. James groaned and wheezed as Jax slowly brought them both down to the ground.. "U-Uh oh..!"

James looked desperately at his daughter for assistance, but she was too busy holding back her laughter to be of any help. With a rather loud thud, Jax and James hit the floor, with the unlucky otter on the bottom.

<><><><>​

After that mess with Eva went over, Kane decided he was well enough to leave and went somewhere to be alone. He didn't say a word as he left, but shot Zen a sideways glance just before he did. Tia probably tried to stop him, but he didn't care to listen.

Kane didn't really know the layout of the guild, so he wandered aimlessly through the halls. He didn't really care as long as he wasn't in that room. 'Goddammit…' Kane huffed. 'Zen and his bullshit, knocking me out out of nowhere… And all that annoyin' shit just now…'

Before long, Kane arrived in the sparring area. He was so lost in whatever he was feeling that he didn't notice the lake before he fell straight in. Fortunately, he landed on one partially submerged Kora to break his fall.

Kora and Kane stared at each other. One would have assumed they'd be at each other's throats. Instead, both stayed silent, even if they would really have liked to not see the other.

The first to break the silence was Kora, surprisingly. "Why are you here?" he asked, taking his eyes off Kane and staring at the ceiling.

"Could ask ya the same thing," Kane replied, swimming over to the water's edge. "I saw the runt out cold in the infirmary, shouldn't ya be by her side or some shit? The hell are ya floating around here for?"

Kora shut his eyes and inhaled deeply, his body gently floating on the water. A faint darkness pulsed around him, just barely enough for Kane to notice. "The hell do you care?" he growled. "Thought you hated us, so why do you suddenly give a shit about our business?"

Kane had to admit, Kora had a point. Of course, he wouldn't openly admit it. "I don't care, dipshit. Just because I asked for your two cents, doesn't mean I want it," Kane spat. "Just answer the damn question, since ya didn't like me being polite."

Kora glanced at Kane for a moment, indifferent about the Scrafty's tone. Emotionlessly, Kora answered. "Ask Eva."

"What about her?!" Kane hissed, hitting the surface of the water. "The hell are ya blaming her for? Knowing you, ya deserved whatever it was she did to ya!" Kora sighed and dove under the water, not wanting to deal with Kane's nonsense. "Get back up here, punk! I ain't done talking to you!" Kane shouted.

Kora swam deeper, not paying Kane any mind. Kane sucked his teeth and climbed out of the lake, storming out of the area.

'Damn him!' Kane thought, 'And damn myself! What the hell is happening?!' Through his rage, Kane nearly knocked over Zen, who was accompanied by Jay, Lucas, and Nina. He wouldn't have noticed any of them if Zen didn't grab his shoulder.

"Don't you touch me," Kane hissed, still not realizing who grabbed him. He turned his head and glared at the Bisharp, who looked genuinely shocked at Kane snapping at him.

"Kane..?" Zen asked.

Kane yanked his shoulder out of Zen's grasp. "It's none of your business, now BEAT IT!" Kane yelled, putting on his hood and storming away.

Zen flinched ever so slightly. He turned to Jay and the others. "This is why you stay out of other people's business. Go ahead without me," the Bisharp told them, then ran after his friend.

<><><>​

Kane didn't care where he went as long as no one else was there. Outside the mountain was cold, and getting colder. Kane didn't feel it until he was well away from the guild, and he exhaled thick clouds with every breath. The Scrafty couldn't care less about the chill nipping at his body; he just wanted to get away.

'Goddamnit! Goddammit goddammit god-DAMMIT!' Kane kicked the sand, rubbing his arms. 'What the hell?! NGHAAAA!' Kane didn't know how long he walked in his rage, he didn't care. He did not care.

Who knows how long later, Kane stopped. Someone was sitting on the beach, alone. It was a Zoroark from the look of it. Kane got a bit closer, recognizing the fox as Diana. She stared out to sea, unknowing of Kane's arrival.

"..." Kane shut his eyes, then kept walking. It wasn't his business, and she clearly wanted to be alone. Just as Kane passed her, however, he stopped again. While he wouldn't have been known for it, Kane had a great sense of smell. Even among the strong smell of the ocean, he could easily pick out that dreadful scent of iron from it.

"Diana?" Kane spoke, not realizing he said anything until after Diana's head turned to face him. She looked… different. Kane might not have had plenty of run-ins with her, but he didn't need to to know something was off.

Diana stared at Kane for a few seconds, before her eyes widened. She wiped her face and put on a smile. "O-Oh! I-It's you, Kane!" she said, coughing. Her voice was more shaky and strained than Kane thought was normal.

Kane wanted to leave, whatever Diana was doing wasn't of his concern, but every time he thought about doing that, he remembered that iron scent he picked up on. Begrudgingly, he decided to stay. Diana flinched when Kane got closer to her. She even tried to sneakily hide herself in her mane. Kane was just able to see why before Diana moved her mane. Streaks of deep red decorated her body, and there were a few bruises too. If there were any ferals on the island, Kane would have assumed she got in a fight.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but you look terrible," Kane said bluntly.

"Who, me? I'm fine, perfectly fine!" Diana replied, waving a paw defensively. "I just... had a bad fall, and came out here to relax a little."

"Really?" Kane deadpanned. Diana smiled innocently and nodded. "Well, why not go to the guild? Everyone else is there," Kane said, gesturing towards the mountain.

"N-No, I'm fine! Honestly! How about I head back to my home and patch myself up? Then you can do… whatever it was you were doing?" Diana suggested with a nervous smile.

There was a moment of hesitation from Kane. Again, he had his chance to be alone, and again… he denied it. "I'll walk you to your house, just to make sure you don't have another fall."

"G-Great! No, really!" Diana's smile wavered. "Th-Thank you!"

Kane raised a brow. "Sure… don't mention it."

It was mostly silent, other than the rustling of the leaves in the wind and the occasional crunch of a twig or leaves on the ground. Diana stumbled every now and then, and stopped outright a few times for seemingly no reason. Kane himself was too lost in thought to really care. At some point, Diana fell, and Kane didn't realize until his foot bumped into hers.

Diana didn't get up at first, so Kane grabbed hold of her paw. It was… colder than he expected. Kane pulled Diana off the ground, wrapping her arm around his shoulder and continuing through the forest. Thanks to her height over him, Diana was leaning almost entirely onto Kane. He could feel her heart beating faintly on his shoulder. She reeked of iron. Kane did his best to suppress a gag.

"Kane…" Diana said weakly, breaking the silence. "You haven't seen my sons lately... have you?"

Kane stared forward, not speaking for a moment. He let out a sigh, then said, "Only Kora. Thought the runt would be with you," Kane replied.

Diana hummed. "Why wouldn't he be... right?" she asked, rhetorical. "I haven't seen Kai or Mia since Kora and his friends started training. Same with Kora himself. I'm… worried about them."

"What's stoppin' you from seein' them?" Kane asked. "Like I said, everyone's in the mountain, maybe your kid and his friend is too."

"I can't… and I can't tell you why I can't either," Diana sighed, stumbling and leaning onto Kane more. "I'm sorry."

Good, Kane didn't care. Which doesn't explain why he suddenly got nervous. "Why not?"

Diana turned her head to the side. "Please… forget I said anything."

Kane flinched. "No, what-I…" he took a deep breath. "Fine, whatever."

More silence filled the woods. Clouds rolled in high above the trees, darkening the forest. It was getting harder to see, and Diana stumbled more and more. Fed up with it, Kane stopped and lowered himself down to a knee. "Get on. You're slowing us down," he said, not at all trying to mask his irritation.

"Right, sorry," Diana replied. She practically fell on top of Kane, nearly knocking him over.

Kane wheezed slightly, but stood strong. He grabbed under Diana's knees and stood back up. Another surprise to Kane, which probably shouldn't be all that surprising, was how cold Diana was. Kane was tempted to ask how long Diana was sitting on the beach, but thought it to be best to just get out of the cold. Neither of them said another word, allowing that silence to return once more.

The house looked vacant, almost abandoned. It was just as cold, if not colder, than outside. Rugs were tossed to the side. The firepit had nothing but ashes and a stone plate. On the stone sat a pot, whose insides were caked with old Berry juice. Kane kicked some of the rugs close to the firepit and let Diana off his back.

"I can light the fire," Diana said, breathing deeply. "But can you help clear the ash and get some firewood."

Kane huffed but didn't object. He sat next to Diana, took the stone out, and began scooping out the ashes and placing them in a jar to the side. Once most of the ash was removed, Kane got up and grabbed a few logs, tossing them carelessly into the pit. Diana shuffled them around a bit, then held out her paw.

"Thunderbolt." A bright yellow bolt of electricity shot out of her paw towards the logs. They caught pretty easily, filling the room with some much needed heat. "That's better, wouldn't you say?" Diana asked, giving a more pleasant smile than before.

"Aren't you gonna fix yourself up?" Kane reminded Diana.

Diana nodded, reaching into her main and pulling out some bandages and setting them to the side. She then pulled out a fist sized vile of blue liquid and opened it with a satisfying POP. The scent of oran, sitrus, and lum berries filled the air as Diana rubbed the liquid on her arms.

'Wait... the hell did we come all the way back here if she had bandages and all that in her hair?' Kane thought to himself, feeling like an idiot for wasting his time. That was when Kane noticed some strange markings on Diana's body again. On her arms, going up to her shoulder and even on her chest and sides. They were… scars. And with how red they were, to be clearly seen through Diana's fur...

"Could you grab that pot for me, before it gets too hot?" Diana asked, derailing Kane's train of thought. Kane nodded, taking the pot off the fire before it got too hot. He made the mistake of looking inside, gagging at the vile odor of rotten fruit. "I made too much, thinking Kora or Kai and Mia would have shown up to have some," Diana explained, sniffling.

Kane glanced at her, holding the pot away from him. "H-How long was this sitting here? This... This doesn't even look like food anymore."

Diana didn't answer, instead focusing on putting some of the blue liquid on the rest of her body, where the scars were. "Would you mind clearing that pot out?" she asked.

Kane sighed and gave a nod as he carried the pot out to the garden. He walked over to the exit and placed it on the ground. After he shook out some of the clumps of mushy, rotten fruit, Kane fired a weak dark pulse into it. The rest of the rotten food flew out of the pot, and luckily none of it landed on Kane. He paused for a moment before he picked back up the pot and went back over to Diana.

"Done," Kane said, dropping the pot on the fire with a KLANG. Diana smiled gratefully and put down the vial. She reached for a basket and placed it between her and Kane, silently offering the fruit inside after she took out an enigma berry and started eating it. Kane reached for a berry, and got pricked by a colbur berry. Might as well eat that, he figured. Diana then grabbed a jug of water and poured it into the pot.

The two sat in silence, watching the dance of the flames and listening to the crackle of the fire. Every now and then, Kane would spot Diana staring at him, but he pretended he didn't notice.

Once the water began to boil, Diana spoke. "You're nothing like how Minerva and Kora make you out to be."

"What's that's supposed to mean?" Kane said, keeping his eyes on the fire.

"Well, with how they described you, I thought you'd have left me several times already," Diana replied. "Have you… changed?"

"The hell are you on about?" Kane huffed, giving Diana an angry look. "I haven't changed a damn thing."

Diana flinched. She grabbed a few of the berries, splitting them in half and placing them in the boiling water. A pinap berry slipped out of Diana's grasp a little too high, however, and some of the water splashed on her paw. She let out a pained hiss and reeled her arm back. Kane instinctively grabbed the vial Diana had earlier, then grabbed Diana's paw, and rubbed some of the liquid on it.

"What the hell are you doing?" Kane said sternly, staring Diana in the eye.

"I-I'm sorry, it slipped," Diana winced and turned her head away from Kane.

Kane sucked his teeth, still holding onto Diana's paw. It was still cold. He was about to let go of her paw, when he again noticed her scars. Iron filled his nose again, which he tried to overpower by eating another berry. It barely helped.

Silence fell over the two again. Diana watched as the water boiled, and Kane watched the fire crawl over the stone and lap at the sides of the pot. A frown found its place on Kane's face, then he looked to Diana. "How's it feel?" he asked, causing Diana's ear to twitch.

"My paw? It's fine. The mixture in that vial is essentially medicine, an all-cure I like to call it," Diana said, rubbing her paw. "I got the recipe from my… my husband. Before he passed."

Diana's eyes sank enough for Kane to notice. He took another bite of his berry. "So, what're makin' now? In the pot?"

"Just some juice, but it's going to take some time for the berries to soften. And there's an ingredient I want to add, from my garden," Diana replied, holding her paw to her chest. She sucked her teeth, then dropped her arm. "I know… you've noticed them by now. My… scars."

"A blind 'mon woulda noticed," Kane said, turning slightly away from Diana. "You took one hell of a fall, huh?"

Diana gulped, clenching her fists. "Y-Yes. That's what I said. I fell." She reached for the vial with a shaky arm, but gave up. Her arm fell back to her side, drawing a faint hiss from her. "I'm… tired."

"I noticed that, too…" Kane said, still looking away.

The fire crackled loudly, and the water boiled heavily, but Kane and Diana were silent once more.

With a long sigh, Kane turned back to Diana. "You want this?" he asked, holding the vial out to her.

"I-I would, yes," Diana nodded. "If it isn't too much to ask, could you… apply for me?"

"Do I have a choice..?" Kane deadpanned. Diana looked away sheepishly. Kane shook his head. "Fine."

Diana gave Kane the warmest smile she could. "Thank you." With an awkward shuffle, Diana turned her body to Kane. She looked worse than Kane thought. Red scratches and scars were everywhere. Kane flinched at the sight. Diana felt the need to cover herself, looking away again. "I-It's-"

"Just like you said, one hell of a fall," Kane interrupted. "Nothin' more."

"R-Right, a fall, yes," Diana nodded, smiling faintly. "Right…"

Kane got closer to Diana, motioning for her to lie on her back as he sat beside her. He rolled his shoulders and rubbed the all-cure over his hands, then gently pressed them against Diana's stomach. She winced and growled slightly, then bit her lip to keep quiet. As Kane rubbed the all-cure in and it mixed with Diana's blood, it turned a deep shade of purple before basically vanishing entirely. The scars, however, did not.

"D-Don't rub it in too much," Diana said, panting. "It's better to leave some for when we put bandage wrap over the scars. Helps them heal faster."

"You mean for when I wrap the bandage," Kane rolled his eyes, chuckling faintly. It helped to distract him from noticing how Diana felt. He did not want to think about that. He did not. Or that's what he told himself.

Diana snickered. "I guess you do have a point."

Kane reapplied a bit of the all-cure to Diana's stomach, not dwelling on how much more fit she was compared to him, and moved… nowhere. Diana had scars all over her: her neck, her shoulders, her hips, her back… her legs and her chest…

Kane cleared his throat. "A-Are you feelin' any better? Can you do the rest yourself?"

"I'll see…" Diana tried moving her arms. They barely even twitched. She shook her head. "No, I can't."

"Are you sure?" Kane asked again, looking her dead in the eye. Diana shook her head again. "S-Seriously..?" he groaned.

"This… isn't much better for me, either," Diana tittered. "It would be best if we just… get it over with."

Kane put more of the all-cure on, but still sat there, unmoving. "Wh-Where should I..?"

"Kane, I know I'm still asking for a lot, but please. Stop stalling," Diana sighed, looking to the side.

There was no not-awkward place to start: Kane would either be awkwardly close to Diana's face or… ok honestly that was better than the legs. He could have also started on the back but that would be the easiest so Kane figured to save that for last.

With a nod and shaky hands, Kane moved upwards. He placed his hands on Diana's chest, making sure to only touch her scars. And also to not look up at her. He felt Diana's heart start to race, and his own for that matter, the longer he took. Fortunately, there were only a few scars, so he moved further up.

Kane gently grabbed Diana's shoulders and pulled her up, rubbing down her shoulders and neck. They were facing each other, yes, but didn't let their eyes meet. Even when Kane had to rub Diana's cheek, and their heads were level with each other. Kane set Diana back down, and his eyes crawled to the rest of what he had to do.

"Any better yet?" Kane asked.

"Once we're done and I'm all bandaged up," Diana nodded.

Kane cussed under his breath. No point in stalling any longer, then. He scooted back done, slapped the all-cure on his hands, and got too work. The worst of the scars were here. Long, deep streaks of crimson traveled up her legs. She wasn't bleeding all that much, fortunately, but Kane was still uneasy looking at it. Kane pretty much had to dump the all-cure on the scars, and when he tried to massage it in, Diana let out a pained moan or hiss. Kane knew he had to be gentle, and in doing so, eased away any nervousness from before.

"You're… rather good at this," Diana said, wincing as Kane got to another scar.

"I better be," Kane said proudly. "Eva practiced first aid on me and Zen a while back. She kept messing up, so I took it on myself to learn it so I could teach her."

Diana looked down at Kane. "Really? I wouldn't have known. Who taught you?"

"Myself. Bought a book from Nick about basic medical nonsense," Kane answered, getting more of the all-cure and going to Diana's other leg. "Natural remedies, which berries do what, which berries do what together, how to properly apply medicines, all that mess."

"Why didn't you just give Eva the book?" Diana asked.

Kane pulled Diana's leg closer to him; one of the scars was a lot longer than the others and reached her lower inner thigh. "Where's the fun in giving her the book when I could've taught her?"

"Fair point," Diana chuckled.

Before long, Kane was done. He tapped Diana's side for her to flip over, which he helped to do. There weren't any scars on the center of Diana's back. They were mostly near her shoulders and hips. Kane didn't hesitate, moving Diana's mane to the side and getting started.

The two fell into their usual silence, albeit a far less uncomfortable one, until Diana spoke up. "...They were wrong about you," she said. "Kora, and Minerva."

"I coulda told you that," Kane replied, moving to Diana's lower back. "Eva and Zen too, really."

"Then how come-" Diana began, then cut herself off. "What happened between you three?"

Kane paused for a moment, then went to get the back of Diana's legs. "Nothing worth mentioning. We just don't like each other. That's it."

Diana hummed to herself, nodding. "I understand."

A few minutes later, they were done. With the first half at least. Kane grabbed the bandage wrap and sat Diana up. He started with her arms, after adding a bit of all-cure to them first. He went around three times before cutting the wrap and tying it off. Same with her other arm. Kane went around a fourth time on Diana's abdomen and chest, then three again on her legs. She was bandaged up with no hiccups at all!

Kane sat back and admired his handy work. Diana was all patched up, and that iron smell got replaced with a more fruity one. Kane smiled proudly, nodding at Diana. "And we're done. We never have to speak of this again."

"Right," Diana giggled. "This can be our little secret."

"Don't… call it that," Kane deadpanned.

Diana laughed, raising a paw to her snout. "Huh, just like I thought," she said, moving her arms around. She tried to do it in circles, but couldn't raise her arms above her head. "Still a bit worse for wear, but much better than before. Thank you, Kane."

A faint redness rose to Kane's face. "Again, don't mention it. Seriously."

"My lips are sealed," Diana promised. "Speaking of lips, the berries should be soft enough now."

"How you got 'berries' from 'lips' doesn't make all that much sense," Kane rolled his eyes. "But whatever, do your thing."

Diana grabbed a wooden spoon and started crushing the berries in the pot, tossing in some cinnamon and some yellow flower she crashed in her paw and dropped in. There was already a pleasant smell in the air, but it doubled as Diana mixed the berries together. When she finished, a deep purple drink bubbled and popped in the put.

Diana grabbed a pair of bowls, blowing the dust out of them first before filling them up. "Here," she said, handing a bowl to Kane. "A reward. And an apology."

"I'll just take it as a reward, thanks," Kane nodded as he took his bowl. The Scrafty's tail started wagging as he drank the juice, which he did little to hide. He finished the entire thing while it was still hot. "Whoa that's good!"

"I'm glad you liked it," Diana smiled warmly, sipping at her own bowl. "Have as much as you like, then you can be on your way."

"Be on my…" Kane blinked.

"Weren't you busy before I sidetracked you?" Diana asked. "I figured you must have been, since I don't believe you were a fan of the cold."

"Right, I'm not." Kane shook his head. "It's nothin', just wanted to take a walk. It's probably best I stay here anyway, it's not like it got any warmer outside."

"True," Diana nodded. "Then, make yourself at home, dear."

Another smile found its way onto Kane. He held out his bowl and clinked it with Diana's. "I might as well, right?"

<><><><>​

"He could be anywhere out here!" Eva exclaimed, following quickly behind Zen as they ran through the forest. She looked up at the sky, or as much as she could see from between the trees' foliage. The clouds were dark and thick, obvious signs that a storm was brewing. Coupled with the cold that seemed to constantly get colder, it was hard to tell how bad the storm would be.

"I know, but simply stating that is not going to help us. Instead of wasting your breath talking, focus on moving!" Zen answered back. "There was a reason I didn't want to bring you into this, I travel much faster on my own."

"Zen, don't start! As skilled as you think you are, do you really think it's a good idea not to be safe and do this alone?" Eva growled.

Zen didn't respond, silently gritting his teeth. While Eva did have a point about Kane possibly being anywhere, there were only a few places he would usually go to, especially when it gets cold.

First on their list was Kane's home. It took a little while to get to the hollowed out tree, and the second they did, Zen and Eva immediately went inside. It was in fair condition, aside from the ash that Kane hardly cleaned out anyway. Unfortunately, it didn't look like he was there. Tired from sprinting all the way here from the guild, Eva and Zen sat on one of the branches to Kane's home.

"Where else would he be?" Eva asked, worried.

"Perhaps at your house? We better get out of here before-" Zen stopped when something small and cold landed on his shoulder. A snowflake sat there, followed by another, and another. Without a moment's notice, it was snowing hard enough that they could barely see each other. They looked to each other with dread in their eyes, then dashed off to Eva's house.

It didn't take them that long to get to Eva's house, but the snow was starting to stick when they got there. Even worse, there was no sign of Kane. From the look of it, the other tents weren't used either. It was hard to tell with all the snow around.

"M-Maybe we don't have to worry so much about him? He knows how to handle himself," Eva said. She didn't fully believe those words, but she really tried to.

"He should be fine but…" Zen paused. "It's not the cold I'm worried about in regards to Kane. Last I saw him, he was… furious. More so than usual."

Eva got a bit closer to Zen, making sure not to bump into his metal exterior. "Do you know why?"

Another pause from Zen. "I do not." Eva looked up to Zen's face, only for him to turn away. "We should get back to the mountain before the snow worsens."

"Are you..?" Eva asked. Zen didn't answer, instead just walked back the way they came. "Right… let's go back."

<><><><>​

The wind and snow picked up much sooner than Eva and Zen hoped. It was already a long walk to the Guild, but coupled with low visibility, freezing wind, and soft snow piling on top of the sand, the trek towards the Mountain was going to be a lot more strenuous. While they trudged through the snow-covered shores, Zen tripped over a piece of driftwood hidden under the freshly lain powder. There was another piece a few feet away from it, and a large piece not too far from that. Of course, these were all the ones that were visible in the snow. Once Zen got up and they checked out the wood, not only did they uncover more under the snow, but upon further inspection, the 'driftwood' looked to be parts of a boat.

"Did someone wreck?" Eva asked, throwing all the wood she could lift in a pile. "This stuff isn't that wet, it looks like they washed up maybe a few hours ago or so."

"That's interesting. And from the looks of it, no one else is around so-" Zen suddenly snapped his head to the large chunk of wood, most likely the bow of the ship. He silently walked towards it, not taking his eyes off of it for a second. Eva whispered something to him, but he put his hand over her face to quiet her.

He grabbed the wood, looking over at Eva for a moment and ushering her to come over. Without announcing it, Zen quickly lifted the broken bow above his head, keeping his gaze one the spot it once laid. There... wasn't anything there, other than the faint shape of someone hiding there.

"Take a look at this," Zen said as he tossed the wood to the side. He knelt down to inspect the spot closer, soon joined by Eva. "Looks like somebody was here, certainly taller than you... perhaps as tall as me?"

"Har har, we get it, you're a giant," Eva lightly punched Zen's side. "So where are they, then? If he's so tall, and this spot looks fresh, where did he-" Eva blinked, and suddenly, the spot was mostly gone. A good amount of snow filled it in the time it took her to say most of that sentence, apparently.

Even weirder than that was the sudden rush of coldness Eva felt, and the surprising amount of snow that accumulated on both her and Zen. And yet, the snow wasn't falling any harder than before. The two looked at each other before getting up and booking it towards the Mountain, ignoring the painful chill on their limbs. Zen blasted the snow with dark pulses as they ran, making it far easier to navigate the shore.

<><><><>​

It took Zen and Eva much longer to arrive than they hoped, both shivering with chattering teeth, pushing through uncomfortable numbness aching their body parts (although, it was mostly felt by Eva). Waiting for the two was James, pacing back and forth and muttering to himself. His eyes lit up when he saw his daughter, shaking to the bone and covered with snow, and ran up to hug her.

"You guys were gone for almost an hour and a half! I was worried sick!" James exclaimed, deciding to bring in the frigid Bisharp to the hug. "We need to get the both of you something warm to wear and drink!"

James literally dragged the two behind him, getting the two bone-chilled Pokemon to Tia in no time. Tia did the best she could: managing to get rid of the numbness, and giving them a few spicy berries and blankets to warm them up, and while Zen was mostly fine, Eva was still shivering. Zen offered her his blanket, since he didn't need it, and got up to walk and process what had happened.

"There was a Pokemon there... I know there was," Zen said to himself. "And they were quite large too, from the imprint in the snow... So where did they go? And how did so much snow fall to cover us? More importantly... James said we were gone for an hour and a half..." He shook his head. "No, he was probably exaggerating. But, he looked genuinely worried..."

Zen held his head for a moment, a faint dizziness stopping him. "Dammit... I might need something to eat, I hadn't realized how hungry I got." He tried to recall the directions to the Cafe, but was met up by a still-shivering Eva.

"Hey! Y-Ya can't just leave me b-behind!" Eva exclaimed through chattering teeth. "We g-gotta stick together, Zen!"

"Hmph, fine," Zen shrugged. "I was going to the Cafe. With you tagging along, I don't have to make a return trip to bring you anything."

"Awwwww, y-you do care!" Eva bumped Zen with her hip, giving a bright grin. "I knew you had a heart!"

Zen smirked and bumped her back, nearly knocking her over. "I care about my teammates, yes. Although, saying I have a heart? That's a bit much."

Eva stayed upright and grinned, walking beside Zen as they traveled through the tunnels. Sure, Kane was still out there and Zen and Eva were worried about him, but he could handle himself. It's not like the snow could get much worse. Right?

 

[zion of arcadia]

Eh, what up, Fuse! Excited to hang with your characters here, since I never really had the chance to in Blacklight. I’ll be covering both the prologue and the first chapter. <3

So it looks like the prologue is our fairly standard ‘open with a quiz’ beginning. It does have a slight twist in that they all share a common theme: death. That said, the tone isn’t particularly macabre, instead going mostly for lighthearted and upbeat.

The humor comes across as very screwball comedy in nature, what with the fast-paced verbal sparring, and the use of farce and escapism. It’s just missing the ‘romantic comedy’/’battle between genders’ dynamic. Some of the dialogue hints at a homosexual romance, however, so the former might not be off the table.

"What if EVERYTHING was on the line? What if you KNEW that? What if you knew you had to sacrifice your friends for the sake of EVERYTHING?!"

How very trolley question. The tone pivots here, taking a darker turn, as the invisible voice presses Rio cruelly. It also becomes clear that Rio’s death doesn’t seem to be the main focus of the story. A lot of times resurrection stories are about renewal and second chances. This seems more like an examination of utilitarianism. I’m not exactly sure how Rio’s death thematically plays into that aside from being more dramatic. Although, resurrection, martyr… messiah complex? It’s possible.

Some of the exchanges between Rio and the voice were cute. I especially liked when the voice went to find his notes, and even though Rio asking to be friends was cheesy, there was something adorable about a dead guy extending friendship toward an amorphous voice of potentially unlimited power.

It did start to drag on near the end, though. Honestly, even though I liked the friendship exchange, cutting it out might’ve helped the prologue flow quicker and more smoothly. I also thought the prologue went way overboard on the ellipses.

So we establish Rio in the opening as altruistic and very friendly. He also seems pretty resilient mentally given how he shrugs off the news of his apparent death. It’s a solid base for a protagonist, although I’m a little worried he might end up being too reactive. He doesn’t seem to have any major desires or motivations to drive the story forward.

“I’ll be seeing you, friend.” I say, falling backwards into the portal. I manage to hear one last thing before being wrapped in a bright light.

...For our sake...

...I really hope you don’t...

Interesting. I wonder if this’ll be like, uh, what’s that one anime called, the one where the protagonist dies a whole bunch of times? That one. Playing around with Rio dying and being brought back to life multiple times (to test his resolve?) could be a strong narrative route to go down.

Onto the next chapter!

Okay, so. We’re introduced to the partner Pokémon and a number of villagers in Sunset Valley. There are also various world-building concepts shown or hinted at, such as Outlanders, housing, and the existence of a guild. None of them are super fleshed out, only teased at, but that’ll no doubt change in future chapters.

I’m particularly interested in Diana. She’s also an Outlander, apparently, and seems to be positioned as a mentor role? Does that mean she’s going to die painfully at some point? Heh.

There was something inherently amusing about Kora stumbling across Rio and being like, ‘oh, hey.’ There didn’t really seem to be anything about Kora that stood out in terms of personality. At most, he comes across as, hmm, a boy next door type, perhaps. With some dad level humor.

Now, something was lowkey bothering me about the chapter, but it didn’t really manifest until we met Minerva. A lot of characters start getting thrown our way, and I had a hard time keeping track of them all, as well as their species. I had to check multiple times that Minerva was a Meowth, for example.

More than that, once they go to the village for Rio’s ‘training’, the narrative feels like it stalls out. The dialogue also feels off. I get that Pokemon around these parts know what Outlanders are, but the way Rio is just instantly accepted into the friend group and starts bantering with everyone is mildly off-putting. It’s like he’s been friends with these characters for years rather than hours.

Also, remember how I was concerned about Rio being reactive? That results in this chapter feeling like he’s just following around behind the other characters doing what they say. He doesn’t seem to have any overarching motivations/goals outside of saving the world, which isn’t even a decision he came to on his own. Not to mention that's a broad motivation that'll realistically cover the entire story. We need something smaller scale to latch onto at the start. A lot of times in PMD stories the protagonist will have a simple motivation like ‘I want to go home’ that creates tension with other narrative elements. But Rio’s just… happy to be there.

Rio would benefit from a short-term obstacle for him and Kora to overcome together and put them under minor duress. Like, let’s examine the opening of the PMD games. They all start off giving the characters something to do pretty much right off the bat. In Rescue you save Caterpie, in Explorers you get back the partner’s rock, in Gates you make your way to Paradise, etc., etc.

Here, Kora and Rio meet, they head to the village, they go on a tour, they eat some food, the end. There isn’t really anything in the way of conflict or plot progression. Stuff just happens. And yeah, it’s primarily comedic in tone, but that doesn’t mean characters can’t have internal/external dynamic tensions with each other.

There was a bitterness to the pudding that normally would turn Rio away from it, but the sweetness of the crust worked with it in just the right way for it to bring a blissful tartness to the forefront of flavors. For a moment, Rio felt like he might've fallen out of his body for a moment, unable to move for what seemed like an eternity in the serene state of mind he reached. He managed to conjure up enough strength to grab one of the macaroons and give that a try, which was still flavorful, but bland enough in comparison to free Rio from the pie's hold.

Okay, while I complained a bunch just now, I must admit I enjoyed the scene where they ate baked goods together. Although GRRM has given me food porn PTSD, I’m still a sucker for groups of friends hanging out eating and chilling together. And Minerva’s food euphoria immunity put a smile on my face. Very cute. A lot of the banter was cute, actually, with everyone taking the piss out of Kora’s puns as a standout.

And there is something refreshing about how chill the vibe is in this chapter. I like how the partner and MC are just instant bros. And the foreshadowing implies shit will probably hit the fan sooner rather than later. I just think it would’ve been stronger with a more structured mini-plot for the characters to progress toward.

Hope this helped! Have a good day.

 

[Navar]

Chapter 8

NOOOO KORA MY BABY!!! Ignore the rambling, I’m gonna give my thoughts on this chapter to you now. Here we go (again).

Another chapter filled with interesting stuff. Starting off with Rio after we last saw him, and it seems he got high off those berries. Gotta say, I assumed the berries were the ones

Spoiler

(that you said affected everyone differently, guess I was wrong? Or maybe I was just being blind, I don’t know)

.

Regardless, I got very interested in the scene where Zen talked with God the farmer that though it would be nice to make berries that get you high. As it turns out, not a good idea. Good thing it only affects Dark-Types, which brings me to my next point… Kora. Holy crap that made me feel really, really scared. What a shift in personality. It was creepy seeing him acting like that, and Minerva has guts if she stood up during that moment. Anyway, back to Zen. The prick decided to trust the creepy voice. What an idiot. He exhales pure anime rival energy, I love him. Well, I guess that’s it.

Chapter 9

Wow. Lots to take in all at once. For starters, Rio is taking it better, I guess. Not so sure about Kora, though. The poor boy is stressed, I can tell that. I just hope he gets better eventually. As for the general pacing, I can see that this was a calm chapter, as the title says. Two small things that I noticed, though. I’m gonna point it out so you can edit it, Fuze!

The got on all fours

Either missing an adjective or you meant to say “He”

up with burned and arms

You forgot to indicate the end of the sentence.

Overall, a nice chapter, as usual.

Chapter 10

Oh God. This one I have a lot to talk about. Holy crap, my feelings about this chapter can be summarized in one single word: dread. That’s it, just… Pure dread. Mostly from seeing Kora like that, I-I… Jesus. The whole scene of him fighting against his friends made me feel awful. Kudos to you, Fuze, you really got me on this one. I actually cried that entire fight. I… I think I should give you kudos for this, holy crap. I don’t even remember the last time I felt like this reading a fic. Probably back in July, but yeah. I’m sold on this. Anyway, this chapter was very emotionally heavy, all the scenes were described in a way that I could sense how the characters were feeling, and the action didn’t disappoint. In fact, I’m thrilled. The themes of the battle were the cherry at the top, a clash of feelings between someone who was hurt, and those who were trying to save him. Overall, I shall give this chapter the rating of 10.

Chapter 11

I think I’m better from my crying session. This chapter was fun, as well, especially uh, beating Zeke and Nate. I swear they were useless. Anyway, a Pikachu? I admit, you made me chuckle when you described her. Nice touch of meta talk. Anyway, she’s… Interesting. And very powerful as well. I’m eager to see how she’s gonna fit in the story. Oh yeah, I noticed a small error here, check this out:
(quote)


Chapter 12


Oh yes I actually really enjoyed this chapter’s main fight. Rio had quick thinking and that saved his friend. Other than that, the new trio was fun, and I got curious about the Pikachu, I admit, it’s weird? Like, maybe Z is a clone of her or something? God I hate theorizing because I usually get it wrong. I must also comment on how they both reacted to Minerva’s paralysis. Being her friends, obviously they wanted to cure her. I just didn’t expect, you know, Rio to get electrocuted in order to do that. Shocking, right? There. You can murder me for the pun. Good work so far Fuze.

Chapter 13

Oh God Diana is a living legend, good for her. The new trio of characters is adorable, they just went and challenged my boy. Speaking of him, he got special powers now too, huh? Nice to see him develop. And also, rant. He needed that rant, I hope he gets better. Anyway, not much to say here. Not that it was a bad chapter, it’s just that I can’t think of the words right now.

Chapter 14

Jesus I can’t stp feeling bad for Kora. These last few chapters have been rough on him. I-I… I’m so attached to him, for real. I just hope he gets better from all this…

Back to the review, Guildmaster? Finally. But I guess being a boss means you barely have enough time, even to investigate the berries. Overall, I knew it. I knew that Lucario was Orion. Oh yeah, I’m glad I managed to figure that out. Looks like Rio is about to have his body, and full aura powers? This is gonna be fun to read.

Chapter 15

And with this I finish reading all your chapters that are at TR. My thoughts on this one? I really liked the scene with Diana and Kane. It was sweet and wholesome. All things that I needed. Sadly, Kora is still… Not himself.

Well, that was it. I’m gonna stop reading for now, but tomorrow I’m gonna start reading the rest of the chapters on FFN. As always, keep up the good work, Fuze!

 

[Fusion]

Chapter 16: Awakenings​

The lake was far more spacious below the surface than Kora first thought. Like a giant bowl, filled with shining crystals and water. It was rather beautiful, honestly. Relaxing too. Perfect for getting things off his mind.

Kora aimlessly floated underwater, allowing his mind to go blank. More than usual, at least. 'Minerva would probably like it here. I should take her down here whenever she wakes up.'

Suddenly, a chill pierced Kora in the back. He flinched, trying to turn to see what it was. For some reason… he couldn't move. If he tried really hard, he could maybe twitch his nose or his claws. Anyone else's first instinct would be to panic, but Kora couldn't even if he wanted to. So… he just stayed there, staring at the bottom of the bowl-like lake.

'Ok… Safe to say this isn't good,' he thought. Being unable to move still didn't bother him all that much, but it's not like he wasn't worried entirely. Kora shut his eyes and tried to focus a bit harder. His paws flexed, but nothing else really happened. 'Oh, so I just gotta-'

Kora opened his eyes, surprised to see a wall of black before him. The bright, colorful crystals were just… gone. Everything was so dark… and cold. That chill from before got stronger, causing Kora to wince.

Kora shut his eyes, trying to focus again. 'O-Okay, no need to panic, just need to focus really hard and swim back up! Yeah! Simple and clean and easy and…' Something... told him to open his eyes. A feeling. A bad, bad feeling. Kora ignored it for as long as he could, until he felt something brush past his face. His eyes shot open, gazing into the dark abyss once again…

And crimson stared back at him. Right into his eyes, reaching into him and pulling out any strength he would have had. That crimson… Kora didn't want to ever see it again. It shouldn't be here. It couldn't. Why is it there? Staring back at him?

That chill returned with a vengeance. All of Kora's limbs went numb with cold. His eyes stung. His lungs started to ache. Kora shut his eyes for just a moment, opening them to see the crimson had gotten closer. They were… eyes. Yes, eyes. Eyes Kora couldn't make himself forget. Below them, a sharp, jagged, toothy smile.

Kora's eyes widened as his mind was filled with thoughts, worries, cries, and screams. They got so loud and unbearable, Kora thought they were coming from around him instead. He wanted to move but his body wouldn't listen. No, no it was the water around him that refused to move. It felt frozen, entirely unmoving despite Kora's efforts. He was trapped.

Panicked reached into Kora's chest, causing his heart to pound against his chest. His eyes fidgeted anxiously as they stared the crimson in its own. Growls rolled in Kora's throat as he desperately tried to move. Maybe if he tried to attack he could free himself? But Kora couldn't focus enough for his aura to do anything but sputter and fizzle around him.

'C-Come on! I gotta do something! Anything! Please!' Kora pleaded to himself. 'Move dammit!'

...Koraza...

Everything then went silent. That wasn't… he didn't hear…

The crimson's smile stretched across the dark abyss below Kora. Its eyes grew wider and wider. Slowly, its smile opened. All Kora could see was jagged teeth and darkness.

'N… No… Please…' Kora continued to stare. He didn't know what else to do. His body went limp as it slowly descended into the crimson's maw. 'I-I can't… please…' He shut his eyes, hoping for some miracle. In some sort of last ditch effort, Kora's aura started bleeding from his body, pooling around him. 'Minerva… Rio… somebody… anybody…' Before long, Kora was encased in a thick, dark shell.

<><><><>​

The young trio were in the sparring area, still waiting for Zen to show up. Jay and Lucas sparred together, while Nina sat with her feet in the lake. She focused on the black flower Kora had given her, stuck between whether or not she should forgive the fox at all.

"Why am I still hung up on this?" Nina sighed, twirling the flower between her digits. "I wish he was at least here so I could like… no, that wouldn't help with anything either." She then noticed the flower's glow start to brighten. "Huh?"

Suddenly a loud explosion came from the lake. Nina let out a yelp, falling on her back. Soon after, something hit the ground, hard. It was some dark… something. Despite pretty much everything telling her not to inspect the blobby black thing that exploded out of the lake, Nina decided to take a closer look. Luckily, Jay and Lucas had the same excellent judgement as she did.

"What… is it?" Jay asked.

"Why are you asking that like any of us would know?" Nina rolled her eyes.

"I wanna poke it," Lucas said, reaching for the blob.

Jay lightly smacked the back of Lucas' claw. "Maybe don't do that?"

Lucas pouted, rubbing his claw. "Well that was rude. How else do we find out what it is if we don't touch it?"

"We ask someone about it, I guess?" Nina shrugged. "Who wants to get, like, Tia?"

Jay was about to volunteer himself, when a loud, stinging slap echoed through the room. Lucas smacked the top of the black blob thing, giggling as it wiggled and shook. "Lucas what are you doing?!" Jay exclaimed.

"Finding out what it is! It feels like a uh… a big ol' wad of jello! Or a water bed… a jello bed!" Lucas snickered, smacking the blob again.

"At least it isn't… hostile?" Nina tittered, stepping back just in case.

"Ok, you've had your fun, Lucas. Stop messing with it," Jay said, crossing his arms. "Before it explodes again or something."

"The only way to know it will for sure is to hit it again!" Lucas grinned, reeling his arm back. Before Jay or Nina could stop him, the Charmeleon struck the jello thing with all his might. It actually jumped from how hard he hit it, but nothing else happened. "See? It's safe! You guys should try it."

Jay and Nina looked at each other, then cautiously approached the jello blob. Using one of his leaves, Jay poked it several times and let out a relieved sigh when nothing happened. "Yeah, I guess it is." He gave it a pat, snickering lightly at how it wobbled. "It is… kinda fun, actually. Maybe hit it once, Nina?"

"If you say so," Nina shrugged. She raised her hand and slapped the jello, giggling. "Ok yeah this is fun." Suddenly, the jello blob started to shake more viciously. "Ah! I-I'm sorry!" Nina cried and stepped as far back as she could.

Jay and Lucas backed away as the blob got more and more distorted and unstable. They put their arms up defensively, ready for whatever the blob would do. The blob started to hiss and bubble, then… it stopped. It shrank and dissolved into black wisps and smoke, leaving a familiar red mass of fur in its center.

"Wait… is that..?" Jay blinked, lowering his arms.

"Kora?" Lucas asked, tilting his head to the side. "Wait-"

"Kora was in there?!" Nina gasped, running over to the unconscious fox's side. She knelt down beside him and turned to Jay and Lucas. "Come on already!"

Kora's body was entirely motionless, cold, and soaking wet. Just being near him felt like being next to a giant ice cube. Lucas rested the side of his head on Kora's chest, humming and scrunching up his face.

"What's wrong?" Jay asked.

"I forgot where my ears are," Lucas deadpanned.

Nina pulled Lucas away from Kora and rested her ear on Kora's chest, letting out a relieved sigh. "His heart's beating, faintly. I think he just needs CPR."

Jay nodded and crouched beside the fox, placing his claws over Kora's chest. He looked at the fox for a moment as something came to mind that he… would rather not do. "...Nina you do it," he cleared his throat, shuffling to the side.

"O-Ok?" Nina nodded. She placed her hands on Kora's chest and took a deep breath. She exhaled and started gently pressing down on Kora's chest, and sure enough water started pouring from his maw. She kept at it for a bit, but Kora still wasn't moving. Nina kept herself from panicking, focusing on chest compressions. "Wh-Why isn't he getting up?!" she asked, her tone frantic but she kept herself mostly collected.

"You're forgetting... the other part of CPR," Jay pointed out.

"What part?" Lucas asked. "Chest, Press, Reallyfast... CPR. What's she missing?"

"I thought you'd at least pay attention in rescue training..." the Grovyle let out an aggravated sigh. "The… mouth to mouth part."

Nina's face started to heat up, but she stuck to her task as best she could. The chest compression part, not the other part. "S-Since when did we need to do that?!" she stammered. "I thought we just had to do this!"

"Doing that is fine, but it's not going to-" Jay was interrupted by someone hacking and coughing, and water splattering on the stone floor. "Alright sure, I guess it does work."

The trio watched as Kora sat up, coughing up enough water to flood a desert. "Wh... What..? Where am-" Kora began, and was then tackle-hugged by Nina, knocking some more water out of him.

"Oh Arceus, you're alive!" Nina exclaimed, wrapping her arms around Kora's neck. "Something just exploded out of the water!"

"It was some weird black blob thing that none of us had seen before," Jay added.

"I smacked it a few times! It was fun!" Lucas shrugged.

Nina let go of Kora, clearing her throat and backing a bit away, and Jay and Lucas offered to help him up. Once he was on his feet, Kora felt his head pounding and stumbled. Lucas and Jay caught him before he hit the ground. Kora looked down at his paws, silent.

"What's up? You feeling alright?" Lucas asked, poking Kora's side.

"I... I don't know," Kora replied, shaking his head gently. Flashes of what had happened appeared in his head, leaving a painful ache as they left. "I think… I-I'm not sure."

"We need to get you to Tia," Jay said firmly. "I don't know how long you were down there, but it had to have been a while."

Kora cocked his head, confused. "It... really wasn't. You can ask Kane, I went under because he was being annoying. That jerk fell on me and blamed me for being in the way..." he grumbled.

The young trio blinked at the fox's response, confused. Kora realised the three were staring at him and started to get nervous. "Kane? You're saying that you went under because Kane was bugging you?" Nina asked, getting a nod from Kora. The trio glanced at each other, sharing an even more confused look. Kora gulped, wondering if he said something off.

"Kora, Kane left a pretty long while ago... like, I think an hour or something like that," Lucas gave an awkward chuckle. "We've been sparring with each other since we bumped into him..."

The fox gave the trio his own confused look. He might've had water in his ears and wasn't hearing them right, or maybe he was still having a nightmare. A feeling of panic and worry struck Kora in his chest, suddenly. "I-I don't… oh boy…" he muttered, holding his head and sucking his teeth.

"Alright, let's go, right now," Jay said. The three scooped Kora up and held him above their heads. They marched out of the area before Kora could protest. Despite his size, Kora was surprisingly easy to carry.

<><><><>​

Totally synchronized, Jay, Lucas, and Nina marched into the Infirmary and tossed Kora onto a bed. You'd think they would be more gentle with him, seeing how they just saved him from drowning. On the plus side, whatever water was left in him was coughed up.

"Well that's nice of you, but are you sure you didn't want to slam me onto the bed?" Kora asked sarcastically, propping himself up and grinning.

"Yea, what're ya three thinkin'? Ya handled him with so much care bringin' him in, just to throw him like that?" A girl's voice said from beside him.

"Right? Unbelievable! I was already injured, I coulda gotten hurt! Again!" Kora snickered. "Wait a sec..." He just now recognized that voice; It wasn't Tia, nor either of the trio, and obviously not Jax. Kora turned, a bright smile on his snout as he was face-to-face with a grinning Meowth. "Minerva! You're awake!" he exclaimed, wrapping his arms around the feline and holding her tightly.

"'Sup, twerp! Did ya miss me?" Minerva chuckled, returning the hug with a light purr.

Tia cleared her throat, walking up to the two. "She woke up a little while before you got carried in here. I was expecting another day or two before that, but as you can see, I've underestimated her. That being said... with one patient recovered, another falls in my lap," she sighed, glancing back at the others.

"Oh, gotcha," Jax took the hint, ushering the young trio out the room with him.

"It's surprising how much you two, and Rio, have been through in such a short amount of time," Tia chuckled, then looked at Kora directly. "I can't imagine how you would be taking this, Kora, I'm more or less aware that you're a... relaxed individual, compared to everyone else." She floated upwards to be eye level with the fox, a sympathetic look upon her. "Going from a carefree lifestyle to being thrown into these sorts of situations, can't be easy for you."

Kora chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "You could say that again. But, I'm sure I'll manage. If my parents can... if they did do it, then so can I, right?" he winced, but put on a smile afterwards.

Tia took note, floating closer to sit beside him. "It's good that you're optimistic, Kora. It'll make your journey more enjoyable," she told him. "But we're getting side tracked. Tell me, what happened earlier at the lake? What those three told me was interesting, to say the least. I think it would help for me to hear what happened from the one that experienced it."

The event was still fresh in Kora's mind, painfully realistic, but too surreal for even him to fully believe it. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself to recall what he saw. He was hesitant at first, and his voice was shaky, but Kora explained what had happened under the water.

"...That's what happened. Then Nina, Jay, and Lucas woke me up and brought me here," Kora finished, his aura beginning to fade. Minerva leaned onto Kora's side, looking up at him with a caring smile.

Tia put her paw to her chin, taking what Kora said in. "I stand corrected, what those three told me is much less interesting than what you described."

"I know it sounds crazy, but that's what happened," Kora replied. "I can still hear that voice..." he shuddered.

Minerva grabbed his paw and squeezed it gently. "It's alright, Kora. I'm right here for ya."

Tia hummed, thinking further about what to do. "Minerva," she spoke. "Could I ask you to find something for Kora to eat? While it is most likely unrelated to what he saw, it might help him if he had a full stomach."

"Sure thing, I'm pretty sure I know where the Cafe in this place is... maybe. If I'm lucky, I might run into Jax and 'em and have 'em show me the way," Minerva nodded and hopped off the bed.

"I can-" Kora stood up to follow her, but stumbled again, lucky enough for Minerva to catch him before he fell.

"It's aight, Kora. Just get some rest." Minerva smiled before heading off.

Kora scratched his head and sighed, falling back onto the bed. Tia, meanwhile, watched him thoughtfully. 'He made sure his friends were taken care of before he was, then he might have forgotten that he was hungry to begin with. After that, he had a waking nightmare, nearly drowned... not to mention him almost breaking his paw by punching that wall, and yet he looks fine. The only thing keeping him in this room is his hunger, and even then...' Tia shook her head, stopping her mental tangent short.

Kora tried to calm himself down, shutting his eyes to get some rest. Unfortunately, every moment his eyes saw darkness, the sting of claws digging into his body grew and grew until his eyes shot open, begging for the safety in light. His breathing grew rapid and he gripped his chest so tight that it hurt.

Tia went to his side, slightly tilting her head. "What's the matter?" she asked.

"It's nothing, just… nothing," Kora shook his head.

"Right. Let me see your paw, Kora," As expected of a nurse, Tia didn't believe that. She grabbed hold of Kora's paw, that pink glow of her's starting to trail up his arm when she let out a yelp and pulled away. A painful cold shot through her body, disrupting her glow entirely.

"A-Are you ok?" Kora asked, worry drenched on his face.

"It's…" Tia paused, shaking her paws. "Nothing. Don't you worry about me, alright? We should wait for Minerva to come back, I think we're both a little stressed out from today," She giggled.

"Y-Yeah," Kora nodded, laying back down but not shutting his eyes again. "I guess it's been a rough day. Kinda hope it gets better soon."

Tia sat beside him, patting his side and taking a deep breath. "Me too."

<><><><>​

The Cafe was similar to the Bakery tent, using the same type of decor and seating arrangements, but with a vastly larger area and softer rugs under each of the tables. The tables were much larger too, with the smallest ones seating six, and the largest ones seating ten. Above each of the tables was a crystal or a cluster large enough to illuminate the entire table, and the tables close to any walls were also lit by torches that burned a warm, bright amber. Funny enough, the Baker couple worked behind the counter.

Surprisingly, there were a few more Pokémon already. James, Eva, and Zen sat at one of the smaller tables. At one of the larger tables sat Nate and Zeke, although instead of eating they seemed to just be enjoying each other's company. Despite there only being five Pokémon in the Café, it felt oddly lively. Minerva waved hello to James before walking over to Nate and Zeke.

"If it ain't bird brain and lizard breath. Surprised the both of ya ain't stuffin' ya faces with pastries." Minerva scoffed, sitting down across from the two.

"We already did, actually. How little of me to not save some for the Sleeping Beauty," Nate replied.

"We'll do better to leave an offering for the anger pixie next time, right Nate?" Zeke added. The three glared at each other then laughed.

"Alright, I get it, I'm tiny. What's happened while I was out?" Minerva asked.

"Where do I begin? Well, we woke up freezing and thought we should hide out here until it passes. Little did we know that it would get colder as the day went on, and now it's snowing!" Nate explained. "Those two came back nearly frozen!" he shivered, nodding towards Eva and Zen.

"Apparently, Kane got upset about something and ran out sometime before the storm hit, and seeing how he's not here, you can probably guess he's out there," Zeke added. Minerva shrugged, not really caring.

"He's a bit of a hardass, yeah, but I would hate for him to stay lost in this weather. Us reptiles don't fair too well in the cold. Even I can't spend too much time out in this sort of weather," Nate said.

Again, Minerva couldn't care less. "Whatever, not my problem what that jerk gets himself into. Speakin' of problems, I need to get some food for Kora! He's not doing too hot, and Tia thinks it's because he hasn't eaten anythin' for a while." Minerva exclaimed, hopping out of her seat and heading for the counter.

Before she reached it, luckily, James tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey Minerva," the Floatzel said, holding out a carrying bag. "Heard you're in a rush for some food. We had some extra pie leftover, so figured you could take it."

"Thanks!" Minerva's eyes lit up at the scent of fresh pie, but dimmed slightly when she realized who they were from. She glanced over at Zen and Eva, both of whom didn't look directly back at her. "An' tell 'em I said thanks too, I guess," Minerva said before running off.

<><><><>​

When Minerva arrived, the three younger Pokémon and Jax had returned, and Tia and Kora sat together on a bed. Kora was holding his head, a pained look on his face. The feline hopped up beside the fox and smiled, handing him the goodie bag.

"Here ya go, bud," Minerva said with a cheery grin. "Got a present for ya!"

Kora thanked her, taking out a Pinap Berry pie. Whatever pain he felt washed away as he took in that fresh scent of the pie. He scarfed it down in an instant, licking the crumbs from his paws. "Oh my god, I didn't realize I was so hungry!" he exclaimed, wrapping his arms around Minerva and squeezing her tightly. "You're a lifesaver, Minni!"

Deciding not to clobber Kora for the nickname, Minerva returned the hug and purred gently. "Yea, yea, don't mention it. I said I'd help, so I helped!" The two let go, jumping off the bed and stretching.

Tia looked on, amazed. Her pink glow returned to her as she psychically read him over. He was totally fine, any signs of fatigue or, you know, drowning were basically, if not entirely, gone. "Y-You're... ok?" she blinked. "Just like that? A-All you did was eat some... pie."

Kora snickered and smiled. "It's a good pie, and I haven't eaten all day, so like, yeah," He lifted Minerva up and placed her in his mane. "I think I might need a few more slices of pie, so how about we-"

"Are you guys going to the Café? You gotta take us with you!" Lucas said excitedly.

"Yeah! We've barely had anything to eat all day! Do you know how many times we've had to carry someone, or fight someone, or walk around the entire mountain?!" Nina added. Jay stayed silent, nodding in agreement.

"Do ya not know how to get there? Doncha kinda live here?" Minerva tilted her head. "Why not just... go?"

"We... have a track record for not finding our way there," Lucas chuckled. "The guild's just so big, and all the tunnels are confusing and long..."

"It's only those two that can't find their way, I usually bring food for them." Jay deadpanned, shaking his head. "If it weren't for me, these two would have to scavenge for food, but they'd probably get lost doing that."

Lucas and Nina growled and pouted, but neither said he was wrong. Minerva and Kora snickered to themselves, allowing the trio to follow them to the Cafe. Jax was going to join, but his body was still relatively sore, so Tia suggested he stay and rest.

"Make sure you guys bring somethin' for us," Jax requested. "Maybe some coffee? I could use a pick-me-up."

"Really? After the energy powder high you just got off?" Tia scoffed. "I thought the last thing you'd want would be more energy."

The two adults started a little argument, and wanting nothing to do with it, the younger five set out to the Cafe. Food was far more important than whatever squabble the meathead and nurse were gonna have.

<><><><>​

Ah, the Cafe. Its familiar aroma of sweet treats pulled the group in, Kora more so than the others. He was walking and talking for so long, putting aside the grumble inside his stomach to chat, but he couldn't take it anymore. The moment sugary wind caught his nose, Kora was a 'mon possessed. His pace quickened as the entrance was sighted, and the sounds of his companions grew distant the stronger the scent became, the only sound he could hear was the purr of his own chest, and the thoughts that danced around his head.

'Pinap berry, Oran berry, Lum berry pie... Macarons, biscuits, and cakes, oh m-!'

It was a disaster! The train of delectable desserts was dealt a devastating blow, derailed by some dastardly evil doer! And the suspect was... on the floor?

"Wha- Kora?" James exclaimed, having collided with Kora and fell on the ground. It was more... him bouncing off of Kora, really. Saying they collided implies they both got hurt in some way, but Kora was perfectly fine.

'A weasel! I should have kno-' Kora blinked, not fully processing who bumped into him, the sugar's hold still clouded his vision. He shook his head and slapped his cheeks, then looked down again 'Wait, hold on. It's just James.'

"You alright?" Kora asked, extending a paw to help James' up.

"I shouldn't even be surprised you're up so soon, but I didn't expect to have you literally run into me," James chuckled, accepting Kora's help. "What's the rush for?"

"Minerva brought me some food, but it was so good that I had to get seconds!" Kora snickered. With James now helped, Kora politely walked past him, and almost immediately walked into Zen and Eva. How were these guys magically appearing in front of him? Kora would have vocalized his confusion, had he not seen the pastry Eva was holding. A Pinap berry pie, hot and fresh.

"Hey, guys..." Eva greeted the group, holding the pie out towards Kora. "We kinda figured you'd want more than just one slice of the pie so... here."

Confused, Kora took the pie, but didn't eat it. He couldn't remember the last time he was given something from Eva, and while he would have eaten it without a second that, Kora was… skeptical. "Uh, thanks?" he tittered, then started walking over to a table. Everything was going well until he realized Eva and Zen were following him.

"What're yo-" Kora began before being interrupted by Zen.

"There is something sh-we wanted to discuss with you," the Bisharp answered, then cleared his throat loudly to get Minerva's attention. "Privately."

Taking the hint, Minerva patted Kora on the head and jumped off, not before glaring at Zen and Eva. "If anythin' happens, I'll beat these two to the ground. Alright?"

Kora was reluctant to take ip Zen's offer, but Minerva's promise eased him enough to go along with it. As Kora and his surprise company went to a table, Minerva and James led the trio to another, not close enough to warrant glares from Zen, but not too far that Minerva couldn't hear what was being said.

After getting their seats, Minerva offered to get the food on her own, and James remembered some business he had to attend to, mumbling under his breath about Nari getting on his case, leaving the trio to themselves.

"What do you think they're talking about? Maybe they're discussing some important saving-the-world stuff..." Jay whispered, mostly to himself, considering…

"Man, I wish I got a free pie..!" Lucas muttered.

"What was all that talk about not forgiving him if she's gonna give him gifts?! I've been thinking about what to do about him, and it looks like not even she can stick to a decision!" Nina quietly exclaimed.

"She didn't even offer us a slice! And look! He finished the entire thing by himself!" Lucas said, jealous and hungry... but mostly hungry.

"Are they on the same team? I've never seen Kora before today, but Zen drops in sometimes. With how different they are, I'm surprised they even get along enough to be on a team," Jay whispered confusedly.

"Maybe I should just... forgive him? That should be fine, right? It's not like he's really all that bad," Nina sighed, holding the flower Kora gave her. The three then noticed Minerva standing to the side, grinning from ear to ear while holding an assortment of pastries that towered above her.

"Ya know... the three of ya mutterin' like you're in ya own little worlds? It's kinda cute. I didn't think Kora woulda gotten to ya enough to get this outta ya," Minerva admitted, setting the sweets on the table.

Lucas happily pulled a small pile of treats and began stuffing himself, much to Jay's disapproval. The Grovyle tried putting some back, saying Lucas wasn't gonna eat all of them. Both boys growled and argued about the sweets, meanwhile Nina shyly took a slice of one of the pies.

"So, uh... how much did you hear?" Nina asked, poking her pie anxiously.

"Just about everythin', actually. The Bakers let me have anythin' I want since I was out for so long. Within reason of course. So I picked the stuff on display so I ain't gotta wait, an' got back pretty quick," Minerva replied, making the blue frog turn slightly purple. "I ain't gonna say a word. Promise."

"Thank you, Minerva. That means a lot." Nina let out a relieved sigh, eating a piece out of the oran pie slice she picked. It was incredible, but the crust was a tad stale. She wondered how long they were on display for.

"Don't mention it. But, an' I might be overthinkin' this, but if what I think is goin' on is actually the case..." Minerva hummed, taking a large bite out of a Pinap Berry pie. "Kora is... he's, well... I dunno how to put this, really. Just, do what ya think is right and ya'll be alright."

Nina blinked, then shrugged and smiled. "Alright, I guess. Thanks again, Minerva," she nodded, going back to her slice of pie.

"Again, don't mention it. Just helpin' a friend out," Minerva snickered, taking another large bite out of her pie. While the two girls ate, Lucas and Jay started to fight over the desserts, glaring and growling at the other. Lucas would complain about being hungry, Jay would warn him that he'd get sick if he ate so many sugary things. It was strangely relaxing to watch.

<><><><>​

Kora gratefully finished his gifted confection, honestly wishing he had more, but felt that asking that might be pushing it. He did find it odd how, despite how aggressive Zen and Eva normally are, and how they apparently wanted to tell him something, that they would be fine waiting there for him to finish. Some part of him almost wanted take longer eating the pie just to see what they would do.

"Are you satisfied?" Zen's cold voice snapped the peaceful silence Kora had adapted to while snacking.

Kora flinced and gulped. "Y-Yeah... thanks for th-"

"Great, now then…" Zen cleared his throat, looking over at Eva. She hadn't said or done anything, and yet she looked uncomfortable just being there. Her tail swished quickly back and forth, she could barely hold eye contact with Kora for more than a second, and it was difficult to tell, but her face looked a little red on the cheeks.

"You alright?" Kora asked, tilting his head. "You're not sick, are you?"

Eva mumbled in response and her shoulders sank. Zen rolled his eyes and sighed, his rigid expression softening for a moment. This being the first time Kora saw Zen with a "caring" look, he reasonably dropped his jaw and stared in utter disbelief. Zen noticed and shot an icy glare at Kora, fixing the fox right up.

"We have already discussed what you wanted to tell him, Eva. I fail to see why you cannot just tell him." Zen crossed his arms, although his tone remained mostly soft.

Zen? Gentle? Today was just full of surprises, wasn't it? Maybe more would follow if Kora remained silent and let them be for a minute.

"It's a lot more difficult to do than I thought, alright?" Eva mumbled, crossing her arms and shuffling in her seat.

Zen gritted his teeth, his head sharply turning away from his companion. "Unbelievable. No matter, we have all day, essentially. But I'd rather not waste it all here."

Eva sighed, finally giving in. A sense of incoming regret would normally fall upon Kora, as the usual one-to-one chats between him and Eva boiled down to him getting told what he did wrong in excessive detail. But with how nervous she was, maybe this would be different?

"So, I've been thinking about, um, us..." Eva began, tapping her claws on her arms. "Our, whatever you want to call this between us. And it might've been much harsher than I intended."

Kora's ears perked up and he tilted his head. It was hard to tell what she was getting at, or rather, he didn't believe she was actually about to say what he thought she was.

"I mean, we used to be friends, right? What kind of friend treats you the way I have been?" Eva's ears drooped, and Zen seemed to soften even more. Kora shut his eyes, his guess was right, he knew what was going on. "So... I wanted to say s-"

"This isn't like you. No wonder you were acting so weird," Kora interrupted, catching Eva and Zen off guard. "Was it Zen actually being nice that messed you up too?"

Eva blinked, glancing at Zen for a moment. "N-No, Kora, just hear me out for a second, please?"

A sudden seriousness overtook Kora, once again catching his company off guard. "No, I already know what you're about to say, and I don't want to hear it. Call it selfish, but if you don't want to hear me saying it, why would I want to hear you say it?"

"I-I..." Eva stuttered, flustered. Zen almost decided to shut Kora up, but decided to let Eva handle this. "That's the thing I'm trying to fix!" she finally said, looking Kora in the eye.

"Why? Were you wrong? I never thought you were," Kora crossed his arms and glared, adding a third surprise to the other two's already full plates. "Every time you called me out, I thought it was for a reason, right? When you're mad at me, it's different than when Zen or Kane are mad at me. They get pissed over nothing, you get pissed when I mess up, which means you aren't wrong," he stood up, towering over the Zangoose. "So I don't want to hear you say sorry when you did nothing wrong."

Without giving either Zen or Eva a chance to speak, Kora turned to the exit and took his leave. Zen and Eva remained silent, baffled by Kora's rejection of Eva's apology. A faint ache in the Zangoose told her to follow him, either a sense of worry or regret wanting her to make amends. Zen didn't stop her, knowing that this no longer concerned him.

While watching Lucas and Jay bicker and squabble, Minerva's ear twitched as Kora left, and her head immediately swung around to see him leaving. She couldn't see his face, but she felt something was wrong. And her intuition felt more justified when Eva got out of her seat and started following behind the fox, trying to make up for something she said, perhaps?

"If that jackass hurt Kora..." Minerva growled under her breath, jumping out of her seat. She turned to Nina and said, "Make sure this stuff gets to the infirmary, alright? And if those two nitwits ruin any of it, they're buyin' it back!"

"N-Nitwits?!" Jay scoffed, turning to Minerva just in time to see her race towards the exit.

"I don't even know what that means!" Lucas grinned, shoving a PokePuff into Jay's face while the gecko was distracted. The boys went back to wrestling each other, while Nina tried to keep the collateral to a minimum.

<><><><>​

Kora made it to the main area of the guild and was about to head to the Infirmary, when he felt something pulse through the ground. He waited a moment before brushing it off, until another pulse came through, a bit stronger than the last.

"What is that..?" Kora asked, looking around the large chamber. Each of the tunnels looked the same, he had no idea where it was coming from. His confusion slowly turned into panic. Frantic eyes searched for an answer that couldn't be seen, until the pulse came again.

"..!" Kora head snapped towards the empty dorms, swearing he could see the faintest shimmer of blue. "Rio!" he exclaimed, leaping towards the tunnel leading to his friend. Someone other than Rio was there, he could feel it. Kora climbed the crystals and shot down the passage, barely being seen by the two Pokemon after him.

More pulses ran through the cold, rocky floor the closer Kora got to Rio, and each time one ran up the fox's body, more worry grew. Before long, Kora had arrived at Rio's room and was met with a blinding blue light. Rio was engulfed in a massive, roaring, blue aura, so bright that you could barely even see the Lucario. Cautious, Kora approached the blue flames, shielding his eyes from its light, and wincing as it danced along his fur, burning him slightly.

"Rio! What's going on?!" Kora called, but he was unsure if he was even heard. "Hey, speak to me! Rio!"

Eva and Minerva soon joined, the massive aura halting them from going in after Kora, its burn and its light was overwhelming. Despite that, Minerva pushed through as much as she could. "Kora, get back! You'll get hurt!" she exclaimed, taking a couple more steps before she needed Eva to bring her back out. Minerva looked on, drenched in worry.

Kora kept on, determined to get to Rio. It was getting unbearably hot, and the aura was blinding even with Kora squinting. Rio's eyes were wide open, staring vacantly past Kora. Steam rose from his body, or was it smoke? It didn't have a smell, but it didn't feel like steam either when Kora moved his paw through it. Kora reached for Rio's arm, ignoring the heat as best as he could.

"R-Rio..! C'mon, wake up!" Kora groaned, finally grabbing the Lucario's arm. Suddenly, Kora's aura began to ooze from his body, flowing from him over Rio, and fighting against Rio's aura. The burning sensation started to subside as the auras condensed around Rio and Kora.

Blue light cracked through Kora's inky aura, shining between the fox's claws. A buildup of energy, a pretty obvious sign of something about to explode, but Kora couldn't let go. A low rumble filled the room, Kora's aura bubbled violently around Rio's arm, and suddenly, a glorious eruption of cerulean blew Kora back. The fox hit the wall behind him, and the jackal was thrown off his bed. Blue smoke rose off their arms, and both gasped for air.

"Kora!" Minerva sped to Kora's side, reeling back when she tried to grab his left arm. It was practically scorched, flames faintly etched into the fur, similar to the ones on Rio's band. He looked dazed, blinking blankly at the feline. "Hey, say somethin'! Ya ain't that hurt, are ya?"

Eva went to check on the Outlander, glancing back at Kora for a moment. "You alright, Rio?" she asked, pulling Rio off of the floor. He had a different look to him, more slender and toned, and his eyes were a piercing jade instead of crimson.

Much like Kora, Rio didn't look entirely there at first. He held his head for a moment, then realizing he was being talked to. His maw opened, but nothing came out. Confused for a moment, Rio tried again. "Wh...What happened..?" he asked, trying to take a step forward, but his legs wobbled and Eva had to catch him. "Sorry, my legs kinda feel like jelly right now, haha."

Kora looked at the other Pokemon in the room. His head was pounding, and their voices seemed to blend together. He shut his eyes in an attempt to shut everything out for a moment. After taking a few deep breaths, Kora stood back up. "That hurt... like, a lot..." he chuckled, shooting Minerva a smile. "Didn't mean to worry you so much, Minnie."

All worry went out the proverbial window as Minerva jabbed Kora in the back of the leg, sending him back down. She then hopped into his mane, scratching behind his ear.

"I already told ya to quit with that nickname," Minerva chuckled, settling into her spot.

Kora rolled his eyes as he got back up. He and Eva looked at each other for a moment, silent, before Kora brought his attention to Rio. "Glad to see you're finally awake!" Kora smirked. "Thought it was about time you joined us again!"

Rio grinned, crossing his arms. "Kept you waiting, huh?"

"Eh, not really. We were doin' fine without ya," Minerva replied smugly.

"Yeah right, why're you here then? You were worried sick about me, weren't you?" Rio huffed, glaring at the feline. All she did was stick out her tongue and nestle herself into the mane she placed herself in.

"She totally missed you, Minerva practically dragged me here!" Kora snickered.

"As if! Ya came runnin' here like a madman cryin' Rio name! 'Oh, Rio, I hope you're ok!' 'Please be safe, Rio!'" Minerva put on a mock worried tone.

"I don't even sound like that!" Kora pouted, his face heating up a bit. Rio and Minerva snickered, then mocked Kora with the same fake tone. The trio kept poking fun at each other as they left the room, seemingly forgetting Eva by her lonesome. She didn't seem to mind all that much. A content smile upon her, Eva followed behind the three back to the infirmary.

 

[Fusion]

Chapter 17: A Blizzard, of all things?
​

"Wow... most of that doesn't make any sense," Rio chuckled as he was filled in on what he missed. "Like... Kora basically drowned, Kane vanished, and it kinda just… started snowing? Calling it all crazy kinda feels like an understatement."

"I hope it doesn't get any crazier. I dunno what time it is, but I doubt it's even noon yet," Kora sighed, eating a couple macarons. "Maybe the blizzard will die down soon?"

"Yeah, no. I don't see it lettin' up anytime soon. Man, almost makes me feel bad for that bastard lizard. Almost," Minerva shrugged, finishing off a slice of pie.

Eva rolled her eyes, taking some treats and placing them into a bag for later. "Right, well, I'm gonna go get ready to look for Kane again. Peace."

Minerva's ear twitched. "Why the hell're ya goin' out in that weather for someone like Kane? Sounds like a good way to get lost."

"Because I care about my teammates, Minerva," Eva growled, shooting a glare at the feline. "Difficult or not, he's my friend."

"At least my friend doesn't go around pissin' Pokémon off for the hell of it! Do I gotta remind ya who set Kora off a week ago?" Minerva growled. "Last time I checked, it was the same prick that snapped at me for no reason! The same one that you let insult me!"

'No reason?! You threw him at Zen' Eva wanted to say, but kept herself quiet. She took a deep breath and turned towards the exit. There were more important things to do.

"I'm not having this argument right now, I'm gonna get ready to leave. Zen you can come but I'm not waiting for you," Eva said as she left.

"Eh, good riddance," Minerva waved Eva off, going back to eating her treats when she noticed Nina looking at her. "What?"

"You aren't gonna go after her?" Nina asked. "She'd be out in the cold by herself. Well, her and Zen."

"And? They're strong enough to go out by themselves. If they wanna go find Kane, more power to 'em, but I ain't riskin' myself for him." Minerva turned away started eating another slice of pie.

"But… aren't you all trying to form a team? Shouldn't you try and save him, even if you don't like him?" Nina tilted her head. Minerva didn't respond.

Zen didn't comment on the conversation either, but the look on his face got his disappointment across regardless. He was about to leave the room when Jay stopped him, with Lucas and Nina beside him. "I'm going too," the Grovyle said, firm.

"You and your friends may be capable, but this isn't a risk I will allow you to take," Zen shook his head, turning to leave but was, again, stopped just short of the doorway.

"Take me then!" Lucas offered. "It's gonna be cold out there right? You'll need someone that can start a fire!"

Zen shook his head dismissively. "While you have a point, I still-"

"Then we'll just have to ignore you," Lucas interrupted Zen, grabbing both Nina and Jay by their arm and racing out the Infirmary. "This sounds like a rescue mission, which means it's a team mission! Let's hurry and meet up with Eva!"

"Wait!" Zen reached for them, but the three were already gone. "Dammit!"

"What a way you have with kids," Kora snickered.

"Truly, a role model for caretakers everywhere," Rio added with a smug grin.

"I'm not their- You know what?" Zen grabbed the two jokers and dragged them out of the Infirmary. "You two will assist me in retrieving those three. No objections." Rio and Kora protested, but they were unable to pry themselves from the Bisharp's iron grasp. Or were they steel grasps? Minerva scarfed down the last of the snacks she had before following behind Kora, Rio, and Zen, swearing to throw that bladed bastard into the ocean.

As everyone else left, Tia floated over to Jax and sat next to him, patting his arm. "They're gonna get themselves in trouble, aren't they?" she sighed. "I've been having this bad feeling all day…"

"Eh, I think they'll be fine. You got a knack for worrying too much, Tia," Jax chuckled. "But, just in case, ya might wanna get in touch Nate and Zeke."

<><><><>​

Eva arrived at the supply area fairly quickly, despite almost getting lost along the way. There were rows of large, walk-in closets, each named after one of the teams, then one larger chamber at the end for actual equipment and supplies.

Finding the closet labeled "Team Sunrise," Eva walked in, flicking a crystal on the wall to brighten it a bit. The closet was reserved for her, Zen, and Kane, but she was the only one who actually used it. By closet standards, this one was huge. Basically the size of a two-person room, with a changing room to the back hidden behind a curtain.

"Here's all our winter stuff. I think I need a lantern and maybe a jacket," Eva said to herself, looking through her winter apparel. "Do I even have a lantern, actually?"

After a few moments of searching, Eva found her light, dark-blue jacket and slid it on. She rarely used it so it was basically still brand new, aside from some strands of fur. To go along with her jacket, Eva thought it would be nice to have a scarf. Another quick search and she picked up a thin, dark-red one.

"I'm all set! Well... maybe I should grab a lantern while I'm here. Just in case," Eva nodded as she walked out the closet, heading towards the larger chamber.

The large chamber was essentially the same as the smaller closets, just, you know, larger. It was a wide, open area with equipment neatly lining the walls, and fluorescent crystals shining over everything. They were split into five sections; spelunking gear, heavily waterproofed gear, flameproof and lava resistant gear, climbing gear, and winter gear.

Eva went straight for the spelunking section, finding a weathered but still functional lantern and a couple liquid wax cartridges for it. She thought about going to the winter section to find something she might need, but couldn't think of anything. As bad as the snow was, she didn't think it got that much worse.

"Perfect! Now I just gotta wait for Zen and we're off!" Eva nodded to herself, turning on her heels towards the exit. She only took a few steps before a blur of orange, blue, and green nearly ran her over.

"Sorry!" the orange blur, Lucas, said. He and his friends grabbed a bunch of supplies and bolted out the exit without saying another word.

"That was… something," Eva tittered. She actually made it to the exit before being interrupted, this time by Zen dragging Kora and Rio behind him.

"Where are they..?" Zen grumbled, dropping the fox and jackal at his sides.

"Those three kids? They just ran off," Eva said, pointing behind him. "How'd you miss them?"

"I had my hands full." Zen rubbed his temples, looking down at Kora and Rio. "These three are coming with us, since you already have all your stuff, just wait for us outside the mountain."

Eva tilted her head, giving Zen a curious look. Before she could ask why he said three, Minerva popped out of Kora's mane and dusted herself off. The two girls blinked at each, dead silent. Rio slowly backed away from the scene, followed by Kora and eventually Zen.

"You're actually gonna help me? Did Kora convince you?" Eva crossed her arms, skeptical that even Kora could convince Minerva to do this.

"The hell does that matter? Ya got a couple extra paws lookin' for ya friend, so why question it?" Minerva said, crossing her arms as well. "Besides… I woulda came to help ya anyway. Us girls gotta stick together and all that."

Eva remained skeptical but didn't outright express it. "Alright then… Thanks. I'll be waiting for the rest of you guys outside the mountain."

"Sure, fine." Minerva nodded.

Regardless of Minerva's reasonings for turning around so soon, Eva was glad to have her assistance, along with Kora and Rio's. "We'll find you Kane, just… be safe."

<><><><>​

It was worse outside than Eva thought; the snow was already piled up to her waist. The wind was picking up too, sending chills through her body. She stood out there with her lantern lit, looking over the untouched snow as she waited for the others to get here. Which didn't take long, luckily.

Lucas tripped over himself as he ran outside, face planting into the snow. Nina snorted, covering her mouth as she continued giggling. Jay was absolutely dreading being outside, shivering like a scared child in the cold. Behind them was Zen, as stoic as ever. Rio came out next, in awe of all the snow, and lastly was Kora with Minerva in his mane.

Those less bothered by the cold, Rio, Zen, and Lucas, had basically nothing extra on other than green and red scarves on Rio and Zen respectively, and clawless gloves on Lucas. Jay had on a large, warm looking jacket and wool hat, both light and dark green respectively. Nina had a coat similar to Eva's except it was all blue. Kora had red ear muffs and a matching tattered scarf, and Minerva wore a poofy black and yellow jacket with black ear muffs.

Eva couldn't help the smile that stretched across her snout after seeing everyone gathered together. "Thanks you guys. Zen and I were gonna need all the help we could get."

"Don't thank us yet, save it for when the job's done," Lucas rose his head from the snow and grinned.

"L-Let's h-hurry up a-and find K-Kane…" Jay said through chattering teeth. "I-It is way too cold..! Wh-Why is it so cold?"

Nina wrapped an arm around her shivering Grovyle friend. "We'll get back inside before long. I don't think Kane wants to stay in the cold for long either."

"We're gonna get moving soon, right? I think the snow's gonna get worse," Kora said, pawing at his snout. "Uhg, I gotta sneeze but I'm not sneezing. This is agony."

Rio went over and flicked Kora's nose. "Better?"

Kora blinked, rubbing his snout. "Actually, yeah. Thanks!" He gave Rio a bright smile.

Zen cleared his throat loudly, getting everyone's attention. "Alright, enough wasting time. Every second we spend standing around is another second the snow gets worse. Light your lanterns and we'll head out." He pulled out his own lantern, handing it over to Eva. She blew a tiny flame inside to ignite it. Jay's was lit by Lucas, and Rio's by Kora.

"Looks like we're all ready," Minerva yawned, poking her head out of Kora's mane. "Tell me when we find Kane or whatever, I'm takin' a nap."

Eva rolled her eyes, grinning. She, Zen, and Rio took the lead, with the trio behind them, and Kora and Minerva in the back. There was a faint homeyness in traveling with a group, a feeling of safety that warmed Eva to the core. She hoped she'd be able to find Kane soon so he could experience it himself. They began their trek along the shore, chatting amongst themselves to distract from the cold.

<><><><>​

The snow picked up sooner than anyone would have liked. Their vision was cut in half, and the wind stole the heat from their bodies as it rushed past. The group huddled closer together, both to conserve warmth and to keep track of each other.

"Hey Eva, do you have a clue that'll lead us to Kane?" Nina asked, huddling closer to Eva.

"Honestly… no. We checked his house and mine, and I don't really know where he'd go if not those places," Eva replied, sighing. "I doubt he'd be out in the snow, so maybe the square? Or maybe he got lucky and Diana took him in."

"The Outlander, right?" Lucas leaned in, grinning excitedly. "You mean we'll actually be able to meet her? Awesome!"

Eva tittered, shaking her head. "Maybe, it's hard to say. She and Kane don't really look like two people that would really get along, with how sweet Diana is compared to Kane being…"

"Mean?" Kora chimed in.

"Abrasive," Zen said, keeping his focus ahead of him.

"A b-bit of a j-j-jerk?" Jay chattered, rubbing his claws together.

"About as soft as a bed of nails?" Nina hummed.

"Difficult to be around and not wanna punch?" Lucas said, rubbing his chin.

"A bitch in lizard's clothing?" Minerva snickered from atop Kora's head.

Eva pouted and crossed her arms. "I was gonna say, uh… different from her. Y'all are just mean."

"Says one of Kane's friends," Zen chuckled, getting a clump of snow chucked at his head by Eva.

"You're one of his friends too, idiot!" Eva huffed.

"At least I'm honest about him." Zen shook the snow off and continued on.

Rio pouted and crossed his arms. "I was gonna say he was kinda ok."

Minerva stuck her head out of Kora's mane, her face deadpanned. "Why admit to bein' wrong, Blue?"

"I…" Rio paused, then huffed. "I just wanted to say a nice thing about him, alright?"

<><><><>​

The beach was getting cumbersome to traverse. The snow was getting high enough to slow them to a crawl, and they could barely see a few feet ahead of them. Lucas had to snack on charcoal to keep his flame bright and warm for everyone, Kora allowed Nina and Jay to ride in his mane, and Rio started stumbling more and more.

Just as Rio was about to fall over, Zen grabbed his arm. "What are you doing, Outlander?" he asked, pulling Rio back up.

"I... I don't know. My head's just kinda fuzzy," Rio said, holding his head. "I can't… it's weird but like, I can't see you guys. Like, I can see you standing there but… I don't know."

"Hm… it might be your ability to sense aura failing. This might be worse than I originally thought," Zen muttered that last part to himself. "We should find a place to rest and get out of the cold for a little while.

<><><><>​

They went into the woods, finding a small clearing close to the edge of the forest. Kora and Lucas melted the snow on the ground with their flames, while Zen and Eva gathered enough wood for a fire. Their makeshift campsite wasn't perfect, but it did its job. Eva, Zen, and Lucas sat on one side of the fire, and Rio and Kora, with the three on his back, sat on the other side.

"Alright, what's the plan, Edge?" Minerva asked Zen.

"Do not call me that," Zen said, colder than the snow around them. "The plan is to scour the island as much as we can and find Kane. Simple enough for all of you to understand."

"That plan sounds like somethin' Kora and I woulda came up with," Minerva rolled her eyes. "Quit pullin' nonsense outta ya ass and spill it, Edge. Unless ya ain't got a plan at all?"

Zen took a deep breath, not letting Minerva get under his skin so easily. "Again, do not call me that."

"It totally fits, though! Everything about ya is sharp as hell," Minerva huffed. "And don't think ya can change the subject, we still gotta know what we're doin'."

"Weren't you going to take a nap? How about you get back to that so I don't have to deal with your annoying speech impediment" Zen hissed. "How do you even have an accent? No one on the mainland continents has it, and your father barely has one."

"Hell if I know," Minerva shrugged. "Whatever, keep us in the dark as long as ya want. See ya." She sank back into Kora's mane without another word. Zen let out a groan and pinched between his eyes.

Lucas scooted closer to Zen and tapped him on the shoulder. "What are we gonna do? I don't think we can just walk around without an idea of where we're going," the Charmeleon asked. "I don't wanna find out what happens when I get frostbite, ya know?"

'Without Rio's aura sense, this will prove difficult. I shouldn't have placed so much faith in an ability he learned basically yesterday. That being said, I should be more than enough regardless of the Outlander and his lack of ability,' Zen thought, looking over at Rio for a moment. The Lucario chatted away with Kora and Nina, seemingly still unaware of what was wrong with him.

Zen turned to Lucas and said, "I apologize if you expected more, but the best we can do is stay together and look for Kane. I'll make sure we head back before we get lost ourselves."

Lucas smirked and nodded. "Alright, I guess we're in your hands. Keep us safe out here, team leader guy!"

Zen blinked, wanting to correct him but decided to let it be. He bowed gently, placing his gauntlet on his chest. "You have my word."

Eva pretended not to notice the sweet moment that played out beside her, focusing on the dance of the campfire. It was kind of mesmerizing, actually. Eva didn't realize at first, but she started spewing tiny flames as she watched the fire go. Eventually, her gaze crept up towards Kora, and a dull ache grew in her chest.

Some time passed, and seeing that everyone was in high spirits, Zen decided it was time to get moving again. He stood up, taking a deep breath before saying, "We should be reaching the Square shortly, if the blizzard doesn't grow worse. I'm allowing us to remain out here for only one hour. If we can't find Kane then..." he looked over at Eva, who stiffened at the idea of not finding her friend. "... We'll head back to the guild. There's no point risking all of us for another."

Eva wanted to protest, but she knew Zen was right. The Bisharp is many things, but wrong is hardly one of them. She and the others followed Zen's lead to once again travel along the shore, hoping they'd find Kane sooner than Zen expected.

<><><><>​

It was a bit more manageable this time; the storm let up a bit, the wind died down, and because they were right next to the edge of the forest, there was less snow on the ground to slow them. Zen and Rio found themselves at the front of the group, but the others didn't really have an order to them.

"Are we there yet?" Nina asked, popping her head out of Kora's mane. " I feel like this is taking a while."

"Why're you complainin'? Kora's the one carryin' us," Minerva said, patting Kora on the top of his head. "Speakin' of us, where's Jay? Did we lose him?"

"No, I'm right here," Jay's beak poked out of the red mass of hair. "It is way bigger in here than I thought, and warm too! And you're totally fine with the three of us just… being on your back, Kora?"

Kora nodded, sporting a proud smirk that his passengers wouldn't have seen. "Yep! I barely even feel you guys back there. If none of you said anything, I woulda forgot you were even back there, hehe," he chuckled.

"Do ya think I can join? How many can fit in there?" Lucas asked, feeling somewhat left out.

"Lucas, you'd be a fire hazard, and seeing how Kora probably doesn't want to go bald any time soon, I think the answer is gonna be a no," Jay laughed.

While Kora and his passengers joked and laughed among themselves, Eva wrestled with the idea of talking to him. Being nervous still felt unnatural to Eva; the inability to look at him, the way she fumbled with her paws, all of it unintentionally telling Kora that she wanted to talk to him if he was keen enough to pick up on it. Eva let out a sigh and finally decided to speak up.

"Kora..." Eva started, getting the Halfbreed's attention. "Can I, um, talk to you about something? Alone?"

"Hm? I mean, we can't split off from the group so…" Kora rubbed the back of his head, suddenly feeling two someones hopping out of his mane.

"We'll get out of your hair for a bit," Nina giggled, proud of her little pun. Right next to her landed Jay, letting out a startled yelp as the sudden rush of cold and snow struck him to his core. The Grovyle threw himself onto Lucas' back, being the closest warm thing to him.

"Y-Y-Yeah, we can leave f-for a bit," Jay said. "B-But please, k-keep it sh-short?"

Lucas readjusted Jay on his back, shooting Eva and Kora bright, toothy grin, "We'll move on up a little so you can talk or whatever. Don't fall too far behind!" he said, him and Nina waddling closer to Zen and Rio.

Minerva let out a yawn, deciding against leaving Kora's mane. "Eh, I'll just go to sleep for real this time. Tell me if Eva tries startin' somethin', Kora." The feline sank into the sea of red hair, yawning loudly.

Kora blinked, then shrugged and went next to Eva. "Well I guess this works, right? What's up?"

"I-I, uh… I'm…" Eva fought against the urge to make herself smaller, trying to be as confident as she could be. She knew that he didn't want to hear an apology yet, but she couldn't not do it, right? Eva opened her mouth to say something, but Kora shook his head and spoke instead.

"Eva, you don't need to say sorry to me. I haven't done anything different yet, so there's no reason to say it," Kora said, smiling.

This is the second time he's rejected her apology, saying her brashness was justified. Eva looked Kora in the eye, a mixture of frustration and confusion building up within her. "Why are you so… not upset with me?"

Kora shrugged. "I dunno. Do I have a reason to?"

"Yes! I've treated you terribly and-"

Before she could finish, Kora raised his paw to quiet her. "You can't treat me wrong if it's for my own good. I'm no shining example of good, uh, friend-qualities, like you are. You almost went out in this snow by yourself to find Kane, and I got Minerva paralyzed for a day, and hurt Lucas, Jay, and Nina with that fake me I made…" He gave Eva a warm smile, flinching slightly. "If anything, I need you to be harder on me than before, right?"

Eva bit her lip and took a deep breath. He wouldn't have accepted it anyway. For how Eva knew Kora, seeing him acknowledge his faults should have been a relief but… it stung, somehow.

The pair fell silent, unable to speak or look at each other. Minerva, who didn't fall asleep as it turns out, kept quiet as well. What would she have said, anyway? They only spent a few moments in silence before the blizzard filled it with raging winds and thick clumps of snow.

Eva shielded her eyes, her and Kora stopping in their tracks as the blizzard suddenly grew worse. They quickly lost track of the others, not even the faintest light of Lucas' tail flame was seen.

"H-Hey! Guys!" Kora yelled, but his voice was lost in the wind. "HEY!"

"I thought it was clearing up! Why is it getting so much worse?!" Eva exclaimed, grabbing hold of Kora's arm. "We gotta get into the woods!" She pulled Kora away, ducking into the dense forest.

<><><><>​

The dense canopy of leaves kept out a good amount of the blizzard. Unfortunately, that meant there was little to no light other than Eva's lantern. They could move quicker, but with no sense of direction. A reasonable trade-off in their eyes.

"The hell happened? Where is everyone?" Minerva popped her head up, as if she had just woken up. "Why're we in the woods?"

"The blizzard kicked up and we got split from the others," Eva explained, slowing her pace a bit. She still held onto Kora, now by his paw, but she didn't seem to notice.

"Seriously?" Minerva groaned. "So what, we just walk 'round 'till we find somethin'?"

Kora shrugged, not minding Eva's grip. "That's what it looks like. What else are we gonna do?"

Another groan left Minerva as she sank onto Kora's head. "Well ain't this great? We're lost in a damn blizzard with nothin' to do but walk…"

"You do realize that you're being carried by Kora, right? You are literally doing nothing but staying warm and letting us do all the walking," Eva rolled her eyes and sighed. "I'd love to be in your spot, but I can't."

"Why not?" Kora tilted his head. "I can carry you too, Eva, it's not that hard for me."

Eva shook her head. "I'm not gonna let you do all the walking by yourself. That just wouldn't be fair." There was more to it, like how she'd prefer not to evade his personal space like that, and maybe also her feelings about him.

"I mean, if you say so. I wouldn't have minded." Kora, again, shrugged. He sniffed at the air, his nose scrunching up. "It's gonna be a long walk, I don't think we're close to the square or anything. All I smell is snow and... I dunno, something."

"Something?" Both Minerva and Eva asked.

"Yeah, something. It's messin' with my nose, like when you really wanna sneeze but can't." Kora rubbed his snout. "Arceus, it's irritating…"

Minerva patted Kora on the head, snickering to herself. "Yeah, I know that feelin'. We'll get outta the snow soon, that might help ya."

"Maybe we're close to the Square already? It can't be that for, right?" Eva chuckled, not entirely believing that herself, but she sounded confident enough for Kora to believe her.

<><><><>​

"Well, this sucks…" Nina groaned, trudging through the dark woods behind Lucas. "We actually got separated, and lost, in about five minutes…"

"I-It could b-be worse," Jay shivered, still on Lucas' back. "I-Imagine if we w-were lost without each o-other? I'd f-freeze."

"I'm sure we'll be fine. Zen said he'll keep us safe, and I believe him," Lucas grinned, marching through the snow and darkness without a care.

Nina walked up to Lucas, just so she could confirm that the Charmeleon had that carefree look on his face. "Lucas, we're lost."

"Then we'll just have to find them, duh," Lucas said, chuckling. It would be better not to try and bring sense to Lucas. He worked best with this blind optimism anyway.

It was definitely a long, chilly walk, but they finally made it to a less dense part of the forest. The trees were thin, threatening to break in the wind of the storm. It was already cold, but it felt almost sub-zero here. Nina had to be next to Lucas, and even he was starting to shiver.

"O-Oh no, this is w-way too cold!" Nina exclaimed. "D-Did we really walk all th-the way down here?" Jay would have responded, but he wasn't able to get any sounds out with how much his teeth chattered.

"I-It's not that bad! We can make it, we just gotta, uh, keep m-moving." Lucas chuckled. "Or m-maybe we should find a place to rest up?"

"N-No I, uh… Actually, m-maybe? It's t-too cold to th-think..!" Nina held onto Lucas, his natural heat hardly enough to keep her warm.

Lucas nodded, looking for a place to make a campsite. Everywhere looked the same, so it wasn't hard to find one, he just blasted the ground with a Flamethrower until the dirt was revealed and placed Jay in the center. Nina and Jay sat close together with the lantern between them, as Lucas gathered firewood. In moments, a hot, bright bonfire was lit, bringing some much needed warmth to the trio.

"Alright, this should be good." Lucas dusted off his claws, grinning proudly. "We'll be nice and warmed up in no time!"

The three sat close together, taking in the warmth of the fire. It was pretty obvious that they couldn't stay here. They could try and go back the way they came and maybe get back to the shore, but they'd also risk getting lost in the woods. Going through these strange woods is also an option, but they weren't sure where they were, or how long it'd take to get out.

"I wish we had snacks at least…" Lucas sighed, finishing his last piece of charcoal. "It's gonna be a bit hard going on without food."

"Somehow, I don't think food should be your biggest concern," Nina tittered.

"I-I'd just like to get out of the cold as s-soon as possible," Jay said, still freezing but much less than before. "This s-snow is more than e-enough for me to reconsider joining this m-mission."

Lucas put on a warm smile and wrapped his arm around Jay's shoulder. "Don't worry, once we're done here, we'll head back inside the guild, get some food, and we won't go back outside until the snow's gone! I'll even stay right by your side to keep you warm."

Jay chuckled. "Y-you better k-k-keep that promise."

Nina giggled at the two scooting closer to Jay to push him closer to Lucas. "Don't forget about me, I'm cold too!"

"Of course I wasn't gonna forget you, Nina! We're a team, so all of us get to eat and warm up together!" Lucas laughed, shoving himself between his friends to wrap them both in a fiery hug.

<><><><>​

Much like the others, Rio and Zen took shelter in the woods once the snow picked up. While it was an unfortunate stroke of luck, neither of them were bothered by it. Well, one of them was unbothered by it.

"Have you made a plan?" Rio asked, staying close behind Zen.

"Are you able to sense things again yet?" Zen asked in reply, glancing back for a second. Rio sighed, which Zen took to mean no. "In that case, I'd like it if you kept quiet for the time being. I have this under control."

Rio crossed his arms, but didn't have a comeback on hand, er, paw. "So you just want to walk through the woods in total silence?"

"Yes. How else would I be able to think of what to do?" Zen said, keeping his focus ahead of him.

Rio suddenly shoved a digit in Zen's face, grinning smugly. "So you don't have a plan!"

Zen grabbed Rio's paw and moved it out of his face, glaring at the Lucario. "If you like having that arm, I suggest you don't do that again." He drove a hard bargain, an offer too good to not take. Rio backed away, zipping his lips and respecting Zen's space.

After walking in silence for a bit, Zen felt he had to commend Rio for keeping quietl. The Outlander hasn't made a peep this entire time, it was almost concerning how quiet he was. Zen looked back to make sure Rio was still behind him, and sure enough he was but… he didn't seem like he was all there. The Lucario swayed from side to side, his eyes glazed over, and Zen couldn't tell if he was breathing or not…

"Outlander..?" Zen grabbed Rio's paw, reeling back as he felt how hot it was. Rio was burning up, so much so that steam faintly rolled off his body, and there was an odd sensation radiating from him as well. "Rio, are you ill? What's wrong?"

"I don… feel to…" Rio muttered, reaching out for Zen. "Z-Zen..?" He was only able to take a single step before falling, luckily into Zen's arms. His body was getting hotter by the second, which was definitely not a good sign. Zen lifted the jackal into his arms, cursing the fact that they were lost.

"I doubt this to be a normal fever, perhaps something to do with what you are?" Zen asked, although he wasn't expecting an answer. "Should I bring you to Tia or… maybe Diana would know the answer? Dammit…"

Rio looked up at Zen, weakly. He brought his arm up and poked Zen's chest blade, who's point was placed right on his side. "Why're you s-so… sharp..?"

"Apologies, I'll try not to puncture you." Zen sighed, looking through the woods for something that would signal where they were. As misfortune would have it, the snow was getting worse in spite of the foliage above. A chilling breeze carried fresh powder along with it, almost cold enough to irritate Zen. "This is unnatural, both your ailment and this blizzard. And yet we have no choice but to keep going and play into the hands of whoever is causing this."

Rio whined, not liking the sound of that. "I hope… the others stay safe…"

After deciding on following the wind, Zen marched deeper into the forest. If, somehow, this was a trap, Zen believed he could handle it, despite Rio being essentially out for the count. Zen's expression softened for a moment, just long enough for Rio to catch. "...As do I."

 

[Navar]

HAHAHAHAHAHAH, I HAVE RETURNED TO REVIEW THIS AMAZING ONCE AGAIN! YOU CANNOT ESCAPE THE GOOD VIBES, FUZE!

...Jokes aside, I have come to bring you even more of my reviewing power, I hope you enjoy this one. I'm gonna go for chapters 16 and 17 now, time for me to dive into your universe again!

Chapter 16
​

Why must you hurt me in this way? The first scene got that sense of dread back into my body. Holy crap, this was bizarre, weird, aaaaa! KORA! Okay, at least he survived, and is totally fine, right? God I really hope by the end of this fic he's gonna be alive. You wouldn't kill Kora... Please tell me you wouldn't do that, I mean it, he's my favorite character of them all I need him to be okay.

Second scene! Lucas, Jay and Nina. I said it before, but I liked this new trio, it's not an exception here. They're all fun(Lucas why the fuck are you touching strange jello? That's not very smart of you. I am a Lucas and I wouldn't do that), they also seem like good guys, helping Kora out of the water. So time is getting all weird around this place, huh? Dialga is clearly not doing his job. Time to beat the crap out of him! Or maybe not, don't challenge crunchy time lizard.

The tensions are growing between the entire cast, and honestly I'm all here for it. Eva and Kora are the ones I really want to see making amends, but imagine if they all were this giant team. That would be pretty cool, right? I doubt this is gonna happen soon, but if it does, I look forward to it! All your characters feel distinct and the clash between their personalities work very well. This was yet another good chapter, keep it up.

Chapter 17
​

First things first: I love this title. It's funny and fits the themes of the character pretty nicely. A sudden blizzard, hm, I wonder how the weather usually is on Sunset Valley. It's not expected anyway, so it's not important right now.

The teams are looking for Kane, in the middle of a blizzard. Wow, this is totally ending well, right? Disaster won't suddenly appear? I chuckled at "Edge", because this fits Zen a lot. It's ironic, really, that his name is Zen and he acts... like a prick, at 100% of the time. I know how his arc is gonna end, he will do one(1) good thing and then just explode because the edge died. This is my joke, you may laugh if you want.

Anyway, Nina, Jay and Lucas got lost, because of course they are. On the bright side, they have a Charmeleon, so it's not so bad. I kinda wanted a moment with just them, the last chapter did that as well, but this one has them in a bad situation, nice to see how they're gonna act moving forward.

The chapter ends with Rio having a fever. Being an Outlander is hard, I guess. Well, at least Zen is doing something not edgy for once. It was fun reading those chapters. As always, keep up your amazing work, I'm very invested in your story, can't wait to see the new chapters!

 

[Fusion]

Chapter 18: The Fox and The Wolf​

"Alright, that should be enough warming up," Jay yawned, rubbing his eyes. He and his friends had dozed off for a moment or two or… several. It was hard to say. The snow had stopped and it was a little sunny, but there wasn't any buildup of snow on their bodies and the fire was still blazing. It felt like no time had passed at all.

Lucas stretched out his arms and smacked his lips, nudging Nina awake in the process. They picked themselves up and took a look around. Something was definitely off… but they couldn't tell what. Jay and Nina let Lucas handle the fire, the Charmeleon was fond of eating the still smoldering bits of wood after a fire was put out, and muttered between themselves, planning.

"Any idea on where to go?" Nina asked, getting a shrug from Jay. She sighed, then asked, "Well, do you think they're gonna come looking for us?"

"Of course. Zen looks like the kind of leader to go after every member if, say… they all got separated in a snowstorm," Jay said, choosing to ignore the pout Nina gave him. "And there's Eva too, she'd also want to get everyone back together ASAP."

Nina crossed her arms, finding it difficult to look directly at Jay when she said, "I-I think Kora would wanna find us too…" Jay bit his lip, wanting to poke fun at that little comment, but couldn't find it in his heart to--

"Sounds like you just wanna be found by Kora," Lucas snickered, munching on the last of the burnt wood.

"N-No! He just looks like someone who would try to keep his friends together!" Nina said, overly defensive. Jay had to cover his mouth to keep his laughter from bursting out.

"I bet you wanna climb back into his mane too!" Lucas teased further, bringing a purple tint to Nina's cheeks.

"B-Because it was warm in there!" Nina crossed her arms and turned away, almost slipping in the snow. "He's a lot warmer than you at least, Lucas."

"So… what you mean to say…" Lucas looked at Jay, who was struggling to keep himself under control. "Is that you think…"

"Lucas, I know what you're about to say, a-and for your sake…" Nina warned, but didn't have the strength to look menacing.

Lucas leaned in close, just enough to whisper in Nina's ear. A small flame brushed past Nina's cheek as the Fire Type said, "... Kora is hotter than me?"

A very unwanted, unpleasantly pleasant chill ran through Nina's body, and her face turned a deep shade of purple. Her instincts told her to get away immediately, which translated to her jumping as high as she possibly could and hang onto whatever branch she could grab onto. Lucas and Jay both lost it, the former fell on his back as he laughed, and the latter clutched his sides and tried to keep himself upright.

"Th-The look on your face!" Lucas wheezed, finally calm enough to get back on his feet. "That was priceless!"

The branch, well… the tree Nina hung onto started to bend and lower her. She shouldn't have expected anything more from a pencil-thin tree, and cursed herself for doing so. "N-No fair! Why'd you have to go and do something like that?!"

"Because I knew it would mess you up like that," Lucas said, sticking out his tongue. " Now I know you have two weaknesses, and they're both fire related!"

Jay wiped a tear from his eye, which froze as he flicked it away. "You have to commend him, at least. Not even I thought you'd react like that," he sighed as he was done laughing. Nina crossed her arms, then a great idea popped into her head.

"You're one to talk mister. Don't think I wouldn't notice." Nina had a smug look on her, which only did to confuse Jay.

"Notice what?" Jay asked.

Nina, still purple with embarrassment, pointed a digit at Jay. "The day we ran into Zen, you started talking like he does? And you tried to act like him too? And you decided to go with him to beat up Kane? And-"

"Oh no. Nonononono, don't you try and throw that on me." Jay held up his claws and shook his head. "There's nothing between me and Zen like you and Kora. Trust me."

"Oh really? So he just so happened to be the first one you mention when we were listing off who would look for us?" Nina raised where her eyebrow would have been, if frogs had those.

"Because he's the leader of the group, obviously," Jay said, blunt, but he was already showing cracks in his armor of stoicness. He just couldn't, for the life of him, look Nina dead in the eye.

"And what about how you were the first to offer going with him to find Kane? You didn't even waste a second." Nine got close and poked Jay in the chest. Lucas was giggling off to the side, enjoying every last second of this.

Jay was growing more visibly flustered, suddenly finding his thick winter coat a bit too stuffy. "J-Just because I am willing to help someone doesn't mean I-"

"Oh hey Zen!" Lucas said in a chipper tone. Jay's head instantly snapped around, looking for the Bisharp in question, but by the time he realized no one was there, it was too late. He had fallen for the oldest trick in the book. Lucas must have been a master fisherman with how easily he can toss out some bait and catch both Jay and Lucas hook, line, and sinker. Nina and Lucas wrapped an arm around on each other and laughed, bumping the others' free fist. Jay's shoulders sank, suddenly feeling a lot warmer than he thought he should, especially around the face.

"We got him good!" Lucas said, entirely proud of himself.

"I hate you both…" Jay groaned, hiding the redness in his cheeks by pulling over his hood.

"Well that's a given, neither of us are Zen," Nina snickered.

"And I'm sure if I was Kora, you'd be all over me." Jay cleared his throat, smirking at the sudden increase of purple in Nina's face. "There, now we're even. Let's get out of here already."

"A-Agreed…" Nina agreed. "Let's also, uh, keep this between us? Like, pretend it was nothing?"

Jay looked over Nina's face before saying, "I mean, sure, but why would we keep nothing between us?" He nodded.

"Wait… Nothing? I thought we were-" Lucas began, interrupted by both Nina and Jay facepalming. "What?"

<><><><>​

The trio trudged through the snow, the warmth of the fire and their innocent teasing long gone, having been replaced by bitter cold and snow. They had to huddle close together, just as before, but even with Lucas refueled, his heat wasn't enough. It got colder and colder, and the wind blew stronger and stronger. Snow impaired their vision, the wind impaired their hearing, the cold made them slower…

And worst of all was the feeling of being watched. No, there was something else that was strange too, an odd sensation that made the trios' bodies feel groggy and even slower. It was familiar to Nina and Lucas, which wasn't a good sign to them.

"What do we do?" Lucas whispered. His eyes darted every which way, looking for… something.

"W-We can't run, o-obviously. But it m-might be too cold f-for all of us to fight. At least, n-not me," Jay said. "Curse this weather…"

"Fighting might be our only option. But I don't know where they are. Even when I jumped up high, I couldn't see anyone…" Nina said. "Nothing but snow and weird trees."

"S-So we're lost with an enemy w-we can't even see. This feels exactly l-like something an exploration team should be ready for, b-but…" Jay sighed, shaking his head. "No, we'll be fine. Getting in a fight might h-help me warm back up."

They walked for a little while, hoping to find a clearing or something to fight in but to no avail. At least they should have an advantage, thanks to all the trees. Assuming their enemy was larger than them, which by all accounts of not even being able to see them, probably wasn't the case.

"Alright! We know you're there!" Lucas shouted out. His tail flame burned brightly, hopefully a sign to not be messed with.

"As members of the Sunset Guild, we demand you make yourself known!" Jay used all his strength to sound like he had authority.

"We'll warn you now; don't underestimate us just because we're young. You'll really regret it." Nina kept her eyes peeled for any sudden movements, ready to frubble whoever it was up in a moment's notice.

The trio stood back to back, waiting for a voice, a movement, a sound… but nothing happened. They knew they were being watched, they knew they were being followed, and they wouldn't let their guards down until their pursuer made themselves known. A minute passed, feeling like an hour with the tension in the air, then the obvious crunch of snow beneath someone's feet seemed to echo in their heads.

Something was approaching, but they couldn't tell from where, who, or what. Watchful eyes surveyed every visible inch of the forest, but despite the sound of crunching snow getting louder, there was nothing they could see. Was this person invisible? Were they even alone?

There was a sudden pause; everything seemed to stop. The snow, the wind, all of it. The stillness in the air was… unnerving. It felt like even the crackle of Lucas' tail was silenced. Even with everything turning still, none of the three even thought about letting their guard up. Nothing could have gotten past them. Nothing should have…

"For a second there, I was almost intimidated," a voice chuckled, from behind all three of them. They had their backs together, right? They were sure of it. But instead of the scales or jackets they felt a moment ago, there was… fur. The trio jumped away from each other and turned, eyes widening at the sight of a tall, fierce wolf, grinning back at them. Red fur, a white mane, pink eyes; a Lycanroc, obviously. "Almost."

"Who are you." Jay didn't take his eyes off the Wolf, his demand pulling a laugh from the beast.

"We have a real tough guy now, don't we?" The Wolf cracked his neck, totally unfazed by their display. "How cute."

"Who. Are. You," Jay stated again, better at keeping his cool than his friends. "I won't ask you again."

"Alright, alright. No need for all the hostility, kid. Let me ask you a question first, though." The Wolf's demeanor shifted into a far more serious one, and he fixed his eyes on Jay specifically. "What do you know about the Time Gears?"

Nina and Lucas were confused, and rightfully so. Neither could really tell if they knew what those were, exactly. They might have heard about them but nothing was coming to mind. Jay, on the other hand, felt his heartbeat quicken.

"I know what they are, and I know none of us should be messing with them," Jay gestured to everyone present. "So why do you need to know about them?"

The Wolf grinned, rolling his neck. "Good, good. I just needed to know I got to the right one. Well, for your first question, my name is Lee." Lee bowed. "Hell, you do one better and tell you my guild, too. Ever heard of the Valley Ruins Guild?"

Jay squinted, tensing up a bit. "I thought that guild closed down a few years back."

"Right you are. We were in need of a new Guildmaster and members, and figured it would be safer to fake our shutdown while we searched. Bandits and criminals started popping up more and more at the time. Surely you understand how troublesome that could be?" Lee chuckled. His story wasn't entirely unbelievable, other guilds have been known to do the same thing, after all.

"Alright. And the Gears?" Jay asked, clenching his fist.

"A task given to us by Dialga himself. We were the ideal guild for him, no one had their eyes on us thanks to us 'shutting down,' and very few guilds are as effective as us in scouring the world undetected," Lee explained. "In fact, I can't say too much more. I've said more than I was probably allowed to already."

"Can you tell us why you wanted to speak with us?" Lucas asked, having already relaxed a bit.

"I thought it obvious, from what I just said. There's a Time Gear on this island, and I need to know where it is. We're collecting them for Dialga." Lee's expression softened slightly. "It would be a great help if you could cooperate, I'm already having a rough day…"

That sounded… genuine. Lee was dealing with the blizzard as well, from the looks of it. Jay found it hard to keep his suspicions up, as did Lucas and Nina. Of course, they didn't let that show. Jay crossed his arms and tapped his elbows, then said, "We'll… consider helping. As you can see, we're in a predicament ourselves."

"You're referring to the blizzard? I'd imagine that to be a problem. Tell ya what, since you've been so kind, allow me to repay the favor." Lee raised his paw and clenched it, and a second later, jagged pillars of rock jutted from the ground, clearing the snow and creating a path. "That should lead you back to the square. Hopefully I've earned your trust enough for that consideration to become a certainty?"

Jay blinked, caught off guard by the speed of the rocks Lee created. If those were aimed at him… "It does lean more in your favor, yes, but not entirely just yet. We'll have to regroup with the others and see what they know first. This is the first time we even heard of a Gear on the island, after all."

"Please, there's no need for more people to know of the Gear's existence on the island. One of the reasons I sought you out was because I knew you'd be able to keep a secret, several in fact," Lee said.

Something about that statement didn't sit well with Jay, not in the slightest. He cleared his throat and refocused on the facade of stoicness. "Very well then. We'll keep this between us, and once we get the information you need, we'll-"

"Don't worry too much about getting back to me. Chances are I'll bump into you again anyway. Not like I could just stand around and wait, you know?" Lee chuckled. "Regardless, I do appreciate the assistance. People aren't as receptive to helping as you'd think." The Wolf turned and waved, heading in the opposite direction than the path he created. "Be seeing you, and if I don't, I probably already got the Gear and left."

Jay was going to stop the Wolf, having more questions to ask, but Lee was gone in the blink of an eye. What did he do? Was that his natural speed? Some technique? While Jay was nowhere near adept at aura sensing, not by a long shot, he could at least feel some form of pressure when it's being used but… he didn't feel anything just then. Lee was just… gone.

Suddenly, Nina fell to her knees and started gasping, holding her chest. "G-Good grief, I felt like I couldn't breathe. How do you two keep that act up so well?"

"Huh?" Lucas blinked. "Sorry, I was looking at something else. What happened?"

"Y-You zoned out? H-How?" Jay asked, the cold now too great to ignore. Lucas shrugged, pulling groans from his friends.

"Whatever. We have a path, let's just get out of this snow before something else happens… please?" Nina stood up and patted the snow off her.

The trio stood in front of the freshly-made path. It led straight through the forest, luckily, so they wouldn't have to worry about getting lost. Just before they walked down it, a chill crawled up Lucas' spine. He spun his head back, just in time to see a clump of snow hit the ground. After a few seconds staring at it, Lucas was tapped on the shoulder by Nina.

"You alright?" Nina asked.

Lucas nodded. "Y-Yeah, it's… nothing. I'm fine."

<><><><>​

Kora's ears twitched as he jolted awake. He had dozed off sometime after he, Minerva, and Eva found the Square, apparently. It was still frigid, a tiny campfire desperately tried to warm the area up but to no avail. The Bank tent simply refused to heat up, it seemed.

The cold wasn't of Kora's concern, however. There was a something somewhere that did something, uh, somewhere… Kora wasn't really sure, but he knew he didn't like it. Neither did his nose, it seemed, since it itched and irritated him like when he tried to eat a bowl of peppers by sticking his head in it.

Eva and Minerva weren't awake, so for a moment Kora thought he was just spooked for no reason, but then it happened again. A chill rushed up his spine, causing him to shudder and jump to his feet. Then came the sound of rocks breaking through the ground. They abruptly stopped somewhere just outside the tent, and yet the two females remained asleep.

'Are we under attack?' Kora gulped, looking out the entrance of the tent. He relit the fire before walking over to the entrance, peeking his head out slightly. The snow stopped falling, and the wind died down a bit, but there wasn't anyone there. Kora took a step outside, looking around the tent. Sure enough, there were rocks jutting out of the ground. They pointed right where Kora was sleeping, then shattered and left a path.

"U-Uh…" Another gulp. Kora followed the path of rocks back to the forest. There wasn't anyone on the island that could do that, right? Was there someone here? "I-I-Is someone there?" Despite his instincts telling him to get the hell outta there, he ignored them completely and followed the path.

The forest was definitely not the ideal place to be. The could wasn't too much of a bother, but having the idea that someone was maybe trying to skewer him on the edge of stones made walking the path those stones created very unsettling. Kora's ears flicked and turned and twitched every which way, listening for someone or something. All he heard was some crackling static, oddly enough. But replace oddly with scarily, for accuracy.

That creeping feeling returned, and Kora could swear that the darkness of the forest was getting darker and darker. It started to feel suffocating and claustrophobic. Kora gripped his chest, his vision starting to blur. Something was wrong, very wrong. The darkness crept closer, and Kora could swear he heard something just outside of his vision.

"Wh-Who's there..?" Kora asked, looking around. Was that movement in the corner of his eye, or was he just seeing things? Wait, what was that sound? Did a branch break? Who's crunching leaves? Did something fly above him? Where was he? Is anyone-

"Kora?" A girl's voice startled Kora, causing him to let out a high pitched scream and jump into a branch. It was Nina, and her friends. All three of which were looking at Kora with worried eyes.

"Oh, it's you guys…" Kora tittered, still holding onto the branch for dear life. "I didn't hear you coming! What's up?"

"Uh… you?" Lucas snorted. "What're you doing out here?"

"Oh you know…" Kora tried to release himself from the branch but his claws were in too deep. "... Hangin' around."

"Hangin' around?" Jay raised a brow.

"Hangin' around." Kora cleared his throat. For an uncomfortable amount of time, they just stood or hung there…

Nina sighed. "You're stuck, aren't you?"

Kora didn't answer, looking away. Eventually, he nodded. "Y-Yeah…" Jay and Lucas snickered, mostly at Nina who had turned a shade of purple.

A moment later and the entire branch Kora was attached to was sliced off it's tree. His claws remained snuggly inside it, and while the trio suggested he break it or allow them to, Kora said he wanted to hold onto it a little bit longer. Kora was then hit upside the head with the branch in his own paws.

The four followed the path back to the square, one of which with a branch still snuggly in paw. Kora took what felt like his first actual breath since he walked into the forest, taking in the warm sun and sighing.

"Alright, where are the others?" Jay asked, turning to Kora. "You weren't alone this whole time, right?"

"I had Eva and Minerva with me. They were still asleep when I left though." Kora said, swinging his branch from side to side. "I wonder if I can hurt anything with this…"

"Yes, you can. Please sto--" Jay turned to answer Kora, getting accidentally thwapped in the face by some stray leaves. "--ow…"

Kora apologizeed, but still refused to try and let go of the branch. They entered the bank to see the two still slumbering girls and a put out fire. "Huh, that's funny… I lit it back up before I left. Did I not add enough firewood?" Kora said, scratching his head with his branch. "Man this thing is useful."

"I don't think that matters right now. Let's get moving before the storm comes back." Jay said, poking Eva in the side. "Hey, you awake? We gotta go find the others."

Eva shifted around a bit, grabbing Jay's arm. "Nnnnnnnoooo… I wannn sleepsome more…"

Jay pulled and tugged but Eva's grip was too strong. "C-Come on, seriously, we're about to leave!"

"But the sfluffy issowarm," Eva purred. Jay was not prepared nor did he sign up for this. And while he wasn't getting paid anyway, he felt he deserved a raise for this too.

"Kora, help me out here please?" Jay asked. Kora nodded, looking at his branch, then Eva. A light bulb dinged over Kora's head, which was an odd thing for everyone else to witness, then he dangled the leaves right under Eva's nose.

The first time Kora did it, Eva simply swatted it away and pulled Jay closer. The second time, she let out a growl. The third time was the kicker, as in Eva pulled the branch in and kicked Kora in the chest. While this finally made Kora let go of the branch and knock the wind out of him, Eva was still soundly asleep, and her kick gave her enough momentum to pull Jay into a tight squeeze in her soft, and surprisingly powerful, arms.

"H-Help me-e!" Jay choked.

"Ouch…" Kora groaned, rubbing his chest. "Wha- oh man, Jay's done for."

Nina rolled her eyes, going over to Eva and poking the slumbering Zangoose in the side. Surprisingly, this woke Eva right up, much to the frustration of Jay.

"Whazzat?" Eva asked, propping herself up. "How long was I out?"

"I dunno, I lost track of time," Kora said. "Thanks for kicking me in the ribs, by the way."

"Hmm, I shoulda gone for the head," Eva chuckled, looking down to see a crushed Jay. "What happened to him? Wait, when did he get here?"

Nina waved, getting Eva's attention. "You hugged him to death after kicking Kora."

"Ok…" Eva blinked. "Weren't there three of you? Where's Lucas?"

"Oh he's ri-" Kora was interrupted by the sound of someone getting punched really hard. He turned to see that Lucas was gone and Minerva awake and stretching. "Nevermind… I coulda sworn he was just here."

A pained voice from outside the tent then spoke, "I-I'm… here…"

Nina darted outside, finding Lucas face-down in the snow. "Did you trip or something?" Nina asked, trying to help him up. Lucas raised his claw to point at Minerva, who was already climbing into Kora's mane.

"He startled me. Shoulda known better," Minerva said, blunt.

"I was quiet, though…" Lucas groaned. "Y-You looked me in the eye before you did it..!"

Minerva shrugged, hardly caring. Kora flicked Minerva's ear and stuck out his tongue, offering to carry Lucas and Jay in his mane. While Lucas was fine after a little while, he did not waste this chance to try out the mane he's heard only good things about. Jay kinda just choked an affirmative grunt and Nina tossed him in, climbing in along with him.

"That's a lotta people, Kora. You sure you can handle it?" Eva asked, looking him over.

"I'm fine! This is nothing," Kora nodded, not admitting that he had to lean forward a bit to keep from falling over.

"H-Holy hell, there's so much room!" Lucas exclaimed, practically melting in the mane. "And soooooo waaaarrrrrrmmmmm…"

"Told ya," Nina snickered. Minerva would have been upset with all the people she had to share Kora's mane with, but she still had plenty of room to herself.

With everything in order, Eva, Kora, and his passengers set off to the guild, hoping to find the last missing members of their group. Unfortunately, Kora felt another annoying tingle in his nose. He growled and flicked his snout, reminding himself to thank Rio for the anti-nose-itch measure.

<><><><>​

Zen would be the first to announce that he was lost, but certainly not when he's with others. He trudged through the snow, a proud, stoic warrior carrying a sick, fallen jackal. He was so stoic that he'd hardly say anything, and unknowingly, his hold on Rio slowly got tighter, which pretty much meant that Rio was getting jabbed in the side by body blades. Agony, was selling it short.

"Z-Zen…" Rio muttered.

"Silence, I'm gonna get us out of here." That was Zen's reply. Every time Rio spoke up. For the past ten minutes.

"Please, Zen…"

"Silence, I'm gonna get us out of here."

"Y-Your blade…"

"Silence, I'm gonna get us-"

Rio's ears twitched at Zen's automated message being cut short. Something was wrong, wasn't it? Zen stopped suddenly, his head on a swivel as he looked for… something. The forest was silent, other than the sound of Rio's heart pounding against his chest. Rio's sense ability was popping in and out, but all he could feel was Zen's overwhelming presence most of the time. But, when he really tried to focus, he felt it.

"There." Rio pointed his paw behind Zen, catching a glimpse of a shadowy figure among the trees. Zen nodded, placing Rio on the ground before facing the direction the jackal pointed in.

"Show yourself, there's no longer any point in hiding." Zen voice was firm, commanding. Even Rio felt the urge to give up but he was already in a weakened state, and did not want to move. A few moments of silence, and Zen's temper started to show. "The longer you make me wait, the more of your bones I will shatter under my heel."

Something stumbled in the snow, which was all Zen needed. He shot off like a bullet, and within a few seconds Rio heard, "Ahh! I give! I give! I surrender!"

Rio turned around to see Zen on top of a black and red creature, like a spiky bush made of crimson. Rio's immediate thought was, "Kora?"

"K-Kora? I'm his friend! His friend!" The Zoroark said, clearly panicked. Zen grabbed their wrist and held them down, staring into their eyes with his own, cold and deathly. "P-P-Please! I swear, I'm Kora's friend! Don't hurt me!"

"You're panicking, but with that power you're putting off…" Zen's eyes twitched. "No, even with all that energy, I could still break you with ease."

The Zoroark let out a frightened yip, squirming and wriggling under Zen. "N-No, please! Don't do that!"

"Your name." Zen leaned in close, just enough that his breath brushed past the fur on the fox's face. He held back a smirk as he watched the color fade from their face. "Spill it."

"Z! M-My name is Z!" Z sputtered, still flustered, but he seemed to have tired himself out. "I'm Z… Kora's friend."

"Why were you following us." Zen's questions really felt like demands, and if he wasn't answered immediately, he made sure to squeeze Z's wrists tightly.

"I-I thought… I didn't know who you were. I was cautious," Z gulped.

"Are you alone." There was a pause, which Zen wouldn't tolerate. He gripped tightly on Z's wrists, pushing his face ever closer to the fox's. "Are. You. Alone."

"Y-Y-Yes! Yes, I am!" Z turned his face away, not wanting to touch his snout to that cold, metallic armor. "I'm alone, I swear!"

"Hmph." Zen sat back up, looking over at Rio. "How are you feeling? Can you walk on your own?"

Rio rubbed his side, it was cut but hardly any blood came from it. He stood up, shaky at first but he managed to stand. For about, five seconds before almost face planting in the snow. "N-Not on my own. Maybe if I-"

"Don't bother, I'll continue carrying you." Zen turned back down to the fox beneath him. "You, are going to stay in front of me. If you so much as think about running off, I'll have you on the ground in an instant. Understand?"

Z gulped, looking into Zen's eyes. Was it fear? That's what Zen thought it was. A couple seconds passed before Z answered, it was quiet, but just enough for Zen to barely hear. "God yes…"

Zen blinked. "...What?"

"I-I mean, yessir!" Z chuckled.

Zen looked down at Z for another moment; the more he looked, the more he could see Z and Kora knowing each other. They almost… resembled each other, but Zen wrote that off as a coincidence thanks to their species. Even Kora was the splitting image of his mother, after all.

"Remember what I said, we're going to the guild," Zen said, standing up. He made sure to plant his greave on Z's chest just as he got up. "If Kora hesitates for even a second when I ask him about you, it's your life on the line." Zen looked down at Z's face, swearing he saw some sort of smile forming on his snout. He suddenly felt uncomfortable touching the fox at all.

"Understood." Z said with a nod, standing up as Zen removed his steel boot from his chest. Z was remarkably tall, almost matching Zen's height, and towering over Rio. He gave Zen and Rio a smile, which only unsettled Zen more.

"Wipe that smile off your face, don't forget your position in this situation," Zen warned with a sharp glare.

"I'm just glad to meet more of Kora's friends! When they're conscious and all that," Z said, suddenly freezing up. "I-I mean, when they aren't hurt!"

"...Right," Zen deadpanned. Just to stick with his stance as the one taking in a hostage, Zen refrained from admitting that Z would fit right in with Kora's friend circle. However, he still had to scoop Rio up in a bridal carry. With a straight face, Zen ordered Z, "Move."

Z nodded and smirked, turning on his heel and walking, as per his order. Zen felt he'd regret having Z and Kora meet. One brainless fox was one too many, but whatever Z's deal was… was definitely worse in Zen's eyes. Speaking of eyes, Zen caught Rio staring at Z. The Lucario looked upset, no… incredibly uncomfortable.

"What's on your mind, Outlander?" Zen whispered, holding Rio closer to his head.

"... I really wish I didn't have my sensing power working through that whole exchange," Rio answered bluntly.

"I wish I wasn't in that entire exchange." Zen said. He and Rio both shuddered, but continued on regardless. They made a silent agreement to only interact with Z if they truly needed to, which they really hoped they wouldn't.

 

[Fusion]

Chapter 19: A Short-Lived Break​

A groggy, lightheaded, and headached Kane slowly opened his eyes as his body was shaken and jostled awake. It was dark, and while his back and limbs were frigid, his chest was on something fuzzy and warm. He'd dozed off at some point, yes, but where the hell was he now?

"Nggghhh…" he groaned, trying to get his bearings. Obviously, he was moving fast; weaving through the trees at a breakneck pace. Below him was snow, which was an odd occurrence, above him was leaves, and to his right was a large, bushy red mane. The Scrafty's memories started coming back to him, he was sharing drinks with… a fluffy thing, a uh… Zoroark! It was… they were… it wasn't Kora, obviously, so that only left…

"D-Diana..?" Kane asked, holding his head. Actually speaking seemed to worsen the headache, totally unfair seeing how little his head seemed to care about him basically being tossed around like a scaly bag of potatoes. "The hell're we goin'?"

"You're awake? Sorry, I had to get us out of there as soon as I could," the mother's voice spoke, gentle and soothing.

"...What? Why?" Kane lifted his head up, not seeing anyone following them, and now realizing that he was being carried over Diana's shoulder, that explained the shaking and whatever. "Did somethin' happen? How long was I out?"

"I… can't tell. We got a little carried away and passed out before we knew it, I think. All I know is I woke up and a blizzard had already hit. Not only that but…" Diana hesitated, " …well, I'll tell you once we're in a safe place."

After a minute or so of sudden turns and loops and zig-zags, Diana and Kane reach a clearing with a hill. Kane, knowing this is a part of the island he'd never been too, and not wanting to touch the cold, icy snow, opted to stay on Diana's shoulder as she carefully walked down the hill.

"Can you fill me in now? Pretty sure there ain't a soul out here besides us," Kane asked, taking in the sights of the snow-covered area and wondering exactly how big the island was. He might've lived here for years, but it looked like there was still so much he hadn't seen.

"There was a blizzard, obviously, but along with it came… something else," Diana's voice wavered.

"Well, what was it?" Kane grumbled.

"It's… I don't know. I do know that it's powerful, I felt a glimpse of it after I woke. Or maybe… it's the reason I woke in the first place. It was like… looking into a well of bitterness and rage, or perhaps the jaws of a beast." The hill was getting steeper the further down it went, so Diana readjusted Kane and started to carefully slide down it, using an arm to keep them balanced.

Kane shuddered, rubbing his arms to keep warm as the chilling wind brushed along his back. "Y-You sound s-scared. I don't s-see how, ain't you super p-powerful?"

Diana didn't respond right away, letting out a sigh. "I was. It has been ages since I last needed to be powerful, so my powers have waned. I've been training constantly since Rio's arrival, so I can regain at least some of my strength, but I'm far past my prime."

"Are you kiddin'? I'm no aura s-seer or whatever, but you're d-definitely tougher than most of us. 'Powers waned,' my ass!" Kane scoffed, earning a giggle from Diana.

"That's sweet of you, but even though that's true, it should show you exactly why I needed to get us away from that thing," Diana replied, finally reaching the bottom of the hill.

It was even colder down here, and an annoying breeze washed through the area too. The trees were tightly packed, but there was a clear path just ahead of them. The darkness of the woods sent a chill up Kane's spine, but he didn't really have a choice as to what he could do. If he went on his own, the cold would get to him in less than ten minutes. At least now he was half warm and didn't have to walk at all.

"Alright, why's whatever that got you spooked here?" Kane asked; the talking helped keep him warm.

Diana hummed, tapping her chin. "If I were to guess, and I know how self-centered this makes me sound, but… a being so powerful coming here of all places is likely here to get rid of me."

"So they have a death wish." Kane chuckled, rubbing his hands together for warmth.

"You laugh, but trust me, it's a valid motive. Arceus has very few enemies, but those few are powerful beyond your comprehension. As one of Arceus' knights, I hold a great deal of Arceus' own power. Whether they wish to destroy this borrowed power or take it for themselves, they'll have to find me," Diana explained.

That was indeed a good reason to run and hide, probably one of the best reasons. Kane was about to ask something else, but was stopped when Diana, well, stopped. It was pitch black at this point, until Diana lit a torch to reveal a cave entrance. Kane looked around to see no snow, and the trees around them seemed to twist and warp around themselves, like a tightly woven blanket of bark.

"What the…" Kane muttered, finally getting off of Diana, who handed him a torch and smiled.

"Back before we bought this island, Orion and I scoured every inch of it to rid it of mystery dungeons entirely. This is what's left of them," the Zoroark said, pointing out some of the tiny, chaotic pulses of energy with her torch. "Orion called it a micro-dungeon. Basically, it's too small to be of any harm to anyone. It's kinda cute, isn't it?"

Kane looked Diana over, baffled by the cheeriness of her voice. "Uh, sure."

Diana motioned for Kane to follow her inside the cave. "There are a few other micro-dungeons around the island, and while they can't grow they certainly do move around, but not this one. I've tried to figure out why but... I got nothing."

"How dependable. The Hero, Diana, ladies and gentlemen," Kane snickered, following Diana's lead. The cave was actually just a tunnel, fortunately. Straight and narrow. It was a little cramped, cold, and a bit stuffy, but nothing too much for either to handle. "Why're we goin' in this cave in the first place then? Too scared to see what this micro-dungeon's got in store for us?"

"Oh hush." Diana turned back and stuck out her tongue. "We're heading to the guild, where I'm certain the others are. We'll inform them of the intruders and form a plan to take them out. Plain and simple." Kane didn't see a problem with that, other than the cold bit at his scales.

"Fine, but you owe me for makin' me walk in this cold ass weather. I'm thinkin' hot chocolate, or more of whatever we drank that knocked me out cold," the Scrafty laughed.

"Fine, fine. Even though I'm doing this for your own good," Diana waved her paw and giggled. Divine power leaves traces, and you and I were in the same place for… who knows how long. If someone was after me, they'd certainly find you too. And I'll remind you that they're probably ruthless, unfeeling weapons of destruction." She shot a cold stare at Kane, but found it hard to keep a straight face and snorted.

While Diana had her giggle-fit, Kane felt like his heart stopped for a second. "G-Geez, give a man a heart attack, why doncha?" He suddenly felt someone gently poking him in his back, realizing it to be Diana. How she got behind him so fast was beyond him.

"Awww, what's wrong? Too scared of what such a powerful creature's gonna do to you?" Diana cooed, sending a chill up Kane's spine and causing him to jump away from her.

"Y-Yes! I am!" Kane said, noticeably flustered. Diana vanished again, this time reappearing right in front of him. This was Kane's first time actually noticing just how much taller than him Diana was. Why did he have to be so damn short? Before he knew it, Kane was wrapped in Diana's soft, caring arms.

"Don't worry, Kane. I got your back, and I promise not to let anything happen to it," Diana said softly. The hug was nice, totally uncalled for and pretty much fried Kane's brain instantly, but nice nonetheless. Diana let go and gave him a warm smile to top the hug off.

"Wh- er, I…" Kane stuttered, not knowing what to do.

Diana patted the reptile on the head and walked past him. "Come on, we have a long ways to go."

"Y-Yeah… Sure…" Kane blinked. "And don't pet me again."

"No promises~" Diana snickered.

Kane grumbled under his breath, but followed behind her anyway, feeling an odd itch on his back. Probably from where she poked him. "Goddamnit…"

Although faint, the sound of creaking and cracking stone echoed into Kane and Diana's ears. They were cautious, listening for the sound to come again, but it never did. The two looked at each other and nodded, a confirmation to pick of the pace to get out as soon as they could.

<><><><>​

Upon exiting the forest, Zen, Rio, and Z were graced by clear blue skies, snow covered shores, and the welcoming entrance to the guild. It looked to just be about noon, perhaps a bit later but Zen hardly cared for the specific time. He sat Rio down against a stone and set his deathly stare upon Z, stopping the Zoroark from entering the guild.

"Hold it," Zen ordered. "We're waiting for the others."

"But… it's so cold out, an-" Z was cut short by Zen's arm blade pressing against his neck. Z gulped, shaking nervously.

Zen slowly retracted the blade, glaring still. "I wasn't asking."

Z nodded, planting himself on the ground immediately. The sudden shock of the snow's cold brought a quiet yip from the fox, but wouldn't dare stand up and anger Zen further. Zen cracked his neck before taking a seat on a rock nearby Rio.

Rio leaned in to whisper, "You're a bit too good at that tough-guy act."

"Act?" Zen blinked, causing Rio to snort. The Bisharp rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "Be sure to remember who your superior is, Outlander, lest I hold you in the same place as 'Z.'"

Rio snorted again, covering his snout before his laughter escaped it. Z picked up on the conversation as well, letting out a snicker or two before getting glared at again by Zen. Zen let out an aggravated groan, wondering when he signed an application for babysitting immature brats.

A few minutes passed, and while no one expected the others to show up instantly, the three started wondering what could be keeping them. If there was a fight, the clashing of powers would be a dead giveaway of such. Unless the attacker was swift and silent, which would be dangerous. Or if something else happened, like one of the members going berserk again. Of course, these thoughts plagued only Zen, since Rio and Z started chatting with each other.

"Wait, you helped us back then?" Rio asked, baffled.

"Yep. All of you were unconscious and paralyzed as hell. I did what I could and, uh, left right after…" Z said, sheepishly. "Wasn't exactly ready to meet y'all yet, hehe."

"Well, why not? You seem like you'd fit right in with us," Rio chuckled. "Plus, we kinda owe you our thanks for saving our butts."

Z shook his head and paws. "Please, there's no need. I'm just glad you're all fine now. I've rarely seen such heavy paralysis before."

Zen decided not to comment on most of what's been said, but this latest topic was enough for him to speak up. "Are you a traveler? I find it awfully convenient that you appeared just as that fight broke out."

"It's… complicated. I'm from off the island, obviously, and my being here isn't exactly something I can… tell you," Z gulped, seeing Zen grow more and more irritated by the second. "I-It's not because I'm hiding anything! I was ordered not to explain myself!"

"By who?" Zen and Rio both ask.

"I just said I can't tell you!" Z huffed, but shrank under Zen's glare. "I-I'm sorry, I just can't!"

"Hmph, fine." Zen let out a sigh and relaxed a bit, still having his arms crossed. "But you will tell us, eventually. And I imagine you don't need me to tell you what will happen if your occupation isn't to my liking."

Z nodded, wrapping his arms around his knees. "I-I read ya, loud and clear…"

<><><><>​

Another few minutes of Rio and Z chatting, and just as the cold was starting to breach Zen's metallic body, the remaining members finally arrived. Eva's eyes lit up at the sight of Zen and Rio, and Kora nearly fell over when he tried to wave at his friends.

"Zen! You guys made it!" Eva cheered. She looked around for a moment, blinking at the other Zoroark before looking back at Zen, worried. "D-Did you find any sign of Kane?"

Zen shook his head, clenching his fist. "No… I didn't. I imagine you didn't either?"

"He was at Kora's place, apparently," Lucas said, popping his head out of Kora's mane. "According to Kora's nose, that is."

"We would've followed his, uh, trail, but Kora lost it just as it hit the forest. Kane's lost lost, but we don't think he's alone," Nina added, also emerging from Kora's mane.

"Pretty sure he and Diana are traveling together, so if anything he's in better hands than if we took him back here," Jay finished, refusing to leave the warmth of the mane on his own. Lucas had to pull him out by force, which Jay did not like.

The moment the trio got out of his hair, Kora instinctively sped over to Z and sat in front of him, smiling brightly. "Oh my god, you're actually real."

"H-Hi, Kora. Nice seeing you again too, hehe," Z chuckled, glancing over at Zen. "U-Uh, just so Zen doesn't turn me into a fur coat, could ya tell him about how we met?"

"You mean when you saved us from the hot springs after we got zapped up? Why?" Kora looked back at Zen. "You didn't do anything to him, did you Zen?"

Zen crossed his arms and shook his head. "It doesn't matter, just know you saved your 'friend' from being my new winter attire."

Kora shot a glare at Zen before facing Z again and placing his paws on Z's shoulders. "Don't mind him, he wouldn't actually hurt anyone. Except for when he does. And he does that a lot."

"That's… reassuring," Z tittered, standing up and shaking snow off his body. "Is this everyone? I feel like someone's missing."

Eva was about to answer, but Zen spoke just before she did, saying, "Whether or not that is true, it is not of your concern. Your acquaintanceship with Kora aside, you are still an outsider, and will be treated as-"

"Let's go inside and get something warm to drink or eat. Or both! I'm starving!" Kora interrupted, looking over at Rio. "Oh snap, did something happen?"

"Just a little sick, I think. Maybe I'm starving still?" Rio said with a chuckle. Kora lifted the Lucario up, supporting him by wrapping his arm around Rio's shoulder.

"You're pretty damn hot, Rio. Let's get you fixed up, again, then we'll eat till we're purple!" Kora snickered.

Jay rolled his eyes, still shivering. "Th-That is not how that saying goes…" he said, following behind the fox.

"Who needs to be correct about dumb sayings when we're hungry?" Lucas chuckled, patting his stomach. "I'm running on fumes right now!"

"I was just getting hungry too, actually. Thank Arceus we made it back in time." Nina stretched out her arms and let out a relieved sigh.

Z perked up, his ears twitching at the numerous mentions of food. "I wouldn't mind getting a bite or two to eat, yeah. I keep forgetting to uh, do that, hehe…"

"What?!" Kora and Lucas both exclaim, causing Z to shrink back a bit. The two grabbed Z by the paws and dragged him, and Rio, inside the guild. "That's it, we're getting you some food right now!"

Zen groaned, wiping his face as the others walked into the guild with the suspicious party. All except Eva. "What? Not going to show our new 'friend' to the cafe with the others?"

"And leave you out here to sulk and brood alone? Nope, not gonna happen," Eva placed herself right next to Zen, smiling. "Kane has Diana to look out for him, luckily, but I'm not gonna lose you in the snow too."

"Eva, we are standing right in front of the guild…" Zen deadpanned.

The Zangoose huffed, punching Zen in the arm. "It's called a kind gesture, asshole! Now let's go get some food before the others eat all of it."

"Hmph, that's a valid concern. Kora is a black hole when it comes to food, and Lucas looks to be following suite. And that… other Zoroark…" Zen crossed his arms and tapped his elbows. "I swear to god there's something about that fox…"

Eva put on a sly grin. "Sounds like someone-" She was cut off by Zen placing his gauntlet on her head, then shoving her into the snow. Eva popped her head up and let out a growl, getting a chuckle from Zen.

"You hit me first, then tried to pull that grade school "crush" tease thing on me. I had no other option," the Bisharp said, shrugging.

"You coulda chose not to be a-" Eva stood up, shaking the snow off her. However, Zen was already gone. She stomped on the ground and smoke flowed from the edges of her maw. "-you prick!"

<><><><>​

The warmth of the guild was a godsend; making even Zen let out a relieved sigh as it hit him. Kora and Lucas continued speeding on by with Z and Rio as unfortunate passengers, and the others simply walked behind them. They were hungry, sure, but they were also tired, a trait that neither Kora nor Lucas seemed to share. Eva rejoined the group a moment later, making sure to blow a cloud of smoke in Zen's direction.

"Normally, I'd say we go to Tia for our injured members, but Kora and Lucas seem to have… other plans," Zen sighed, waving away the puff of smoke. "Perhaps food will solve Rio's ailment anyway."

Jay fell back to stand next to Zen, ignoring Nina's snickering. "What happened to him? Did you guys get in a fight?"

"No. Something came of Rio and a moment later, he was hardly able to stand and gained quite the temperature. If it was anyone else, I feel I'd be more worried," Zen said, glancing down at the Grovyle. "What of you and your team? Did anything happen?"

Jay hesitated. "Not really, just got lost in some strange woods and bumped into Kora hanging from a tree."

There was more to it than that, Zen could tell, but instead of prying this instant he let it be. "Good. I'm glad nothing happened to any of you while we were separated. It's a miracle we regrouped so easily, honestly." Nina and Jay shared a glance before nodding at Zen.

It didn't take as long to reach the Cafe as they thought, and as they did, the warm scent of sweet and savory goodies welcomed them with open arms. As expected, Kora and Lucas already had a table stacked with food, and they, Rio, and Z were scarfing it down like animals. There were pies, there were cookies, there was some fresh sushi, and glazed salmon, and a myriad of other foods that blended together into a tower of things that probably shouldn't be stacked in that way.

Rio happened to glance over at the incoming members and waved, remembering to swallow before greeting them. "Hey guys! We already got a buncha food!"

"We noticed…" Eva shivered, seeing some savory salmon slide onto a perfectly golden brown pie, then Kora eating both in two bites.

"That was thoughtful of you, but we'll get our own food," Zen said, directing the others to a table not close to the tower of food.

"C'mon guyth!" Z said, mouth still full. "There'th plenty for e'eryone!"

"Y-Yeah!" Kora added. Despite their incredibly enticing offer and sound argument, Kora and Z were given a resounding 'no.' "We'll juth eat it all, then."

"Zen, remind me to hate Kora for just a bit longer, please?" Eva muttered. "All that progress made trying to bury that hatchet and then this happens…"

"How about we add those other three to the list as well? They're four sides of the same repulsive square…" Zen said, shaking his head. "How does Minerva deal with that behavior?"

Jay and Nina both tapped Zen on the shoulder and pointed back over at Kora. "Like that?"

Zen looked up at just the right time to see Minerva walk out of Kora's mane, grab a plate of randomly assorted foods, then hop right back in like nothing was wrong. The Bisharp held up his hands and turned to the counter. "I am getting my food to go, and I advise you to do the same."

There weren't any objections to that. The not-ravenous four went to the counter, greeting Ben before doing anything else. And by they, it was actually just Zen. "Good afternoon, Ben."

"Ah, someone who actually greets me this time!" Ben chuckled. "Your friends there hardly said a hello before demanding one of everything we had to offer."

"Predictable. I assume they didn't pay up front, either?"

"Are you sure you aren't psychic? I was going to have them clean this place from top to bottom as payment, but from the sounds of it, you have the price covered?" Ben raised an eyebrow. "It's quite the su-"

The was silenced by the sound of money clinging against glass. It was in a tied off bag, of course, just barely bigger than Zen's hand. Everyone around Zen blinked, then again, making sure they were seeing it right. "This should cover them and us, right?"

"Y-You haven't even ordered yet…" Ben looked up at Zen, unbelieving. "Wh-Where do you even..?"

Zen patted his satchel that was definitely always there, the resounding sound of coins ringing in everyone's ears. "We'll have whatever you would recommend, thank you." Ben took the bag of cash and went into the kitchen without saying a word. Zen shut his eyes and crossed his arms. "... Why are you all staring at me?"

"Since when did you have so much cash?!" Eva exclaimed.

"What did you think I carried in here?" Zen tilted his head.

"Like, items or something! Berries, seeds, not who knows how much money!"

"What use would I have for any of those? I'm more than capable on my own without the use of such things." Zen huffed, almost insulted by the insinuation.

Jay and Nina were speechless, taken entirely off guard by Zen's wealth. They weren't broke by any means, but they might as well have been from the sound of it. Eventually, Jay was able to speak. "Hey, Nina… you heard that too?"

"Uh-huh. Do you think it's from adventuring?" Nina asked, looking over at Jay.

The Grovyle's eyes were still fixated on the satchel at Zen's waist. "No way, he hasn't even joined the guild on expeditions lately." He looked back at Nina, finally. "Maybe he's royalty?"

"Wouldn't that be perfect for you?" Nina snickered, getting a growl from Jay.

"At least I wouldn't have to worry about table manners, a-hem," Jay nodded his head back over to the four still tackling the tower of food. Nina's face heated up, but she didn't say anything.

A little while later, and Ben finally returns, now with four colorful boxes and a smile on his face. "Here we are, specialized lunch boxes for you four! Sorry for the wait, I had to fry up some salmon for you three-" Ben said, handing boxes to Zen, Eva, and Nina. He then turned to Jay to hand him his own box. "-and for you, a fresh arrangement of avocado, berries, and lettuce."

"W-Wait, what?" Eva asked, looking from the box back to Ben.

"Yeah, what?" Nina repeated, getting a chuckle from the cook.

"It's truly nothing to be surprised about, I did precisely as Zen ordered. This is what I recommend, freshly fried salmon for you three, and avocado and berries for Jay." Ben nodded at Zen.

"But, th-the box! It's so…" Nina stuttered, mesmerized by the blue and white design on her own box. "I-Is this based off of me?!"

"We have Pokemon-themed boxes from Azure City thanks to the last outing the guild had. They were sitting pretty up until now," Ben said. "And you still have some change left, Zen."

Zen shook his head, smiling for once. "Don't bother, you can keep it. Before I forget, how is Clara?"

"She's fine, actually. With that whole, dark berry debacle, I was worried for her. Luckily, she was fine. I don't know what I would have done if she was hurt by that fruit. I never did get to thank you for telling us," Ben said, nodding.

"There's no need to, I'm glad you're both safe." Zen gave a light bow. He and Ben turned from each other and went forward, one towards the exit, the other back into the kitchen, leaving their three onlookers dumbfounded.

"What just… happened?" Jay blinked. "Something did happen, right?"

"They felt like two different people for a second…" Eva sighed, following behind Zen. "I guess we should follow him, then."

Nina nodded, keeping herself from looking back over at Kora and the others. "Yeah. Fancy or not, I can't bring myself to eat here yet, hehe."

<><><><>​

The best place that came to mind to eat was the Infirmary, and even with the trek back, their food was still hot. Excluding Jay's, obviously. Nobody was inside, surprisingly, but that meant they could eat in private.

"I can't believe I resisted opening this box during that walk," Nina said, plopping herself on a bed.

Jay sat himself right beside her, a grin on his beak. "Same here. Avocado's my favorite food, honestly."

"Then what're we waiting for? Zen already paid for it, excessively, so it's about time we enjoy it," Eva snickered, sitting herself next to Zen on another bed. Zen didn't say anything, only nodding as he and the others opened their boxes.

Each box had a small fork and was divided into four sections. There was the salmon, resting on a bed of rice, two dumplings, fresh and crispy, and a handful of lettuce. In Jay's box was rows of sliced avocado separated by rows of mixed berries, topped with a light sprinkling of salt.

"This…" Jay spoke, admiring the splendor of colors before him.

"Is…" Nina added, reaching for the complementary fork.

"Wayyyy too goddamn expensive," Eva finished, causing Zen to snort. The Bisharp instantly covered his mouth, glaring at the Zangoose. Jay clutched his chest, and Nina had to physically keep her mouth shut so she didn't laugh out loud.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Zen grumbled.

"Maybe, maybe not," Eva stuck out her tongue. "Besides, it is expensive. I almost don't wanna eat it because it looks like it costs a fortune!"

Jay nodded. "A-Absolutely. This is too perfect. But I won't let that stop me from eating it." He poked one of the avocado slices with his fork and ate it. It was so delightfully smooth and savory, Jay didn't realize he was humming until Nina tapped him on the shoulder. "O-Oh uh, sorry."

He was soon joined by the other two girls, both having almost the same reaction with their own entrees. The salmon was tender, yet melted in your mouth, the rice was fluffy and soaked with the flavor of the salmon, the dumplings were perfectly steamed and the pork filling was flavorful, and the salad was fresh and crisp.

"Hmph, just like how I remember it too," Zen chuckled. "Ben, that sly devil."

"He made this for you?" Eva asked, surprised at how many surprises there still were. "How far back do you two go?"

"Not that far, honestly. I used to frequent the store his family ran back in Azure. I don't believe he worked there at the time, but he certainly knows the recipe," Zen said, smiling faintly. He put the lid back on the box and rested his hand on it for a second, taking a deep breath. "This takes me back…"

"I didn't know you came from Azure," Nina said, kicking her feet off the side of the bed. "But, then again, where else would you have come from?"

"Yeah, you definitely don't act like anyone from Azure does. You had me fooled," Jay added, finishing the last of his avocados.

Zen shrugged. "It has been a while, almost a decade if I recall. It's good there aren't many that are similar to me; they wouldn't be able to stand each other."

"This is news to me; Zen's a city boy," Eva snickered. "You'll have to show me around the city some time, huh?"

"I'll think about it. There are a few places I wouldn't mind seeing for myself again. I wonder how much of it is finished…" Zen hummed, suddenly snapping his eyes towards the exit. "Hold on…" Silence. Jay was about to speak when Zen held his hand up to quiet him. Just then, something shook the ground, something powerful.

"There's a fight…" Jay said, hopping to his feet. He clenched his fist, a worried look falling upon him.

"We're gonna have to check it out, right?" Eva asked, hoping the answer would be a no, but knowing it would be a yes.

"Of course. If we're lucky, it's probably just Jax training with Nate and Zeke," Zen nodded, leading the others to the sparring area.

There was something off about this that he didn't want to say out loud. The aura he was sensing, it was similar to the Berserk aura, but stronger somehow. So far only Dark Types were afflicted with that Berserk state, to Zen's knowledge.

'This might be a challenge, but I doubt it'll be too much for me,' Zen thought, glancing back at the young trio for a moment. 'However, these three… I'm unsure how well they'll do in a fight like this. Should I send them back?' He looked at Jay, seeing the determination on the Grovyle's face. 'Hmph, perhaps there's no need.'

 

[Adamhuarts]

This will be a review for the prologue and the first chapter.

First off, I'd like to point out that I found this story particularly self indulgent. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing, and it's certainly something that can be handled well like most things. However, I'll be proceeding with the review while keeping that fact in mind.

I partially enjoyed reading the prologue over the first chapter for reasons I'll elaborate later. Though I've seen a couple pmd fics that open with the suspended in a dimension trope, the sequence in this particular fic really reminded me more of the usual isekai anime/manga than the usual pmd fic. It was also fairly comedic in nature with the back and forth exchange between Rio and the disembodied voice.

The latter asked quite a bunch of odd questions and I'm curious to know why they were particularly interested in asking questions regarding death. Furthermore, I find it pretty amusing that there's been a lot of 'outlanders' before Rio. Not many pmd fics have it that there's been multiple individuals being sent to the pokemon world in both the past and present, and I wonder what this will mean for the narrative as a whole.

As for why I enjoyed the prologue over the first chapter, it was mostly because I felt there was a distinct lack of any plot progression, tension or any real direction for where the story is actually going.

While I know that Rio was given a goal already in the prologue, It felt largely absent in this chapter in that I didn't feel like we needed a whole chapter of Rio being introduced to everyone on the island as that neither had anything to do with saving the world, and honestly the characters could have been introduced whenever they had relevance to the plot across the story.

Furthermore, I found most of the side characters and Rio himself largely uninteresting. This probably ties back to the self indulgent vibe I got from the story. I could be wrong and this is purely opinionated, but a lot of the characters were pretty one note and you introduced so many at once that none of them really stand out. While this is a problem that will easily be solved as they get developed in later chapters, I frankly would have preferred us spending more time with each. The chapter could've easily spent much more time with Diana and us learning more about the affairs of the world through her and elaborating more on this outlander business since she's one herself.

Overall I feel like a whole lot of nothing happened in the first chapter and the narrative didn't really progress aside from Rio being introduced to a cast of characters, not all of which I feel will have as much relevance to the plot line in the long run.

I didn't find the humor in the story too bothersome, but I wouldn't put it as one of the strongest suits of this story from what I've seen so far. This is more of a problem of most of the characters being used for gags throughout the first chapter especially, too much of anything is seldom good in the long run. To the story's credit however, it could just be that the humor simply didn't resonate with me personally and humor is a very subjective topic. As such, take this entire paragraph with a grain of salt.

Overall, while I think this story has a rocky start and could use some work ironing out redundant sequences and being clearer with its direction, it's still a story that would work well as a lighter read to pass the time.

 

[Fusion]

Chapter 20: Another Helping of Crazy​

"Man, that hit the spot!" Kora yawned, patting his gut. "I couldn't eat another bite."

"Probably because we're all out of food," Rio said, leaning against Kora. "Don't we gotta pay for this now?"

Lucas raised his head off the table for a second before letting it drop back down. "I might have to skip the clean up this time, I don't think I can move a muscle…"

Z nodded. "Me neither. You guys got us covered, right?"

Rio and Kora let out an aggravated groan before standing up. They weren't surprised Lucas and Z ate themselves into a form of paralysis, just disappointed. Rio waved his paw at the two slackers and started for the counter when something… happened.

A powerful shock shot up the Lucario's arm, strong enough to make him wince and growl. "Th-The hell?" he groaned, holding his arm. His arm band was glowing, pulsating, like some kind of warning. That was when the ground shook.

"Whoa, that was... unexpected," Kora said. His ear suddenly twitched. He locked eyes with Rio, both sharing a worried expression.

"You feel that too, right? Not just the shaking but…" the two boys said in unison. "Yeah, definitely."

"Yikes, that's kinda creepy," Lucas chuckled. "But we might have to check out that shaking, right? Let's get to it." The Charmeleon hopped out his chair and jogged for the exit, followed by Z.

Kora deadpanned, looking at the two go. "D-Didn't you both just say you couldn't move?"

"What? Sorry, can't hear you over the-" Z was cut off by the ground shaking again, almost making him fall over. "-that, the that."

Kora rolled his eyes, making his way behind the two liars. He turned back to Rio who hadn't yet moved. "You alright?"

Rio blinked, as if he just noticed Kora's existence. "Y-Yeah, gimme a minute. I'm just gonna…" he looked at the mess of a table they were about to leave. "I'll take care of this mess. Go on without me, ok?"

"Uh, sure," Kora shrugged, hesitating for a moment before leaving.

Now, Rio was alone. With nothing more than a messy table, a stinging arm, and silence. He grabbed the plates, wincing whenever he touched something with his right paw, and was carrying them over to the counter when he started thinking.

'You should go help them.'

His thoughts were louder than normal, Rio thought. He greeted Ben with a smile as he reached the counter, handing over the plates. "Sorry for the large order, sir. I can get started with that cleanup we promised to pay for it."

"Oh, don't bother, Zen already paid for you and your friends. He's a very generous patron, as it were," Ben said with a chuckle.

"Really? Zen?" Rio cocked his head. "We're talking about the same Zen, right? Tall? Black and red? Covered in blades? Looks either thoroughly pissed or extremely annoyed?"

"Yes, yes, the very same. Don't let his persona fool you, he's as soft as they come," Ben nodded. "I'll handle these, you can run along to your Outlander duties, whatever they may be."

Rio was surprised to say the least, but even more grateful. He waved goodbye to the cook and went on his merry way to join the others. It was then that Rio realized he still didn't memorize the layout of the mountain.

"God… damnit…"

<><><><>​

'You're lost…'

In record time too, only took Rio a few minutes. It's not like it was hard to do, everything looked the same! Stone floors, rocky walls, rugged ceilings… it was like this place was made of stone or something! Which it was… but, like, still.

'Could really use a map or something, huh?'

Rio nodded. "I wish I knew Zen had us covered, then I wouldn't need a map in the first place! And I couldn't try to memorize how we got to the Cafe since Kora dragged me all the way there." The Lucario came across one of the many forked paths in this labyrinth someone called a guild. He was about to take the right path when his thoughts, er, thought differently.

'Take this left.'

Rio stopped, looking between the two paths. They, much like the other hallways and tunnels, looked exactly the same. What made him think left was the right choice? He was about to shrug the idea off and go right anyway when his arm started acting up again.

"Ngh, god that stings," he winced, clutching his arm. "Might not have had to get a check-up for feeling sick, but I will for this annoying, shooting pain in my arm. Assuming I can get back at all."

'L. E. F. T. Left!'

Rio's ear twitched. "Might have to add 'loud thoughts' to that list of things to get checked out. Actually, is that even a thing?" He looked around, making sure no one was around before listening to himself and taking the left path. Subtle vibrations in the stone he walked on felt like a good indicator that he was going in the right direction, so props to himself for thinking of the right way to go.

'Might wanna hightail it over there.'

Rio instinctively spun his head around, expecting someone to be there behind him. Baffled at the lack of another person, Rio kept looking back as he moved forward, up until he ran into a wall and knocked himself on his backside. There wasn't anyone there, he knew that, so why did he look back anyway? He was alone, right?

"Gah… dammit," Rio hissed, rubbing the side of his head. "Is someone here? I mean there?"

No response, which only furthered his growing bad mood. "I know I'm going crazy, so hurry up and show yourself or I'll…" Rio clenched his fist, irritated he couldn't realistically finish his empty threat. All he could do is slap them with his soft little paws, or be mildly irritating, but not much more than that. Maybe... throw himself at them? That'd hurt him more than whoever was messing with him, honestly.

"Whatever, we need to get to the others anyway," Rio shook his head and stood up, then realizing what he said. "I mean… me."

Rio took a few more steps before stopping. "What am I, I mean what did I… Who was I correcting myself too? I'm not-"

'Dude, your friends? We don't have time for this.'

"Can you be quiet, I can't hear myself-" the Lucario stopped, looking around again despite knowing he was alone. No matter how long he waited, no one would show up, and no one would respond. "-think…"

"...Maybe you should run..."

"Maybe I should run." He wasted enough time already, so why not? Rio booked it down the halls, going through the halls as fast as his legs could take him.

<><><><>​

After some long stretch of time, or what felt like one at least, Rio made it to the infirmary. His legs were beyond sore, his lungs burned for air, and he was filled with nothing but regret for sprinting so long.

"Sh-Shouldn't have ran… still full… Uhhhhhhg, hate…" Rio panted, leaning on the doorway to the infirmary. No one was there, for better or for worse. Sure it sucked that he was too late, but now if he were to lose his lunch, no one would have to know. He shambled over to a bed, but right before he could plop himself on it and rest, a violent shake knocked him over.

"Wh-What was that?!" Rio said, catching himself just before he hit the ground. "D-Did something explode? Is there a fight? Are the others safe?" He jumped right back on his feet and turned to the door, but his legs weren't on the same page, apparently. He barely took a step before falling over again, this time hitting his head on the side of Tia's desk.

"GAH-! Dammit!" the Lucario growled, holding his head. He hit the desk in frustration, and a loud KRAK followed. Rio opened his eyes to see a paw print burned into the side of the desk, and a web of cracks spreading from it. "O-Oh shit. Oh shit! Did I do that?!"

"Cool it, hotshot, you need to focus."

"Focus? Focus on what, the property damage?! I somehow just burned a hole in the side of Tia's desk! And broke it!" Rio yelled, quickly shutting himself up. He did it again; respond to his own thoughts as if they were someone else. It was incredibly fortunate no one was around. As if delayed by the pain of hitting his head, an intense, stinging pain shot back up his arm traveling all the way up to his head.

"Wh-What the hell is going on?" Rio tried to stand, but it was too difficult. His head, his arm, both felt like they were on fire. Remembering where he was, Rio looked for a berry or some medicine, anything really.

He managed to find an oran, it fell off the table after he hit it, and ate it as quickly as possible. A refreshing wave pulsed through his body, but the burning sensation remained. Rio was about to look for some water to pour over himself, until he realized that the burning didn't really… hurt.

"What is…" Rio asked, expecting some sort of answer. He could have sworn he saw his arm band glowing, but his thoughts were interrupted by another violent shake.

'Time to go, stop gawking at yourself.'

"I-I wasn't-" Rio clamped his mouth shut. No one. Was. There. He kept telling himself that over and over and over as he left the room to find the source of the shakes.

<><><><><>​

The sparring area was a sight to behold; a good amount of crystals were shattered, craters decorated the stone floor, psychic and dark energy clashed and danced in the air, and all of Rio's friends seemed to be holding their own against…

"T-Tia?!" Rio said, rushing to his friends' side. The Meowstic was cloaked in a thick, heavy darkness, even stronger than the Berserk Auras seen before. Zen and Nate were the only two actually fighting her, while the others kept their distance and supported however they could, be it throwing out long-range attacks or simply not interfering.

Kora spun his head around, a relieved smile on his snout as he saw the jackal finally join them. "Howdy! Took ya long enough!"

"Not the time," Minerva scolded, bopping Kora on the head and redirecting his focus on Tia. "Incoming!"

A powerful , dark-energy wave was aimed directly at Kora, cracking the ground beneath it as it sped towards him. Kora blasted it with an Incinerate, just managing to cancel the incoming attack out. The Zoroark got down on all fours, ready to deal with several more incoming attacks. He canceled out a couple of them, but had to dodge the remaining few.

"Look out, Rio!" Kora called back.

Rio jumped as high as he could, a surprising couple feet off the ground, and allowed the attacks to speed on past him. "What happened? Why's Tia so-"

"You WORTHLESS excuses for EXPLORERS!" Tia roared, cutting Rio off.

"-that." Rio gulped

Nina, who was helping Lucas carry a heavily injured Zeke away from the battle, answered. "According to Nate and Zeke, she just flipped out at them."

"Th-They were about to come outside to find us when she showed up out of nowhere and, well, that," Lucas finished. He was pretty beat up, but not nearly as much as Zeke. "By the time Kora, Z, and I got here, Zeke was getting tossed around like nobody's business! And Jax wasn't doing much better either," he said, nodding over to the Machamp. "I tried to help but, well, as you can see…"

"You did your best, Lucas. They'd be hurt a lot worse if you didn't step in," Nina said and gave Lucas a caring smile. "Let's get Zeke outta here so we can help some more, alright?"

Jax was laid out like a brand new rug, or maybe a scorched and bruised rug would be more fitting in his case. It was hard for Rio to tell if Jax was even awake from where he was. Z, Eva, and Jay tended to him as best they could; using bandages and rubbing medicine on his wounds. Maybe not in that order.

"Alright, uh, so… What do we do?" Rio asked, chuckling nervously. He was doing his best not to crumble under the weight of Tia's overwhelming presence, which was probably worse for him since he was able to sense things again.

"Same as when we were dealin' with Zen; beat some sense into her," Minerva said. "But with less throwin' people, I guess."

"You guess?" Kora snickered. "And here I thought you learned your lesson."

"Not. The. Time." Minerva bopped Kora again, pointing out another incoming attack.

Rio rolled his eyes, then hurried himself over to help Zen and Nate. Not that it looked like either needed it, they were basically on par with the powered-up Tia. In fact, Rio's sudden appearance was the one thing that caused either to slip up.

"Hey, Zen!" Rio called, getting a quick sideways glance from the Bisharp. Nate, on the other hand, took his eyes off Tia for a much longer moment.

The Feraligatr said only, "Rio? Took ya long en-" before a powerful pulse of darkness was l sent in his direction.

"You idiot!" Zen was fast enough to check Nate out of the way, taking the attack head on in the process. He fell to a knee, gasping for air and clenching his fists. Rio winced, feeling he might have messed things up.

"S-Sorry," Rio said, taking a step towards Zen before he himself was under fire. Rio's body was engulfed in berserk-psychic energy, letting out a pained cry as pain relentlessly surged through his body.

"Quit interfering!" Tia barked, slamming her paw down and Rio down with it. She kept her paw down, crushing Rio further under the pressure of her Psychic. Zen quickly charged in and slammed his head on Tia's. Tia, unaffected, blasted Zen back. A sudden blast of fire struck Tia in the back, causing the cat to stumble and release Rio.

"Hurry up and snap out of itm Tia!" Eva shouted, smoke flowing from her maw. Kora stood next to her, a furious glare staring the feline down.

"NO! Not until they suffer for their laziness!" Tia said, the dark aura around her rising further off her body. "Those BUFfOONS left those kids on their own! They could be dead!"

"We're right here! All of us are!" Lucas said, him and Nina back from taking care of Zeke. "We're safe! We didn't need them!"

"LIES! You can't fool me, none of you!" Another powerful surge of darkness. Tia's now glowing red eyes seemed to stare through everyone, maybe not even seeing them at all. "I will make those idiots SUFFER for what they didn't do!"

Zen stood back up, cracking his neck. "Stop trying to reason with her, it won't work. Everyone who can, attack! Follow my lead!" He and Nate went in, the former sidestepping attacks and the latter barreling right through them. Kora, Lucas, and Eva burned Tia from a distance, Nina shot Water Pulses, Z attacker with his own darkness, and Rio…

'Get up...'

"Uhhhg, not now, I'm in immense pain," Rio groaned. His body was burning, but again, it didn't hurt.

'You aren't gonna be able to help out on the ground, hotshot.'

Why did he insist on calling himself 'hotshot?' "I can't really do much else here, as you, er, I…" he sat up, shaking his head. The burning faded and his body felt relatively fine. "What the hell is wrong, well, right? This is not nor-"

'C'mon, seriously, focus. Get up.'

His thoughts were growing impatient, apparently. Rio complied anyway, standing up and shaking the dust and rubble off his fur. "What now?"

'Get Tia's attention...'

"Oh, be a meat shield or whatever? Sounds… sacrificial."

'Don't worry, there's no sacrifice. Just get her attention, and I'll handle the rest.'

Rio really needed a doctor, which was rather inconvenient since he had to first save the doctor. Save her by letting her attack him, then letting himself handle it. Some part of that plan sounded fishy. Maybe this was all some sort of whacked-out dream he was having, and in reality he was knocked out on a table in a deep food coma.

"Time to get her attention, then. And what better way than to, uh… charge right in? Maybe I can like, call her names?" Rio sighed. "God this is so… weird."

Zen and the others acted like a… fairly oiled machine. He'd sometimes have to dodge an attack or two from his "team," but at least Nate knew what he was doing. The reptile thrashed and bit at Tia like a controlled beast. Fierce, overwhelming, and entirely in control. Even among the long-range fighters, sure Lucas and Kora could have been mistaken as trying to hit Zen sometimes, but they hit their hopefully intended target more often than not. Eva was as precise as she could be with a power she learned fairly recently, and Z, Nina, and Jay were able to hit a target fairly easily.

Then, from the sidelines came the voice of the Outlander. "HEY TIA! You're, uh… r-really short!"

Zen stopped instantly. Immediately. He turned his head towards Rio with a scowl. In return he saw the Outlander, a "hero" destined, sent from heaven above to save the world, blessed with near limitless potential…

Shaking his tail. At a berserking Tia. In the middle of a battle.

"You hit like a baby! I couldn't even feel that attack you did!" Rio shouted, sticking out his tongue. Obviously, Rio was trying to draw Tia's attention, but she barely seemed to care about him.

"What in god's name are you doing?!" Zen barked, blocking an attack.

"Yeah, this is kinda serious. Tia is way stronger than a nurse should be," Nate said. "It'd be a lot better for everyone if you didn't do that."

Eva fired another Flamethrower before adding, "It's more distracting for us if anything…"

"Please, how is that distractin' ya? Why ya lookin' in the first place? Right Kora?" Minerva snickered, looking down at the fox. Unfortunately, Kora was staring at Rio so hard that he didn't hear her. Minerva flicked his ear before sighing. She looked over at Z and Lucas who, surprise surprise, were doing the same as Kora. "God… dammit."

Rio must have been in his own little world, or just ignored the others, and continued his attempt at… whatever he was doing. "Y-Your nurse skills are trash! I'd sooner ask, uh, Zeke and Nate to do it! And you called them idiots! I-Idiot!"

Zen felt something pop or burst inside him. There was a growing bit of heat in his head as well. Mostly absolute rage. It took Zen every ounce of strength he had to not blow his head off at… whatever the hell Rio was doing. "Please stop before you embarrass yo-"

"RAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" And yet, it worked. Zen couldn't believe it. Tia actually fell for Rio's taunt, and was now charging the jackal down at a breakneck speed. Rio let out a high pitched yip as he ducked under the incoming Tia.

"What the hell? That… worked?" Nate asked, watching Rio run for his life as Tia tried to slaughter him. "Wait, did he have to throw us under the bus like that?!"

"I have no goddamn idea," Zen said, not knowing whether he should be furious, relieved, disappointed… actually no, he stuck with that last one. He rested his face in his palm with a resounding Klank. "I have no. God damned. Idea."

Eva popped up at Zen's side. "Should we help him?"

"Nah, he's got this," Kora nodded, watching Rio get tossed around. "Definitely."

"Was that sarcasm, or…" Minerva said, wondering if she and Kora were seeing the same thing.

Jay cleared his throat and got the others' attention. "Maybe he just spared us some time so we can make a plan and help Tia? Speaking of-" he turned to Zen, "-you got anything?"

Zen shook his head. "The plan is the same as before; defeat her. That's how they cured me of this state." He kept his suspicion that this was more akin to what happened to Kora, however, as he was still forming a plan if that was the case. "If anything, we should use this time to rest up before attacking her again."

"And leave Rio with her?" Kora tilted his head, frowning. "Yeah, no. I'm gonna help him."

"But didn't ya just say-" Minerva started, interrupted by Kora sprinting over to Rio's aide.

Zen hardly cared what the fox did, he wouldn't be of much use in brainstorming anyway. He turned to Jay and crossed his arms. "On the topic of plans, what have you been thinking up?"

"Me?" Jay blinked, then cleared his throat and straightened up a bit. "Nothing… really. I was more or less confused on why Tia flipped out in the first place, and more recently, why Rio is trying to taunt her."

"Both are peculiar occurrences, no? Perhaps less so in the latter seeing his choice of accompaniment," Zen chuckled, looking over to see Kora doing little more than running alongside Rio. "'Help him' my ass…" he muttered.

"Why would either of those help us with Tia?" Z asked.

"Knowing why she ended up like this might give us a clue as to how to stop it. And who knows, maybe Rio actually had a plan but didn't clear it with the rest of us?" Nina said, snickering.

That joke actually had some merit to it, Zen believed. He looked back over at Rio, thinking. "The Outlander… having a plan… What would it be?" Zen turned to Nate. "Ideas?"

The reptile thought for a second, but hardly anything came to mind. "Uh… what about…" he suddenly snapped his claws. "Right! Back at his fight wi-"

Zen quickly lit up, coming up with something. "His ability to absorb energy! Of course!"

Nate blinked "I-I was just about t-"

"Hold that thought, I finally figured out our next course of action," Zen said, not seeing, or caring about, Nate pouting. "The Outlander is able to absorb the energy of attacks he is hit with, perhaps he's planning on taking some of Tia's energy, and using it against her!"

"How do we help him do that?" Eva asked. "Other than just letting him handle her?"

"I'm unsure, but it looks like he doesn't have the chance to use his technique, whatever it may be. I was certain he could do it nearly instantly before," Zen hummed, seeing Rio and Kora get launched by a powerful blast.

"Then we have to return his favor and distract her long enough for him to do it!" Jay said, grinning.

"Yeah!" Lucas and Nina both cheered.

Everyone hurried over to join Rio, except Nate, at first. "So basically, we're just gonna do what we have been before he even showed up…"

Rio landed face first on the stiff, unforgiving stone. It was a miracle he was still able to move at this point, and even more so that he wasn't bleeding. He thought that burning sensation was to thank for this, seeing how it seemed to always be on his body, and the pain faded away much quicker while it was there.

"O-Ok, what's the plan here?" Rio said, scrambling back onto his feet. "I-I've had her on me for a while now."

"Hell if I know, dude. You're the one that decided to piss her off like this," Kora groaned, deflecting an attack with his Incinerate. "I was assuming you had one this whole time."

"I... think I did," Rio chuckled nervously, tanking another attack.

'Just, wait a moment...'

"N-Now I gotta wait?" Rio groaned, getting an odd look from Kora.

"Wait fo- oh, hey guys!" Kora said, waving as Zen and Nate knocked Tia on her side. "About time you decided to help."

"Quiet, it's barely been a minute." Zen turned to Rio. "Get yourself ready to use that ability of yours, Outlander."

"A-Ability?" Rio tilted his head.

Zen deadpanned. "You… You didn't…"

Tia was back up sooner than expected, hitting Zen with a blast. Nate slugged the small feline with a powerful Ice Punch, getting himself blasted in the process. Flamethrowers, Dark Pulses, and frubbles overtook Tia's form for a few seconds before her aura bursted, dispelling the attacks and frubbles. "Annoying! All of you!"

"Outlander, your energy absorption. Was that not your plan?" Zen groaned, staring Tia down.

"My absorption… Oh!" Rio snapped… somehow. "That makes sense!"

"WHAT DO Y-" Zen cleared his throat. "What do you mean, 'that makes sense?' Did you forget?"

The Lucario didn't answer right away. "Er, uh, n-no. I just needed a minute or two, yeah, hehe."

Zen didn't respond. In his fury, all he would say is profanity and insults, wasting even more of their time. He and Nate continued to attack Tia, leaving Kora and Rio to themselves.

Kora helped Rio up, grinning confidently. "Alright, how do you do this absorbing thing?"

"You've seen it before, and I've done it before, but I don't know how to just… do it," Rio admitted. "I hope I just have to block an attack with this arm and that's it."

'You need to grab her!'

Rio's ear twitched. "Grab… her? Huh…"

"That kinda, makes sense actually. I think." Kora shrugged. "What do we have to lose?"

"I'd say a few things, actually," Minerva said, snickering. "Rio'd be risking that tail o' his that gave us a moment or two."

Rio rolled his eyes, a smug smirk on his snout. "Jealous?"

"Bite me." Minerva stuck out her tongue.

Rio and Kora got ready to charge head first into Tia, their stances mirroring each other. "You ready, partner? I don't know if this'll work, but just like you said,"

"We ain't got nothin' to lose!" Kora snickered. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be, partner!"

They waited for a moment, searching for an opening. An opening between all the fire and darkness and punches. It felt like everything was slowing down, somehow. Rio could see every movement his team was making, how every attack was met with another. That burning sensation danced all along his body, and excitement flowed through his veins. All he needed was just, one…

"There!" Rio and Kora shot forward at the same time, aimed directly for Tia. They weaved around every attack she threw at them. The others almost didn't believe that was Rio and Kora sprinting at Tia. Even if an attack did hit them, neither slowed down. It got to a point that even Tia was unnerved by it.

"Stay back!" Tia warned, throwing more attacks at the incoming fox and jackal. "Stay BACK!"

Her cries were met with cold, unfeeling silence from Rio and Kora. They got closer and closer, and Tia tried to keep them away. Whenever Tia tried to retreat, Zen and Nate would halt her. Whenever a big attack was about to hit Kora and Rio, it was met with an attack from one of the long-range members.

"I SAID STAY BACK!" Tia exploded with an intense surge of aura, something that no one should have been able to get through. And boy did they try. Fire, leaves, darkness, water… none of them seemed to do anything to the aura. "I won't let you stop me! Those kids, I need to save them! I have to!"

"We can't break it!" Eva panted, running out of flames.

Jay tried to catch his breath, still seeing Kora and Rio continuing on. "A-Are you guys actually gonna try and run through that?"

Zen stood, stoic as always. He gripped his arms, silently hoping their plan would work.

Neither Rio or Kora responded to the others. They kept going, the very idea of stopping being a foreign concept to both of them. In an instant, Rio and Kora were swallowed up in the vast aura around Tia.

The aura was just as dark on the inside as anyone would expect, and it burned too. Yet, Rio and Kora continued. Tia was right there, an almost terrified look in her eyes. She tried to keep away from them, desperate.

"No, please! Let me save them!" she begged, but was met by an emotionless Rio and Kora grabbing onto her. "Ngh! L-Let me go, y-you monsters!"

A word came to the minds of the jackal and fox. In perfect unison, they ordered, "Absorb."

Slowly at first, but quickly gaining speed, the aura shrank. Tia struggled to keep it, but she couldn't break free of their grasp. "N-NO! You can't! Y-You… can't… do…"

As the aura was just barely larger than the three, it dispersed into black and red wisps of energy, flowing into Rio and Kora.

"Guys?" Lucas asked.

"Are you, alright?" Nina added. The young trio, also joined by Eva and Z, walked up to the motionless three.

They stood there, still holding Tia up. Eva reached out to touch them, but as she did all three fell to the ground. Minerva stumbled out of Kora's mane, joining the other three unconscious Pokemon on the floor.

"Ow…" the Meowth groaned. "Everything… hurts…"

"At least you're alive," Eva sighed, looking back at Kora, Rio, and Tia. "Can't be too sure about those three."

"They're fine," Z said, reassuringly. "Just out cold by the looks of it."

"How can you be so sure?" Nina asked, looking over Eva's shoulder.

Z simply pointed at Rio's chest, more importantly the gentle rise and fall it had. "See? They're fine."

"The real problem is whatever is going to happen once they wake up," Zen sighed, grabbing Rio and tossing him over his shoulder. "When Rio absorbs energy of a type, he seems to become that type. It's how he fell under the Berserk influence, originally. And now…"

"Oh. He just ate a whole bunch of that stuff, huh?" Nate sucked his teeth. "That is, uh, definitely a problem. Maybe."

"And I'm pretty sure I saw Kora doing the same thing… somehow," Zen shook his head, feeling a headache coming on. "I have no idea if he was actually able to, but if he can for some god forsaken reason, then we have two Pokemon on our hands filled with Berserk Aura just waiting to wake up and potentially kill us all." Zen realized everyone was staring at him, a few with a horrified look on their faces. "...What?"

"You couldn't say that in a less brutal way?" Eva sighed, pinching the bridge of her snout.

"It's accurate, isn't it? I fought Kora first hand when he went berserk, and you fought him the second time he did. It's not my fault he's…" Zen choked for a second. "Absurdly… strong…"

"Stronger than you?" Eva grinned.

"No, but certainly the rest of you," Zen rolled his eyes. "It'd be a shame if I were to leave them to tear you limb from limb, right?"

Eva shuddered at the thought. "Y-You wouldn't do that. I'm calling your bluff!"

Zen… laughed. Well, he chuckled, but it felt so sinister… Eva froze up, looking at Zen in disbelief. Then Zen just started to leave. No further comment or anything. No one else really knew what to do after that. Besides Minerva, who didn't seem to care.

The Meowth grabbed Kora and lifted him over her head. "If y'all are done gettin' creeped out by Zen's bullshit, we got people to take care of," she said, walking behind Zen.

Nate shook his head, snapping out of his Zen-chuckling induced trance. He grabbed Tia and followed their leads. "I need a break…"

"You and me both," Eva sighed. "Today's been going on for forever…"

"Pretty sure it's only the afternoon, actually," Z said, scratching his ear.

Everyone was ready to leave and fall into a bed at this point. Who would have thought that getting lost in a blizzard, then fighting a powered-up cat, would be so exhausting? Just before they left, Jay and Nina looked back at the ruined sparring area.

"This place has seen better days, huh?" Jay chuckled. "Looks like a warzone now."

"That's an exaggeration if I ever heard one." Nina rolled her eyes. "But, yeah, you have a point. Tia really tore this place up."

"Not just Tia, but everyone else fighting, too. To be honest, I felt totally out of place in that fight." Jay said, looking over at Lucas. The Charmeleon was bruised, yes, but he didn't act as worn out as everyone else. He was bright and cheerful, actually, riding the high of winning a tough battle. "I'm surprised he's still standing."

"You know him, tough as nails and all that," Nina said. "Just, don't bring the fight up for a little bit. He's sore from it in a, uh, emotional kinda way."

Jay sighed. "Yeah, I could've guessed." The two shared a worried look, knowing they'd have to confront Lucas about it eventually. For now, it'd probably be best to let him be happy for a while. Maybe everyone would benefit from some good ol' rest and relaxation. It has been a long day, after all, and it was just getting started.

 

[Fusion]

Chapter 21: Rest and Relaxation... Sort of​

It was silent, and dark. A gentle flow of air brushed past the soft, blue fur of an unconscious Lucario. How long he was laying there was hard to tell, but the gathering of leaves on his body might have been a clue. He eventually woke, blinking the sleep away from his eyes.

"Uhg…" Rio groaned, sitting up. "Am I, outside?"

He couldn't exactly recall what had happened, only vaguely remembering being dragged towards the mountain.

"Isn't someone else supposed to be here?" Rio asked, looking around. Nothing looked out of the ordinary, but he could feel something was off. The sun was high above him, but hardly any sunshine came from it. There was a breeze, but everything was still. He was alone, but… was he?

The woods were less than inviting to say the least; the darkness between them was supernatural, and the trees themselves looked just about ready to snatch him up if he walked too close. Rio hoped to spot the mountain above the treeline, but the trees simply didn't allow it. Were they always that tall? Pushing his worries aside, Rio went forth following a path between the trees.

Inside the darkness of the forest was like walking in a dense fog. Any noise Rio made was quickly snuffed out inside it. Whenever he spoke it was like talking with his head in a box.

"What is this..?" he muttered. "Am I still on Sunset?"

Deeper into the woods he walked, following the path as best he could. Eventually, it started to fade. Slowly growing thinner and thinner until it vanished entirely. There was nothing behind him, nothing before him, and nothing around him. The trees were densely packed, their leaves allowed no light to pass through, what little there was to begin with.

Rio continued onwards anyway, led by only his instincts, and the faint tug of curiosity pulling him forward. The silence was replaced by a dull hum growing louder ever so slowly. The sensation of dirt and leaves beneath Rio's paws gradually turned into cold stone, as well as the trees around him.

It was too dark to see anything, but… he knew what was around him. He knew where he was, but he didn't know the name. He couldn't remember. For the first time since he started walking, Rio stopped. "I shouldn't keep going. I need to head back."

"...Don't…"

The voice echoed around Rio's head, no, from inside it. It was… familiar? "Why not?"

"You cannot return from whence you came. What lies ahead is all there is for you."

"I… don't want to keep going," Rio said, holding his head. "I can't. I shouldn't."

"It is not your decision to make."

Rio stared into the darkness that lies ahead of him. There was something there, looking back. That dull hum was coming from it, whatever it was. It walked closer, and the hum grew louder.

"No, I refuse." Rio tried to take a step back, but he couldn't move. The thing grew closer and closer, glowing strands of green tapered off it's body like vines and tendrils, outlining it in a menacing light. Rio turned to run, finally managing to move.

He was a clearing in the forest. The sky was darkened, blocking the sun. The trees were normal, swaying in the wind. It was silent again.

Rio fell to his knees, gasping for air as if he was holding his breath this entire time. "Wh-What? What is going on..?"

He turned his head to the sky, watching the blackened clouds float gently in the sky. It helped soothe his nerves. Rio brought his head back down to realize he wasn't alone. Across from him, on the other side of the clearing, sat a Zoroark, with his back to Rio.

"H-Hello?" Rio asked, standing up. He got no reply. Rio slowly approached the Zoroark. "Are you alright?"

As Rio was close enough to hear the Zoroark, he stopped. The Zoroark was sobbing, holding something large in its arms. Rio tried to place his paw on the Zoroark's shoulder, when the fox's head snapped around. Red eyes stared into Rio's for a split second...

Then everything went black.

<><><><>​

Rio woke in a cold sweat, panting heavily. He was in a bed, in the infirmary. On the bed to his right was Kora, snoring softly. To his left, Tia. And at the foot of his bed was Zen, Eva, Minerva, and the young trio. For some reason, they looked ready to fight.

"What're you guys doing?" Rio asked, backing up a bit. They each studied Rio for a moment before letting out a sigh and relaxing.

"Just a precautionary measure," Jay said, waving his claw. "Don't worry about it."

"Y-You guys were about to attack me! I should definitely worry about that!" Rio exclaimed.

"It's like Jay said, it was precautionary. You're overthinking this," Zen shook his head as he sat in a chair.

"You're underexplaining this! I was knocked out, why would you need to beat me up at all?!" Rio asked, throwing his pillow at the Bisharp. It was skillfully caught and thrown back at Rio, hitting him in the snout.

"Honestly, Blue, ya gotta chill for a sec," Minerva snickered, putting down a chair. "You're fine now, right? We didn't do nothin' so there's nothin' to get all heated up about."

Rio shot a glare at the Meowth. "Easy for you to say, you're the one who was about to beat me to a pulp with a damn chair."

"Semantics," Minerva shrugged.

"That is not how you use that word," Rio growled, then grinned. "Whatever, I'll just remember to jump you with a chair the next time you pass out. See how you like it."

Minerva stuck out her tongue and sat on Kora's bed, giving Rio a "yeah right" look. Zen cleared his throat, getting everyone's attention. "Alright, Tia and Kora don't need to be awake for this, the Outlander is more than enough."

"What're we gonna do?" Rio tilted his head, sitting on the edge of his bed.

"Hopefully, figure out what the hell happened to Tia," Eva said. "That and make sure you're feeling alright."

"Me?" Rio asked.

Zen crossed his arms and shut his eyes. "Yes, you. Do you not remember absorbing the Berserk Aura from Tia?"

The Lucario thought for a moment, then shrugged. "I mean, I remember running at her with Kora, but not much else after that."

"Interesting," Zen hummed. "Regardless, surely you can see why we'd be on guard now, right?" Rio stared blankly, pulling an annoyed sigh from the Bisharp. "Of course you don't. How brazen of me to assume you have knowledge of your own powers."

"Since you and Kora took in all that aura from Tia, we were worried you'd both turn against us when you woke up. Luckily for us, that didn't happen for you," Eva explained. "Still not sure about Kora though."

"He's fine, I guarantee it!" Minerva nodded, patting Kora on the shin. "If Rio's fine, why wouldn't he be?"

"Other than the fact that Rio isn't naturally a Dark Type, nor an ordinary Pokemon, nor has he gone Berserk twice under different circumstances, I believe we have room to be suspicious of Kora," Zen said, tapping his foot. "Actually, I'm surprised Kora has only gone Berserk twice. What's stopping it from happening to him again?"

"That's a fair point, but we should probably focus more on Tia who shouldn't have gone Berserk at all," Jay said.

"Yeah, if it can happen to her it can happen to all of us, so we gotta be ready!" Nina added.

"And it wouldn't hurt to sit around for a while. I don't think I gave my food a chance to settle before jumping into a fight. Hehe," Lucas chuckled.

They brought up good points, but Rio was antsy. Too antsy to sit and chat about ifs and buts. "How're we gonna talk about what happened to Tia if Tia's still asleep?" the Lucario asked, scratching his ear.

"We ask the Pokemon she was after," Zen nodded to another bed, or maybe the two sitting on it, Nate and Zeke. "Whatever they did probably set her off, or played a hand in it. If we can get something substantial from them, then we most likely won't even need Tia."

Nate flicked his tail from side to side, anxious. "And the sooner we get that over with, the sooner we can get outta here. I don't want us to sit and wait for any of her residual rage. I enjoy not being thrown across the room, thanks."

"It's not like we have anything interesting to point out, either. We were heading out to find you guys when she suddenly showed up and lost it because we were still here," Zeke said, rubbing his bandaged just. "It's a miracle she didn't tear us apart right then and there."

"Weren't you basically right behind us? How long were you fighting her?" Eva asked.

"Not very long before you guys came to help. Why?" Zeke leaned on Nate's shoulder, wincing slightly. The others looked at each other, then back to Zeke and Nate.

"Assuming you were close behind us, which I honestly cannot remember, you'd have to have been fighting her for… nearly an hour," Zen said, reading the confusion on the Blaziken and Feraligtr's faces. "We were gone and trapped in a blizzard for quite some time."

"You guys actually left?! When?" Nate exclaimed, his tail slamming on the bed behind him.

"I just said when; almost an hour ago. Forty minutes at the very least." Zen stood up and walked over to Nate and Zeke, looking over them. "Are you both well?"

Zeke looked back at Zen, taking a deep breath. "We're perfectly fine, aside from what Tia did. What about you lot? We can't both be right."

The room fell silent; Zeke had a point. Rio's ear twitched, and something brought his attention to Kora. He stared for a moment before something clicked. "Didn't that same thing happen to Kora? He said he was underwater for a few minutes, but he was actually under for a while?"

"That is what he told us, yes," Zen nodded. "Are you implying whatever happened to them is what happened to him? They weren't even underwater."

"Maybe? How the hell should I know?" Rio shrugged. "But the same thing happening twice is something to take note of."

Jay paced back and forth, thinking. "That'd normally just be a coincidence, but in this case, I'd say something was up too. I don't know Kora too much, but I get the feeling he isn't, uh, all there all the time."

Nina jabbed her elbow into Jay's side. "With Nate and Zeke, we know we can take their word more often than not. Not to say we can't take Kora's but, two witnesses are more reliable than one."

"But… what does that mean for us? We have no idea what happened to Kora, so knowing it also happened to Zeke and Nate kinda brings us back to square one, right?" Lucas asked.

"Unfortunately, yes," Zen let out a sigh, sitting back in his seat. He looked over at Nate and Zeke again. "I take it you do not know what would have happened either?"

"Nope. The only thing I think was off was a chill going up my scales," Nate said. "Pretty sure that was just from the chill from outside or something."

"Then there really ain't nothin' to talk about, and we just wasted a whole lotta time," Minerva groaned, falling back in the bed. "Goddamnit."

Eva turned on her heel and snapped her claws. "Actually, we didn't waste that much time. We know the thing that happened to Kora also happened to Nate and Zeke, we just have to figure out what that is, and we might know what happened to Tia!"

"And we do that how?" Minerva raised a brow.

"Um… er, well," Eva stuttered. "I-I don't, uh, know."

Z popped up from the other side of Kora's bed, startling Minerva. "You guys are interesting to watch, honestly. It's like you're just a buncha friends hangin' out."

Minerva cleared her throat and patted down the fur that spiked up. "We might as well be hangin' out. We'd get just as much done. Also, the hell are ya doin' behind the bed?"

"Sittin'." Z rested his head on the bed.

"A-Are ya mockin' me?" Minerva asked, growling faintly.

"...Maybe."

Minerva threw a pillow at Z, resulting in an explosion of feathers of cloth. Z retaliated with his own pillows, both hitting Minerva in her hard-to-miss head and knocking her off the bed. Zen shut his eyes, massaging the sides of his helmet as Minerva and Z went back and forth hitting each other with pillows.

"I'm getting a headache for some reason. Perhaps this is too much foolishness for me to properly deal with," Zen groaned.

Before the pillow fighting got out of hand, Jax entered the room with a less-than-pleased look about him. "Sorry, guys, looks like we're on our own for this."

"Miss Nari and James couldn't come to help?" the young trio asked.

"They're busy gettin' caught up with paperwork. And since we already got Tia knocked out, they aren't rushin' to help us when the problem's already dealt with," Jax said, leaning against a wall.

"Well, we wouldn't wanna both the higher ups with somethin' like this now would we?" Minerva said, throwing another pillow at Z. "She only almost crushed some o' us to death, ya know?"

Rio hopped off his bed and stretched. "Well, whatever. I doubt we'll need their help anyway. Hows about we go do literally anything other than sitting in a room?"

"I second that," Minerva yawned, jumping onto Rio's shoulder. "Oh, this is nice, actually."

"Ok but why though?" Rio asked.

"Well my usual ride's outta commission so I'll make do with you," Minerva snickered, patting Rio on the head. The two glanced over at Kora again, confirming he was still out cold. "See? Can't ride someone when they're sleepin', Blue."

"Alright, fine. Anyone else wanna come with?" Rio asked, smiling. "I can't guarantee I can give you a ride, though."

"I can give a ride or two too," Lucas offered. "I'm more than strong enough to handle it."

"Hell, I don't see why I shouldn't offer my services too," Z shrugged, getting on all fours. "Come one, come all, no one needs a license for this ride at all."

"I'll take you up on that offer, Z. Zoroark fur is a whole lot softer than dragon scales," Jay nodded. "I wonder if you can fit as many as Kora can."

"Guess that leaves Lucas for me," Nina said, hopping on her fiery friend's back. "Onwards to, uh, whatever we're gonna do."

Everyone but Zen, Eva, Nate, and Zeke left the room. Each of them stared blankly at each other. Except Nate, who held his snout shut in an effort to not say anything during that whole… thing.

"I can't," Zeke said, clutching his chest. "I-I just, can't."

"What?" Eva asked. "Are your injuries acting up?"

"N-Not exactly," Zeke said, holding back a laugh.

Perplexed, Eva turned to Zen for answers, but the Bisharp was already gone. On a possibly unrelated note, the sound of metal bashing against stone echoed through the halls. "I don't understand what happened, and for some reason I don't think I want to," Eva decided. "I'll go join the others. See ya."

<><><><>​

There was only so much they could actually go and do inside the guild, but they'd rather bumble around inside than test their luck outside again. It looked like a field trip was in order, and the first destination in mind was the supply area.

"So everything everyone in the guild owns is just, in one place?" Z asked, gazing upon the large, item-filled room. "Seems kinda, not that smart if something happened here."

"Like what?" Jay said, lowering his head over Z's.

"Well, like, say a blast seed goes off. Any other blast seeds are gonna explode too, and that's just gonna be a big ol' mess." Z picked up a blast seed, gently placing it away from everything else.

"It's a good thing we hardly have any, then. They're oddly hard to come by in the dungeon we've visited," Nina said as she hopped off Lucas' back.

"A lotta those kinda items are, actually," Lucas added.

"That just means they're worth more when ya sell 'em," Minerva snickered. "I might have to hit up one of those dungeons or whatever whenever I get the chance."

"What is a dungeon, anyway?" Rio asked, looking over a fancy collection of climbing gear. "Are they full of dragons or something? Monsters?"

Jax sat himself down and crossed all his arms. "It's strange to explain, but a mystery dungeon is a place that keeps changin'. Like, the layout, whatever is in it, everything."

"Does someone make that happen or..?" Rio snapped a strap on his arm, and struggled to get it off. "Doesn't make much sense otherwise."

"Mystery dungeons definitely don't make sense. They're pretty much magical in a sort of, twisted, random kinda way," Z explained, eyeing a sparkly something under a pile of tent supplies. "They're fun to go through, in my opinion, but not a lot of people like them."

"With good reason. Why would you like going into a place full of ferals?" Jay scoffed, trying on a green hat. "The items might be worth selling, but definitely not enough to warrant frequenting a dungeon for it."

Minerva hopped onto Rio's head and crossed her arms. "Sounds like coward talk to me. I'd jump into a volcano if the pay was good enough."

"You're also crazy, apparently," Rio chuckled, getting his ear flicked as a result. He finally got the strap off his arm and startled fiddling with some chains he found. "So, I guess I should probably know about ferals, huh? They sound friendly."

"Some of them, yeah. Most of the time, they're territorial little scumbags that attack anyone that approaches," Z said, digging through a pile of junk. "I almost got swarmed by a gang of Butterfree once. It was a nightmare."

"Wait, ferals are Pokemon?" Rio asked, managing to tangle his legs in the chain.

"Yep, Feral Pokemon. They communicate by saying their species name and live in the wild, or in dungeons. They're fascinating, but hell if I ever decide to study them," Jay laughed.

"There aren't any ferals or dungeons on Sunset. I've heard that before the guild moved in, the owners of the island cleared them all out," Nina said, trying to help Rio out the chains.

"They gotta be strong Pokemon to do that! I wanna meet 'em!" Lucas exclaimed.

"You can meet one of 'em, alright," Jax said, puffing out his chest. "Ever heard of Diana?"

The young trio blinked, looking at Jax. "You mean, Kora's mom?"

"Yep! She and Kora's old man wiped this island clean of any dungeons or ferals! Took 'em only two days, as a matter of fact," Jax laughed, pounding his chest. His face started to drop, suddenly. "It's a shame only Diana's around though. Orion's someone everyone shoulda had the chance to meet."

"Oh, he's…" Nina winced. "That's awful."

"Sorry for bringing him up, Jax," Lucas said, rubbing his arm.

Rio's ears twitched, annoying Minerva enough to return to his shoulder. A familiar sensation pulsed throughout his body at the mention of Orion, but he couldn't place why. It looked like a similar feeling washed over everyone else as well, seeing how they quickly lost interest in being in the supply area.

"What should we do now?" Z asked, having given up on finding the shiny thing. "Maybe some food?"

"Nah, I don't think so. Maybe we can just hang out in the Cafe anyway? There's plenty of room there, and literally no one else would be there," Rio suggested, rolling his shoulders as the chain was removed from his body.

Just as they were leaving, Eva finally caught up to them. "Guess I'm lucky I decided to come here. How'd you get here so fast?"

"We raced here," Z said with a grin. "And I won."

Eva put her paws on her hips and rolled her eyes. "Wow, a fox on four legs winning a race? I'm shocked."

"We're about to go to the Cafe so we can relax for a while," Rio waved to Eva as he walked by.

"Oh so I missed something? Damn," Eva shrugged, laying herself on Z's back. "I would have asked first but my legs are killing me. Sorry."

Z shook his head. "Don't worry about it, I'm happy to help."

<><><><>​

A few minutes into their trek to the Cafe, and Jay realizes that he never took off that hat. "Oh, shoot, I gotta put this back," he said, hopping off of Z. "I'll catch up in a bit, don't wait up."

"Alright, but if we do end up getting food, I'm eating yours!" Lucas chuckled.

Jay hurried back to the supply area as fast as he could, but as he entered he was met with the strangest chill crawling up and down his back.

"Ok, that's maybe not good," he muttered, looking around. It took him a moment, but he eventually found the source; a tall, menacing, red wolf. "L-Lee?"

"Afternoon, my friend," Lee waved, rolling a decoy seed over his claws. "I hope I didn't startle you too bad?"

Jay realized he was incredibly tense and took a deep breath to relax some. It didn't really work. "No, not at all. What brings you here?"

Lee raised a brow, chuckling. "Is that rhetorical? Or did you forget already? Not that I'd blame you with what you and your friends had to deal with a little while ago."

"Oh, right, the Time Gear. Wait, you know what happened to Tia?" Jay asked, slowly approaching the Lycanroc. "Why didn't you help?"

"If such a large number of Pokemon can't handle one Berserk Meowstic, I doubt they'd be allowed into any guild, let alone the Sunset Guild," Lee flicked the seed up and caught it. "Besides, I still can't risk my presence being known to all of you just yet. Maybe after I get the Gears, I'll pay you all a formal visit."

Jay didn't let his suspicion be known. It'd be easier to look casual if he also had something in his hands to split his attention, so he picked up the nearest thing to him. It was a little box, one he didn't even know was here. "That'd be nice. I can't imagine the amount of stress working for a god is, especially one of the most powerful ones like Dialga."

"Yes, yes, this whole thing has probably taken centuries off my life," Lee chuckled, pulling a blast seed seemingly out of nowhere. "But, such is the cost of following divine ordinances. Let it be known that, above all else, I am not one to disobey my Lord."

"You mean Dialga, right? I don't think I've heard anyone refer to him as 'Lord,' or any god other than Arceus." Jay tried to open the tiny box but it wouldn't budge. He had to remind himself to focus mostly on Lee a couple times, but whatever was in this box was too enticing to fully ignore.

Lee had a third seed, another blast seed, and started juggling them. "It's not something many people do nowadays. Referring to one's Lord as such is, old-timey, as you would say."

"More like archaic," Jay chuckled.

"I might as well be a fossil, by that logic," Lee laughed.

The Grovyle looked Lee over, somewhat confused. "You don't look that old, really. Hardly any older than most of the Pokemon here, if I had to guess."

"Hmm, guess I look good for my age," Lee hummed, catching the three seeds. "But enough about me, I need to know where that Gear is. Any ideas?"

'Alright, gotta play it careful here,' Jay reminded himself. "No, sorry. We were mostly sidetracked by Tia and recovering from the cold. And two of the people that work under the Guildmaster are caught up on work, so there goes our best bet at figuring it out easily."

"Quite," Lee sighed. "And my own searching has come up flat. Normally you can tell when you're close to such a powerful tool, but that sensation hasn't yet come to me. It's a feeling of uneasiness that travels up your body, commonly mistaken with a ghastly chill."

"A chill?" Jay froze for a second. "That's, interesting."

"I believe it has something to do with the divine power stored inside the Gear itself. Specifically, the power to manipulate time," Lee spoke calmly, but his eyes were watching every inch of Jay's body. It was his turn to study his subject. "Reverse time, hasten time, and even stop it. Such a thing is inherently unnatural to a common Pokemon, but plenty are born with an innate sense towards it, be it at varying levels. Some would label it a sixth sense, despite there being more than six of them."

Jay tried again to pry the box open, playing it off as him not being phased by the description, but his tail leaves were standing straight up. Usually a telltale sign that he was unnerved or highly cautious. Hopefully, Lee wouldn't notice. "Again, interesting. I guess I can say I don't have that sixth sense. Either that or, uh, I haven't bumped into the Time Gear yet."

"You'd be surprised. Plenty of objects are capable of triggering such a sense. Be it powerful items, natural disasters, unnatural weather, and some Pokemon as well. You'd feel uneasy around them at first, but eventually that sensation will subside, and only ever come back whenever you split and meet up again," Lee explained, balancing a seed on his claw as he watched Jay. "What am I saying, I doubt you've felt that before, right?"

'Oh no, this is not good. What do I do?' Jay gulped, trying not to let this get to him. Lee had figured him out. "I-I wouldn't know off the top of my head, actually, I think."

Lee took a step closer, causing Jay's head to jolt up suddenly. Lee has a sneer on his snout. His jagged teeth on full display. "Perhaps, but anything able to pull such a sensation from someone usually leaves a big impression. They'd be unforgettable, to say the least. Sound like anyone you know?"

Whatever control Jay had on the situation was yanked right from under him in an instant. Yet he didn't allow himself to break. He could hold on for just a little while longer, he told himself. Pulling confidence from deep within himself, Jay took a step towards Lee. "Actually, yeah. You heard of Zen? He's left an impression on me, but I can't remember if I felt chills when I first met him."

"Interesting. You're referring to that Bisharp, yes? He does have an air of authority around him, doesn't he? No wonder your friends teased you about how you look up to him," Lee snickered.

'Oh for…' Jay facepalmed. The tension was sliced in half, which helped, but at what cost? "Oh all the things you know about us, why is that one of them..?"

"Because it's memorable. It's not everyday I get to witness such childish activities with my own eyes! It brings me back to when I was much, much younger. I envy that about all of you," Lee admitted. Two of the seeds he had vanished, leaving only the decoy seed. "Your youth is something to be cherished, and the things you feel during should be embraced, not hidden away."

This really turned into a lecture, didn't it? Jay was grateful for that, at least. "I-I, well, I guess? What do you expect me to do, just tell him? He looks down on his friends, why would he act differently towards me?"

Lee tilted his head, a genuine confused look on his face. "Are you serious? He already has a soft spot for you. If I were to guess, I'd say he prefers intellect over brute force, despite himself being remarkably powerful. If anyone had a shot, or was at least able to not be down on by him, would it not be you?"

Jay blinked, staring blankly at Lee. "R-Really?"

"How can you not see that he already respects you?" Lee asked, smiling. "I say you should give it a shot. What's the worst that could happen? Does Zen look like the type of Pokemon to cut ties with someone that likes him? He'd probably let it go to his ego, if anything."

Without knowing it, Jay started to smile. "This, I, uh… I mean…"

Lee let out a laugh, having already gotten next to Jay and placing his paw on the Grovyle's head. "No need to overthink it, kid. He's not going anywhere, and neither are you, right? You have all the time in the world, but so does everyone else."

"Huh?" Jay looked up, now remembering just how short he was compared to Lee.

"You shouldn't wait too long, alright? Never know when someone else grabs his interest before you give yourself the chance to," Lee rubbed Jay's head and started walking past him. "There's a saying I live by, 'Do whatever you have to, to do whatever you need to, while you still have the chance.' It's like Carpe Diem, but wordy as hell."

Jay turned to watch Lee go. "Uh, thank you, Lee."

"Don't mention it. I'll keep on looking for that gear. And you can keep whatever's in that box, if you get to open it," Lee waved as he left the room.

Silence fell upon the storage area. Jay stood there, ultimately confused about what had just happened. He got relationship advice from the most suspicious Pokemon he'd ever met. Did Lee even know he was reading him like a book? Jay had absolutely no idea. He looked down at the box in his claws, placing it in his satchel.

"I should… meet up with the others."

 

[Fusion]

Chapter 22: All's Fair...​

As expected, the Cafe was entirely empty. Aside from Benny behind the counter, that is. Rio tossed himself in a chair, nearly overshooting and falling right off of it in the process. The others took their seats like normal people, except Lucas, who did the same thing Rio did but actually fell off.

"Smooth," Nina snickered, helping Lucas up.

"Aside from hurling ourselves needlessly on furniture, why are we here?" Zen asked, crossing his arms. "I don't exactly mind chatting but… I have my doubts the lot of you can hold a conversation that at all interests me."

Eva elbowed Zen in the side, making sure not to hit his body blades. "Someone's suddenly bitchy. Did I miss something on the walk here?"

Zen shook his head. "No, nothing like that. I just… know that something isn't right. I can't stand sitting down and talking endlessly about nonsense, when there's trouble afoot."

"What if there was trouble a-meter?" Rio asked, smirking.

"Or trouble a-mile?" Lucas added.

"How about trouble two-foot?" Jax chuckled.

All three of them got deathly glares from Zen. "This is exactly my point. I don't mean anything by this, but I am currently surrounded entirely by children," he said to Eva.

"Hey, I'm older than you," Jax huffed.

"And yet you act just as childish, if not more, than anyone here." Zen sighed, crossing his arms. "...Apologies."

Jax gave Zen a hardy pat on the back, smiling brightly. "Eh, don't worry about it. I'd be scared too if I was you."

"Scared?" Zen eyed Jax over. "I beg your pardon?"

"Yeah. It's obvious that Tia gettin' all out of whack got under your skin. Hell, she coulda splattered all of us on a wall and made a bloody mural, if Rio and Kora didn't stop her," Jax said, shooting a pair of finger guns at the Lucario.

"Jax, I take back my apology. You're a dumbass." Zen rubbed his face, getting gradually more irritated. "What do I have to be scared about?"

"Other than gettin' beat by a nurse, I'd wager you're scared more about everyone else here. Sure, you might be fine, but look at those two." Jax pointed at Lucas and Nina, who were both chatting away with Z and Rio. They were enjoying themselves, laughing, joking, actually relaxing. Zen soon realized that he was relieved just by looking at them, and a small smile had appeared on his face. "Lucas is a tough nut to crack, and Nina's quick on her feet, but if they had to face Tia head on…"

Zen blinked, turning back to Jax. "You're point is, what, exactly?"

A smug grin crept onto Jax. He put an arm around Zen's shoulder and pulled him into a side hug. "You're just a big ol' softie, ain't ya?"

"Th-The hell?" Zen tried to push away, but was surprisingly overpowered by Jax. "L-Let go of me this instant!"

"It's alright, Zen! Relax a little! Nothin's gonna happen to us any time soon. You can put your worry aside and enjoy the moment and all that," Jax chuckled.

Zen looked to Eva for help, but she had this pleasant look about her. "Yeah, Zen. Who knows how long until we gotta fight something again? Might as well take a breather while we have the chance."

"I-I…" Zen blinked, then looked back over at the others. "...Hmph. If it'll get Jax to let go of me, then fine."

"If you want me to let go of you, you gotta admit you're a softie," Jax stated.

"I will do no such thing," Zen growled.

"Say it."

"No."

"Say it."

"Jax, the next chance I get, I am going to break two of your arms, and remove the remaining two."

Jax laughed, poking Zen in the helmet. "Buddy, c'mon. Strong as you are, even you know that's impossible."

"Would you like to test that theory?" Zen asked, staring at Jax with a cold, deathly stare.

"Alright ladies, you're both pretty. No need to pull each other's hair over this," Eva interjected, pushing the two apart. Jax and Zen looked at each other, then back to Eva. "...What?"

"We're both, uh…" Jax began, scratching his chin.

"Lacking in the hair department," Zen finished, turning his head away.

"I was gonna say we're more handsome than pretty, but that too," Jax laughed.

Eva let out a long, aggravated sigh. "I hate you both, I swear to god…"

Zen let out a chuckle, shaking his head. "Gods, I can hear Orion laughing all the way from the afterlife. Don't worry, we'll play nice, Eva. Go do… whatever it is you would do at a Cafe other than eating."

Watching that entire exchange was Rio and Minerva, who were currently staring right at Zen as if he'd seen a ghost. Zen and Rio locked eyes in an awkward staring contest until Zen decided to speak. "Is there a problem?"

"Who the hell are you?" Rio asked, getting a berry thunked on his head, which caused Minerva to giggle a little.

A little while later, just as the group was getting bored of doing nothing, Jay finally arrived. He looked, well, nervous was probably the best word for it. His eyes were aimed at the floor, and he fumbled a little white box in one of his claws. Curious, Nina called Jay over.

"You alright dude? It might just be me, but you're looking… not like yourself," Nina asked as Jay sat beside her. The others waved to him, and Zen gave a welcoming nod. Jay sheepishly waved back.

"I-It's nothing, really…" Jay replied quietly.

Not falling for that line for a second, Nina leaned in close and wrapped an arm around Jay's shoulder. "Yeah, no. You almost never stutter, dude. What happened?"

Jay shut his eyes, then slightly turned his head towards Nina. "I, um… we might have to talk somewhere else about this." The Grovyle, after literally just taking his seat, stood up and turned to leave, waiting for Nina to follow him.

"Is something wrong, Jay?" Zen asked, which startled Jay.

"N-No, uh, I just wanna talk to Nina about something. Lucas too, if he wants," Jay replied, not looking directly at Zen. "I-It's nothing to worry about." Jay hoped he was convinced everyone as he and his friends left the Cafe.

<><><><><>​

"WHAT?!" Nina and Lucas exclaim before Jay quickly covered their mouths.

"Shut up! Leaving the Cafe doesn't mean a thing if you're gonna shout like this!" Jay said, hoping they weren't heard.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'll just try and remain calm knowing that there's a wolf inside the guild!" Nina pushed Jay's claw away. "Why aren't we telling the others? We can't not tell them!"

Lucas nodded, lifting Jay's claw away. "Yeah, as much as I'd love to fight him with you guys, I, uh, don't think we should keep him a secret."

"Y-Yeah, normally I'd agree, but…" Jay trailed off, finding it hard to look at either of his friends.

"Did he do something to you?" Nina asked, worry filling her voice. "That rotten, sneaky-"

"N-No, he didn't really do anything," Jay gulped, holding the tiny box between them. "It's just that he, kinda, sorta… h-helped me."

"Helped you?" Nina and Lucas both asked.

"Like, he gave me advice. Good advice, I think." Jay rubbed the back of his neck. "He also gave me this box that I can't seem to open. He's kinda nice, maybe."

Nina put her froggy hands on Jay's shoulders, shaking her head. "You don't sound too sure about that."

"Have you seen him? I wouldn't call a guy like that nice at first glance. Or second glance. Or third…" Lucas said, crossing his arms.

"I know, but… the advice he gave me doesn't really feel like something you'd say to just anyone," Jay sighed, looking at the box again. When he realized a faint smile started stretching along his beak, he shook his head and put the box in his satchel.

"Ok, what's this advice that's made you think that guy's suddenly trustworthy?" Lucas asked, tilting his head.

Jay didn't dare respond, instead looking at literally anything that wasn't a Frogadier or Charmeleon.

"Jay, don't make this difficult," Nina said, crossing her arms. "It can't possibly be something you can't tell us."

"... Don't wanna," Jay muttered.

"Are you serious..?" Nina asked.

"...Don't wanna."

"We are not doing this now," Nina groaned. "Lucas, hug him."

The Charmeleon didn't object, wrapping his arms tightly around Jay and lifting him up. "I have huggo'd the Gecko."

"W-Wait, you don't have to do this!" Jay looked at Nina, but all he got was a shake of her head.

"Tell us what he told you, and we won't."

Jay gulped, wrestling with whether he should spill it or not. Sure it's just some harmless, friendly words of encouragement, but the embarrassment he'd feel would be unbearable. Unfortunately, he didn't come to a decision quick enough.

"Alright, Lucas, heat him up," Nina said, taking a step back.

Lucas' tail flame flickered excitedly as a grin stretched on his snout. "And here come the he-"

"I-It was about Zen!" Jay quickly shouted. "It was about how I could, like, um… b-be with, Zen…"

Lucas blinked then looked over at Nina, wondering if she heard the same thing he did. Unsurprisingly, she was just as dumbfounded as he was. The three stood there in silence for a moment, until Lucas set Jay down. The Grovyle slid down the wall until his knees were to his chest and wrapped his arms around them.

Nina looked down at Jay, regretting forcing that out of him. She sat down next to him, motion for Lucas to sit on the other side. "Look, Jay. I'm sorry."

"Don't bother, you aren't really sorry," Jay mumbled into his knees.

"No, really. I didn't think it was something like that, you know? I wouldn't have pried so hard if I did," Nina said, laying a hand on Jay's shoulder.

Jay pulled his shoulder away, growling. "As if, you guys are always on my case whenever Zen comes up. You both just love teasing me about it!"

"I mean, I thought it was all in good fun, right?" Lucas said. "If we were bugging you so much, why didn't you tell us?"

"I have been, idiot! That's what I do every single time we talk about this!" Jay snapped, shooting up from his seat. "It's not fun being teased about this! I-It… I hate it!"

Nina got up, worried. "W-We're sorry, Jay. We really only teased you as a joke, not to actually make fun of you."

"That doesn't make me feel better about it. Knowing you guys use me for laughs actually makes that a whole lot worse!" Jay clenched the white box in his claw, not noticing the tiny cracks that formed on it.

Nina takes a step closer to Jay. "If it really makes you feel so bad, we'll stop. Would tha-"

"No it wouldn't!" Jay snapped around, a red glint in his eyes and a snarl on his beak. "That doesn't fix what you did!"

"J-Jay?" Nina spoke, her voice shaky. "Y-You're… I-I…"

Lucas stood between Nina and Jay, holding his arms out. "Jay, get a hold of yourself! What's going on with you? You aren't normally like this, dude!"

"And who the hell are you to tell me that?" Jay growled. "Aren't you the one who gets all sad and pathetic whenever he loses?"

Lucas winced, but didn't respond to that last part. "I'm your friend, Jay. We both are."

"What kind of friends bully someone because they like someone?!" Jay pulled back his fist, snarling fiercely.

"If hitting me will make you feel better, then do it!" Lucas shouted. "You getting all worked up over this is crazy, Jay! You always helped me out when I got down in the dumps, so I'm not gonna sit here and let that happen to you."

Jay stood there, his fist shaking. "F-Fine, I will!" he said, but didn't move.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" Lucas stepped closer to Jay.

Jay took a step back. "I-I…"

Without looking away from Jay, Lucas grabbed Jay's reeled-back fist and pulled it forward, tapping it on the edge of his snout. "Go on, hit me right here! Hurry up so we can have our Jay back!"

The Grovyle flinched, feeling a strange chill leave his body. He didn't move, nor did he punch Lucas like he said he would. Instead, he turned away so his friends wouldn't see the tears forming in his eyes. "I-I can't… I'm sorry."

Lucas let go of Jay's arm, smiling gently. "It's pretty obvious that you don't gotta say sorry, Jay. We were kinda… jerks."

"N-No, it's..." Jay shook his head and sighed. "Today's been a little too much for me, I think. My head's all… fuzzy."

Nina offered her hand to Jay. "If you're not feeling too good, we can bring you to the infirmary to rest for a while."

Jay rubbed the tears from his eyes before facing Nina and Lucas again. His vision was blurred slightly, probably from the tears he just got rid of. "I think I need that, yeah. Again, I'm sorry for snapping at you guys like that."

"And we're sorry for pushing you that far," Lucas patted Jay on the back. "But it's nice to have you back, buddy."

"Back?" Jay blinked. "I wasn't… that angry, was I?"

"I was only fearing for my life, so not really," Nina said, entirely sarcastic.

"...Huh. I know you're being sarcastic, but like… was I really?" Jay asked, smiling nervously.

Lucas shook his head. "Eh, not really. Well, kinda."

"Very reassuring." Jay rolled his eyes and chuckled. He and Nina walked down the tunnel with Lucas right behind them. After they took a couple steps, that box Jay had fallen out of his satchel and right at Lucas' feet.

"Hey Jay, your box thingy fell," Lucas said, picking it up.

"You can hold onto it for a bit. Maybe you'll have better luck at opening it than me." Jay said, waving his claw weakly.

Lucas looked at the perfectly square box. It was oddly pretty, despite lacking a design. At least it was perfectly smooth, with no imperfections whatsoever. "Maybe," Lucas shrugged, keeping a firm grip on the box. A chill briefly crawled up Lucas' back, but he thought nothing of it.

<><><><><>​

"Ah man, if getting beaten half to death all it takes to get some quality time together, we should piss off Tia more often," Nate sighed blissfully, leaning on Zeke's back as they sat in the bed together.

"I mean, we could just… not do that, and instead get ahead in our work instead of just doing what we need to," Zeke chuckled, placing an oran berry on the top of Nate's snout. "I like fighting, but getting beat like that is not fun. At all."

Nate shrugged, tossing the berry up and catching it in his mouth in one clean motion. "Suit yourself."

"Suit me yourself, coward," Zeke scoffed.

"Why would I put you in a suit when I like you better without one?" Nate chuckled, reaching back and bonking Zeke on the head. "Hell, you've burned damn near every suit I did put on you!"

"That's on you, Scales. Don't blame me for something I can't control," the Blaziken's wrists flared with a bright orange flame for a second.

"Alright, Feathers, if you can't control, why'd you do it just now?" Nate turned around, resting his head on Zeke's.

"Well I thought of you for a moment, and wouldn't you know, fire happened," Zeke said, holding his arms up as fire burst from his wrists once more.

Nate rolled his eyes, spewing a steady stream of water to put out the fires. "If you think you're gonna get something from flattering me, you'd be right. But not now though, I have nothing on me but bruises and bandages. And we're flat broke."

"You say 'we' but you really mean me since you spend more of my own money than I do," Zeke chuckled. "But whatever, we can like… hell, I dunno. What can we do? There's like, nothing to do here."

Nate snorted, getting a light punch on his shoulder. He shoved his shoulder into Zeke's chest, knocking the Blaziken over. "Ow owie, ouch, my bruised shoulder. That'll cost y-"

From the entrance of the infirmary, someone very audibly clears their throat. There stood Nina, the clearer of her throat, and her two friends. "Are we… interrupting something?" she asked, just about ready to turn heel and leave.

"Not really, what's up?" Zeke said calmly, shoving the blue gator off of him.

Lucas sat Jay on a free bed, letting out a sigh. "Jay's not feelin' too hot. How're Tia and Kora doing?"

"Not any different than before you guys left. Still unconscious, mostly silent, unaware of their surroundings. Maybe… Hopefully…" Nate said, muttering that last part to himself.

The young trio pretended not to hear Nate's mutterings, but they weren't the only ones trying to hide that they heard him. The "still unconscious" Tia let out a quiet snort, followed by her trying to cover that up by clearing her throat, which pretty much announced to everyone that she was wide awake and very aware of surroundings.

"T-Tia? You're awake already?" Nate fell backwards.

The Meowstic stretched out her back, chuckling to herself before she sat upright on her bed. "I have been for a little while. I'd ask why you sound so surprised, but I'm well aware of why. What'd I miss, by the way?"

Nate slowly hid himself behind Zeke, letting out an embarrassed grumble, leaving Zeke with answering Tia. "Before I say how much you missed… how much do you remember?"

"Hmmm…" Tia rested her chin on her paw. "Um, hard to say, really. I think I remember Kora being dropped off here after he spent a long while underwater. He said he was under there when Kane left, but Kane hadn't been in here for some time. Did something happen, or did all the work you guys threw on me really do a number on me?"

"To put it in the simplest terms I can… Maybe. You went berserk and tried to kill me and Nate. And from the sounds of it, you have no idea why you would have gone berserk, do you?" Zeke asked, crossing his arms.

"Not in the slightest, unfortunately. Sounds like we went at it, which is strange seeing how good I feel right now," Tia said, smiling. "I had this crick in my neck for about a week, and that's gone! Plus the whole, having to heal all of you several times today, should have worn me out. But now…" She hopped her bed and held her paws towards Zeke, a faint pink glow surrounding the both of them. Zeke felt the aches and pains in his body fade away, and a sensation of bliss wash over him.

"Whoa, you've gotten stronger," Zeke chuckled, flexing his claws. "God, I feel like I could fight an army again!"

"Right? Whatever happened, I'm sure glad it did." Tia turned her head to the young trio. "I'll patch up Nate real quick, then I'll take a look at Jay, ok?"

Jay shook his head. "What about Kora?"

"What about him?" Tia asked, looking around the room. "Did you bring him with you?"

"No he's-" Nina began, pointing at a now empty bed. She blinked, making sure her eyes were working right. "H-he's… gone?"

Tia shrugged, facing Nate. "If he was here, I'm not surprised he's already patched himself up. Being Orion's kid, it's surprising he can get hurt at all. If you see him and think he still needs help, go ahead and bring him to me."

Nina and Jay looked at each other, swearing they saw Kora on their way in. They weren't seeing things, and clearly Nate and Zeke thought Kora was here as well. When did he slip out?

"Maybe I'll go ahead and look for him. Wanna come with, Lucas?" Nina asked, looking over at her Charmeleon friend. He was staring at the box Jay had earlier, gripping it tightly. "Lucas?"

Lucas shook his head, giving Nina a sheepish smile as if he just noticed she was there. "Y-Yeah, sorry. I'll follow right behind you. I kinda… wanna ask Kora something, I think."

Nina had the faintest feeling that there was something off with Lucas, but admittedly, everything recently has felt a little off. Maybe she was just imagining it? That's what she hoped, at least. "Alright, see you guys later." Nina waved as she and Lucas left the room. She had to get his attention again, however, as he started staring at the box again.

With Nate patched up, Tia crossed her arms and started growling gently. She then sat herself in a chair, rubbing her temples. Zeke glanced over at her, wondering what was on her mind. It would seem Tia knew that, answering him before he even said anything. "I've been trying to think about what happened to me. I hate the feeling of forgetting something."

"I thought I asked you not to read my mind like that," Zeke huffed.

"Can't help it when your mind's so easy to read," Tia shrugged. "It's just… all that keeps coming up is this strange chill. That and the color red."

"Well that doesn't help us at all," Nate sighed, rolling onto his back.. "Anything else that might actually be worth thinking about? Maybe tell us what you were doing?"

Tia floated her chair over to Jay, still thinking back to earlier. "I'll try, but I find it hard to remember much after Kora getting thrown in here. Literally. I believe I tried to diagnose what happened to him, I sent Minerva off to get him something to eat… I'm fairly certain it was just the two of us until Jax and those kids came back."

"Then we left you and Jax alone, right? Because we went to look for Kane?" Jay asked, keeping a mental note of everything Tia was saying. "What did you two do after that?"

Tia's ear twitched as she cleared her throat. "That's about where my memory starts getting too foggy to recall, unfortunately. I believe we talked and that was it. If I try to remember anything after that, all that comes to mind is the color red and that chill again."

"How convenient, and also, incredibly inconvenient." Zeke stood up, cracking his neck. "We might have to chat with Jax and see what we can find. Ain't no rest for the wickedly handsome, after all."

"Which explains why you two get to sleep so much," Tia snickered. Nate stuck out his tongue as he followed Zeke out the infirmary. After they were for sure alone, Tia turned to Jay, frowning slightly. "And that brings me to you. Looks like you have a lot on your mind."

"Guilty as charged. Figured you and I'd be on the same page, although it's a bit unfair seeing how I'm not an expert at reading people like a nurse would be," Jay said. "I got this headache from earlier, and a bit of dizziness, but honestly I feel a bit better having sat down."

"It won't hurt to make sure you're alright. That is my job, after all." Tia shut her eyes and reached for Jay's claw, holding it gently as a pink glow enveloped them both.

'If we're being watched, which I assume we are, then whoever this 'Lee' is might already know I read your mind,' Tia spoke within their minds. 'If I was more aware of it sooner, I wouldn't have brought that up with Zeke.'

'It should probably be fine, I hope. I really want to believe he isn't going to be a problem but…' Jay's thoughts trailed off. 'I can't keep waiting for him to do something, but I also have no way of keeping my eye on him. We've only met on his terms, and assuming he is secretly hostile, I'm unsure if we can handle him on our own terms.'

The glow around them pulsed and waved, gradually growing around them. Tia squeezed her eyes, emitting a cautious growl. 'I only intended to glance at your memories, but this 'Lee' character… I don't…'

"Are you alright?" Jay spoke, holding Tia's paw in both claws. The Meowstic gripped his claws back, her body threatening to fall from her chair. "Tia?"

"I-It's nothing, really," Tia said, holding her head with her free paw. 'I met him. I don't know how, or when, but I met Lee. It was just a flash of red, but I'm certain it was him!' she spoke into Jay's mind. 'That chill, it was from him, it has to be. He… gave something to me…'

"Do you think you need to rest some more?" Jay asked, helping Tia from her chair. 'I'm almost afraid to ask, but was it…'

The two froze. Tia let go of Jay's claw, the glow slowly fading from both of them, and calmly walked over to her desk. "I'll just look for some berries, I believe I have a few of my favorites stashed away here," she said as she looked through her belongings.

"I'm sure I can help with that. What kind are they?" Jay asked, taking a note from Tia in keeping his cool.

"Oh, nothing special. Just some enigma berries. You don't have to trouble yourself with me, how about you go and join your friends. Whatever you felt earlier has already passed, so you should be back in top shape." Tia waved him off, focusing on finding whatever she was looking for.

Jay nodded, making his way to the door. He had to get to Nina and Lucas before something happened, assuming something hadn't already happened. Surely it wouldn't be suspicious to sprint through the halls looking for his friends, right? Not like Jay stayed long enough for that thought to cross his mind.

Having found the shattered remains of a tiny box, watching as faint, black embers slowly rose from it. She also found a berry, but didn't have the appetite to eat it.

"It's a good thing I woke up when I did, and with the boost in my healing abilities. Gonna need all the help I can with what's about to happen," she sighed, tossing the odd berry to the side, which is when she noticed something wrong with her desk. Was it off center? Tilted in some way? Maybe there wasn't even anything wrong with it. It was hard for her to say, really. It'd take another few minutes to check everything, just to be sure she wasn't seeing thi-

"WHO THE HELL PUNCHED A HOLE IN MY DESK?!"

<><><><><>​

Jay ran to the one place he knew Lucas would check out first, the sparring area. It's one of two places Lucas can get to by himself, and it was closer to the infirmary than any other room in the mountain. Maybe he'd be lucky and find Kora there too, who knows?

As luck would have it, there they were, talking next to the lake. There wasn't a lot of Kora to see, his mane was in the way, Nina was off to the side, holding her elbows and wanting to speak, and Lucas was on the ground, staring at the ceiling. At first, Jay thought they were just relaxing, but the closer he got, the sooner he realized that Lucas was fuming. Literally. Faint streams of black smoke rose from his maw. Not a good sign at all.

Lucas slammed his fist on the ground, a furious snarl along his snout as he stood back up. "I wanna go again, that wasn't fair!"

"Hey, you said to come at you, so I thought you were ready," Kora shrugged. "I'm kinda tuckered out of fighting for now, so maybe some other time."

"No! I have to go again! I have to win!" Lucas growled, the smoke getting thicker and his tail flame crackling angrily.

"Lucas, I don't think we should be fighting now either. You need to calm down," Nina said, trying to place her hand on her friend, but had it slapped away.

"Not yet! Not until I win!" Lucas snarled, his eyes focused solely on Kora. "All I ever hear of you is how strong you are, I have to be able to fight you!"

"And you did, you just lost. Being a sore loser isn't how you go about getting stronger," Kora said, shaking his head. "This seems sorta unlike you, actually. Are you alright, Lucas?"

"Don't talk down to me like you know! I'm FINE!" the Charmeleon's flames crackled and sparked, more and more smoke billowing from his mouth.

Jay slowed his pace. He was worried, yeah, but something about Lucas just then scared him. It was getting harder to move his body closer, but he had to try and help! Even Kora was unnerved by whatever Lucas did, having grabbed Nina and moved a good distance away from Lucas.

"Lucas!" Jay shouted, finding the strength to run to his friend's side. Kora snapped his head to the side.

"Stop!" Kora commanded, but Jay didn't listen.

Lucas didn't seem to notice Jay at all, instead growing increasingly more furious at Kora. "Look at me! I'M your opponent! Don't ignore me!" Lucas pulled his head back, a roaring ball of fire forming in the back of his throat. He quickly threw his head forward, unleashing a powerful Flamethrower at Kora.

The fire struck Kora in the chest, but he barely even flinched. Kora pushed Nina towards Jay, shooing them away. "As you can see, your friend is kinda sorta having a hissy fit, and it'd be smart to not stick around right now!

"But we're not gonna leave Lucas! We have to help him!" Jay said, firm. Nina nodded, putting on a face of determination.

"You're kidding?" Kora deadpanned. "I'm not usually the one to be all, 'You're not strong enough for this,' but you guys are not strong enough for this. He's gonna-"

"STOP IGNORING ME!" Lucas roared, the white box suddenly in his claws. Jay felt a chill shoot through his body, despite Lucas' flames heating the entire chamber up. "I've HAD it! I'm sick of losing and being treated like a LOSER! I'm not a loser! I'm not WEAK!"

"Lucas you have to let go of the box! Quickly!" Jay shouted desperately, but his pleas fell on deaf ears, or lack thereof.

With a death-filled glare, Lucas raised the box towards Kora. It's pristine, perfect outside was now riddled with cracks, and a dark energy burned around it. "I can hear it. If I can beat you, I'll be the strongest there is. I'll be unstoppable! I'd be able to keep them safe! I just… I just need…" His grip tightened around the box, causing the cracks to spread further, even along his arm.

With a loud krack, the box shattered, and darkness exploded around Lucas. A powerful wind blew around the chamber, bringing a terrible chill alongside it. Black crackles of electricity sped through the air, and crimson embers danced from above, slowly flowing to where Lucas stood. As the darkness condensed around him, Lucas' body changed. His scales were darkened, his flame burned a menacing red, and his eyes matched it perfectly. His muscles were more pronounced, they might have even expanded slightly. Pitch black smoke rose from his nostrils and the corners of his mouth.

Lucas' glare remained solely on Kora; the others becoming more of an afterthought to him. He pointed a claw at the Zoroark, darkness crackling around him. As he opened his mouth, a cloud of smoke rose from it. Kora got down on all fours, silently admitting he had to take this seriously. A jagged smile spread along Lucas' snout.

"I just need… to get rid of you."

 

[kintsugi]

Hi Fusion! Here for your blacklight prize! I've read the prologue and chapter 1.

The prologue is a fun retelling of the PMD personality quiz, as far as I can tell. I find quizzes like that to be kind of interesting when they translate out of the gameplay and into actual fiction because they're usually not seen as very accurate or reliable, and their outputs basically depend on what you put into them (so if you see yourself as a courageous person, your answers will get your results to say you're a courageous person, even if you aren't). Which seems like an interesting thing to have up against the self-fulfilling prophecy/cynical nature of the Question-Fren who's conducting the interview here, espepcially once we see that they aren't just a disjoint voice. I did find it interesting that the voice is so confused that no one's answered the questions in this way before--in the context of Diana's later comments that the Outlanders she's met are all uppity, I'd think that they'd have high opinions of themselves, and as such would be like "oh yeah I'd DEFINITELY do the right thing here". Is the idea that they don't care enough to lie on the test but somehow pass anyway? That the world Rio is coming from is somehow devoid of people who would even consider doing the morally correct thing?

Speaking of Rio! I think the most interesting part of the prologue for me was when the questions started affecting him personally. Again, his actual answers here almost feel irrelevant to who he *actually* is--they're more or less explanations for how he sees himself, I think, but I can't really give hypotheticals much weight in comparison to what Rio would actually do in those identical situations. So seeing him get overwhelmed by the thought that he's let his friends down previously to end up here, and his subsequent outburst at that particular line of questioning, was a lot more informative from a character perspective from me. The veil drops and we get to see the difference between what he thinks he'd do and what he's actually done, and as such we get a much better look at who he is and how he's reacting to things. I like the hints that he's from a pretty crapsack world and this is another attempt to help; there's definitely some stuff under the hood with his backstory and I'm curious how much of it will come up in future chapters. It's a lot harder to convince yourself that it's your destiny to save the world if you've empirically failed already--and failed so hard that you literally died (and probably let some other people die too).

The first person narration here is a little tricky in the prologue. Rio answers a lot of very personal questions about himself, but I feel like the most valuable information here would be the things he's not saying--what's he thinking and feeling in these segments? I got the general vibe of "this is strange and I want to panic", but the visceral reactions that Rio feels to the mortality questions were definitely more telling as far as character establishment for me. I wanted to see a bit more of that spread out across the chapter--in general, it feels almost like Rio's taking things pretty casually, which makes the outbursts of emotion feel a bit weird without background context. Is there insight into why some things bother him more than others? What is he feeling that causes him to react like that? This is the kind of information that I think would be helpful to convey in more concrete narration, especially because it's in first-person so we basically have a window into Rio's thoughts.

The second chapter introduces the setting proper. I did feel like the various tours of the shops got a bit slow in the middle and I was having trouble keeping track of which characters worked at which tent, or why these things were important--does anything actually get learned from that interaction with Jax? The pie moments are cute and we get some establishing reactions for Minerva, but I'm not sure what else we were supposed to take from that segment. It's kind of tricky to figure out what should make it into any chapter in general, but I think early chapters really have a lot of pressure on them to establish conflict, characters, or setting pretty explicitly. This first chapter focuses a lot on characters and setting, which is a perfectly good choice, but then I kind of find myself asking what aspects of the characters/setting were meant to provoke further reading--what the "hook" is, so to speak. I think this is a fun group dynamic and I'm curious to see how this fun trio eating pie will intersect with the doomy apocalypse hinted at in the prologue, but even in stories with a slower-burn on plot I usually want to be asking more questions about the characters themselves, what they want, how their actions might affect one another. Kora generally seems like an earnest bean, Minerva kind of gets sidelined but has some snark, and Rio mostly just gets ferried around from location to location--are they all fast friends? Are there future situations or conversations they'll have that'll cause conflict or tension? I'm not entirely sure what the takeaways of these moments were supposed to be, or where these shop scenes were leading to.

That being said, I do dig the attention to detail on the worldbuilding. I think it's neat that Diana's seen a lot of potential Outlanders before, and it kind of strips the special status away and makes it more mundane, which I thought was interesting! I don't fully follow the timeline though--do Outlanders only get sent over when the world is in peril? Is that what Diana did? But it sounds like a lot of them are dicks or haven't succeeded, so clearly they can't be *that* necessary, since the world hasn't fully ended yet.

Some other fun worldbuilding that I particularly enjoyed--the description of the berry pies, the attention to details on the tents. It does make the world feel alive and lived in, which is always a tricky thing to balance.

some line-by-lines! In general I noticed similar grammar issues to what I saw in Makings of a Hero, mostly comma splices and some dialogue punctuation, but I think I wrote out my comments on that pretty well in that review and won't repeat it here. In general there's some odd comma placements and paragraph spacings, but again, mostly focused on content/internal consistency here since it doesn't seem like you're doing too much copyedting on the first chapters.

Spoiler

"..." I don't respond. I wanted to, but there were so many things going through my mind that I wasn't able to say anything. That didn't matter anyway, because that voice seemed to know what I was thinking.

I found this line a little too on the nose, and it didn't really give me a clear idea of Rio's mental state here. He spends most of this scene thinking pretty clearly (all things considered), so it was a bit odd to see him methodically explaining why he wasn't thinking clearly.

I snicker at the voice's stammer, I can't believe whoever this was actually left to go find some questions for me.

Flipped into present tense here.

If I had lungs I'd be hyperventilating, and sweating, and probably laying in the fetal position in whatever could work as a corner.

This also felt a little methodical I guess? Like something you'd describe happening to someone else, kind of as black comedy? I had a hard time putting my finger on Rio's internal thoughts in this segment, despite the first person--kind of touched on this earlier, but bits like this felt especially disconnected.

"Is death and the possibility of death your favorite topic?" I ask. The voice doesn't say anything, so I sigh and give him what he wants. "I'd look for help, obviously."

"How incredibly generic, and yet a stance not shared by most of you."​

I thought this was actually really interesting as a response from question-fren. These kinds of quizzes are interesting to me because they're all "what *would* you do", and from a non-fanfic perspective I find those generally unhelpful because people tend to have different understandings of what they would do vs what they would actually do in tough situations. Do most people not answer something like what Rio would here, even hypothetically? What would they say instead? Not my problem? It's not even "how many people would *actually* help"; it's "how many people think they would try to help", so I find it fascinating that most of the people question-fren is surveying wouldn't even go through the bare minimum of answering.

(or is the idea that question-fren checks factually via mind-reading? in which case I struggled to understand why asking the early questions was even necessary, since they don't particularly evoke any unorthodox responses or attempts to lie)

"What if EVERYTHING was on the line? What if you KNEW that? What if you knew you had to sacrifice your friends for the sake of EVERYTHING?!"

touched on this earlier, but I did enjoy the reimagining of the PMD quiz as a massive guilt trip here

"Maybe... I mean, they're just questions, after all... Hehe..." I don’t bother asking how, just wanting this to be over quickly.

I found this recovery to be a bit quick.

"Really? Huh… forgive me, but I don't think I've met anything like you in… ages. Willing to risk themselves for others, regardless of how many times they might have done it already... You're quite admirable, in that sense..."

Here I struggled a bit to differentiate what conclusion question-fren has drawn. There are a few options I was oscillating between:
1. Question-fren has interviewed a lot of people and for some reason none/few of them have even done the performative act of answering these questions with the most good-guy answers
2. Question-fren has interviewed a lot of people, some of whom answered with good-guy answers, but those people were lying and/or wouldn't actually follow through with those answers
3. Question-fren has interviewed a lot of people, some of whom might've answered with good-guy answers but have since become too cynical to care <- this one seems the most likely (?)
4. Question-fren has not interviewed a lot of people

Does question-fren interview everyone who dies? Are they really bad at picking potential candidates for interview? I couldn't quite wrap my head around what the point of asking the questions was in conjunction with the telepathy.

"Oh please, you're overreacting."​

"OVERRE- BITCH are you INSANE?! First you basically toss my the mortality of me AND my friends on me like it's nothing, then wrap that up with what could actually be the absolute FURTHEST thing from that!"

Hmmm, this one felt like a bit of an escalation as a response. It's tricky because questions of death and sexuality are both deeply personal, but I found the huge difference in "what are your thoughts on everyone you know and love dying, and you personally being a failure" vs "ever been interested in a dude" a bit wild here, and with the spare internal monologue for Rio during this section it's particularly hard to tell what he's thinking and why this particularly is such a sticking point for him. I wasn't sure what the payout is here? Is the idea that Rio thinks it's worse to be gay than dead?

Which I don't think you were intentionally trying to imply, but in the isolated context of the prologue and chapter 1, Rio seems really even-keeled about pretty much everything, so having this as his most extreme reaction of *anger* does make it stand out disproportionately. Perhaps there's some backstory I'm missing, or some future developments that contextualize things, but it's also pretty hard to piece this together with question-fren's conclusion that Rio is such a great awesome selfless dude when his gut reaction is to cuss out someone who asks about a hypothetical date. And then question-fren's actions seem a little weird too, since it's kind of played off like they meant this question to be a mood-lightening joke, like, haha, here's a funny scenario that you'd never *actually* consider, right, being gay, what a joke, right?

[bit of a typo for "toss my the mortality of me"]

Those like you are noted for having a strong body and a strong mind, but the strongest part about you is your adamant will! Practically nothing is strong enough to deter you from the path ahead, even if it's incredibly difficult and may or may not lead to you injuring yourself along the way!

I thought this was an interesting setup, since questions of doubt and motivation are at the core of interesting character introductions. Usually some part of a story's struggle is internal conflict (rather than external/punch the baddies conflict), so if Rio is strong of body/mind/will, what's left for him to wrestle with about himself?

"Nah, friends are more important to me than the concept of death. God, it feels weird to just casually say that..." I metaphorically shudder. "A-Anyway, I think this experience between us should be enough for us to be friends, right?"

I didn't really buy this as a true friendship--or I guess in other words this suggested to me that Rio's definition of "friend" is very loose, and that he's very open to making friends without knowing people well. Is he correct in his character assessments? Will things bite him later? Unsure.

“Honestly… Why would that matter? How would us being friends benefit you? I’m not declining your offer outright, but why would you care to ask such a thing?”

But then also likewise I struggled to see why question-fren is even humoring this as an offer? Like does he also think this interaction constitutes being friends with someone else?

“Hell if I remember, it hasn’t happened yet. Why don’t you just jump ahead and see what happens? I think life’s more exciting when you blindly run into it!”

“Can’t you read their minds? You read mine?”

These both felt a bit too on-the-nose as well. If question-fren can see through time and space and read minds, what is the reason to them to go through this process?

"You have many questions... But I cannot help you answer them..."​

"What..? Why not?" I ask, trying to find a source that I knew wasn't there.

"It's... complicated..."​

(quote order got mixed up but this one also felt a bit lampshading. Like, yes, the story would be very boring if Rio's questions got answered immediately here, but I'm struggling to see an answer with a short version that's more complicated than the conversation that follows. And if they're both existing beyond time/space anyway, it's not like complexity would really hamper them; they have all the time in/out of the world to figure this out.)

The sky was a light pink, orange, and purple-ish blue, perhaps it was sunrise?

Grammatically this doesn't quite parse and would read more clearly as:
> The sky was a light pink, orange, and purlple-ish blue. Perhaps it was sunrise?

He was floating towards a large island, to the north stood a tall, jagged mountain that pierced the sky.

Ditto; grammar correction:
> He was floating towards a large island. To the north stood a tall, jagged mountain that pierced the sky.
> He was floating towards a large island. To the north, a tall, jagged mountain pierced the sky.

To the east, more of the same forest, but the trees were thinner than the rest, he wasn't close enough to tell clearly.

> To the east, more of the same forest, but the trees were thinner than the rest. He wasn't close enough to tell clearly.

As softly as he has fallen, the Lucario finally landed on solid ground, he stood for a moment, taking in the scent of the forest air, before being approached by a black fox with a large, spiky, red mane with dark spikes curved downward, bright red claws, and piercing blue eyes.

> As softly as he had fallen, the Lucario finally landed on solid ground. He stood for a moment, taking in the scent of the forest air, before being approached [...]

In close-third narrations like these, I find that lengthy descriptions of the generic shape of a pokemon are kind of awkward--it suggests that Rio's never seen a Zoroark before? Which, maybe, true? But he doesn't comment on how this is strange to him, and his narration does suggest that he's at least passingly familiar with the existence of pokemon.

Clearing his throat, he waved and put on a grin. "Howdy, name's Kora, a Zoroark," the fox extended his paw to greet the Lucario. When he finally shook Kora's paw, he was met with a firm shake and a warm smile. "Don't believe I caught your name, figure it's only fair you share yours after I already told you mine."

The dialogue punctuation here is a little funky--similar to the corrections I posted for The Makings of a Hero, so I won't wax eloquent on the specifics here, but it should read as:
> "Howdy, name's Kora. A Zoroark." The fox extended his paw to greet the Lucario.
> Rio stared at the stranger, dumbstruck for a moment. When he finally shook Kora's paw, he was met with a firm shake and a warm smile.
> "Don't believe I caught your name," Kora added pointedly. "Figure it's only fair you share yours after I already told you mine."
(dialogue/actions should go on a new paragraph if there's a new speaker/actor).

"My mom said the same kinda thing happened to her. Pretty sure she said she's an 'Outstander" or something like that," the Zoroark shrugged. "I can't really remember off the top of my head."

> "Pretty sure she said she's an 'Outstander' or something like that." The Zoroark shrugged.

"My name's Kai," the small black fox said, interrupting Kora, "and this is my best friend, Mia!" Kai gestured to the small dog fox thing

full disclosure that I'm generally leery of epithets, but I think "small dog fox thing" is a bit redundant this close to "small black fox"

It's unfortunately rare to find such a polite and well-mannered Outlander. I can't begin to tell you how many snobby, uppity Outlander's I've come across in my travels! I think I've fought more Outlanders than I have regular Pokemon!

I thought this was also interesting--is the continuing implication that question-fren is *really* bad at picking candidates? Outlanders are the ones who passed the interview, right? And they're all so shitty?

"As much fun as training a fledgling Outlander would be, I'm afraid I'm not too knowledgeable about Lucario training regimens, at least not any that would prove useful to you. Besides, I think it would be best for you to wing it on your own! Or, even better, Kora and help you!"

I didn't quite follow the logical jump between "I don't know anything about your body and can't be useful" to "my son, also a Zoroark, should help you train your body".

"Whatever you think is going to help him, honey. You are his partner now, after all."

I'm curious what this means to both Diana and Kora. Is partnership a serious thing in this culture? The way she says it makes it feel like it has a lot of weight, but they've also just met each other and Rio doesn't even seem to have much of a say in the whole process, so it feels about as weighty to him as "hey wanna be my friend" after talking to question-fren in the prorlogue.

"You gotta put way more force into your punch, man! Even with a different body, punching can't really be that difficult," Jax said, although he muttered that last bit to himself.

I wasn't sure what his understanding of Outlanders was here--Diana's met several, so is the implication that he's met a bunch and they've all mastered their abilities right away, or is Diana unique in meeting Outlanders and he's just speculating here?

"What'd you say this tent was again? A Bakery?

I'm not sure why "a bakery" is capitalized in this sequence, as on its own it's not a proper noun. If it's literally named "A Bakery" then that would work, or "Clara's Bakery", but otherwise building names typically don't get capitalized like this, and never in the general sense ("the Capitol Building" vs "a capitol building", for example).

Overall, an interesting start, and some fun ideas seem to be at play here. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Fusion]

Chapter 23: Battling Darkness​

Darkness condensed around Lucas' body, reducing the fierce winds it created in favor of dropping a dense pressure in the sparring area. For Jay and Nina, it was difficult to stand upright, and a powerful chill crawled throughout their bodies. Kora was seemingly alright, though. Lucas' crimson gaze remained on Kora as he walked towards the Zoroark.

"Once I beat you, I'll be the strongest there ever was! I won't lose to you!" Lucas said, a vicious snarl on his face. "I will NEVER lose to anyone ever again!"

"Hey Jay, remember when I said it wasn't safe for you guys here?" Kora turned towards the Grovyle. "It still is, but like… I'd really appreciate the help."

"I wasn't planning on leaving anyway," Jay said, forcing himself to keep standing.

Nina tried to do the same, but ended up having to use Jay's shoulder to support her. "Me neither!"

An ear-shattering roar rippled through the air, causing Jay and Nina to cover… where their ears would be. The darkness around Lucas grew stronger, as did his flames. "STOP IGNORING ME!"

In the blink of an eye Lucas was right on top of Kora. Two hefty punches struck Kora in the back. Another would have landed on the back of his head, but Kora was quick enough to catch it. With little effort, Kora tossed Lucas back towards the lake.

"Yowch! That, uh..." Kora blinked, rolling his shoulders. "Huh…"

Lucas caught himself before he hit the ground, sprinting back to Kora as fast as he possibly could. Black electricity trailed behind him. Embers of darkness burned through the air. Razor sharp claws were aimed for Kora's throat. The fox's ear twitched seconds before Lucas reached him, and just like that, he was gone.

"What?!" Lucas growled, looking around frantically.

Hardly a moment later, Kora reappeared next to Lucas, facing Nina and Jay. "Actually, nevermind. It might be best if you guys left."

"STOP TAUNTING ME!" Lucas quickly slashed upwards, but all he felt was the air sliding past his claws. Kora turned to the side, evading the attack. Fury began growing in Lucas' chest, signaled by the increase of smoke coming from his mouth. "LET ME HIT YOU!"

A black Flamethrower roared from Lucas' maw, exploding on Kora's body. The ground shook. The pressure in the air fluctuated. Thick, heavy smoke clouded around Lucas and Kora.

"Kora!" Nina cried out.

"Lucas you have to stop!" Jay yelled.

As the smoke settled, Lucas was… alone. Kora had vanished again? With a snarl, Lucas looked for his opponent, more and more darkness burning from him. "Where ARE you?!"

"Actually, actually, I think I have an idea," Kora said, suddenly next to Jay and Nina. The two jumped, wondering how he even got there. "I'll keep him busy, and you two wait for my signal, alright?"

"Ok. Signal for what?" Jay asked, getting a smug grin from Kora.

"You'll know when you see it. Try not to get hit, alright?" Kora said, facing Lucas again.

"There you are!" Lucas fired another black flamethrower at Kora. The blast landed right at Kora's feet, creating a smokescreen. Seconds pass, and Lucas comes running through the smoke. He slashed at Kora's chest, this time actually hitting and slicing fur off the Zoroark.

Kora shoves Lucas away, not paying his injury any mind. He aims his paw at Lucas, firing a quick incinerate at him. It was enough to stun Lucas for a second, just long enough for Kora to get on the other side of him.

"Get ready you two!" Kora shouts, waving at Nina and Jay. "I'm almost ready!"

Lucas stomps his foot on the ground, slightly cracking the floor beneath him. "I said STOP THAT ALREADY! I'M your opponent! STOP IGNORING ME!"

Darkness explodes around Lucas, darkening his scales even further. Kora, as if suddenly realizing what was happening, gets back on all fours and prepares to move out of the way. Fortunately, he moved. Unfortunately, Lucas moved him. Very painfully. With his fists, no less.

"O-Oh..." Kora sputtered, rolling from Lucas' strike. He held his side, wincing. "Oh shit…"

Lucas didn't let up, already in front of Kora again. He threw out a punch. Faster than Kora could react. In an instant Kora was at the edge of the lake again.

"I-I know I just took back what I said, a-about you two leaving," Kora panted, slowly lifting himself up. "But now you guys really gotta go."

Jay and Nina didn't exactly know what was going on, but it suddenly got a lot worse. That much, they could easily tell. Instead of retreating, like they were told, both ran to Kora's side. Lucas didn't seem to notice them at all, luckily.

"No can do. In fact, I have an actual plan," Jay said. "He's gunning for you and you alone, right Kora?"

"Seeing how I'm unsure if I can feel my jaw right now, I'd say yes," Kora stood back up.

"All you need to do, is not get killed. Nina and I can handle it from there," Jay nodded.

"Jay that is easier said tha-" Kora would have finished his sentence properly, but thanks to Lucas rudely lodging his fist as far into Kora's gut as possible, he instead choked on his words. And probably a smidgen or two of blood.

But this was fortunate, as Lucas still didn't even notice Jay and Nina. Nina took this chance to hit him with a strong water pulse, and Jay grabbed Lucas' arm and slammed him on the ground. Nina helped Kora off the ground, who thanked her with a strained, high-pitched voice.

"He's basically blind right now, so as long as he doesn't care about me or Jay, we can probably knock some sense back into him!" Nina said cheerfully.

"RAAAH!" Lucas' voice seemed to shake the very earth. He was back on his feet way quicker than Jay expected, pushing Jay to the ground as he barreled towards Kora.

Kora pushed Nina behind him, then blocked Lucas' claws with his arms. That was a terribly painful mistake. "G-Gahh! Dammit that hurts!" He shoved Lucas back, planting a firm kick on the Charmeleon's chest. Unfortunately, his leg was grabbed. "I hate this. I really do."

Just before Lucas could use his advantage, another water pulse hits him in the snout, dazing him for a few seconds. Kora quickly kicked up, striking Lucas' snout. With all the might he could muster, Kora slammed his heel back down, right onto Lucas' head. Jay and Nina both winced slightly.

"What keeps hitting me?!" Lucas held his head, noticing the steam evaporating off his body. "What is this?! What did you do?!"

"You guys are making him angrier!" Kora yelled. In the short moment it took for him to say that, Lucas fired another black flamethrower. Kora had to match it with his incinerate, but he was quickly overpowered. Kora was launched back, skidding a few feet along on the ground. "It just keeps getting worse."

"YES!" Lucas pounded his chest triumphantly. "Now start taking this seriously and fight me! Fight me so I can get stronger than you!"

"Why would I wanna do that?" Kora groaned, getting back up. His knees threatened to buckle, his body already worn out from so few attacks. "I would love to just have a break, and then go on from that break for more than five minutes."

Lucas approached Kora with a confident grin on his snout, confident in his victory. "I can imagine the look on everyone's faces when I tell them I beat you! They'll finally stop looking down on me, and my friends! We'll be the strongest team there is, and I'll be the strongest on the team! The strongest… me!"

"What is killing me gonna prove other than you going crazy?" Kora asked, taking a step back.

"If I beat you, the one everyone can't shut up about, then I'll be the one no one can shut up about! I'll be so much stronger! He promised, I'd be the strongest! I have to be… I NEED to be!" Lucas laughed.

Kora took another step back, nearly falling into the lake. "You don't need to be anything, especially not strong. All being strong does is get you roped into stuff you don't wanna do. Like right now, I'm stuck between fighting you and dying."

"What? Scared of losing?" Lucas said, chuckling. "That's too bad, 'cuz I'm not gonna let you give up! I'm gonna win fair and square." The Berserk Charmeleon held his head back, a swirling mess of dark flames forming in the back of his throat. Kora probably should have moved, but figured he should wait until whatever Jay and Nina were planning was done.

Any second now.

...

Aaaaaaaaany second now...

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Kora!" Nina said, blasting Lucas relentlessly with water pulses. Lucas choked on his flames, which Kora helped by throwing a hardy punch.

Jay leapt over Lucas' head, a faint white glow around him. He swiftly struck Lucas with a kick to the head, then spun around and kicked him in the chest. He had to land on all fours, such acrobatics weren't something he was quite used to yet, but it worked nonetheless! Lucas was on the ground!

"That was pretty cool, guys!" Kora snickered. "I dunno if that did him in, though."

"It should have done something. Lucas can take a hit, but not from all three of us," Jay said, confident.

"Oh... maybe I shoulda put more force behind that punch," Kora sheepishly replied.

Jay let out a sigh, readying to fight again. "Lucas! Are you back to normal yet?"

"G-Gahh… Nghhhh…" Lucas groaned, holding his head. "No, this isn't fair… This isn't FAIR!" More darkness burned around his body. "I had him! I was winning!" He looked up, locking eyes with Jay. "...You…"

"It's me! You can see me, right?" Jay asked, smiling. "We were so worried, we thou-"

"Zen… Of course it had to be Zen! I was SO CLOSE! I had him, but you HAD to show up!" Lucas snarled. "I'LL BURN YOU BOTH TO CINDERS!"

Jay's face dropped, this took a mighty turn for the absolute worse. Lucas unleashed a larger flamethrower than before, and with how close Jay was, it was a miracle Kora moved him out of the way in time. The blast hit the ceiling, raining large chunks of stone onto the battlefield.

"RAHH!" Lucas roared, throwing himself at Jay. Kora lifted Jay up and tossed him to the side, both evading Lucas. "STOP THAT! THIS IS A FIGHT!"

"I don't want to fight you, Lucas! Please, calm down!" Jay pleaded, that white glow coming back to him. He nimbly dodged another of Lucas' attacks. "This isn't like you!"

"What do you know about me, Zen?! I hate you worst of all, you look down on EVERYBODY! You think you're so tough? Then FIGHT ME!" Lucas gnashed his teeth, missing two more attacks on Jay.

"I'm not Zen, it's me! Jay! Your friend!" Jay said, trying his hardest to keep that glow on.

"Lucas, please!" Nina cried out. "You're gonna get yourself hurt!"

Unfortunately, Lucas still wasn't aware of Nina. Now he wanted nothing but to get rid of Jay, even Kora was an afterthought now. Lucas slashed and bit and burned at Jay as much as he possibly could, but Jay was able to evade most of it. With Kora's help, of course.

"Just let me win already! You can't beat me!" The darkness around Lucas got thicker, lashing out at Jay. "I win! MY WIN! I'M THE STRONGEST THERE IS!"

A whip of darkness lashed Jay's chest, sending an intense cold throughout his body. He let out a pained cry as he fell to his knees. Lucas ran towards Jay, a manic smile on his face as he aimed to finally beat him.

"Dark Pulse!" A powerful blast of dark energy launched Lucas away, coming from a now furious Kora.

"GAHHH! That's right, I almost forgot about you!" Lucas fired another large dark flamethrower at Kora, but it was cancelled out by another dark pulse.

Kora stood above Lucas. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm winning!" Lucas laughed, more darkness lashing out at Kora. They whipped at his body, slicing off fur and even drawing blood. Kora jumped back, but wasn't fazed by the attack. "I win. I WIN! I WIN!"

Nina, having grabbed Jay, looked over at Lucas. "Lucas, please. Snap out of it."

Lucas hesitated for a second, the darkness around him wavering. Kora dashed in, bashing his head against Lucas'. With another hefty punch, Lucas was back on the ground.

"Like, honestly, it'd be best if we stopped this right here, Lucas. You won, I give up." Kora held his hands up.

"Wh-What? Are you mocking me?!" Lucas growled.

"No, actually. I could not care less about this fight. I could not care less about why you want to beat me so badly. But you're starting to hurt your friends, and I'm trying not to kill you," Kora said bluntly. "If you keep this up, you're friends are gonna get more hurt, and so are you."

"M-My… friends..?" Lucas muttered, looking at his claws. "My friends…"

"Yes, your friends. The ones right over there, trying not to beat to death by-"

"You…" The air grew even colder. Lucas held his head up, a new kind of fury on his face. "Don't you dare threaten my friends…"

Kora closed his eyes. "Oh, my god."

"I WON'T LET Y-" Lucas was about to fire a flamethrower at Kora, when he suddenly stopped. His body dropped like a rock, and the only sounds he made were choked screams. The dark aura vanished in an instant, returning Lucas back to normal.

"Th-The hell?" Kora stepped back. "Lucas? What happened?! Hey!"

"Lucas!" Nina and Jay both run to their friend's side. Jay reached for Lucas' arm, but reeled back at how ungodly cold he was.

"I-I..." Kora stared for a moment, then shook his head and quickly lifted Lucas in his arms. The cold Jay felt didn't seem to bother Kora. "I'll get him some help," he said, running towards the infirmary. Jay and Nina watched as he left, wanting to go with him, but one of them just didn't have it in him to move.

"Go on, Nina, I can rest up on my own," Jay said, holding his chest.

"We don't know what's gonna happen to you after that aura hit you. He'll be fine, but I don't know about you," Nina replied.

"Please, he's probably worse off than I am. You really should go and make sure he's fine."

"But what about-" Nina was hushed by Jay shaking his head.

"I'll be fine, I just need a minute. Honest."

Nina looked into Jay's eyes, gently letting him go. "If I come back and you also go crazy, I'm beating you myself."

"I'll try to hold you to that," Jay chuckled, sitting down. "Or maybe I won't, I don't like getting beat up, honestly."

Nina rolled her eyes, speeding off after Kora and Lucas. Jay hated the cold feeling surrounding his body, but he could be worse. He shut his eyes and laid back, waiting for the cold to pass.

<><><><>​

"Lucas got hurt! Like, real bad, I think!" Kora shouted as he barged into the infirmary. He carefully placed Lucas in a bed. "And he's real cold too!"

"He went berserk?" Tia asked, floating over to Lucas' side.

"I-uh, yeah. How'd you know?" Kora tilted his head.

"I'll explain after I'm done with Lucas, but for now, go get the others," Tia said, waving Kora off. "Please, hurry."

A mix of fear and worry hit Kora almost as hard as Lucas did, but he tried not to think about it too hard and dashed out the room. Tia held her paws over Lucas, a pink glow covering them both. She winced at the cold coming from the Charmeleon, but didn't pull away. It was hard to tell his condition, but from the vacant look in his eyes, it wasn't hard to guess Lucas was in danger.

A moment or two after Kora left, Nina arrived. She immediately went to Lucas' side. "How is he?"

"He's holding on better than I expected," Tia said, only saying half of the truth. "What exactly happened?"

"We found Kora in the sparring area, and Lucas wanted to fight him. Kora beat him, and well… he kinda snapped. He broke that box Jay had and the same thing that happened to you happened to him, but…" Nina tapped her chin. "It was different, somehow. His scales got darker, and his flamethrower changed color too."

"That doesn't sound too good," Tia sighed, the pink glow around her growing further. "I'll do the best I can to help him, Kora and the others will be here shortly."

A silence fell over the three, and after a couple long moments passed, Nina stood back up. "I have to go check on Jay. He got hit pretty bad."

"Why didn't you bring him with you?" Tia asked, still focusing on Lucas.

"He insisted I go on without him. He isn't anywhere near as busted up as Lucas, but…" Nina held her elbows. "I-I have this feeling I shouldn't have left him." She quickly left the room, hoping that feeling was wrong.

Tia took in a deep breath, then slowly exhaled. "Even these kids are getting roped into this. I wish I could do more than just healing now. Dammit."

<><><><>​

Nina found Jay right where she left him, putting her worries to rest. "Oh thank Arceus, you're alright?"

"Were you that worried about me? You left like, a minute ago, didn't you?" Jay chuckled, standing back up. "How's Lucas?"

"Tia said he's doing better than she thought he would. That he's still 'holding on,'" Nina said, frowning.

"That bad, huh? But we know he'll pull through. Lucas isn't the kinda guy to stay down for long, even from something, well, he probably shouldn't." Jay rubbed the back of his neck.

"You mean like the time you pushed him off the ship on our trip here? During that wicked storm?" Nina crossed her arms.

"I bumped into him, i-it was an accident…" Jay touched his clawtips together nervously. "Besides, he made it back on board! After I was thrown off by the captain. And we were both drowning for a few mi- ya know what let's stop reminiscing."

"Alright, fine. We should probably head on back anyway. Everyone's meeting up again, probably because this is the second time someone went crazy inside the guild," Nina motioned for Jay to follow her, who happily obliged.

They were far enough into the tunnel to see Kora and the others arriving at the infirmary. Nina and Jay waved to them and started to pick up their pace.

"Man is it nice to see you guys again! For some reason," Nina laughed. "We've got a lot to fill you in on, assuming Kora didn't already."

"Oh yeah, I think I forgot to do that," Kora shrugged, sliding into the infirmary. "Whoops..."

"Of course he did. I presume it has something to do with that spike of energy we felt? Much like Tia's when she went berserk," Zen said "Was it that Charmeleon friend of yours? Lucas, is it?"

Nian nodded. "Yep. He and Kora duked it out for a bit, and Jay and I helped but… all that really did was get Jay hurt."

"It's better than all of us getting hurt, isn't it?" Jay chuckled. "Besides, I'm not the injured guy we should be worried about right now." He nodded his head towards the infirmary, at Lucas specifically, who was unconscious and being tended to by Tia.

<><><><>​

The infirmary was obviously not intended to have so many people inside it, but it'd be awkward to have the larger 'mon standing outside. Jay and Nina stood by Lucas' bed, watching Tia work. Kora, Minerva, and Rio sat on one of the empty beds. Nate and Zeke were still on their own, with Jax standing beside it. Z and Eva stayed by the door, and Zen was leaned against Tia's desk. Kora, Nina, and Jay explained what had happened, going into as much detail as they could about the fight with Lucas and everything that happened just before that.

"So a dark fruit isn't involved at all? This is-" Zen began, looking at the others' faces. He barely said anything and already fear was etched onto them. "-quite the development."

"How can you be so sure? He might've eaten one a while ago," Rio said, turning his head to Nina and Jay. "Did he?"

Jay shrugged. "Hard to say. I still haven't seen one myself, and while I doubt Lucas would have eaten a strange berry without telling us, he's been more reckless before."

"Besides, Outlander, they just said Lucas went berserk because of some… box," Zen sighed. "How did you miss that?"

Rio rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled. "Oh, uh, right. Sorry."

"I would appreciate it greatly if you did not waste our time, Outlander. This is a serious issue, and if you cannot find it in yourself to pay attention, then don't participate," Zen said, cold as steel. He took a deep breath and faced Jay again. "Now, do either of you know where he got that box?"

Jay suddenly clammed up, holding his elbows and keeping his eyes off of Zen. "I-I, uh…"

"We found it on the way here from the cafe," Nina quickly chimed in. "We didn't know what it was or how it got here."

"Uh-huh, th-that's right," Jay nodded. "Just s-some strange little box, that's all."

Zen's eyes narrowed, looking between the Grovyle and Frogadier. "... Jay."

"Eep!" Jay jumped and quickly tried to correct himself. "I-I mean, um, yeah?"

"Where did the box come from." Although it was a question, Zen's tone made it sound more like a demand.

"We honestly don't know where it came from, Zen. There's no reason to grill him over it," Nina said defensively.

Eva stepped forward. "Yeah, it might be best to step off it, Zen. He might not be knocked out like Lucas, but he's still hurt. I get the feeling that getting hit by that aura is gonna do a lot more than just hurt."

"True as that may be, I want to hear Jay answer me," Zen said, keeping his eyes on Jay and Jay alone. "And if I am recalling things properly, I believe Jay himself had a box in his claws when he regrouped with us in the Cafe. Is this true?"

Beads of sweat trickled down Jay's forehead, and he swallowed whatever had built up in his mouth. "I-I… D-D, uh, um…" Jay wiped his forehead and started to breathe heavily. He felt uncomfortably warm, and knowing he was getting stared down didn't help at all. Everyone was staring at him, of course they were! Was it always so stuffy in here? And cramped?

"D-Don't… wanna," Jay finally spoke. The room grew deafeningly silent.

"...Pardon?" Zen blinked.

"Don't wanna…" Jay lowered his head, rubbing his arms.

Another moment of silence. This time, it was broken by Rio. "You don't wanna… say anything?"

"Don't wanna…" This time Jay shut his eyes and turned away from the others.

Zen's gaze snapped to Nina. "Explain."

"He gets like this sometimes when he's overwhelmed. I think it's safe to say he's been through a lot today so, um, please stop being so hard on him? It's not something he's all that proud of, if you couldn't tell," Nina said, clear as day. Almost as if she had practiced this before.

"Hmph," Zen huffed. "Not what I had expected of him, but I understand. I do find it interesting that you seem to be handling this perfectly, Nina, but I digress. If Jay doesn't want to tell us why or where he found that box, for whatever reason, then so be it."

Jay let out a faint sigh of relief, which must've been the exact wrong option as Zen again redirected his cold stare to Jay. The Grovyle tried to hide behind Nina, but that didn't do him much good.

"I would like to remind you, just like I reminded the Outlander, that this is no time for childish nonsense, Jay. I thought better of you, more than most of the pokemon in this room," Zen said, disappointment and anger clearly in his tone. "What we need is information, Jay. Your friend has already suffered because of that box, and you trying to hide it from us will only cause others to suffer as well."

Zen's voice rattled Jay to the core, causing his knees to shake, threatening to give out. Did it get even hotter? Stuffier? It was getting difficult to breathe with how stuffy everything was. "I-I'm s-sorry."

Zen stood up straight. "If you're sorry, then tell us the truth."

The others didn't know what to do. Obviously Zen was taking this too far, but he had a reason to. And Jay was clearly hiding something that might be useful to them. A sensation of deja vu crept up Nina's back, and she started thinking about what to do. The best thing to do might actually just be to tell the truth.

"Yes, the box is the same one Jay had, and he told us he found it in storage," Nina admitted. "But that's it."

"Clearly, that isn't, seeing how that doesn't explain how opening it caused Lucas to go berserk," Zen shook his head. "We are losing enough time as is, so please, Nina, let Jay speak."

"Look, Zen, I know we need to know everything we can, but we already said what we needed to-" Nina began, but was cut short when Jay suddenly grabbed onto her shoulder. "Jay? What's up?"

"Hot…" Jay muttered, wiping his forehead. "Too… hot…"

Of all the things Jay could have said, that certainly wasn't one of them.

"Too hot… way too hot," Jay panted, pushing past Nina. "I… I gotta... go."

Rio tilted his head. "That's a bit much, maybe just have Nina hit you with some water or something?"

"Also, it's still pretty damn cold," Minerva added from the comfort of Kora's mane.

Jay didn't seem to care about what anyone else was saying, heading straight for the exit. He suddenly got worse; large beads of sweat formed on his body, his leaves went limp, and he swayed as he walked. "Need, cold. Too, hot…"

Zen tried to stop Jay before he left, but right as he touched Jay's body an unbearable chill shocked his system and he reeled his hand back. "What the hell?! He's freezing!" The others, again, had no idea what to do. Zen gritted his teeth, slamming his not-freezing fist on the desk. "Can any of you at least try to do something?"

Everyone looked at each other, then back to Zen and shrugged.

"Zen if you can't touch him, why would any of us be able to?" Eva asked, moving out of the way as Jay stumbled out the door.

"I…" Radiating irritation, Zen let out a sigh. "Then follow him. Whatever. I don't care."

<><><><>​

Jay's lungs burned with every breath; he felt like he was suffocating. Everything burned, his body was on fire, the stone felt like it would melt his scales and torch his leaves. Unbearable didn't even begin to cover it.

'You're burning… Find the cold… Save yourself...' echoed in Jay's head as he shambled down the hall. It wasn't his voice, but he didn't care. Everything hurt. Everything burned.

"Too… hot…" Jay scratched at his throat, trying to take something off that he wasn't wearing "Burning… h-help…"

Watching Jay from behind, unable to do anything to help, was just about everyone else. Nina was the closest to him, but a bone chilling air seemed to form around Jay, keeping them away.

"Why is this happening to him?" Nina asked, lowering her head. "Why Lucas? Why my friends?"

The sadness in Nina's voice caused Rio to wince and his ears to drop. "I don't know, but we'll help them anyway we can."

Zen was about to say otherwise, but decided against it. "Just watch Jay for now, we'll figure out what to do with him later."

Jay continued down the hallway, getting worse and worse with every step he took. The walls seemed to warp and bend in the "heat", only making it harder for Jay to walk straight. He didn't know where he was going, but he didn't care. He just had to get away, away from the heat, away from the pain.

"Please…" he muttered, then randomly stopped. He turned his head, eyeing a corridor laden with crystals, leading to one stone door. It looked cold. It looked safe. A gentle breeze flowed over Jay's melting body, granting him the chill he was searching for.

"F-Finally, yes..! I'm gonna make it!" Jay exclaimed, throwing himself towards the door. He clambered over the crystals, uncaring of when they dug into his body and sliced his skin. What was a bit of blood shed when his salvation was right there? "I'm gonna make it!"

Jay threw himself at the stone door, a refreshing chill surging through his body. It was a bliss he had never experienced before. Better than any pastry at the cafe, or a day at the beach, or ice cream on a hot day. Well, it was like that last one but amped up to eleven.

"This feels so good," Jay sighed, then blinked. "W-Wait a second… Where am..?" He turned around, seeing his friends looking at him like a crazy person. "Guys?"

An awkward silence took its place over them once more before Nina broke it. "Jay why did you come all the way out here?"

"I… I don't know," Jay said nervously. He looked back at the door and shock filled his system. "Th-The stone door? What am…" Something popped into his mind. A voice. A familiar voice.

'Thank you very much, my friend,' it said. A chill rose within Jay, a bad chill. A very bad, very familiar chill.

"O-Oh no," Jay gulped. "What have I done?"

"What do you mean?" Zen asked, cautious. "All you did was act like it was sweltering inside and come out here."

"Exactly," Jay said, looking at Nina. All she needed was that look to understand. Jay messed up, big time.

The sound of footsteps started echoing down the hall, coupled with claws scraping against stone. As the footsteps got closer, an ominous humming was heard over the footsteps. Nina and Jay looked like they just watched someone die, and Rio, Kora, and Zen felt some odd sensation wash over them.

"Who is that?" Zen said forcefully. "Reveal yourself!"

As soon as they had come, the footsteps stopped. Rio and Kora's ears flicked to the side, and they instantly snapped their heads down the hall. There stood a tall, red wolf, with piercing pink eyes, large black claws, and a sort of spiky mohawk.

"It's a pleasure to properly meet you all. My name..." the Wolf began with a bow. As he raised his head, he shot Nina and Jay a toothy grin, chilling them both to the core. "Is Lee."

Zen, Rio, and Jax stood between Lee and the others, with Zen in front of them. "Why are you here," the Bisharp asked, ready to fight.

"The 'why' doesn't matter. Just now that I found what I was looking for, and you have Jay and his friends to thank," Lee laughed. "Speaking of, as I no longer need him…" Lee nodded his head over to Jay. The Grovyle was swaying back and forth, his eyes were heavy and struggling to stay open. He tried to say something, but couldn't get a word out before he fell on some of the crystals, out cold.

 

[Fusion]

Chapter 24: Encounter! Lee​

"JAY!" Nina's horrified cry echoed through the halls, ringing in the ears of all that heard it. She sped over the crystals and grabbed hold of her friend, but she didn't reach him before he was already punctured several times over by the crystals beneath him. Luckily nothing had cut too deep, but that didn't make Nina feel any better. Greenish blood streamed from Jay's unconscious body, trailing onto Nina's arms as she lifted him up.

Zen leaped for the Lycanroc, a burning fury in his eyes. The Bisharp threw a swift punch, but his steel gauntlet felt nothing but air. Lee dodged faster than Zen could react. He spun around with his fist outstretched, this time getting blocked instead of dodged. "What the hell did you do to him," he growled.

"Tsk tsk tsk, assuming I did anything at all when Jay was so very useful to me. I don't purposefully break my toys, that would be such a waste," Lee replied, pushing Zen's fist away. "All I did was put him to sleep, he decided to fall where he did by himself."

"Bullshit," Zen spat, throwing out a kick. Much like his first attack, it struck only air.

Lee had, somehow, made his way over to the stone door, standing before it and a furious Nina. "Move out of my way, please. I have a Time Gear to acquire."

"Like hell I'm moving for you!" Nina yelled. "You're not getting your filthy paws on anything!"

The Lycanroc shook his head, sighing. "Dear, Nina. How is Jay going to get any better if he isn't patched up immediately? I've heard bleeding out is one of the more painless ways to go out, but is that what he wants?"

"SHUT UP!" Nina held Jay tighter. "I don't want to hear another word from you!"

"You heard her, you're not going through that door," Rio said firmly. "I suggest you back away, slowly. If you know what's good for you."

Lee turned his head back just enough to see the Lucario making demands towards him, and let out a laugh. "You? Trying to order me around? HA! What do you plan to do when I get over there? You, the Lucario that can't even use his aura properly?"

Rio flinched, but kept his determined stare on Lee. "I don't need aura to take care of you."

Another laugh left Lee's maw. "Oh really? Then, by all means-" In the blink of an eye, Lee stood before Rio, towering above him. The air around him with deathly cold. His pink eyes seemed to stare into Rio's very soul. "-take care of me."

Rio tried to jump back, but couldn't do it in time. Lee's claws left a nasty gash in Rio's torso, leaving a burning sensation behind. He tried to let out a scream, but it got trapped inside his chest. That, and Lee grabbed him by the throat right after, which as anyone could guess didn't help.

"Well? I'm waiting, Outlander," Lee growled, squeezing Rio's throat tightly. "You said you could 'take care of me,' and you can bet on your life that I am going to hold you to that."

Admittedly, this whole situation got out of hand far quicker than Rio expected it to. Lee's grip was insanely powerful. Rio felt like his head was on the verge of popping. He couldn't get a single breath in, or out. He couldn't pry Lee's paw off either.

'This is bad, very bad,' Rio thought. 'Why isn't anyone h-helping me?' He turned his head as far as he could, which wasn't all that much, to see that the others were… motionless? Or, were they moving really slowly, actually. What? And someone was missing too...

Just as Rio noticed this, he was forcefully thrown into the wall behind him. Whatever air was in him was knocked out of him, but was soon replaced by a lifesaving rush of fresher air. Unfortunately, Rio's head was spinning like a Hitmontop hyped up on sugar. All around, a mixed bag of nearly dying and not dying.

"Are you done wasting my time?" Lee scoffed, taking a step back as Jax threw a punch, and missed. "Why don't you sit back and let some of the actually useful Pokemon handle this, hm?"

Ouch, that was unnecessary. Rio would have pointed that out if he wasn't busy being in pain and taking in air. Strangely enough, Rio wasn't in as much pain as he thought he would be. It was still a whole lot, but could have been worse.

Zen and Jax swung for Lee and missed every single time. For a rock type, it was frustratingly impossible to hit him. They had hoped that being in a somewhat narrow hallway would have helped confine Lee in one place, but it was more of a hindrance on Zen and Jax if anything. Even with the others off to the side, there just wasn't enough room for either of the two to fight properly.

'Our best bet is to move him to the sparring area and keep him there. Whoever this wolf is, he will not be able to outlast all of us at once. We just need all of us to fight,' Zen planned mentally, missing a kick. He jumped back to the others, leaving Jax to try and catch Lee on his own for a bit.

"Dark pulse!" Zen threw his arms out, dark aura crackling in front of his gauntlets.

Jax froze up for a second. "W-Wait, I'm not out of th-" It was too late, as the hall was suddenly filled to the brim with Zen's powerful dark aura, pushing Jax along with it. Lee, on the other hand, was fast enough to remain ahead of it.

"Couldn't give Jax any warning at all?" Eva rolled her eyes.

"I'd be warning that Lycanroc as well if I warned Jax, so no," Zen said, blunt as ever. He and the others hurried to the sparring area to stop Lee, all except Rio, who couldn't move if he wanted to, Nina, who kept guard at the door, and Z.

"You alright?" Z asked, crouching before Rio. The Lucario responded with a silent nod. "Good, good. I don't wanna discourage you, but for your sake, please stay out of the way." And with those wonderfully encouraging words, Z joined the others. Rio let his head hang back, hitting it on the wall and wincing. He turned his head down the hall, clutching his chest. His heart was racing, beating in his mind.

"G-God… dammit…"

<><><><><>​

Jax caught himself before he hit the ground, his eyes darting around the sparring area to see that he was… alone? He was sure that Lee was pushed back here too. As the others arrived, they too saw that no one else was there.

"Looking for me?" A voice spoke from behind them. Of course, why wouldn't Lee be behind them? It only makes the most sense!

Zen clenched his fists, trying to pacify his growing rage. He was being toyed with. Him, treated like some plaything! Unbelievable! "Stand down, Lycanroc. You're outnumbered and outmatched."

"Did I not formally introduce myself?" Lee shook his head. "Oh, wait, you're just trying to make yourself feel more important than you really are."

The air grew heavy for a second as Zen held his tongue from feeding into Lee's bait. Eva stood by Zen's side, looking up at him before glaring at Lee. "You must have a deathwish if you're trying to piss Zen off this hard. Then again, you did think you could stroll into a guild and leave scotch free, so you obviously do."

A menacing cackle left Lee's throat. "You can't fool me, girly. Most of the guild's offshore, and I made sure to keep them there as long as I need. Other than the Machamp, none of you are anything I need to worry about." He looked Zen dead in the eye, grinning. "None of you."

Zen was about to prove Lee otherwise, before Eva stopped him. "Think, Zen. You know better than to play into this."

"Think… yes, think." Zen calmed himself down. Lashing out in anger wasn't something someone like him should do, that was far beneath him. He rested his gaze back on Lee. "I'll be sure to break that jaw of yours by the end of this."

"And I'd love to watch you fail," Lee scoffed.

Zen was the first to close the distance between him and Lee, slashing with his arm blades. Lee ducked the attack and spun around him. Zen quickly threw his leg behind him, but just like before, hit nothing. Zen quickly turned around to slash at Lee's legs. Lee jumped to avoid it. A flamethrower from Eva burned through the air at Lee. It just barely missed him. Zen continued his momentum to his Lee with his other arm. The attack didn't hit a thing.

Lee curved his body to avoid a punch from Jax as he landed, then hopped away with a smug grin on his face. "My my, I almost had to try and avoid all of that! Bravo!" the wolf laughed.

Nobody said a word, much to Lee's dismay. Another flamethrower raced over towards Lee, just to be dodged again. Zen charged Lee down once more, blades bared. A flurry of slashes sliced through the air, and nothing else.

"Missed me," Lee snickered.

Zen remained silent, his gaze remaining on Lee all the while. Darkness crackled around Zen's body. The air began to shift. Zen charged Lee down, running at full speed while slicing and slashing at the irritating wolf before him. It looked like Lee was just ahead of Zen's attack, always almost getting hit, but never actually getting hit.

As Zen and Lee sped through the area, Minerva hopped up on Jax's shoulder, saying, "Oi, Jax, I got an idea."

"Yeah? What is-" Jax began, before he was suddenly lifted off of his feet. Minerva held him effortlessly above his head. "W-What are you doing?"

"Don't worry, I know what Zen's doin', I'm only gonna throw ya when I can't miss," Minerva snickered. "Aaaaany secon' now." Eva got flashbacks to the first time Minerva threw someone at an enemy. She doubted this would go well at all. Z rolled his eyes, getting the same feeling Eva did.

Throwing vocal jabs at a silent target must have grown tiresome, seeing how Lee grew silent himself as he was pushed away from the others by Zen. That, or he had to focus to keep dodging. Regardless of the reasoning, everything was going exactly as Zen planned.

'There shouldn't be a Pokemon alive able to evade me for so long, not even Diana. I might not have the speed advantage, but I know I have the stamina to keep going. That is, of course, assuming he can get tired at all.' Zen let a smirk find its way on his face. He slashed upwards, causing Lee to flip backwards to avoid it.

They had gotten to the other side of the sparring area, and sure enough, Lee was breathing heavier than normal. Zen, on the other hand, was perfectly fine.

"This war of attrition ends now," Zen said firmly. "I've won."

Lee looked at Zen with vacant eyes, then suddenly turned back to the others and sped towards them. Zen quickly made chase, staying on Lee's tail.

Minerva grinned, readying to throw Jax. "Aight big guy, time to fly!"

Jax didn't have much of a choice but get ready himself. "If you miss, I'm throwing you next."

"I ain't missed before," Minerva said. She only threw someone at someone else once, and she didn't miss then, so she wasn't lying.

It looked like the closer Lee was to the others, the faster he got. Zen was at top speed, the same speed that kept Lee on his toes earlier, yet he was falling behind. Eva tried to slow Lee down with flamethrowers, but he sidestepped every single one of them.

"What was I thinking, going for the toughest of the bunch? I should have whittled down the numbers first!" Lee laughed right as he came up to Eva. His claws looked a whole lot more terrifying up close.

Eva threw her arms up to block, not even sure if that would be enough. She braced for impact, only to get smothered by red fur.

"Kora?" she began, only to realize it was Z, blocking Lee's attack. "Wait, Z? Actually, where is Kora?"

"We got something a bit more important to deal with than that!" Z groaned, pushing Lee back.

Zen caught up just in time, slashing at Lee's back, only to just barely miss again. Interesting. Z threw out a high kick, managing to cause the hair on Lee's head to move but nothing more. Zen attacked low, aiming to sweep at Lee's legs. Lee jumped over Zen, then curved around another attack from Z.

"Here goes nothin' Jax!" Minerva shouted, throwing the hulking mass of muscle at Lee as he jumped.

'Perfect.' Another smirk appeared on Zen's face. Lee was right above him, exactly where he needed him to be, Z was putting pressure on from the ground, and Jax was coming from above. A sudden surge of darkness built up within Zen, crackling in the air around him. It was possible that Z and Jax would get hit by this, but Zen couldn't let this chance pass.

Lee happened to catch on, dawning a look of fear for the first time. He couldn't move out of the way in time. "No, don't!"

"Dark Pulse!" All the crackling darkness above Zen suddenly expanded, creating a swirling tower of jet black aura that exploded on the ceiling. The entire mountain shook from the attack. Z and Jax were both blown back, the latter catching himself before he hit the ground.

"Geez, talk about excessive," Minerva chuckled nervously. She kept forgetting just how powerful Zen was. "At least we got 'im, right?"

"I'd be surprised if we didn't," Eva said. "I-I really hope we did."

The darkness began to fade, leaving only dark sparks behind. There wasn't a single trace of Lee there. Instead…

"I can't believe you used so much of your power while you knew what was going on," Lee spoke from behind Zen. "I even told you not to, but did you listen?"

Zen fell to a knee. "I had a point to prove."

"What? That you're willing to waste all your power over an illusion?" Lee laughed, his body flickering. "Were I not ashamed of myself for being so reckless and revealing my little secret, I'd pat myself on the back. Oh wait." Another Lee appeared, patting the first on the back. "I still can!"

Countless Lees appeared around the sparring area, forcing Zen and the others to huddle together. "Can you find the real one? Don't be a fool like Zen and waste your energy on fakes! Hahahaha!" They all spoke in unison, their voices echoing throughout the room.

Z gritted his teeth and growled. "Dammit, he's just trying to waste our time!"

"Alright, Zen, you have a plan right?" Eva asked, helping the Bisharp off the ground.

"Precisely," Zen said calmly. "We leave."

"What..?" the others asked.

"He said so himself, these are just illusions. We know what he's after, and we know he's not here. Since the illusions are still active, it's safe to say he isn't too far away from them. Meaning he hasn't opened the stone door."

Eva's eyes widened. "Th-That means someone's holding him back! And the only ones back there are Rio and Nina!"

"And Kora too!" Minerva added, already heading for the exit.

The Lees blocked the way, but being illusions made them about as effective a blockage as a sheet in front of an open window.

<><><><><>​

"God… dammit…" Rio sucked his teeth, standing back up. Before him stood Lee, the genuine article. "I should've called it sooner..."

"You still being able to stand is certainly a feat, Outlander. But nothing more," Lee said. "I will commend your durability, and thank you for your stupidity."

"It isn't stupid if it works, right?" Rio chuckled. "I thought only Zoroarks could have that illusion ability, but thank god I'm not actually dying."

"No, you're not. Not yet," Lee's voice was cold, and his stare somehow colder. "I can speed up that process if you insist on being in my way."

Rio flexed his paws. "I'm a lot harder to beat than you think."

Lee shook his head, shoving Rio into the wall behind him. It was a simple push, yet Rio's entire body felt like it was about to fall apart. A strange feeling of deja vu filled Rio's head. Wonder why.

"Listen, Outlander, I'm not in the mood to play with you. I have better things to waste my time with, and beating you into a wall has already grown boring," Lee said, yawning. "While you're busy getting out of my way, I need you to convince Nina to do the same before her friend bleeds out."

A sticky clump of frubbles splattered onto the back of Lee's head. "Don't worry about me, Rio! Jay's gonna be fine, just… keep him busy until help gets here!" Nina said. She had already covered Jay's punctures with frubbles, which had turned green from all of Jay's blood inside it.

Lee let out an aggravated sigh, not at all attempting to remove the frubbles from his fur. "Hooray, you stopped his bleeding. However you're going to be using those frubbles to sop up amphibian blood rather soon thanks to that little-" more frubbles were thrown at Lee, sticking on the side of his head. "-stunt."

Alright, this was going about as well as it could. Nina kept throwing frubbles at Lee, Lee was doing nothing about it, and Rio was still having trouble standing. Nina could have Lee totally encased in frubble and that'd be the end of it, really. All Rio had to do was sit there and look pretty, and while he's certainly looked better, he's sitting there just fine.

'So, how's it going?'

Rio let out a groan. "Lee only shoved me... how am I already hearing voices?"

'Technically you're not hearing anything, you're thinking it.'

"I know for a fact that my thoughts aren't this loud, or annoying," Rio growled. His head was spinning, but aside from that voice he kept hearing Rio thought he was fine enough to fight.

'Hold your horses, Rio. You shouldn't try something, just let Nina do her thing.'

"N-No, I can't just sit here and not do anything," Rio shook his head, glaring at Lee.

Lee squinted at Rio, half of his body covered in frubbles. "Who the hell are you talking to?"

"I-I don't…" Rio felt his head hurt harder. "Whatever, it doesn't matter!" he barked before thrusting his palm into Lee's cheek. Right on the frubbles. He tried to pull himself away, which didn't work, and got his other paw stuck in the process. The very audible sound of frog hand meeting frog forehead echoed through the hall.

"Do you not even know what these are?" Lee laughed.

'I told you not to do anything…'

Rio gnashed his teeth, furiously failing to free himself from the frubbles. He tried to pull himself away, because that worked so well the first time, and snapped right back and stuck his entire body to Lee's. "God dammit!"

"You, uh, can't pull yourself out of the frubbles, Rio," Nina said, considering throwing more frubbles. "It's, uh, basically impossible."

"I feel I would be more surprised if I hadn't expected something like this to happen," Lee grumbled, turning to Nina. "Were I not trying to keep my temper under control, I'd have gotten through you both already." A powerful shift in the air rushed in from the sparring area, bringing a grin to Lee's snout. "And that's my que to get this moving."

There was a brief flash of darkness, and all the frubbles melted off Lee's body, bringing Rio with it. Lee rolled his neck, then shot Nina a sideways glance. "I'm done asking. Move."

A shock pierced Nina's body as she looked into Lee's eyes. The air around her started getting colder and colder. Her breath came out as a thick cloud. Her body began to shake and shiver. "N-No! I won't!" Nina said, holding Jay close.

"You are trying my patience. I can assure you, once I get through that door and get the Time Gear, none of you will have to worry about me again." Lee began walking towards Nina. The crystals broke as his legs walked through them. They didn't even cut his fur. "I want nothing more than to get off this wretched island, and the longer I stay here, the more I am considering going through you instead of around you."

Lee stood above Nina, glaring down at her. She still refused to move. Lee shook his head, grabbing her by the shoulder.

"Let go of her!" Rio shouted, still struggling to get free of the frubbles.

"Please, you can have her." Lee tossed Nina behind him, directly at Rio. He looked up at the stone door, brushing his paw along it and admiring its design. "My… this is ancient. Perfect for the hiding place of a Time Gear."

"A Time Gear?" Rio muttered.

Nina put Jay off to the side and started digging Rio out of the frubbles to throw them back at Lee. "That's what he's after! We can't let him get it!"

The frubbles stuck on the door as well as Lee. Irritated, the wolf glared back at Nina. "You already know this won't work. Save yourself the time and energy and stop while you can."

"I don't care, I can't sit around doing nothing!" Nina huffed.

Rio stood up as he was freed from his bubbly prison. It was oddly refreshing. He'd probably do it again if he wasn't already in the middle of something. Although there wasn't really much he could do…

"I think I'll just go get the others," Rio said, mildly disappointed. However, he barely took two steps down the hall before Minerva knocked him over. He landed on his back, bringing up a flash of pain. "Owwww…" The others showed up behind Minerva, although not in as much of a rush as she was. While everyone stopped in the hall to confront Lee, Minerva kept on running.

Jax looked down at Rio, offering a hand. "Need some help?"

"No… I'm actually comfortable down here.." Rio sighed. "But feel free to bunch that Lee guy really hard."

"Hey, don't gotta tell me twice." Jax smirked, stepping over Rio.

Zen stood staring at Lee, quietly surveying the area around him. He crossed his arms and looked back at Lee, who was still covered in frubbles. "You're cornered. Give up."

Lee turned his head to face Zen, grinning. "There is nothing about you that would intimidate me, Zen. You already used a substantial amount of power just to figure out you were fighting fakes. Jax is more of a threat than you, and he isn't even a threat."

"I wouldn't count him out at all, wolf," Zen shook his head. "Far from it, you are literally and metaphorically backed into a corner. Or more of a dead end. Fitting."

Another flash of darkness burned the frubbles off of Lee's body. "You're awfully confident considering your situation. If you may enlighten me as to why, I'd appreciate it."

Zen grinned, which did more to unsettle his friends than Lee. "Of course." Now that unnerved Lee.

"A-Are you serious?" Lee blinked.

Zen nodded. "I have your whole plan figured out. Exposing your illusions was the worst thing you could have done around me. In spite of my lack of such an ability, I've learned every caveat and intricacy about it. Like for instance, there's a very, very faint haze in the air when an illusion is active. Illusions get weaker the further they are from the user. Illusions can't interact with anything that isn't an illusion…" he flexed his hands, darkness crackling around it. "And the only thing that can interact with an illusion is the illusionist themself."

In the blink of an eye, Zen threw his fist at Z. Zen was stopped mere inches from Z's face, thanks to Lee's paw catching his fist. The "Lee" that stood by the stone door began to fade, and Zen's grin grew even further.

"You bastard," Lee growled.

Zen grabbed Lee's arm tightly, pulling the wolf in close. "Hey Jax, remember when I said you couldn't make a dent in my body?"

"I don't remember you sayin' it like that," Jax said, but still got what Zen was going at. "But if you're so sure about this, I'll gladly prove you wrong."

A look of panic flashed on Lee's face. He couldn't pull himself away from Zen, and Jax was getting close. Z was frubbled in place, right next to Zen and Lee, and very much in range of Jax. "Are you serious? He'll turn you to a broken, prideful mess of metallic shards!"

"And you, a bloody pile of pulp. At least I know I can walk away from it," Zen wrapped his arms around Lee. "Can you say the same?"

Nina helped Rio off the ground. "Hit him hard, Jax!" she said, carrying Jay back to the Infirmary with Rio behind her.

"Zen," Eva began. "You better walk this off like you said." She hurried behind Rio and Nina.

Jax pounded his fists together, grinning from ear to ear. Or where his ears would be. His fists started to glow red, and steam rolled off his body. "Now that I know we got the real deal, and his accomplice, I gotta make sure you both stay down for good."

Lee growled angrily as he struggled to get out of Zen's grip. "Y-You fools! This isn't going to stop me!"

"Which is precisely why you're struggling to break free, correct?" Zen asked, exuding a smug aura.

"Don't you care about your own life?!" Lee barked. "Unhand me!"

Zen squeezed Lee even tighter. "I'll unhand you when I'm dead."

Lee let out a burning wave of darkness around his body in hopes that Zen would let go. Instead, Zen countered it with his own dark aura. "D-Dammit!" Lee looked at Z, who struggled tirelessly to escape.

The first of Jax's punches finally hit Lee, sending a wave of intense pain through his body. Every hit felt like it had enough force to kill any lesser Pokemon a hundred times over. The sound of thunderous blows echoed through the halls. The force of Jax's blow shook the earth beneath them. While Jax did his best not to strike Zen, Zen still felt every hit that landed Lee.

"Here's the finisher! Thunderpunch!" Jax pulled back his fist, electricity crackling around it. He slammed it into Lee's back with all his might and weight behind it. A loud crack of thunder and blinding flash of lightning appeared as Jax made contact, sending Lee and Zen into the wall behind them. The wall itself cracked and stone jutted out from around Lee and Zen.

Zen winced painfully, sucking air in through his teeth. He was the one that crashed into the wall, but Lee took all of Jax's attacks directly. What's more, Zen's body blades were lodged in Lee's abdomen, keeping the two stuck together even after Zen let go of Lee.

"Try and best me again, mutt," Zen panted, shoving Lee off of his body. The wolf's body hit the ground, motionless. Four gruesome gashing remained in Lee's body. Oddly… there wasn't any blood. "What..?"

"You alright, Zen? I didn't break anything, did I?" Jax asked, looking down at Lee. "I mean, other than him." Jax suddenly grabbed the arm he used to Thunderpunch Lee, gritting his teeth painfully. "A-And my arm. Shit, that hurts more than it's supposed to."

"Keep that confidence in check. Does this look right to you?" Zen pointed at Lee's body. "The floor should be drenched, and I should be a new shade of red, and yet there's nothing."

"And it ain't an illusion since, well, I hit him with everything I had and I know I felt real fur." Jax hummed. He then turned to Z. "I wonder if he's got anything on this."

"You keep watch over Lee's body, I'll interrogate the fox," Zen said, approaching Z.

Jax nodded, holding Lee down with two of his hands. He didn't think to keep his eyes on Lee. Alive or not, Lee shouldn't be able to do much after that beating he took.

<><><><><>​

While everyone was dealing with Lee, Tia still tended to Lucas. The Charmeleon still hadn't woken up, much to Tia's dismay, but she knew he was well. "He just needs his rest," she kept telling herself. Minerva showed up suddenly, looking for something or someone, but Tia was more focused on Lucas right then. Time felt like it slowed to a crawl as Tia waited for Lucas to wake up, until Nina came barreling inside with an unconscious, frubbled Jay in her arms.

"He's hurt!" Nina said, frantic. Tears started streaming from her eyes. "I-I stopped the bleeding but I couldn't get here sooner b-because I was trying to stop Lee from getting to the door and he threw us a-and-!"

Tia held up a paw to hush Nina, lifting Jay from her arms and placing him on a bed. Nina quickly removed the tainted frubbles from Jay so Tia could work. The Meowstic rested a paw on Jay, flinching at an unexpected cold. A pink glow surrounded Tia and Jay, and the room grew silent. Even when Eva and Rio caught up with Nina, they stayed quiet as they entered.

"He's alive, just asleep. Much like Lucas," Tia said calmly. She could feel Nina's heartbeat skyrocketing. "Nina I think you should take a seat."

"O-Ok…" Nina said weakly, sitting on a bed and holding her elbows. "A-Are you sure Jay's going to be alright? And Lucas too?"

Tia nodded. "You kids are hardy, I'll give you that. Both of your friends are fine, just asleep. They're probably more exhausted than anything, much like you are."

"Yeah… yeah. I-I'm exhausted. They're exhausted," Nina told herself. "They'll be fine, yeah…"

Eva sat beside Nina, holding her hand and giving her a caring squeeze. "That's the spirit. They'll be up in no time."

"Maybe once we get rid of Lee, they'll hop back up on their feet like nothing happened," Rio smiled. "Hell, we could probably take the rest of the day off after that. I know the hot springs would be so nice after all this."

Eva's ear twitched. "Speaking of, where are Kora and Minerva?" she asked. Just then, thunderous booms roared through the mountain, causing Eva, Rio, and Tia to cover their ears. From the corner of the room, a red bush jumped almost to the ceiling and let out a frightened shriek. Along with that red bush was the white fur of a Meowth, which grumpily hid herself back inside the bush.

"Wh-What's going on?! What is that?! Where am I?!" Kora sputtered. He looked at everyone in the room with scared eyes before finally calming down. "O-Oh, it's just-" Another loud boom went off, causing Kora to jump again and hit his head on the roof. "What the hell was that?"

"Sounds like Jax," Tia growled quietly as she rubbed her ears. "Sounds like he got his hands on Lee."

More of Jax's punches pounded everyone's ears. The others had to wait for that noise to stop before they could speak again. But, right before anyone tried to say something, a clap of thunder rang in their ears, followed by a powerful quake nearly knocking them all over.

"That was Jax?" Rio asked, holding onto Tia's desk.

"Don't be so surprised, Rio. He might be retired but he's still more than powerful enough to do something like this," Tia chuckled. "If anything he should be stronger than this. Guess training on his own could only keep him so fit."

'Don't worry, you'll blow him out of the water eventually!'

Rio chuckled nervously. He wasn't how someone could get as strong as Jax, or even how he'd get stronger than that. "R-Right."

The rumbling and shaking subsided, to everyone's relief. For how bad that Lee situation was turning out, it ended fairly easily compared to what everyone expected. The tension in the air started to fade. It was over, surely. And yet…

"What do you think Zen is doing?" Rio asked, tapping on Tia's desk anxiously. "I thought he and Jax would come back in to get patched up already."

Eva waved Rio's worries off. "You're worrying too much about them. Both Jax and Zen can handle that Lee guy, and… Z. They just needed to catch him. I'm sure they're fine." Kora's ears twitched at the mention of Z's name, but he didn't say anything.

"I don't know…" Rio gulped, noticing his tail twitching. His ears were too, actually. Maybe his body knew something was wrong before he did. Rio looked over at Kora, who looked jumpier than ever, which was the first time Rio's seen him like that. "I'm gonna go check on them." Rio turned to the door, running down the hall as fast as he could.

<><><><><>​

'Good call, I was getting worried myself.'

"I'm going insane, but that's not important right now," Rio shook his head. "I gotta check on Zen and Jax."

'Why do you think you're going insane?'

Rio couldn't tell if the voice in his head was being sarcastic or not, but decided to not engage in conversation with it. He's already admitted to being insane, talking to the voice in his head would only make him worse.

There was a sudden wall of… something. There wasn't anything physically there, but Rio could feel something blocking his way. It burned to the touch, but it was a cold burn. An icy sting would be more accurate. Everytime he tried to go through it, Rio's body pulled itself away, and that funny hair he had would stick right up.

'Well isn't this something?'

It was something bad. Rio couldn't brute force his way past it. A growing frustration appeared in his chest. "Come on! What is this!?"

'I-I think… I think that's Lee…'

"L-Lee?" A bad feeling crawled up Rio's spine. "Then we can't just stand here, we gotta help Zen and Jax!"

The Lucario growled as he kept trying to force his way to Zen and Jax's aide. His body stung, and everything inside him was telling him to turn back, but he ignored it. Rio managed to take a step through the force repelling him. He couldn't feel his leg anymore, it felt like it froze right off. One arm got through, which also lost all feeling and went limp.

'Get back! You're gonna tear us to shreds!'

"What the hell else am I supposed to do!" Rio barked, forcing his other leg through. "Th-They need my help!"

'You can't help anyone if your body is broken!'

Rio ignored the voice, pulling his other arm and head through the force. As his arm made it through, there was a bright flash of blue light, and Rio's body shut down entirely.