It all happened so fast—starting with Nate
grabbing the gods-damned chains like a
gods-damned idiot—and then there was light and Hoopa was speaking and Steven summoned a tiny grass rodent mon and the portal opened once more to reveal Orzo, bigger and more terrifying than ever, and Neo took off towards Novo in the distance before Wes could so much as say a word, and then—
“WE NEED TO TAKE HIM DOWN. JIRACHI, I WISH FOR REINFORCEMENTS!”
…Reinforcements?
Something tugged at Wes’s mind—a light psychic tug, not unlike a sensation he regularly got from Neo. It whispered of friends and allies, of those one might long for when in need of support. Of whom
Wes longed for…
And then more portals burst open all around them, filled with all kinds of unfamiliar faces. Unfamiliar to Wes, but undoubtedly familiar to those they had come for, if the cries of surprise and joy were anything to go off of. Which meant…
No. Wes felt his heart drop through his stomach.
No, no, no—
It was too late. A flash of light signaled a portal opening to his right, and there was no mistaking that head of red hair or those bewildered blue eyes. She stumbled as the portal zipped shut behind her and swept her gaze over the chaotic scene, looking positively thunderstruck—then her eyes met his, and the color drained from her face.
“…Wes?”
No, no,
shit—why was she here, she shouldn’t be here,
she wasn’t supposed to be here, not here, not now,
not her—
“Is…that really you?” Rui reached out a tentative, quivering hand. “I—you—what’s going on? Where—why—?”
Wes flinched away from her touch as though she might burn him. “I—I don’t—you shouldn’t be here. You need to get out of here. It’s dangerous.”
“I don’t…where is
here? What’s going on?”
“I’m sorry—I didn’t mean to, this wasn’t supposed to—
shit, I’m sorry—” Wes’s words tumbled out in a panic. Get out. Get out. He needed to get her
out of here. He glanced back at the battle; with a new slew of reinforcements from the Prison Realm trainers and the wish recruits, it seemed the battle was nearly won. Neo and Novo could certainly handle their own for while he figured out how to send Rui back. “I—I called you here by mistake, this is my fault, I’m sorry, but I’ll send you back and…and…”
“You
called me here? What—”
“It wasn’t on purpose, I swear to gods, I didn’t mean to—I’ll fix it though, I promise, I’ll get you back home and I’ll be out of your hair, don’t worry—”
He frantically looked around, running a hand through his disheveled hair. Hoopa. If he could find Hoopa, the little ghost could send her back and everything would be fine, it would be
fine. “I gotta, um, find someone real quick to send you home, so—”
Rui grabbed him by the hand, startling him into stillness, then looked into his eyes, an unreadable expression on her face. “You
called me here,” she said. This time, it wasn’t a question.
“I—I know,” Wes stammered. “I know, and I’m sorry, I know I’m the last person on earth you want to see and I’ve dragged you into this mess but I’ll make it right and you’ll never have to—”
“Who said I don’t want to see you?”
He blinked at the sudden forcefulness in her tone. “I…you said…”
“I said I needed
time, Wes. To think about things. About you, and what you hid from me.” Wes winced at that, but Rui only tightened her grip on his hand. “I never asked you to leave. Not once. And when I woke up the next morning to find you were
gone, I—”
She stopped short and glanced away, blinking rapidly. Wes felt his stomach twist with aching, gnawing guilt, his own words that he’d hurled at Steven several days ago coming back to haunt him.
You just ran. Like a coward.
“Rui,” he rasped, “Rui, I’m—I’m so sorr—”
He was cut off as Rui, in one quick, surprisingly strong motion, yanked him forward and threw her arms around him, burying her face in his chest. He stiffened for a second, frozen in shock, then slowly returned her embrace.
Rui clenched the back of his coat. “Don’t,” she said shakily, “Don’t you dare think for one second I don’t want anything to do with you.”
Wes managed a bitter chuckle, but it was awfully strained through the painful lump in his throat. “I mean, I…wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t.”
She shook her head fiercely. “No. I might be angry, I might need space, but I…need my best friend, too.” She held him tighter. “I need
you. And that won’t ever change, Wes.”
Wes felt a sting in his eyes and hastily rubbed at them to keep his own tears at bay. “So…are you still angry?”
Rui pulled back to look up at him with a withering glare, one that still managed to look fierce despite the tears in her eyes. “I’m
pissed, actually.”
For some strange reason that Wes couldn’t pin down, he was relieved to hear that. He cracked a timid smile. “Ah.”
“I’ve thought about throwing something at your head the next time I saw you.”
“There’s still time.”
“Shut up.” But Rui was smiling now, too. She let go of him to wipe at her nose with her sleeve. “I’m still deciding if I want to or not.”
She glanced at their surroundings and then back to him. “We…have a lot to talk about later. But right now, you need to tell me what
this is, because I’m actually about ten seconds from freaking out.”
Wes couldn’t argue with that. “It’s, uh. A long story. But that nightmare fuel over there is an Unbound Hoopa that dragged all of us here to fight, and, ahh, something about a wish pulled in more people, and…yeah.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ll explain more later. But you—you can’t be here. That Pokémon is
dangerous, Ru, and—gods, I didn’t want to bring you here and drag you into this, I really didn’t.”
Rui’s eyes widened as she took in Orzo’s towering frame in the distance, her face pale. But when she looked back to Wes, her expression was set in stone-cold determination, one that Wes knew all too well. There was no room for debate with that face.
“He’s not Shadow,” she said. “His aura is scarily similar to one, but he isn’t. So I think we can handle this just fine.” She managed a shaky, yet somewhat rogue-like grin. “This isn’t the first Legendary we’ve wrangled, and it probably won’t be the last.”
“Ru, this isn’t your mess.”
“It’s not yours, either. Neither is the mess in Orre. But here we are.” She took his hand in hers again, and Wes couldn’t help but notice how soft and
warm it was, how much he had missed her touch, her laugh, her smile—
her, really, just her, and all of the things that made her Rui.
“You called me here, whether you meant to or not,” she continued. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Wes wanted to argue, but there was no fighting that fire in her eyes. With a sigh, he squeezed her hand. “All right. Just…stay close, all right? Don’t wander or anything. I gotta find Neo and Novo—oh, you’ll love to see them by the way.”
He led her closer to the battle, careful to keep to the outskirts of it until Neo and Novo were beside him. Rui followed suit with a heavily sarcastic tone. “Me? Wander off? I don’t know about you, but
I’m not one to run away.”
He threw her a look over his shoulder. “Damn, you went straight for the jugular with that one.”
“I reserve the right to hold that over you at least a little.”
He grinned. “Fair enough.”
Fortunately, he didn’t have to look long for Neo or Novo; a yowl from overhead signaled their approach, and the two swooped down to land in front of either of them. Wes grinned even wider at Rui’s look of utter shock.
“Wh—you—
wings—? Y-You’re giant!
How? Oh my gods, you’re both beautiful!”
Both Pokémon lit up at the sight of her. Neo lunged and would have bowled her right over had Wes not snatched him and held him back by the scruff just in time.
“Rui! Ruiruiruiruiruirui! You are here! Look, I have wings! And Novo, too! We are COOL AND BADASS! I am so happy you are here! I have missed you! And Novo too, and Wes has missed you lots and LOTS!”
Rui stared, first at Neo, then at Novo, then at Wes.
“They’re flying. And talking. Wes,
they’re flying and talking.”
“Yeah, trust me, I’m still wrapping my head around it.”
“I have questions.”
“Later, I promise. We have bigger things to deal with first.”
As if to emphasize his statement, Orzo let out a horrifying, blood-curdling screech that made all four of them flinch. Rui, covering her ears, looked at the ghost with a frown.
“Right, okay—” she stopped short, furrowing her brow. “Wes. I need to get closer. There’s something…
off about his aura.”
“Yeah, he’s a creepy, delusional, power-hungry bastard?”
“No. Not just that.” There was a strange urgency in her voice now. “Something’s
wrong. We have to get over there.”
“I will fly you.” Novo rumbled as he brushed against Rui’s side.
“What? Wait just a damn minute—” Wes stepped forward, but the panic in Rui’s eyes stopped him in his tracks.
“Wes, we need to get over there
now.”
If Rui hadn’t been processing about a thousand things all at once, she’d have allowed herself to revel in the moment. Flying! On the back of a Pokémon! On the back of an
Umbreon, to boot! If this was a dream (it
had to be, right? That was the only explanation that made sense), then it was the most vivid one she’d ever had.
Down below, she knew Wes and Neo were on the ground, doing what they could as they battled alongside everyone else. Rui had tried to spot them, but there was too much going on for her to get a glimpse. She stifled her worry for the moment and refocused on the task at hand; getting closer to this enraged ghost.
His aura was like nothing she had ever seen; bitter, hateful, oozing spite and malice. It danced and flared with vibrant vigor, entirely different from the oddly stiff, eerie, unnatural aura of a Shadow Pokémon.
No. This wasn’t the aura of a forcibly corrupted Pokémon, but of one who had chosen the darkness, embraced it,
reveled in it. And as Rui watched the horrifying Pokémon writhe and shriek and rage, lashing out this way and that, she couldn’t be sure which was more chilling.
She took a deep breath, steeling herself against the icy fear creeping into her veins, and leaned down into Novo’s ear. “Can you get me closer?”
Novo replied with a nod and banked to the right, swooping down closer to hover above Hoopa’s chest at a reasonably safe distance. Rui scanned him with narrowed eyes, not wanting to stare any longer at that malicious aura any longer than she had to, but unable to look away—because other than the sheer evil rolling off him in waves, there was something else there, something fainter, purer, deep within…
A second aura.
It was barely there, almost imperceptible, but still flickering weakly despite the blackened flames surrounding it. Rui leaned in to get a better look; closer inspection revealed that this aura, though worryingly faint, was entirely different from anything else emanating from the Hoopa. It was light, a soft yellow color, radiating warmth and friendliness and goodness. The very opposite of the monster holding it captive…
Is he corrupted after all? Rui wondered.
Maybe that is his true aura, and something is forcing him into this state?
But then the black aura flared, and what Rui saw next unsettled her to her core.
Inky black tendrils wrapped around the dimming yellow aura like an Ekans ensnaring its prey. The smaller life force grew fainter, fluttering like a downed Pidgey, struggling against the suffocating hold. Rui’s breath caught in her throat as she tightly gripped Novo’s fur. It was eerily similar to a Shadow Pokémon struggling against their Shadow aura, but this…was different. This act of smothering was intentional
. Deliberate.
“Someone else is trapped in there,” she breathed. Novo perked his ears and glanced at her over his shoulder, eyes wide. She met his gaze and felt hot fury melting away her fear.
“Dark Pulse at his chest, Novo! Get as close as you can!”
He didn’t need to be told twice. Without a split-second hesitation, Novo tucked his wings into his sides and
dove for their target, dark energy pooling in his maw and gathering around them both. Face distorted in a vicious snarl, he parted his jaws, fangs flashing, fired a pulse so powerful Rui had to tense her entire body to hang on for dear life.
His aim was true. Hoopa writhed and screamed as the move made contact, then swiped at them with a ghostly claw. Novo spat and just barely managed to duck out of the way, flapping frantically, and Rui yelped as he barreled clumsily downward to avoid another swipe.
They abruptly landed on solid ground for just a moment, allowing a moment to catch their breath as their allies rallying around them provided some cover. Rui raised her head to see Wes and Neo sprinting toward them, face taut and a question already on his lips.
“Are you—shit—
are you alright?”
She nodded shakily. “Fine—fine—I’m fine…” She paused to gulp in some more air, unaware of just how long she’d been holding her breath. Wes reached out to help her dismount, but Rui shook her head and stopped him with a hand on his arm. “But I saw—someone’s in there—his chest, we have to aim for his chest!”
Wes stared. “What?”
“He’s—I don’t know how, but someone is trapped inside of him, and he’s trying to smother them—he’s trying to kill them, I think! We have to get them out, have to aim for the chest!”
Wes paled. He glanced up at the Hoopa with a grave expression. “I think I have an idea who might be in there.” He looked back to her. “I’ll spread the word. But for gods’
sakes, be more careful. You both scared the hell out of me.”
She managed a tiny grin. “Yeah? Now you know it
feels, Mr. Wesley Throw-caution-to-the-winds Lycas.” Novo chuffed in amusement and threw Wes a pointed look.
He huffed, exasperated. “Lecture me all you want afterwards. Just promise me to not die before then.”
She gave his arm a gentle squeeze. “I’ll do my best.”
They both paused for just a second, looking at one another, as if debating whether to say something more. Rui felt a warmth bloom in her chest and rise to her face, and promptly let go of him.
Not the time, stupid. Besides, you’re still mad at him. Really mad!
She felt a little flare of indignation at the reminder, but the warmth remained as well. Angry or not, it was…really good to see him again. Hear his voice again.
She’d give him an earful later, and they would have a lot of things to talk through, and there was a lot of broken trust to mend…but all that really mattered was that he would
be there for them to work it out. As long as he was
there, as long as he stayed…that was all she cared about.
She cleared her throat and turned back to Hoopa, not wanting Wes to see the color in her cheeks. “You be careful, too. Now let’s go, Nov!”
They took to the air once more, and as they rose up, the Hoopa turned his attention to them again. For one terrifying moment, he locked eyes with hers, and the simmering hatred in that gaze made Rui’s blood run cold.
Then Novo yowled, and she tightened her grip on his fur. She stared right back at the hellish creature, and instinctively, without needing a command, Novo dove forward while Rui matched his battle cry with a shout of her own.
“We’ll make you answer for what you’ve done!”
